Each automation has one trigger (chosen when you click Create Automation) and is configured through the four-step builder. This page is the full reference for every option you’ll see.
Triggers
When you create an automation you first answer “What should trigger this automation?” and pick one of three:
| Trigger | Fires when… | Can post a public reply? |
|---|
| Comments on your Post or Reel | Someone comments on your post or reel | Yes |
| Replies to your Story | Someone replies to your story | No (replies arrive as DMs) |
| Sends you a DM | Someone sends your account a direct message | No |
Step 1 — Choose the content (Post / Story)
This step decides which posts or stories the automation watches.
Comments trigger:
- Specific posts or reels — pick exactly which ones (select at least one from the grid).
- Any post or reel — applies to all your posts.
- Upcoming posts — applies to everything you publish from now on.
Story trigger: the same three choices for stories — Specific stories, Any story, Upcoming stories.
DM trigger: has no content to choose, so this step is skipped (it just prompts you to continue).
Step 2 — Targeting & keywords
Decide which comments or messages qualify:
- Comments / Messages containing specific keywords — only fires when the text contains one of your keywords.
- Any comment / Any message — fires on everything, regardless of content.
When matching on keywords:
| Option | Details |
|---|
| Keywords | The words to match — up to 25. Matching is case-insensitive. |
| Excluded keywords | Optional. If the text contains any of these, the automation is skipped. |
| Allow partial keyword matching | Also matches text that is close to your keywords, even with typos or slight variations. |
- Add up to 5 reply variants — one is picked at random each time so replies don’t look repetitive.
- Each variant can be up to 500 characters.
Step 3 — The DM flow (Actions)
The Actions step is titled “Set up your DM flow.” It has three toggles, run in order:
Send a welcome message
An opening DM with a button the person taps to opt in (Instagram requires this opt-in before you can fully message someone).
- Message — the main text, up to 640 characters, with personalization variables.
- Subtitle — optional, up to 80 characters.
- A fixed “Let’s Chat! 💬” button (label editable; the button itself can’t be removed).
Ask to follow first
Invites the person to follow you before continuing. Locked until “Send a welcome message” is enabled.
- Message and Subtitle, same limits as above.
- Two fixed buttons: “Visit profile” and ”✅ I am following.”
- SocialSyncs verifies the follow before moving on, and skips this step if the person already follows you.
Send the primary DM
The main payoff message. Pick a DM format:
| Format | Description |
|---|
| Text + Buttons | A message with optional quick-reply or link buttons. |
| Image / Video | A single image or video with no text body. |
| Carousel | Up to 10 swipeable cards, each with a title and buttons. |
None of the three DM actions are mandatory. You can build a comment automation that only posts a public reply, or one that sends a single primary DM with no welcome step.
Personalize with variables
In any message field, use Insert to drop in a variable that’s filled per person:
| Variable | Inserts |
|---|
| First name | {{first_name}} — first name from the username |
| Username | {{user_name}} — the person’s Instagram username |
| Trigger date | {{last_updated}} — when the automation was triggered |
| Comment text | {{comment_text}} — the comment they left (Comments trigger) |
The available variables match the trigger — for the Story and DM triggers, the message text variable reads Story reply text / DM text instead of Comment text.
A high-converting comment flow: enable Auto-reply publicly to comments (Step 2) → Send a welcome message → Send the primary DM (Step 3). Add Ask to follow first in between if you want people to follow you before they get the link.
