With the Instagram channel, your agent answers the Direct messages people send to your Instagram account. You connect the account once with Facebook, and the published agent starts answering. Conversations show up in the Inbox like any other.
Instagram messages reach Peki through Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook. That's why you connect with Facebook, and why your Instagram account needs a few settings first.
Before you connect
The Instagram card lists three things to check. All three must be true, or the account can't be connected or messages won't arrive.
- Your Instagram account is a professional account (Business or Creator).
- It is linked to a Facebook Page you manage.
- In Instagram, Settings and activity → Messages and story replies → Message controls → Connected tools → Allow access to messages is on.
Meta renames menus from time to time. If a name below doesn't match what you see, look for the closest one, or search for it in the app's settings.
1. A professional account
Peki can only connect Business and Creator accounts. A personal account can't receive messages through other tools.
In the Instagram app:
- Go to your profile and tap ☰ (top right).
- Tap Settings and activity.
- Scroll to Account type and tools (on some versions: For professionals).
- Tap Switch to professional account, pick a category and choose Business or Creator.
If the screen offers Switch to personal account instead, the account is already professional.
2. Linked to a Facebook Page you manage
The Instagram account must be linked to a Facebook Page, and you must be an admin of that Page (you have full control of it). If you don't have a Page yet, create one in Facebook first.
In the Instagram app:
- Go to your profile and tap Edit profile.
- Under Public business information (or Profile information), tap Page.
- Tap Connect existing Page, log in to Facebook if asked, and pick your Page.
Or in Facebook:
- Meta Business Suite: open business.facebook.com, go to Settings → Accounts → Instagram accounts, and connect your account to the Page.
- The Facebook Page: switch into your Page, open Settings → Linked accounts (on some versions: Linked accounts under Permissions), choose Instagram and press Connect account.
When the link works, your Page's name shows under Page in the Instagram profile editor.
3. Allow access to messages
This switch lets tools like Peki read and answer your Direct messages. It's off by default.
In the Instagram app:
- Go to your profile and tap ☰.
- Tap Settings and activity.
- Tap Messages and story replies.
- Tap Message controls.
- Under Connected tools, turn on Allow access to messages.
On newer versions of Instagram the switch can also be under Settings and activity → Business tools and controls (or Creator tools and controls) → Connected tools. If you can't find Connected tools at all, the account isn't professional yet (step 1).
In Facebook, there's a matching switch for the Page: open Settings & privacy → Settings → Linked accounts → Instagram, and make sure Allow access to Instagram messages in Inbox is on.
Connect
- Open the agent and go to Channels → the Instagram card.
- Read the checklist under Before you connect, then press Connect with Facebook.
- A Facebook window opens. Log in, then choose the business (if your Page is in one), the Page linked to your Instagram account and the Instagram account itself. Keep every permission on and finish. See The Facebook window, step by step.
- Back in Peki, a list shows your Pages under "Pick the Instagram account to connect". Pages without a linked Instagram account show "No Instagram account linked" and can't be picked.
- Press Connect next to the one you want.
- The card shows Connected as @username with the Page's name.
Peki's access to the Page is stored encrypted and is never shown, not even to you.
Customers always talk to the published version. If the agent isn't published yet, the card says so, and nobody gets an answer. See Publishing and versions.
To try it, write to your Instagram account from another Instagram account.
The Facebook window, step by step
This is where most people get stuck. Facebook shows a few screens in a row:
- Continue as your name. If Facebook remembers an earlier choice, it may skip the next screens. Press Edit settings (or Edit previous settings / Choose what you allow) so you can choose again.
- Choose the businesses. If your Page belongs to a business portfolio (Meta Business Suite), select that business. Without it, the Page and its Instagram account don't show up later.
- Choose the Pages. Tick every Page you want to use with Peki.
- Choose the Instagram accounts. Tick the Instagram account linked to your Page.
- Review the permissions. Keep every switch on and press Save / Done.
You can come back and change these choices any time: in Facebook, open Settings & privacy → Settings → Business integrations, find Peki AI, press View and edit, and add the Page or Instagram account there. Then press Connect with Facebook in Peki again.
Permissions Peki asks for
Facebook shows a list of permissions in its window. Keep them all on: Peki needs every one of them.
| Permission | Why Peki needs it |
|---|---|
pages_show_list | To show your Pages so you can pick one. |
pages_messaging | To send the agent's replies. |
pages_manage_metadata | To ask Facebook to pass new messages to Peki. |
business_management | For Pages owned through a business portfolio (Meta Business Suite). |
instagram_basic | To read your Instagram account's name and @username. |
instagram_manage_messages | To read and answer your Instagram Direct messages. |
Meta's 24-hour rule
Meta lets a business reply only within 24 hours of the customer's last message.
- After 24 hours, the agent stays silent until the customer writes again. Then it answers as usual.
- A teammate can still reply for up to 7 days. When someone on your team takes over in the Inbox, their reply is sent with Meta's "human agent" tag, which Meta allows for 7 days after the customer's last message.
- If Meta doesn't accept that reply, the Inbox shows under the message: "Outside Meta's reply window; the customer must write first."
- Automations can't start a conversation on Instagram. The customer always has to write first.
What's supported
| Feature | How it works |
|---|---|
| Text | The agent's replies are sent as plain text: formatting such as bold is removed and lists become lines. Long replies are split into several messages of up to 1000 bytes each (about 500–1000 characters, depending on the language). |
| Photos and documents | Photos, PDFs and text files up to 10 MB are saved for the agent, up to 5 per message. See Files and attachments. |
| Unsupported media | Voice messages, audio, video, shared posts and story mentions get the reply "I can't open this kind of file yet. Please send a photo, a PDF or a text file, or write your message." Nothing is stored. |
| Buttons | When the customer taps a button, its text is read as their message. |
| Typing indicator | Instagram has none. |
| Team replies | When a teammate takes over, their messages and files go out from your Instagram account. |
| Replies from Meta's own inbox | Replies typed in Meta Business Suite or the Instagram app show in the Peki conversation as team messages, marked Instagram. |
| Deleted messages | If the customer unsends a message, the Inbox marks it "Deleted by the customer". |
| Feedback on resolve | When your team resolves a conversation the agent answered last, the customer gets "Was this conversation helpful?" with 👍 / 👎 buttons. Ratings show in Analytics. |
| Customer profile | The person's name and Instagram @username are filled in on their customer profile. |
The channel's own short messages (busy, file refused, thanks and so on) are in Turkish unless the customer's language is known. The agent's replies follow the language the customer writes in.
One account, one agent
An Instagram account answers for one agent at a time.
- Connected to another agent in this workspace: Peki asks "This Page is connected to agent. Move it here?" Press Move it here to move it. The other agent stops answering on Instagram; its conversations stay in its Inbox.
- Connected in another workspace: Peki shows "This Page is connected in another Peki workspace. Disconnect it there first."
Instagram and Messenger of the same Page are separate channels: they can go to different agents.
Disconnecting
- Go to Channels → the Instagram card.
- Press Disconnect and confirm: "The agent stops answering here. Peki deletes its access to the Page."
Conversations stay in the Inbox. Deleting the agent also disconnects it.
To remove Peki's access fully on Facebook's side too, open Facebook → Settings & privacy → Settings → Business integrations (on some versions: Apps and websites) and remove the app.
Connecting the same account again later just works: press Connect with Facebook and go through the steps again.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Why, and what to do |
|---|---|
| "Facebook didn't accept the login. Please try again." | The Facebook window was closed or the login failed. Try again. |
| "Some permissions were turned off. Connect again and allow all of them." | You switched off a permission in the Facebook window. Connect again and keep all of them on; Peki asks Facebook to show the permissions again. |
| Your Page or Instagram account isn't in the list | It wasn't selected in the Facebook window, or its business wasn't selected. Press Connect with Facebook again and choose Edit settings, or add it in Facebook → Business integrations → Peki AI. See The Facebook window, step by step. |
| "No Facebook Pages were shared with Peki. Connect again and select your Page." | You didn't select a Page in the Facebook window, or you aren't an admin of it. Connect again and select the Page. |
| "None of your Pages has an Instagram professional account linked. Link one in Instagram first." | See Before you connect: the account must be professional and linked to the Page. |
| "This Page is connected to agent. Move it here?" | The account answers for another agent in this workspace. Press Move it here to move it. |
| "This Page is connected in another Peki workspace. Disconnect it there first." | Disconnect it in the other workspace, then connect it here. |
| "This sign-in expired. Connect with Facebook again." | The list of Pages was left open for more than 15 minutes. Press Connect with Facebook again. |
| The card says Needs reconnect | Facebook no longer accepts Peki's access: the password was changed, the app was removed, you lost admin rights on the Page, or the login expired. The Inbox also shows "This channel needs to be connected again: replies aren't reaching customers." Press Reconnect and go through the Facebook window again. |
| The card says Not available yet | Instagram isn't switched on for this Peki installation yet. |
| Messages don't arrive | Check that Allow access to messages is on and that the account is professional. Messages from people who don't follow you may land in Message requests in Instagram, but they still reach Peki. |
| The agent doesn't answer after a long pause | The customer's last message is more than 24 hours old. See Meta's 24-hour rule. |
| "Outside Meta's reply window; the customer must write first." under your reply | Your reply came more than 7 days after the customer's last message, or Meta refused it as out of time. See Meta's 24-hour rule. |
| "Not delivered to the customer." under a message | Meta refused the message for another reason. Try again, or ask the customer to write. |