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Automation doesn’t trigger

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Short answer

Most often the automation is still a draft, it listens to a different post, or the test comment came from your own account — DMowl ignores comments and DMs from the connected account itself. Go through the checklist below in order.

Checklist

  1. 1
    Is it switched on?

    Under Automations the status must be Active. Drafts and paused automations don’t run.

  2. 2
    Is Instagram connected?

    A red “Instagram disconnected” bar at the top means everything is paused. Click Reconnect. In the sandbox nothing reaches Instagram — use the Simulator there.

  3. 3
    Right post?

    “Selected posts” only reacts on those posts. “Next post” locks onto the first post you publish after switching the automation on — older posts don’t count. “All posts” reacts everywhere.

  4. 4
    Does the keyword match?

    Keywords match whole words, ignoring upper/lower case and accents; emojis work too. “LINK” matches “link please 🔥” but not “linking”. Set the match to “All” if every comment should trigger.

  5. 5
    Test with a second account

    Comments and DMs from the connected account itself are ignored on purpose. Comment from another Instagram account.

  6. 6
    Another automation won?

    Each comment or DM starts only one automation: the oldest active one that matches. Check if another automation uses the same post or keyword.

  7. 7
    Filters

    “Skip hateful or negative comments” ignores comments with words like scam or spam. DM automations set to “Only the very first message from a contact” don’t react to people who wrote before.

  8. 8
    Chat is with the team

    If a team member took over a chat (or the AI handed it over), DM automations and the AI stay quiet for that person until you hand the chat back in the inbox.

It triggered, but nothing arrived

Open the contact in the inbox. Messages that couldn’t be delivered are marked “Not delivered” with the reason — see “Messages are not delivered”.

Questions? Answers.

Does DMowl react to old comments?

No. Automations react to comments that arrive while they are switched on. Instagram doesn’t resend older comments.

Why does it work in the Simulator but not on Instagram?

The Simulator runs in the sandbox. On Instagram, check the connection, the post selection and that you tested from a second account.

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Still stuck? Write to us and tell us what you tried: hello@dmowl.com