Connect an Instagram professional account with Facebook Login so an AI agent replies to direct messages, with human takeover in the shared inbox.
Objective
Connect an Instagram professional account so an agent can reply to its direct messages. The primary path is one-click Connect with Facebook (Facebook Login for Business); a Connect manually fallback lets you bring your own Meta app.
Access
Sidebar -> Messaging -> Instagram Routes:
- /app/{tenant}/instagram (connect and manage accounts)
- /app/{tenant}/instagram/conversations (Instagram direct-message conversations)
Roles
- owner, admin: connect, assign, activate, edit, and disconnect accounts.
- agent: can open the page and the conversations but cannot connect, edit, or disconnect accounts.
Availability and prerequisites
- Your plan must include Instagram; the number of active accounts is capped by your plan plus the Social Accounts Pack add-on.
- An Instagram professional account (business or creator) linked to a Facebook Page.
- At least one active agent to assign. An account cannot go active without an assigned, active agent.
- A verified email.
If your plan includes Instagram but you still do not see it in the sidebar, contact support (this channel is being rolled out gradually).
Connect with Facebook (recommended)
- Click Connect with Facebook.
- Complete the Facebook Login for Business flow and grant the Pages whose linked Instagram accounts you want to connect.
- Each linked Instagram professional account is connected as inactive and unassigned.
- You will see a banner: "Connected with Facebook. Now assign an agent to each account below, then turn it on."
- For each account: assign an agent and switch it Active.
To add an account you created later, click Connect with Facebook again and choose Edit settings (Edit access) in the Facebook dialog. If no new accounts are found you will see "No new Instagram accounts were found."
Connect manually (bring your own Meta app)
Use Connect manually to open the connect form. The technical fields live under the Advanced (use your own Meta app) section (expanded by default when adding).
Primary fields:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Username | Optional. Your Instagram handle, without the @. Shown in the dashboard. |
| Agent | A responder picker: a solo agent or a Team. |
| Active | Receive and reply to messages. |
Advanced fields:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Instagram account ID | The Instagram professional account ID. Required on add (numbers only). |
| Facebook Page ID | The Facebook Page linked to this Instagram account. Required on add (numbers only). |
| Page access token | The Page access token with messaging permissions. Required on add. On edit, leave blank to keep the current token. |
| App secret | Optional. Only needed with your own Meta app. |
| Webhook verify token | Optional. Only needed with your own Meta app. |
A copyable webhook URL ({base}/api/instagram/webhook) is provided for your Meta app configuration. Tokens and secrets are stored encrypted and never shown again.
The Connect manually button is disabled once you reach your plan's account cap.
Manage connected accounts
Each account appears as a card titled with its @handle (or its Instagram account ID when no handle is set). It has an Active/Inactive toggle and an inline agent/team picker. Expand it to see the Page ID and, when unhealthy, the health error plus a Reconnect button (which restarts the Facebook flow). The kebab menu has Edit and Disconnect.
Status badges: Solo / Team (N specialists), Needs reconnection, Linked agent inactive, and Paused by plan limit.
Notes:
- An account cannot be set Active without an assigned active agent (the toggle is disabled with "Select an agent to start replying."); clearing the agent deactivates the account.
- Assign a Team instead of a single agent to let a coordinator ask a specialist for help (requires the Teams plan and an approved specialist).
Plan limits
A usage line shows "N active accounts of M" (or "(unlimited)"). Without the entitlement you see "Instagram is not in your plan" with a View plans link to billing. Hitting the cap opens an upgrade dialog. The Social Accounts Pack adds one account slot per unit.
Conversations
Open View conversations to reach /app/{tenant}/instagram/conversations. The list shows the customer name, relative time, and AI-status badges (AI active / Human / Escalated), plus "Needs attention" and "Opted out" flags. The detail view has the message thread with delivery ticks (sent / delivered / read / failed), a Take over / Hand back to AI toggle, a Team-assisted badge when a team helped, and a reply composer. A customer who opted out shows "This customer opted out of messages. They must send START to resume." instead of the composer. These conversations also appear in the unified inbox at /app/{tenant}/conversations.
Disconnect
Disconnect asks to confirm: "Disconnect {name}? Your agent will stop replying to its direct messages. This cannot be undone." It permanently removes the connection.
Good practices
- After connecting with Facebook, assign an agent to each account before turning it on.
- If replies stop, look for Needs reconnection and use Reconnect to refresh the Facebook permissions.
- Use a Team responder for accounts that need more than one area of expertise.