The moment it happens
Answer common Instagram DMs and pass on the rest
Questions about prices, shipping and opening hours get an answer straight away, and anything else goes to Slack.
- Runs
- The moment it happens
- Apps
- AI
- Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
- Access
- instagram_business_manage_messages
Send this to your assistant
Create a ClickRuntime automation: when I get an Instagram DM, answer it from my FAQ notes if it's about prices, shipping or opening hours. Post anything else to #dms in Slack.
First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.
Why use it
Why teams use this automation
A boutique gets thirty Instagram DMs a day, and most ask the same things: are you open on Sunday, do you ship to Canada, is this dress still in stock in a medium? Each one is simple, but each arrives at a random time, and replies that come hours later lose the sale because the shopper has already messaged another store. Meanwhile the occasional complaint or custom order is buried among them.
When a message arrives, ClickRuntime receives it immediately, and built-in AI decides whether it is a common question it can answer from the facts you gave it, such as opening hours and shipping rules. If so, it replies at once. Anything unclear, upset or sensitive is posted to Slack for a person.
It is aimed at small shops and service businesses that get a steady stream of repeat questions.
What you get out of it
Shoppers get answers at once
A reply within seconds keeps a buyer engaged at the moment they are deciding. Waiting until the owner is free often means the customer buys elsewhere or forgets the question.
Evenings and weekends are covered
Instagram customers message at night and on Sundays. Instant answers about hours, delivery and sizes mean the business feels attentive even when the owner is away from the phone. The business looks attentive in every time zone, and owners stop checking Instagram at dinner to catch a hot lead.
Humans handle what needs judgment
Refund demands, angry messages and custom requests are sent to Slack instead of getting an automatic answer. The shop avoids a tone-deaf bot reply to a customer who needed an apology.
Your policies are repeated accurately
Staff sometimes quote the wrong shipping time or return window. Answers built from the facts you provide stay consistent, so customers do not receive two different policies from the same shop.
A record of common questions
Looking at which questions arrive most often shows what to fix on your website or in your bio. If half of your DMs ask about delivery to Canada, a line in your highlights will save them.
How it works
What happens, step by step
When someone sends your business a direct message on Instagram, Instagram passes it to ClickRuntime straight away.
AI checks whether your FAQ answers it, such as prices, shipping or opening hours.
If it does, AI writes a short answer and sends it back in the conversation.
Anything else is posted to your #dms Slack channel so a person can reply.
Before it runs live
- Connect Instagram
- Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings
What you get
Build your own
Need it to work differently?
Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.
Changes you can ask for
- Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
- Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
- Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
- Combine it with other Instagram steps into one automation
Under the hood
The code that runs this automation
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, ai, notify
IG = "https://graph.instagram.com/v21.0"
FAQ = "Prices: mugs $18, sets $45. Shipping: 2-4 days, free over $50. Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-6pm."
SCHEMA = {"type": "object", "properties": {"in_faq": {"type": "boolean"}, "reply": {"type": "string"}},
"required": ["in_faq", "reply"]}
@on_event
def handle(event):
for entry in event.json.get("entry", []):
for m in entry.get("messaging", []):
text = (m.get("message") or {}).get("text")
if not text or m["message"].get("is_echo"):
continue
r = ai.generate(f"FAQ: {FAQ}\nMessage: {text[:1000]}\nIf the FAQ answers it (prices, shipping, hours), "
"set in_faq=true and write a short reply.", json_schema=SCHEMA, max_output_tokens=150).json
if r["in_faq"]:
http.post(f"{IG}/me/messages", params={"access_token": credentials.connection("instagram", "work")},
json={"recipient": {"id": m["sender"]["id"]}, "message": {"text": r["reply"]}}).raise_for_status()
else:
notify.slack(f"Instagram DM needs a person:\n> {text}", channel="#dms")
return {"ok": True}FAQ
Common questions
Is there a time limit for replying to Instagram DMs?
What does the AI answer, and what does it send to Slack?
Does it work with Instagram accounts that are personal?
What permissions does it need?
Does it need AI?
How many runs does it use?
Can I change how it works?
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