AI agent in Instagram Direct: how it works and what it costs
The agent replies in Direct to people no funnel caught, following your rules and knowledge base. Every reply uses credits: 1 on Haiku, 3 on Sonnet.
The AI agent replies to people in Instagram Direct on behalf of your account. It writes like a manager in a chat: briefly, in the customer's language, following your rules and knowledge base.
Set it up in Automations → AI agent. You turn it on and off there too.
When the agent replies#
- The agent only replies to messages that no funnel caught. If someone sent a keyword, the funnel runs first and the agent stays silent.
- Voice messages are transcribed first, then answered (if "Understand voice messages" is on).
- Images, stickers and shares aren't handled yet — the agent doesn't reply to them.
- If you reply to a customer yourself in Direct, the agent goes quiet in that conversation for the time set in "Pause after your reply", so it doesn't talk over a live manager.
- The agent doesn't message contacts with the tag set in "Don't reply to contacts with this tag".
What it costs#
Every agent reply uses credits — the same ones you spend on chat and images.
| Model | Credits per reply |
|---|---|
| Claude Haiku — fast, recommended | 1 |
| Claude Sonnet — smarter | 3 |
Pick the model at the bottom of the agent page. Your credit balance is shown there too.
Credits are only used for a reply that actually went out. If a reply wasn't sent (an error, or the Instagram conversation window closed), the credits come back.
The free trial includes 100 credits — 100 replies on Haiku or 33 on Sonnet. How many credits your plan includes and how to buy more: see "Credits".
🔴 Out of credits — the agent stays silent. New Direct messages get no reply until you top up. Craft sends an email, a Telegram message (if Telegram is linked) and a bell notification — no more than once a day.
Rules and knowledge base#
- Communication rule — who you are, how to talk, what to offer, what not to do. Up to 8,000 characters. The agent follows it first.
- Knowledge base — prices, terms, answers to common questions. Paste text or upload a file.
⚠️ The agent reads the first 12,000 characters of the knowledge base. Put the most important things first.
Handing over to a person#
With "Hand ready-to-buy leads over to you" on, the agent flags a customer who is ready to buy, left a phone number or asks for a human, and you get a Telegram notification.
⚠️ The notification only arrives if Telegram is linked to your Craft account. If you sign in with email or Google, link Telegram in settings — otherwise you won't hear about hot leads.
Good to know#
- The agent can only reply within Instagram's messaging window: if someone wrote a long time ago, Instagram won't let a reply through.
- The agent sends at most 3,000 replies a day per account — a safeguard against errors.
- The agent works only in Instagram. Telegram bots don't have it.