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Instagram DM automation with AI in n8n, Make and Zapier

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Short answer

DMowl sends a webhook when something happens in your Instagram DMs (email collected, link clicked, giveaway entry, opt-out, order). Catch it in n8n, Make or Zapier, run an AI step, and call DMowl’s REST API to tag the contact, update fields or reply. In n8n’s AI Agent you can also add DMowl as an MCP tool.

The building blocks

BlockWhat it does
Webhook from DMowllead.email_collected, link.clicked, giveaway.entered, contact.opted_out, conversion.created, signed with HMAC-SHA256
AI stepOpenAI, Anthropic or any model node in your tool: classify, summarise, write
DMowl REST APIGET /api/v1/contacts/{id}, PATCH /api/v1/contacts/{id}, POST /api/v1/contacts/{id}/messages and more, with your API key as bearer token
DMowl MCPIn agent nodes that support MCP: URL https://dmowl.com/mcp with Authorization: Bearer pk_live_…

Example: score every new lead with AI

  1. 1
    Trigger

    Webhook node (n8n), Custom webhook (Make) or Catch Hook (Zapier). Paste its URL in DMowl under Integrations → Outgoing webhook and select lead.email_collected.

  2. 2
    Fetch the conversation

    HTTP request: GET https://dmowl.com/api/v1/contacts/{{contact_id}} with your API key. The response includes the latest messages.

  3. 3
    Ask the AI

    Model step: “Rate this lead from 1 to 5 for buying intent and give one sentence why.”

  4. 4
    Write back

    PATCH the contact with properties { score, reason }, and add the folder Hot leads for scores of 4 and 5. Optionally push the lead to your CRM.

More ideas

  • link.clicked → AI writes a personal follow-up → send it through the API while the 24-hour window is open.
  • conversion.created → post the order and the DM that caused it to Slack.
  • giveaway.entered → add entrants to a newsletter list with their consent.
  • contact.opted_out → remove the contact from other marketing tools.

Verify the X-DMowl-Signature header in your workflow and answer within 5 seconds; put slow AI steps after the response.

Questions? Answers.

Do I need a paid DMowl plan?

Webhooks and the API are included in every plan; the Free plan has a daily API call limit.

Can the workflow send DMs to anyone?

Only to contacts inside Instagram’s 24-hour window. DMowl checks this on every send and marks other messages as skipped.

Free tools for this

💸 Comment-to-DM ROI calculator💬 AI DM script generator

Try it on your own Instagram

Free for up to 100 active contacts. No credit card, set up in two minutes.

Start for free

More guides

Looking for how a DMowl feature works? DMowl documentation →