How do I control what the AI says?

The AI’s instructions (also called the prompt) are the only place it learns about your business. Good instructions give good replies.

Before you start

• You need Trendsetter and above, a saved AI key, and a flow with an AI Reply step. See AI replies to DMs.

Steps

1. Open the flow in the editor and click the AI Reply card.
2. Under Output format, choose Rich Text (links as buttons, tappable quick replies) or Plain Text (text only, links typed out).
3. Under Prompt, choose Guided or Custom.
4. For Guided, fill in:
   • What does your business do? (required), for example “Online yoga classes for beginners, live on Zoom, Monday to Friday at 7 am IST”
   • Current offer / promotion, for example “First class free, then ₹999 or $15 a month”
   • Voice & tone, for example “warm, simple English, no slang”
   • Call to action, for example “Book a free class at https://example.com/book”
   • Qualification flow, for example “Ask their level and preferred time, then ask for their email”
5. For Custom, write everything in the Custom prompt box (example below).
6. Under Reply behavior, choose Multi-message (short messages, set Max messages from 1 to 10) or Single reply.
7. Set Max tokens (how long a reply can be; raise it if replies get cut off) and Chat history limit (how many recent messages the AI reads; values above 50 act like 50).
8. Click Set Live, then test by DMing your trigger word from another Instagram account.

Example Custom prompt

You are the DM assistant for Asha Yoga, an online yoga studio.
Classes: beginners, Mon-Fri 7:00 am IST on Zoom. Price: first class free,
then ₹999 / $15 per month. Booking link: https://example.com/book
Refunds: within 7 days of payment, by email to hello@example.com.
Ask each person their level (new / some experience) and their email.
Tag people who ask about prices with "price-question".
If someone is upset or asks for a refund, hand over to a human.
Keep each message to 2 sentences. Never discuss medical advice.

Tips for good instructions

• Write every price, link, policy and opening time in the instructions. The AI only shares links that appear there.
• Say which details to collect (name, email, phone) and which tags to add. It only tags and collects when you ask it to.
• Say when to hand over to you. Your rules come before the built-in ones. See take over from the AI.
• Say what it should not talk about.
• Ask for short replies (“max 2 sentences”) if messages feel long.
• Use real examples of questions your followers ask, with the answer you want.

On the phone app

You can’t edit AI instructions in the InstantDM app. Use the web app at app.instantdm.com on a computer.

What your followers see

Short DM-style replies in their own language, with your links as buttons if you chose Rich Text.

Good to know

• Built-in rules apply to every AI Reply step: it doesn’t invent prices, dates or links; it replies in the person’s language; it keeps messages short; it steers off-topic messages back to your business; it checks that emails and phone numbers look right; and it doesn’t repeat a full answer it already gave.
• The AI also sees the person’s saved answers and tags, and the recent messages in that chat.
• Each AI Reply step has its own instructions. If you have several AI flows, update each one.
• Only the last message of a reply carries buttons or quick replies.

What you can’t do

• Upload documents, link a website, or train the AI on past DMs.
• Approve replies before they’re sent.
• Set a blocked-words list or office hours for the AI.
• Control the AI’s follow-ups. It decides, at most 2 per conversation.

If it doesn’t work

• “AI Reply: Business description is required in Guided mode.” → fill What does your business do?
• “AI Reply: Custom prompt is required in Custom mode.” → write your instructions in Custom prompt.
• The AI says it doesn’t have that information → add the fact to the instructions.
• Replies are cut off → raise Max tokens.
• Followers see a long link instead of a button → choose Rich Text.
• Walls of text → choose Multi-message, or write “max 2 sentences” in the instructions.