How Instagram DMs work in Yaplet
When someone sends a direct message to your Instagram Business account, it appears in your Yaplet inbox as an ordinary conversation. Agents reply in the same message pane, and the reply is delivered inside the visitor's Instagram thread.
Prerequisites
- An Instagram Business account (not a personal one). If you are on a personal account, convert it to Business or Creator in the Instagram settings.
- The Instagram account must be linked to a Facebook Page in Meta Business Manager. An Instagram-only connection is not supported — the Facebook Page is the bridge.
- Access to Settings → Organization settings → Meta integration in Yaplet. If you cannot see that entry, ask your organisation's owner.
Connect Instagram through the Meta integration
- Go to Settings → Organization settings → Meta integration.
- Click Add Facebook pages.
- In the Meta dialog, sign in with the Facebook account that manages the Page your Instagram account is linked to.
- Select the Facebook Page or Pages that have an Instagram account attached.
- Grant every permission Yaplet asks for — Instagram DM access is part of the messaging permissions.
- Back in Yaplet, each connected Page appears as a card. Pages with Instagram attached carry an Instagram badge next to the Facebook one.
- On each card, pick the brand the Page belongs to. That brand's chat widget is where the Page's Instagram messages land, and the card shows Active once a brand is chosen. With no brand, incoming messages are dropped; if the brand you pick has no chat widget, the card warns you that messages have nowhere to land.
What visitors get in Instagram DMs
Connected accounts pick up the same conveniences visitors know from the chat widget, with nothing to configure:
- Talk to a human, any time: a permanent chat menu offers Talk to a human and Talk to the AI bot, so visitors switch between the AI and your team with a tap. On top of that, once a visitor has sent enough messages in a short window, AI answers carry a tappable Talk to a human quick reply — how many messages that takes is set on Brand → Vex → Personality → Agent Handoff.
- Opening questions: the brand's Vex agent's first four active conversation starters appear as tappable questions on a new conversation. You write them on Brand → Vex → Starters.
- Typing and read indicators: visitors see their message marked as seen and a typing indicator while the AI writes — and the inbox shows you when a visitor has read your messages.
- Ratings: the Ask for rating action delivers tappable 1–5 star options.
- Tappable choices: a workflow's dropdown questions become quick-reply buttons instead of a typed numbered list.
- Product cards: AI product recommendations arrive as a swipeable carousel with images, prices and View buttons — and the agent viewing that conversation in the Yaplet inbox now sees the same cards, instead of the bare text they used to get.
- Attachments: agent replies deliver every attachment natively — several images, video, audio and files.
These features switch on after the account's first incoming message. The chat menu, opening questions and product cards render in the Instagram mobile apps only — on Instagram web, visitors get plain-text versions instead.
Managing the connection
To send a Page's Instagram messages somewhere else, change the brand on its card. The pages that belong to a brand are also listed, read-only, on Brand → Brand settings → Social → Connected pages, which links back here to change them. To disconnect, click the trash icon on the Page card — that removes Messenger and Instagram for the Page at the same time, because both ride on the same Meta connection.
Troubleshooting
- No Instagram badge: the Instagram account is probably not properly attached to the Facebook Page. Check Meta Business Manager → Accounts → Instagram accounts.
- Messages not arriving: check the card shows Active and that the brand you picked has a chat widget. Also confirm your Meta authorisation has not expired — reconnect if it has.
- Authorisation failed: you need admin access to the Facebook Page, not just to the Instagram account. Ask your Meta Business Manager admin for Page admin rights.
What's next
Facebook Messenger uses the same Meta integration — see Connect Facebook Messenger.