> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.ciarem.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Instagram

> Put your AI agent on Instagram DMs, step by step.

Instagram is included on every plan, feeds into the same [Inbox](/using-ciarem/inbox) and the same AI agent as your other channels, and carries no Meta messaging costs.

## Connect your account

You will need an Instagram **professional account** (Business or Creator) and access to the Meta login for that account. Personal accounts cannot connect.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Instagram channel page">
    In the sidebar, go to **Channels**, then **Instagram**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Connect Instagram">
    Meta's secure login opens.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Log in and pick your account">
    Sign in with Meta and select the Instagram professional account you want to connect.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Done">
    DMs start arriving in Ciarem, in the same Inbox as your other channels.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Once connected, the agent answers DMs within Instagram's messaging window rules: it can reply freely while the conversation is active.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/ciaremaai/cNtTcjF_a4GWWvTG/images/ciarem-help-channels-instagram.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=cNtTcjF_a4GWWvTG&q=85&s=690666c354d420039a475cd03a765140" alt="The Instagram channel page with the Connect Instagram button" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/ciarem-help-channels-instagram.png" />

## What you can send and receive

Inbound, the [Inbox](/using-ciarem/inbox) renders text, photos, videos and reels, voice notes, emoji reactions, and quoted replies. It also renders Instagram's own formats: a customer who **mentions you in a story** shows up with the story photo, and one of your **posts shared into the DM** renders as a post card. The exception is file attachments and shared external content, which Instagram does not expose to business tools; those appear as an "Unsupported message" notice.

Outbound, your team and the AI can send text, emoji, photos, videos, and voice notes, quote-reply, and react to the customer's messages. Instagram DMs carry no documents, no captions on media, and no text formatting (asterisks would show literally). [Templates](/channels/message-templates) and button menus are WhatsApp-only. Files are capped at 16 MB; audio is converted automatically to a format Instagram accepts.

## When you reply from the Instagram app

Replying from the Instagram app or Meta Business Suite is fine. The reply mirrors into the Ciarem thread as an outgoing message labeled **Instagram app**, and the conversation is handed to your team: the AI stops replying so it never talks over you. Replies sent from Ciarem itself are never duplicated by this mirroring. When you want the AI back on that conversation, hand it back from the [Inbox](/using-ciarem/inbox).

One thing to switch off: Instagram's built-in **instant reply** (the auto-greeting configured in the Instagram app) counts as a reply from the app. With it on, every new conversation is immediately handed to your team and the Ciarem agent stays silent. Turn it off and let your agent's [first message](/ai-agent/first-message) do that job.

## More than one account

You can connect **more than one Instagram account** to the same workspace. The channel page lists every connected account, with an option to add another. Each open conversation shows which account it belongs to at the top of the chat, so your team always knows which brand or storefront they are answering for.

## One agent, every channel

You configure your business context, knowledge, and transfer rules once. The same agent team uses them on Instagram, WhatsApp, and [Messenger](/channels/connect-messenger), and the [Control center](/ai-agent/agent-health) measures it across all of them.

## Comment-to-DM automations (coming soon)

Soon you will also be able to reply automatically, by DM, to people who comment a keyword on your posts. See [Instagram comment-to-DM automations](/channels/instagram-comment-automations).