How to connect Instagram

Connecting Instagram is the moment HyperDM goes live on a real account: from then on it can read the DMs and comments that reach you and send the replies you have built. Nothing is sent until you set an automation live or switch the agent on, so connecting is safe to do first.

Before you start

• You need an Instagram professional account — Business or Creator. A personal account cannot be connected; switch it to professional in the Instagram app first.
• Only an owner or admin of the workspace can connect or disconnect a channel. Other roles see the card and its status but no button — see roles-and-permissions.md.
• On the Free plan you can have one DM channel connected at a time. Reconnecting the same account is always allowed — that is a re-authorisation, not a second channel.

Connect from the setup page

The first thing HyperDM shows a new workspace is the setup page at /onboarding. It asks "What should HyperDM do first?", then lists the five setup steps — with Connect Instagram last, because the other four work before any channel is connected.

1. Pick a goal: Send a guide or collect leads, Share my offer in DMs, or Answer business questions with AI. The first two add two optional rows — a comment-to-link reply to build, and a delivered reply to check — and none of them changes the five steps. See getting-started.md.
2. Click Connect Instagram on its row. You are sent to Instagram to authorise the connection.
3. Approve the permissions Meta asks for. You are returned to the setup page.
4. The Connect Instagram row now shows a tick and the connected account.

Connect from Settings

You can do the same thing any time from the Channels tab, which is also where you come back to reconnect.

1. Go to Settings → Channels.
2. On the Instagram card, click Connect Instagram.
3. Authorise on Instagram and you are returned to Settings.
4. The card shows a green Connected badge, and your @handle and profile picture appear on the Dashboard.

Check the badge

The Instagram card always shows one of these badges. Connected is the only one that means DMs are flowing.

Two more notices can appear on a connected card:

• Webhook subscription failed / gone quiet — DMs and comments will not arrive until this succeeds. Click Retry subscription.
• Profile drift — "Instagram may have changed how your ice breakers/menu appear." Click Re-sync to push your welcome prompts and main menu back. The warning only clears when the push actually reached Instagram, and the message names the handle it ran against.

Test it

From a different Instagram account, send a DM to your connected account. It appears in your Inbox within a few seconds. If nothing arrives, check the badge first: a Needs attention card means events are not being delivered yet.

What to do next

• Build your first reply: Set up comment-to-DM.
• Or teach the agent so it can answer open questions: Add knowledge and sync your catalog.

Common problems

The Connect button is missing. You are not an owner or admin of this workspace, or the card says Not on your plan because another channel holds the Free plan's slot.

I connected, but the card says Needs attention. Meta accepted the connection but has not started delivering events. Click Retry subscription. If it keeps failing, see troubleshooting.md.

I want to disconnect. A connected card shows Disconnect, with a confirm dialog. Disconnecting drops the stored token and stops inbound DMs until you reconnect.