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Setting up Instagram for PerfectAI Chat

Updated

In this article, you will learn how to connect Instagram to a PerfectAI Chat configuration by adding an Instagram account on the Social accounts page, completing the guided login with Meta and linking the account to one of your published chat configurations.

Available from 4 November 2026.

Contents

Prerequisites

  • Extension: connecting Instagram requires the PerfectAI Chat extension. Unlike WhatsApp, the PerfectAI Engage extension alone is not sufficient for this channel.
  • Permission: the Instagram tab is protected by its own permissions for creating, viewing, editing and deleting. These permissions cannot currently be assigned individually in role management. They are included in the administrator role.
  • A published chat configuration: every Instagram account must be linked to a chat configuration, and only configurations that are active and published can be selected. Create, set up and publish the configuration first (see Setting up PerfectAI Chat).
  • Meta side: a professional Instagram account. If you want to use the Facebook login method, the Instagram account also needs to be connected to a Facebook Page or managed through a Meta business account.

Overview

Instagram is connected through a separate Instagram account object on the Social accounts page, not inside the chat configuration wizard. Each Instagram account references one chat configuration, so direct messages that arrive on Instagram are answered by that configuration's bot.

The connection is created through a guided login with Meta. You open a login window, authorise the connection, and the technical identifiers are returned to the Backoffice automatically. You then give the connection a name and pick the chat configuration it belongs to.

Per studio, only one account can be active per channel. A studio can therefore run one Instagram account, one Facebook account and one WhatsApp account at the same time, but not two Instagram accounts.

Step 1: Open the Social accounts page

Go to Settings / PerfectAI / Social accounts and open the Instagram tab. The tab lists your existing connections with their name, status and studio.

Social accounts page with the Instagram tab and the Add button.

Step 2: Choose a login method

Select Add. In the dialog, choose one of the two options under Login method:

  • Facebook Login is preselected. Use it if your Instagram account is connected to a Facebook Page or managed through a Meta business account.
  • Instagram Login connects a professional Instagram account directly with its Instagram credentials.

The dialog shows a matching explanation for whichever option you select. The login method determines the remaining steps, so set it before you start the login.

Step 3: Complete the login

Select Start login. A login window opens, and the Backoffice shows a note that the window should now be open. Complete the login and authorisation there.

If the window does not appear, check whether your browser blocked it. The dialog reports a blocked window, a cancelled login and a timed-out login as separate messages. After a timed-out login, close the dialog and open it again.

Step 4: Select your Instagram account

This step depends on the login method you chose in step 2.

  • Facebook Login: after the login, the field Select an Instagram account lists the Instagram accounts that were found, each with the name of the Facebook Page it belongs to. Pick the account you want to connect. If only one account is found, it is selected automatically. If none are found, the dialog reports that no connected Instagram accounts were found.
  • Instagram Login: you do not pick an account. The account you signed in with is used directly.

Once the login is complete, the dialog confirms that the account was connected and asks you to complete the remaining fields.

Field Description
Login method Facebook Login or Instagram Login. Facebook Login is preselected.
Select an Instagram account The Instagram account to connect, shown together with its Facebook Page. Relevant for the Facebook login method; with Instagram Login the account you signed in with is used.
Name A name for this connection, so you can recognise it in the list. Prefilled from the Instagram account and editable. Required.
Chat configuration The PerfectAI Chat configuration that answers messages from this account. Only active, published configurations are listed. Required.

Select Save to store the connection. The button stays inactive until the login has been completed.

Activation and rollout

The create dialog already offers Edit sharing settings at the top, so you can set the studio scope while you create the connection. Afterwards, a connection still has to be activated for the studios that should use it. In the list, open the menu on the connection and select Manage activation. In a multi-studio setup you can activate the connection for the current studio, for additional studios, or for none of them. If you select no studio, the connection is deactivated everywhere.

Only one account per channel can be active in a studio. If a studio in your selection already has an active Instagram account, the activation is rejected with the message that one of the selected studios already has an active configuration and has to be deactivated there first.

To remove a connection, deactivate it in all studios first, then select Delete Instagram from the same menu. Deleting a connection that is still active is refused with the message that the configuration is still in use.

Member-facing behaviour on Instagram

Members start the conversation themselves by sending a direct message to your Instagram account. Instagram does not support messages that you send first, so this channel cannot be used for the outbound campaigns of PerfectAI Engage. It serves incoming conversations only.

The bot answers on Instagram in a format suited to a messaging app: shorter replies, no tables or headings, and links as plain web addresses rather than clickable link text. Answers can therefore be shorter and plainer than on other channels.

The chat processes text. Images, voice messages and other attachments that a member sends are not interpreted.

A member can ask to be handed over to a person. The handover works the same way as on every other channel and collects the same details, so a request from Instagram reaches your team like any other.

Note: This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence and editorially reviewed.