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Instagram Tool

The Instagram tool lets your flow act on Instagram — send a direct message, reply to a comment, send a private reply, or moderate comments. It's most often paired with the Instagram trigger so your bot can answer DMs and comments automatically.

Add it to a Tool node (for a single deterministic action) or to an Agent node's tool list (so the agent decides when to use it).

Adding it to a flow​

In the Tool node's tool picker, choose Instagram, then pick the account and operations you want to enable.

Setup / credentials​

The Instagram tool sends messages from a connected Instagram Business account.

  1. Connect your Instagram Business account to Flowera (via Channels → Instagram).
  2. In the tool, open the Instagram Account dropdown and select that account.
  3. If your flow starts with a single Instagram trigger, Flowera auto-selects the matching account for you.
info

Only Instagram Business (or Creator) accounts can be connected. Personal accounts are not supported by Instagram's messaging API.

Token expiry

Instagram access tokens expire. If you see an "access token has expired" error, reconnect the account from Channels → Instagram and the tool will pick up the new token automatically.

Inputs​

ParameterDescriptionRequired
Instagram AccountThe connected Instagram Business account to send from.Yes
OperationsWhich actions to enable for this tool. Enable only what the flow needs.Yes

Available operations

OperationWhat it does
Send Direct MessageSend a text DM to a user.
Send Image MessageSend an image, video, or audio file by DM (images up to 8 MB, video/audio up to 25 MB).
Reply to CommentPost a public reply to a comment on a post.
Send Private ReplySend a private DM to someone who commented (7-day window, one per comment).
Hide CommentHide or unhide a comment.
Delete CommentPermanently delete a comment.
note

Read-only lookups (user profile, media comments, media info) are always available to the tool — you don't need to enable them.

How inputs get filled​

When the flow starts from an Instagram trigger, Flowera wires the incoming event to the tool, so the addressing fills itself in:

  • The person who messaged or commented becomes the recipient (recipientId) of your reply.
  • The commentId from the event is used for comment replies and private replies.
  • Media is taken from an image/asset URL when you send an image message.

The text is yours to set. In a Tool node, add a Tool Input Argument named messageDM (or messageComment / messagePrivateReply) and give it the node label of whoever wrote the reply — {{ Agent }}. Attached to an Agent instead, the agent supplies the text itself when it decides to call the tool.

An unmapped messageDM echoes the customer

If you leave the text argument out of a Tool node, it falls back to the incoming message — the customer gets their own words back. Map it explicitly.

You can also drive these from flow state or variables when the flow doesn't start from a webhook.

Outputs​

The Instagram tool returns the result of the action (for example, the sent message details or the affected comment). It is a single-output tool — the flow continues to the next connected node. Store anything you need later in flow state.

Example​

Auto-reply to new DMs

  1. Start the flow with an Instagram trigger on the "message" event.
  2. Add an Agent node that reads the incoming message and drafts a helpful reply.
  3. Give the agent the Instagram tool with Send Direct Message enabled.

When a customer DMs your account, the agent writes a reply and the tool sends it straight back to that customer — no manual recipient setup needed.

Tips​

  • Enable only the operations you need. Fewer enabled operations means a clearer, more reliable tool for the agent to choose from.
  • Private replies are one-shot. Instagram allows a single private reply per comment within 7 days — don't rely on it for back-and-forth conversation.
  • Reconnect on token errors. Expired-token errors are fixed by reconnecting the account, not by editing the flow.