Connect Instagram
Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account to manage direct messages through Qwetty.
Prerequisites
- An Instagram Business or Creator account (personal accounts are not supported)
- Admin access to your Qwetty organization
Connection steps
- Go to Settings → Channel
- Click Create Channel and select Instagram
- Enter a name for your channel and save
- Click Connect with Instagram
- You'll be redirected to Instagram's authorization page — sign in with your Instagram account
- Grant the required permissions:
instagram_business_basic— Access profile informationinstagram_business_manage_messages— Send and receive DMsinstagram_business_manage_comments— Manage commentsinstagram_business_content_publish— Publish content
- Authorize the application
Once authorized, you'll be redirected back to Qwetty and your channel status will show as Connected. Incoming Instagram DMs will appear in the Chats page.
Note: Qwetty uses Instagram Login — you sign in directly with your Instagram account. No Facebook Page or Facebook account is required.
What you can do
- Receive and reply to Instagram direct messages
- View sender profile information (username, followers, bio)
- Send text messages, images, audio, video, and PDF files
- Send heart stickers and emoji reactions
- Share your own Instagram posts in conversations
Messaging window
Instagram has a 24-hour messaging window. After a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to respond. After that window closes, you can still respond using the Human Agent tag, which extends the response window for cases where a human agent needs more time.
See Channel Limitations for more details on messaging windows.
Limitations
- No group messaging — Instagram DMs via API are one-to-one only
- Messages in the Requests folder that have been inactive for 30+ days are not returned via API
- When customers share media (reels, posts), only the URL link is included
- Story replies and mentions appear as regular DMs
Channel details
After connecting, go to Settings → Channel → [Your Channel] → Details to view:
- Overview — Profile picture, username, followers, following, posts, bio
- Instagram Insights — Account metrics and recent media performance
- Activity — Connection and message activity logs
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| "No Instagram account found" | Ensure your Instagram account is a Business or Creator account |
| OAuth error during connection | Try clearing your browser cache and reconnecting |
| Messages not arriving | Check that your Instagram account has messaging enabled in Instagram settings |
| Disconnected unexpectedly | The OAuth token may have expired — reconnect from Settings → Channel |
Next steps
- Channel Dashboard — Monitor your Instagram channel
- Channel Limitations — Understand messaging windows and restrictions
- Inbox Overview — Learn how to manage conversations