Story-reply triggers
Updated:
A story reply automation answers people who reply to your story. It uses the same DM sequence as a comment automation, but it points at stories rather than posts, and it lives on a 24-hour clock, because that is how long a story lasts.
Before you start
- An Instagram Business or Creator account connected to the workspace.
- A story that invites a reply. A poll sticker, a question box, or a plain 'reply YES and I will send it' works.
Create the automation with a story reply trigger
Open /automations/new, name it, and pick Story reply as the trigger type. The post-target options change to story options: All stories, Live story, Scheduled story, and Attach while posting.
- All stories: every story you post from this account until you turn the automation off.
- Live story: a story that is up right now. Pick it from the list.
- Scheduled story: a story you have queued but not published.
- Attach while posting: dormant until you attach it to a story in the composer.
Set keywords, or take everything
Keywords and match modes behave exactly as they do for comments: Contains keyword, Exact match, or Any comment, which on this trigger means every reply regardless of what it says.
Story replies are shorter and messier than comments. People send an emoji, a single word, or a whole sentence. Contains is almost always the right mode here, and Exact almost never is.
Write the DM sequence
Step 2 is identical to a comment automation: the optional opening message with a button, the optional follow gate, and the DM that always sends with up to three link buttons.
One difference in tone. A story reply is already a private message, so the person is further along than a commenter is. Skipping the opening message and sending the link straight away tends to read better here.
Add a follow-up if the story runs all day
The follow-up delays are the same: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 6 hours, or 24 hours. Pick something shorter than the life of the story so the nudge still makes sense in context. A 24-hour follow-up on a story that expired ten hours ago is a message about something the person can no longer see.
Save, and attach it to a scheduled story if you have one
Save. If you scheduled the story rather than posting it live, open the story composer and attach the automation from the Attach Automation card. The card only lists story reply automations when the post is a story, so there is nothing to get wrong.
Why there is no public reply on this trigger
Stories have no comment thread. Everything that happens on a story reply is already private, so the public reply card that comment automations get does not exist here. There is nowhere public to put it.
The 24-hour messaging window
Instagram lets a business reply to a person for 24 hours after that person messages them. A story reply is a message, so it opens that window and the automation replies inside it. This is the normal case and you will not notice the rule at all.
Comment-to-DM works differently: it addresses the DM to the comment itself, which is the mechanism Meta provides specifically so a business can answer a commenter it has never messaged before. That is why a comment automation can DM a total stranger and a story automation is only ever answering someone who spoke first.
The practical consequence is on follow-ups. A follow-up scheduled 24 hours after a story reply is at the edge of the window, and if Instagram closes it first the message will not send. Six hours is a safer maximum on this trigger.
Poll taps are not story replies
A poll vote, a slider, or a quiz answer is not a message, so no story reply webhook fires and no automation runs. If you want a sticker to start a DM conversation, use a question sticker or ask for a plain reply in the story text.
Frequently asked questions
Can one automation handle both comments and story replies?
No. A trigger type is one type. Clone the automation and switch the copy to the other trigger, which is faster than rebuilding the DM sequence twice.
What happens when the story expires?
Replies stop arriving because the story is gone, so the automation goes quiet. It stays active and starts working again on your next story if the post target is All stories.
Does Retrigger work on story automations?
No. Retrigger only supports comment automations, because it works by fetching existing comments on a post. There is no equivalent list of past story replies to replay.
Do story reply automations count against the plan limit?
Yes. Every active automation counts, whatever its trigger. Starter allows 5 active at a time; Creator is unlimited.
Can I use a follow gate on story replies?
Yes, the whole DM sequence is available. Be aware that someone replying to your story is often already a follower, so the gate frequently adds a step and converts nobody.
ReelDrop handles scheduling, AI carousels, captions, and DM automation in one place. Start free today.
Get started