What happens when someone comments your keyword
When someone comments one of your Comment Trigger keywords on an Instagram post or reel, your assistant replies privately and then sends what the trigger promises. To create or change triggers, see comment-to-dm.
Which comments get a reply
A keyword can apply to all your posts or only to specific ones, and it matches regardless of capitalization, accents, punctuation, emoji, or stretched spelling ("GUIIIDE!"). Comments without a trigger keyword get no automatic reply. A trigger that is turned off doesn't reply either.
Each person gets the opener for a trigger once. If they comment the same keyword again later, the comment gets no second opener.
Non-trigger and repeat comments appear in the person's open Inbox conversation with a Comment on a post badge labeled Not a trigger match or Repeat comment. They provide context without marking the conversation as needing a reply. They do not open a conversation on their own; when a conversation starts later, it includes up to 20 recent comments received since the previous conversation closed, or their most recent 20 if this is their first conversation.
The opener
When a comment matches, it flows into your Inbox as a new conversation thread, marked with a "Comment on a post" badge.
- The opener: The first reply is sent as a private DM. Your assistant writes it in the commenter's language and adds a button with your trigger's button label, which the commenter taps to get what they asked for. If Instagram doesn't accept the button, the reply is sent as text that asks them to reply with the button label instead. Images are disabled for this first reply.
- Message requests: Someone who hasn't messaged you before gets the opener in their Instagram message requests. The button shows only after they accept the request, so until then they see just the text. Replying with anything works the same as tapping the button.
- Automated message notice: Some places (for example California and Germany) require an automated conversation to say so at the start, so an opener your assistant writes ends with a short sentence saying your virtual assistant answers there. If that sentence is missing, a short "(Automated message)" line is added instead. Replies you write yourself in the Inbox don't get either.
- Writing the opener yourself: If you answer the comment from the Inbox before your assistant does, your reply goes out as the opener with the button. It has to leave room for the line asking them to reply with the button label, so a reply too long for that is refused with the character limit rather than cut short.
- If your assistant can't reply: When the assistant's reply fails after repeated retries, the commenter still gets your trigger's backup first message with the button (or a short default thank-you), and the conversation is flagged for you to review.
- If your assistant hands the conversation to you: When your assistant escalates instead of writing the opener, the commenter gets the usual holding message as the private reply, with the automated message notice but no button. Nothing is delivered automatically while the conversation waits for you; once they reply, you can answer them in the Inbox.
- 7-day reply window: You have 7 days from the time the comment was posted to send a private reply. If the window expires, the composer displays a closed window banner, and you can no longer reply. The standard DM window opens when the commenter taps the button or sends you a message.
Sending what they asked for
When the commenter taps the button, or sends you any message within 7 days of the opener, your trigger's delivery goes out automatically. What the message says doesn't matter: commenting your keyword was the request, so even a "no thanks" gets the delivery, and your assistant's reply handles it from there. Either way the conversation is credited to the trigger.
The delivery is a PDF file, a card with a cover image and a button that opens your link, or the link itself as a message. Your assistant's reply follows it, without sending it twice. If they reply later than that without tapping, nothing is sent automatically; when the delivery is a web link, your assistant shares it if they ask.
If the trigger asks commenters to follow you first, the delivery waits until Instagram confirms they follow your account. Your assistant asks them to follow and says it arrives here automatically once they do. Yapper checks again for about a day after they accept and whenever they write; once they follow, the delivery arrives with a short thank-you, even if they never write back. One reminder goes out if they still haven't followed after about an hour.
If your trigger names a phase, accepting the opener moves the commenter into it after that reply (when following is required, after delivery), and the phase's own message and instructions take over the follow-up (for example asking for their email).
Follow progress in the Inbox
The Inbox badge shows the trigger's name and progress: Opener pending, Opener sent, Accepted, Delivered, or Delivery failed. A delivery fails when it still can't be sent after repeated retries; the conversation is flagged for you to send it yourself, and your assistant keeps replying without claiming it was sent.