ZZetra

Instagram

Connect an Instagram professional account so your agent answers direct messages.

Overview

Connect an Instagram professional account and your agent answers its direct messages. You can take over any conversation yourself, so routine questions are handled automatically while you step in when you want.

What you can do

Answer Instagram DMs automatically, and take over a conversation whenever you want to handle it yourself.

Before you start

How to connect Instagram

  1. Allow access to messages in Instagram

    In the Instagram app, open your professional account's Settings → Messages and story replies → Message controls and turn on Allow access to messages. Make sure the account is linked to a Facebook Page.

  2. Create a Meta app

    Go to developers.facebook.com/apps, click Create app and choose the Business type. Add the Instagram product to it.

  3. Open the Instagram channel in Zetra

    Open your agent, click Channels and then Setup on the Instagram card. Paste your Meta app's App secret (Meta: App settings → Basic) and click Save. Zetra then shows your Callback URL and Verify token.

  4. Connect the webhook

    In your Meta app, open Instagram → Webhooks (or the Webhooks product), paste Zetra's Callback URL and Verify token, click Verify and save, then subscribe to messages.

  5. Generate an access token

    Connect your Instagram professional account and generate an access token with the instagram_manage_messages permission. Copy your Instagram account ID too.

  6. Finish in Zetra

    Paste the account ID and the token into Zetra, turn replies on and click Save.

Check it works

From an account with a role on your app, send your Instagram account a DM. The agent replies, and the chat appears in Analytics → Conversations.

Switch your Meta app to Live

While your Meta app is in Development mode, only people with a role on the app (admins, developers, testers) can message the agent. To answer the public, submit the app for Meta's App Review for the messaging permission and switch it to Live. That happens in your Meta developer account.

Human takeover

You can take over any conversation yourself. While you're in control, the agent stops replying to that customer.

  1. Open your agent and click Analytics → Conversations.
  2. Open the conversation.
  3. Click Take over. When you're done, click Hand back to AI.

Note

On this channel your replies from Zetra are saved to the conversation log but not sent to the customer. Reply from your Meta inbox (Meta Business Suite) while you've taken over, then hand the conversation back to the AI.

Limitations

  • A professional account linked to a Facebook Page is required. Personal accounts can't be connected.
  • One Instagram account per agent.
  • Comments on posts aren't monitored. The agent answers direct messages only.

Troubleshooting

Messages never reach Zetra

Possible cause: “Allow access to messages” is off, or the webhook isn't subscribed to messages.

Solution: Turn on Allow access to messages in the Instagram app, and check that the webhook in your Meta app is subscribed to messages.
Meta login loops or never finishes

Possible cause: Off-Meta activity is set to “Don't track”, or your network redirects facebook.com to web.facebook.com.

Solution: Temporarily allow Off-Meta activity in your Facebook privacy settings, or try again on a different network (for example mobile data).
Only my own messages get answered

Possible cause: your Meta app is still in Development mode.

Solution: Submit the app for App Review and switch it to Live.

Next steps

Messenger →Connect the Facebook Page linked to your Instagram account too.
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