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Use the Studio flow editor to send different saved messages based on the buttons a recipient chooses. Message flows are available on the Studio plan; switch to a Studio workspace with permission to create or edit automations. Compare plans.

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Build and save

  1. Open the flow editor and create an automation, or open an existing automation and explicitly convert its DM node into a message flow. Opening an ordinary automation alone does not convert it.
  2. Configure the trigger and the first message. Add optional opening, follow, or email steps.
  3. Add a button to open an HTTP(S) link or send another message. For a message button, create a destination or select an existing message.
  4. Connect every message to the entry so a recipient can reach it. Replier does not warn you about a message left disconnected from the flow — nobody will ever see it. You can reuse a destination across branches or create a return button to an earlier message.
  5. Preview, save, and activate. Test each branch from another account.
A flow supports up to 50 messages, each with up to three buttons and button labels of 1–20 characters. Message text allows 1–640 characters. Each message can send its photo as a Card, which needs a 1–80 character title, or as a Photo; only a Photo without buttons can have no text. Instagram text without buttons also has a 1,000 UTF-8-byte limit. A link button opens the destination and records a click; it does not send the next message. A message button requires a recipient tap for each transition. Loops do not run automatically, and flows are not scheduled drip campaigns. Follow-up messages in the same run do not add interactions. A recipient has 24 hours to tap a button after receiving a message, or 7 days when the flow started from a private reply to a comment. After that window passes, the button no longer continues the flow.

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Send a different message for each keyword

A post can have only one automation. To answer different keywords on the same post with different messages, add branches to one flow.
  1. In the trigger, set the automation’s keywords. They are branch 1 and send the first message.
  2. Under Branches, select Add branch. This adds a message for the branch below the first message. Enter the branch’s keywords, then write that message, or pick another one in Message to send.
  3. In Public reply, each branch has its own tab and its own replies.
Branches are checked in order, and the first branch with a keyword the comment contains replies. A keyword that stands on its own counts before one inside a longer word, so “B please” goes to the branch with “B” even though “please” contains “a”. Meta allows one private reply per comment, so a comment like “I pick A, B looks nice too” gets only branch 1’s message. Use the arrows to change the order. A keyword can be in only one branch, and a branch can’t use a keyword that contains an earlier branch’s keyword, such as “gift b” after “gift”. When branch 1 is set to Any comment, it replies to everything no other branch matches, for example with a message asking people to choose A, B or C. An automation can have up to 10 branches, including branch 1. A person who passes opening, follow or email steps still gets the message of the branch they matched. Story replies and DMs that trigger the automation use the branches too. Removing a branch also removes its message, unless a button or another branch still leads to it.

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Edit an active flow

Save changes to apply them to new runs. Buttons already delivered continue to use the original flow snapshot. Pause or delete the automation to stop future sends, including continuations. Messaging windows, channel access, and billing limits still apply — if the workspace’s Studio subscription ends, delivered buttons stop responding to taps.

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Show performance on the canvas

For a saved flow, enable Show performance in the gear menu. Choose 7, 30, or 90 days. You need analytics access as well as automation viewing access. Save message changes before viewing metrics; refresh manually or wait for the minute refresh. The period selects runs that started then and includes their later activity. Entry counts start at the message flow, after preceding gates, rather than at the trigger. Cards show people reached and delivery outcomes; repeated visits can put a person in more than one outcome. Buttons show distinct clickers and a rate based on people sent that button and destination. One person may click several branches, so rates are not mutually exclusive shares. Trigger, public-reply, and gate steps without tracking are marked unavailable. Older button data may be incomplete.