Automations: triggers, keywords and steps
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An automation is a trigger plus a list of steps. The trigger decides when it runs — a comment, a DM, a story reply, a story mention or a live comment, optionally only when it contains a keyword. The steps decide what DMowl sends: messages, buttons, tracked links, email capture, follow checks and more.
Triggers
| Trigger | Runs when |
|---|---|
| Post comment | Someone comments on all posts, the next post you publish, or selected posts |
| Incoming DM | Someone sends you a direct message |
| Story reply | Someone replies to one of your stories |
| Story mention | Someone mentions you in their story |
| Live comment | Someone comments during your live video |
Keywords are not case-sensitive and may contain emojis: “link” matches “LINK”, “Link 🔥” and “send me the link”. Choose “All” instead of keywords to react to every message. “First message only” limits a DM trigger to people writing to you for the first time.
Public comment replies
Comment triggers can also reply publicly under the comment. Add several replies — DMowl rotates them — and choose what share of comments gets one; replying to fewer comments looks more natural.
Public replies never contain names, only the @username, so nobody’s first or last name is published. “Skip hateful or negative comments” leaves insults and complaints alone.
Steps
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Send message | A text, optionally with quick-reply buttons. With buttons the flow waits for a tap. |
| Ask a question | Buttons or free text; the answer is saved as a contact property. |
| Send tracked link | A link card. Clicks count as conversions; an optional follow-up goes out if nobody clicks. |
| Collect email | Asks for an email, validates it and saves it to the contact. |
| Require a follow | Checks through the Instagram API that the person follows you before the flow continues. |
| Check conditions | Follows, commented on a post, has an email, is in a folder, has a property value. |
| Wait | Pauses the flow for a number of minutes. |
| Add to folder | Sorts the contact into a folder. |
| Enter giveaway | Adds the contact to a giveaway. |
| Hand to AI agent | The AI agent continues the conversation. |
Insert variables with the “+ Variable” buttons under each text: first name, full name and @username. In DMs they are filled in per person.
Likes cannot be checked — the Instagram API does not expose who liked a post. Ask for a comment or a follow instead.
Drafts, activation and limits
New automations are drafts until you click Activate. The Free plan allows 3 active automations at the same time; Plus has no limit. Every automation shows how often it ran and when it last ran.
All automated DMs follow Instagram’s 24-hour rule: DMowl only messages people who interacted with you in the last 24 hours.
Questions? Answers.
Why did my automation not reply?
Check that it is active, that the keyword is in the comment and that the post is covered (all posts, next post or selected). If you took over the chat in the inbox, automations pause for that contact until you switch back to Auto.
Can two automations react to the same keyword?
Only the first matching automation runs, so each person gets one flow. Use different keywords for different flows.
Still stuck? Write to us and tell us what you tried: hello@dmowl.com