By the end of this page you'll have a live automation that DMs anyone who comments a keyword on your post.

Your list isn't empty to start with: a new workspace already holds two paused Example automations — a plain keyword → DM, and a follower gate. You can edit the plain one instead of starting fresh — The example we left you — or leave it alone and follow the steps below. Those two and six more ready-made automations are in the template library, which is where New automation starts.

Prefer not to click? The same automation can be written as a short document and sent from the terminal or by an AI assistant — see Write an automation as steps. Everything below is the dashboard route.

Steps

1. In big, click New automation. It opens the template library.
2. Pick Comment a word → DM your link. It opens on the canvas with a comment trigger on the keyword LINK, a public reply, and a DM, all already written. It starts paused, so nothing sends while you edit it.
3. Bind the post. The trigger card says No post bound. Click it and pick the post (or reel) you want to watch. The automation won't save without one.
4. Set the keyword. Keep LINK or type the word people will comment. big matches the whole word, so a comment of link or Send me the LINK will fire, but linkup will not. See Triggers for the exact matching rules.
5. Edit the public reply. The Reply to comment step answers under their comment so they know to check their inbox. Change "Sent it to your DMs 📩" if you like.
6. Write the DM. The Send a DM step carries an https://example.com placeholder. Replace it with your link or call to action.
7. Turn it on and save. Switch the automation on at the top of the canvas, then press Save.

From scratch instead

Pick Start from scratch in step 1 to get a blank canvas with only the trigger card. Choose Comment on a post and select the post, set the keyword, click Send a DM and write your message, and optionally add Reply to comment. (The other two triggers — an incoming DM, and a reply to one of your stories — need no target: they watch the whole account. See Triggers.) Then turn it on and save.

Test it

Comment your keyword on the post from a different Instagram account. Within a few moments you should see the DM arrive and, if you added one, the public reply.

One thing to know before you test twice: each account can trigger a given automation only once every 24 hours. If you comment again from the same test account to double-check, nothing happens — that's the per-contact cooldown, not a bug. Use a second account or wait it out.

It didn't fire?

Don't worry — there are a few common reasons (the keyword didn't match exactly, the messaging window had closed, or you hit your plan cap). Walk through "Why didn't my automation fire?".

Next step

Learn how matching works in Triggers.