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Guide · Instagram DMs

How to auto DM people who comment on Instagram.In the app, or with one API call.

You answer each comment with a private reply: a tool connected to Instagram's API sees every comment with your keyword and sends that person one DM, within 7 days of the comment. In Breakreach you pick the post, the keyword and the message on the Automations page, or send one POST /v1/comment-dm-rules.

Updated October 8, 2026 · Checked against Meta: Instagram private replies, Meta: Instagram Platform overview and rate limits, Meta: Instagram Messaging API (Instagram Login) and 6 more sources

Set it up in the appNo code, about two minutes.

Breakreach's Automations page has a card for it. These are the real screens, on our demo account Northbeam Coffee.

  1. app.breakreach.com/dashboard/northbeam/automations
    Breakreach's Automations page before the first automation: the Comment to DM cards for Instagram and a Facebook Page, then the DM templates

Set it up with the APIOne request, then a webhook.

The same rule through Breakreach's REST API, with an API key from Settings, API & MCP. Every field below is in the OpenAPI spec, and the full reference is on the Comment to DM API page.

  1. 1

    Find the Instagram account id

    GET /v1/accounts lists the workspace's connected accounts. Instagram is connected once, with Instagram's own login, in the app or through a hosted connect link.

    GET /v1/accounts
    curl https://api.breakreach.com/v1/accounts \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" # {"accounts":[{"id":"6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c5","platform":"instagram","displayName":"northbeam.coffee"}]}
  2. 2

    Pick the post

    GET /v1/comment-dm-rules/media returns the account's latest posts with their ids (24 by default, up to 50). For a post you published with Breakreach, pass its Breakreach id as postId instead. Leave both out to watch every post, including future ones.

    GET /v1/comment-dm-rules/media
    curl "https://api.breakreach.com/v1/comment-dm-rules/media?accountId=6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c5&limit=3" \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" # {"media":[{"id":"18047212345678901","caption":"Morning Light is here. Comment GUIDE…",#   "mediaType":"VIDEO","productType":"REELS","commentsCount":214}, …]}
  3. 3

    Create the rule

    Up to 20 keywords, contains (a whole word in the comment) or exact, the DM up to 1,000 characters, and up to 5 public replies. With an Idempotency-Key, a retry within 24 hours returns the first rule instead of making a second one.

    POST /v1/comment-dm-rules
    curl https://api.breakreach.com/v1/comment-dm-rules \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -H "Idempotency-Key: morning-light-guide" \  -d '{    "accountId": "6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c5",    "mediaId": "18047212345678901",    "keywords": ["guide", "recipe"],    "match": "contains",    "dmText": "Here's the Morning Light brew guide: https://northbeam.coffee/guide",    "publicReplies": ["Sent! Check your DMs", "Just sent it to you {username}!"]  }' # {"rule":{"id":"6703f0a1c2d94e0012c8a7b2","platform":"instagram","active":true,#   "stats":{"triggered":0,"sent":0,"failed":0}, …}}
  4. 4

    Get each DM as a webhook

    Add a webhook in Settings, API & MCP and pick comment_dm.sent (and comment_dm.failed, which carries Instagram's refusal in plain words). Each delivery is signed: X-Breakreach-Signature is sha256= and an HMAC of the body with your webhook's secret. A good place to push the new lead into a CRM or a newsletter.

    comment_dm.sent
    {  "event": "comment_dm.sent",  "timestamp": "2026-10-08T09:41:06.301Z",  "rule": { "id": "6703f0a1c2d94e0012c8a7b2" },  "comment": {    "id": "17998451230012345",    "text": "GUIDE please",    "mediaId": "18047212345678901",    "from": { "id": "7310449128822150", "username": "maya.brews", "name": null }  },  "account": { "id": "6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c5", "platform": "instagram", "displayName": "northbeam.coffee" },  "dm": { "messageId": "aWdfZAG06MTpJR01lc3NhZA2VUaHJlYWQ6MTc4", "text": "Here's the Morning Light brew guide: https://northbeam.coffee/guide" },  "publicReply": { "id": "18034766512098765", "text": "Sent! Check your DMs" }}
  5. 5

    Read the activity, pause it when you're done

    GET /v1/comment-dm-rules/:id/events lists every matching comment, newest first, kept 90 days: sent, failed with the reason, or skipped (duplicate when the person already had this DM). PATCH with active: false pauses the rule.

    events, then pause
    curl https://api.breakreach.com/v1/comment-dm-rules/6703f0a1c2d94e0012c8a7b2/events \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" curl -X PATCH https://api.breakreach.com/v1/comment-dm-rules/6703f0a1c2d94e0012c8a7b2 \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{ "active": false }'

Or ask ChatGPT or ClaudeThrough Breakreach's MCP server.

With Breakreach connected in ChatGPT or Claude (two-minute setup), ask in plain words. The assistant calls create_comment_dm_rule with the same fields as the API, and list_comment_dm_rules tells you later who got the DM.

How many people got the guide DM since yesterday?

Add RECIPE as a second keyword on that one.

Pause the giveaway automation, it's over.

Claude· Breakreach connected

When people comment GUIDE on my Morning Light reel, DM them the brew guide and reply “Sent!” under their comment.

breakreach · create_comment_dm_rule
{
  "accountId": "6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c5",
  "mediaId": "18047212345678901",
  "keywords": ["guide"],
  "dmText": "Here's the Morning Light brew guide: https://northbeam.coffee/guide",
  "publicReplies": ["Sent! Check your DMs"]
}

Done. Anyone who comments GUIDE on the Morning Light reel now gets the brew guide in their DMs, with “Sent! Check your DMs” under their comment. Each person gets it once.

What do you need before you start?A professional account, public, connected once.

  • An Instagram professional accountBusiness or creator. Meta's messaging API only works with professional accounts, and you switch for free in Instagram's settings.
  • A public accountMeta only sends a comment webhook when the account that owns the post is public, so a private account can't run comment to DM.
  • A tool on Meta's official APIOne whose Meta app has the comment and messaging permissions approved, and that you connect with Instagram's own login. Breakreach's were approved in September 2026. Tools that ask for your password or click through the app break Instagram's terms.

What are Instagram's rules for comment DMs?One DM per comment, within 7 days.

RuleWhat Meta documentsIn practice
DMs per comment“Only one message can be sent to the commenter”One text DM per comment, with links. More messages only after they answer.
Time to send itWithin 7 days of the commentNew comments are answered in seconds; a week-old one can't be.
After they answerFollow-ups “within 24 hours of the response”Their reply opens a normal conversation: a DM automation or your team takes over.
Volume750 private replies an hour per account, posts and reelsBreakreach sends up to 700 an hour and queues the rest for the next hour.
Where it landsInbox if they follow you, Requests if notNon-followers find it in message requests.
Live commentsOnly during the broadcastBreakreach doesn't cover Live comments.
Quotes from Meta's private replies and rate limits pages, read on October 8, 2026. Every limit, with its source, is in the Instagram DM limits guide.

One rule worth knowing before you write the post: Meta's Community Standards on spam list “like/share-gating”, making likes, shares, follows or other public engagement the price of exclusive content. Private replies exist so a business can answer a comment, and that's how every comment to DM tool works. Keep it a favour rather than a toll: send the DM to everyone who asks, and make it worth the comment.

Can you set up comment to DM for free?The API is free. Running it isn't.

Meta doesn't charge for its API, but it only lets an app send private replies for other people's accounts after App Review and Business Verification, and the app needs a server that receives Instagram's webhooks around the clock. So the free options are Meta's own inbox tools, a tool's free tier, or building it yourself.

  • Meta Business SuiteIts Inbox automations include a Comment to message template, on desktop only, that answers comments containing keywords. Meta's help pages don't say it covers Instagram posts, and Meta lists automated responses as unavailable for messages to or from people in Europe and Japan.
  • A free tierManyChat's free plan includes comment to DM for 25 active contacts a month, with up to 4 live automations and its branding. Others are more generous on volume: ReplyRush's free plan allows 1,500 DMs a month, Zorcha's sets no DM cap. Our ManyChat alternatives page compares them, with prices read on each vendor's page.
  • Your own Meta appFree if you only automate your own account: Standard Access doesn't need App Review. You host the webhook, refresh the token before its 60 days run out and handle the errors. Our n8n guide walks through what that takes.
  • BreakreachNot free: Comment to DM is in every plan, from $29 a month for 5 social accounts, with no limit on contacts or DMs beyond Meta's own. It comes with the scheduler, the Inbox, analytics and DM automations.

What should the auto DM say?What they asked for, in the first line.

They typed a word because they want one thing. Put it first, with the link, and keep the rest short: a DM that opens with “Hey! Thanks so much for your support” hides the guide behind a scroll.

  • Here's the Morning Light brew guide: https://northbeam.coffee/guide Tag us in your first cup!93 characters
  • Week one of the 8-week plan, as promised: https://link Reply DONE when you've finished day one.95 characters
  • Thanks {username}! Your early-access link, valid for 7 days: https://link73 characters

Asking for a reply (“reply DONE”) has a bonus: their answer opens a normal conversation for 24 hours, so a DM automation can send the next step. More messages to copy, each with its API body, are in the auto-reply examples.

Breakreach

Your next reel can answer its own comments. Pick it in Breakreach, add the keyword, write the DM.

Set up Comment to DM

Comment hasguide

Here's the Morning Light brew guide…

DMs sent

northbeam.coffee

Morning Light is here. Comment GUIDE for the brew recipe

maya.brewsGUIDE please

Just now · Reply

northbeam.coffeeSent! Check your DMs

Just now

northbeam.coffee

Instagram · Direct

northbeam.coffee replied to your comment

GUIDE please

Here's the Morning Light brew guide: https://northbeam.coffee/guide Tag us in your first cup!

Why didn't someone get the DM?The activity says which one.

  • They already had itEach person gets one DM per automation, however many times they comment. The next comments show as “Already got this DM”.
  • The keyword was inside another wordWith “contains”, link matches “link please” but not “linkedin”. With “exact”, the comment must be the keyword alone.
  • They turned off messages from accounts they don't followInstagram refuses the DM and the activity shows the reason. They can still get it from a later comment if they change the setting.
  • The comment was older than 7 daysInstagram doesn't allow a private reply after a week. Rules only answer comments that arrive while they're on.
  • The automation was pausedComments that come in while it's off get nothing, even after you turn it back on.
  • A very busy postPast 700 DMs in an hour, the rest wait for the next hour. They still go out.

What happens when they answer the DM?The conversation is open for 24 hours.

Their answer lands in the Breakreach Inbox with the rest of your DMs, and Instagram lets you write back for 24 hours. If the answer contains a keyword one of your DM automations listens to, that automation picks it up: a question with buttons, a link, a handoff to your team. Answer by hand and the automation leaves that person alone.

Does it work on Facebook Page posts?Yes, in Messenger, once Meta approves it.

Facebook has the same private replies: one Messenger message per comment, within 7 days. Breakreach's Facebook Page card works like the Instagram one, and {username} becomes the person's first name. It needs one more Page permission from Meta (pages_manage_metadata), submitted for review on October 8, 2026; until it's approved, it only works for accounts testing the app. The Messenger auto-reply guide covers Meta's built-in replies too.

Sources

Read on October 8, 2026. Breakreach's own limits come from its code.

FAQ

Comment DMs, answered.

Short answers, sourced above.

Connect your Instagram professional account to a tool that uses Meta's private replies, pick the post and the keyword, and write the DM. In Breakreach it's the Comment to DM card on the Automations page, or POST /v1/comment-dm-rules in the API.

Yes, through the official API: private replies are the endpoint Meta built for answering a comment in private. Use a tool you connect with Instagram's login, never one that asks for your password.

One per comment, within 7 days of it, and up to 750 private replies an hour per account on posts and reels, per Meta's documentation. Breakreach sends up to 700 an hour and queues the rest.

No. Followers find it in their inbox, others in their message requests.

Not in the private reply: Meta allows one message per comment. Once the person answers, the conversation opens for 24 hours and a DM automation can send buttons, choices and more messages.

Several have free tiers: ManyChat for 25 active contacts a month, ReplyRush for 1,500 DMs a month, Zorcha without a DM cap. Meta Business Suite has a desktop Comment to message automation, not available in Europe and Japan. Breakreach starts at $29 a month.

Keep reading

How to automate Instagram DMsComments, keywords, stories, ref links.Instagram DM limitsWhat Meta documents, with links.Auto-reply message examplesWelcome, away, FAQ and link replies.Comment to DMThe feature, for creators and brands.Comment to DM APIRules, activity, webhooks, MCP tools.ManyChat alternativesPrices checked on each vendor's page.
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