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Instagram Direct

Connect Instagram Direct to your Workspace to keep up with the Direct Messages (DMs) customers send your business’s Instagram account, reply to them, and build features that react the moment a new DM comes in.

You log in with Instagram directly — no Facebook account or Facebook Page is needed.

What Luo can do

  • Account — see which Instagram account is connected (@username and display name)
  • Conversations — list your DM conversations, most recent first
  • Messages — read the messages in a conversation, and open a single message to see its attachments and the message it replied to
  • Customer profiles — look up the display name and @username of the person you’re talking to (empty if they haven’t shared it)
  • Reply — send text messages and images (from a public https:// link)
  • Typing and seen — show “typing…” in a conversation, or mark it as seen

Luo asks for your confirmation before it sends a text or an image. You can choose to always allow sending to that person. Showing “typing…” or marking a conversation as seen doesn’t need confirmation.

Triggers

  • Message received — start a workflow whenever someone sends a DM to your connected account. Includes the message text and how many attachments it has. Messages your own account sends don’t fire it.

Luo registers the trigger with Instagram for you — there’s nothing to set up in Meta’s dashboards.

What Luo can’t do

  • Message someone outside the 24-hour window. Instagram only lets businesses reply within 24 hours of the person’s last message. After that, every send is blocked until they write to you again. The assistant tells you when the window has closed instead of retrying.
  • Start a conversation or message by @handle. Luo can only reply to people who have messaged your account first.
  • Send videos, files, audio, or buttons. Only text and images are supported.
  • React to your own sent messages or read receipts. Only incoming messages can start a workflow.
  • Read posts, comments, or story mentions. This integration only covers Direct Messages.

Before you start

You need an Instagram Professional account (Business or Creator). Personal accounts can’t use Instagram’s messaging features — switch to a professional account in the Instagram app’s settings first.

Then allow connected tools to access your messages: in the Instagram app, go to Settings → Messages and story replies → Message controls and turn on Allow access to messages. Without it, Luo can’t read or send your DMs.

How to connect

  1. Open your workspace in Luo, go to Settings → Integrations, and click Add Integration.
  2. Select Instagram Direct.
  3. Click Connect under User Integration (your personal connection) or Workspace Integration (shared across members).
  4. An Instagram window opens. Log in with the Instagram account you want to connect and approve the permissions.
  5. Back in Luo, click Create Integration.

The connection is labeled with the account’s @username and name. Each connection covers one Instagram account — to connect another, add the integration again.

If the Instagram window doesn’t open, allow pop-ups for Luo in your browser and click Connect again.

Permissions

Luo asks Instagram for these permissions:

Permission Purpose
instagram_business_basic See your account’s ID, @username, and name
instagram_business_manage_messages Read and send Direct Messages, and get notified of new ones

Good to know

  • Luo keeps your connection alive. Instagram’s access lasts about 60 days. Luo renews it automatically while the integration is in use or has an active trigger. A connection with no active triggers that goes unused for more than a month can expire — reconnect to fix it.
  • Several workspaces can connect the same account. Each one receives its own copy of every new message.

Troubleshooting

  • Luo can’t see your DMs — check that Allow access to messages is turned on in the Instagram app (Before you start).
  • A send fails after a conversation went quiet — the 24-hour window has closed. You can message the person again once they write to you.
  • Calls fail with a permission or login error (Meta code 190) — Instagram revoked Luo’s access, or the connection expired after a long period without use. Reconnect the integration.
  • Rate limits — when Meta limits requests, Luo waits and retries automatically.

Privacy and data handling

Luo only reads and sends messages for the account you connect, and stores its access token encrypted. Every new-message notification is checked to make sure it really comes from Meta before Luo acts on it. Data flowing through Luo is governed by Luo’s security and privacy practices.

To revoke access, remove Luo under Settings → Website permissions → Apps and websites in the Instagram app — the connection stops working. Then remove the integration in Luo.