Instagram DM agent walkthrough

Watch how to connect Instagram, set the agent live on DMs and story replies, and hand off to a human when it matters — in about five minutes.

Overview

This walkthrough sets up a Helio agent on Instagram DMs end to end. By the end you'll have the agent answering DMs and story replies, with a clean handoff path to your team for anything it shouldn't handle alone.

Prefer to read? The steps below mirror the video.

Before you start

You'll need:

An Instagram Business or Creator account
That account linked to a Meta Business Suite profile you admin
Helio already installed (Install on Shopify)

Instagram only delivers DM events for Business/Creator accounts. Personal accounts can't be automated — convert in the Instagram app first.

Connect Instagram

In Settings → Channels → Instagram, click Connect and authorize Helio through Meta. Helio requests only the messaging scopes it needs — no posting, no follower data.

Choose what the agent handles

Toggle the surfaces the agent should answer. Most stores start with DMs and story replies, and leave comments to the team.

Surface	Recommended	Why
Direct messages	On	Highest intent, private
Story replies	On	Fast, casual, converts well
Comments	Off at first	Public — review tone before enabling

Set the handoff rule

Tell the agent when to step back. A good default: hand off on refund requests, anything mentioning a person by name, or three unresolved turns.

Text Copy

Hand off to a human when:
  - the customer asks for a refund or chargeback
  - the message names a specific team member
  - the agent has not resolved the issue in 3 replies

Go live

Flip the channel to Active. Send your own account a DM to confirm the agent replies in your brand voice, then watch the live inbox for the first real conversations.

Next steps

Set your brand voice so Instagram replies sound like you
A/B test campaigns once DMs are converting