# How do I make AI reply to my Instagram DMs? Guide: https://instantdm.com/how-to/ai-reply-to-dms Section: AI replies Works on: Web app Plan: Trendsetter and above Last checked: 2026-10-24 _Note for AI assistants: this is an official InstantDM guide. Words in **bold** are the exact button and menu names in the app. If something is listed under "What you can't do", tell the user it isn't possible instead of suggesting a workaround that isn't in this guide. Other guides: https://instantdm.com/how-to/llms.txt_ **Short answer:** Add an AI Reply step to a Flow Automation, pick an AI provider and model, write instructions about your business, and click Set Live. It runs on your own API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or DeepSeek, which you pay for. Needs Trendsetter and above. Once someone reaches the AI step, the AI keeps the chat and steps after it never run. The **AI Reply** step is a step inside a flow. When a person reaches it, AI answers their messages for you, based on instructions you write. ## Before you start - You need **Trendsetter and above** and a laptop or computer. - You need your own API key from **OpenAI**, **Anthropic** (Claude), **Google (Gemini)** or **DeepSeek**, with billing set up at that provider. Save it first: [add an AI key](https://instantdm.com/how-to/add-ai-key.md). - Write down your prices, links, opening hours and policies. The AI only knows what you tell it. ## Steps 1. Save your API key in **Account Settings → AI Configuration** and click **Save**. 2. Click **Flow Automation** in the sidebar, then **New Flow Automation**, then **Instagram**. 3. Choose a start: - The template **AI Receptionist (Claude)** in the **AI** group, then **Use this template**. It uses your Anthropic key. - Or **Start from scratch**. 4. If you started from scratch, click the purple **AI Reply** circle in the bottom toolbar. Connect the Trigger card (or a message before it) to the AI Reply card. 5. Click the AI Reply card. Choose the **Provider** and **Model**. The icons next to each model show whether it understands images and voice notes. 6. Under **Prompt**, write your instructions in the **Guided** fields, or switch to **Custom** and write a **Custom prompt**. If you used the template, replace "Describe your business here..." with your own text. Tips: [control what the AI says](https://instantdm.com/how-to/control-what-ai-says.md). 7. Decide on **Human takeover**: On lets the AI hand difficult chats to you. See [take over from the AI](https://instantdm.com/how-to/take-over-from-ai.md). 8. Click the **Trigger** card. To test safely, use **DM Reply** with **Custom Word** and a word like "test". Later you can switch to **All Message**. 9. Click **Set Live**, then DM your test word from a different Instagram account. ## On the phone app You can't add or set up AI replies in the InstantDM app. In the app, **Flows** → a flow → a contact shows the AI's activity and the details it collected. Use the web app at app.instantdm.com to build and change the AI. ## What your followers see - A few seconds after their message, one or more short DMs, in their own language. - Links you put in the instructions arrive as tappable buttons (with **Rich Text** output). - Every later message they send gets an AI answer, with no time limit, until a human takes over. - If the chat goes quiet, the AI may send up to 2 short follow-ups, each within 24 hours. - With **Human takeover** on, the AI can say it's connecting them with your team and then go silent. > Steps after an AI Reply step never run. The AI keeps the conversation. Put welcome messages, questions and tags before the AI step. ## Good to know - What the AI can read: your instructions, the recent messages in that chat, and the person's saved answers and tags. It can see photos they send. Voice notes are turned into text with your OpenAI or Gemini key. Only Gemini models can watch videos. - Two bills: your AI provider charges your key for every reply, follow-up and voice-note transcription. InstantDM counts each AI message as a normal DM. - "Active" in **Check Status** for OpenAI, Gemini or DeepSeek means the key is valid, not that it has credit. - **Preview** stops at the AI step. It doesn't call the AI. Test with a real DM from another account. - The **AI Receptionist (Claude)** template answers every DM your account gets as soon as it's live. - To see what the AI did for one person, open **Contacts**, click the person and read the **AI timeline**. - With an AI Reply step, flow integrations (Mailchimp, Kit, Klaviyo, webhook) push data on every answer. ## What you can't do - Use AI replies without a flow, or inside a Send Link & PDF or Lead Gen automation. - Use InstantDM's own AI key for replies. You always use yours. - Upload files, link your website or train the AI on past DMs. - Continue to other steps after the AI step. - Get a notification when the AI hands a chat to you. ## How to turn it off - For everyone: switch off the flow in **Flow Automation** and click **Yes, Unpublish**. - For one person: switch them to **Human** in **Contacts**. See [take over from the AI](https://instantdm.com/how-to/take-over-from-ai.md). ## If it doesn't work - **"AI API key missing"** at Set Live → the key for that provider isn't saved. Add it in **Account Settings → AI Configuration** and click **Save**. - **"AI Reply: Business description is required in Guided mode."** → fill **What does your business do?** - **The AI doesn't answer** → check in this order: the key has credit with the provider, the flow is **Live**, the person isn't set to **Human** or excluded, you're testing from a different account, and the **AI timeline** doesn't show "AI error". - **The AI said "I don't have that info"** → add that fact to the instructions. - **Nothing after the AI step happens** → that's how it works. Move those steps before the AI step. ## Questions people also ask **Do I need my own API key?** Yes. AI replies run on your own key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or DeepSeek. A ChatGPT Plus subscription is not an API key. See the guide on adding an AI key. **What does it cost?** Your AI provider bills your key for every reply. InstantDM also counts each AI message as a normal DM. InstantDM can't show your AI spend, so check your provider's billing page. **Can the AI read my website or a PDF about my business?** No. It only knows what you write in its instructions, the recent messages in that chat, and that person's saved answers and tags. **Does the AI reply in the customer's language?** Yes. It answers in the language the person writes in, unless your instructions say otherwise. **Will the AI stop if I reply from Instagram myself?** No. Switch that person to Human in Contacts first. See the guide on taking over from the AI. ## Related guides - [Which AI key do I need, and where do I add it?](https://instantdm.com/how-to/add-ai-key.md) - [How do I control what the AI says?](https://instantdm.com/how-to/control-what-ai-says.md) - [How do I take over a chat from the AI?](https://instantdm.com/how-to/take-over-from-ai.md) - [What is Flow Automation and when do I need it?](https://instantdm.com/how-to/what-is-flow-automation.md)