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Question

Automation not working in some cases

  • September 11, 2026
  • 1 comment
  • 9 views
access2jobs

The above notification pops up but no actual message is being sent to the user

Issue: Instagram automation works inconsistently. It sometimes runs correctly, but other times it doesn’t trigger at all.

What happens:

  • Sometimes the automation runs normally (DM sent, comment reply works).
  • Other times nothing happens at all (no DM, no comment reply).

Setup:

  • Using an Instagram Post/Reel Comments trigger.
  • Flow is published and the trigger is active.
  • Instagram permissions were refreshed.

Observation:

  • The behavior is inconsistent across multiple test accounts.
  • The trigger only fires once per user per post, which is a known Instagram limitation. 

Steps already tried:

  • Confirmed the automation is published.
  • Verified the trigger is active.
  • Refreshed Instagram permissions.
  • Tested with multiple accounts.

    1 reply

    When you see the banner "You messaged about a comment..." but the chat is empty, it means the API handshake successfully initiated a comment-reply thread, but the message payload failed to deliver.

    Common root causes for this behavior include:

    • 24-Hour Messaging Window & Opt-In: Comment-to-DM triggers use a specialized Meta "Private Reply" token. The initial response must strictly be an interactive opt-in prompt (like a single text bubble with a button/quick reply). If your first message contains direct outbound links, carousels, or unapproved templates, Meta drops the message silently.

    • Anti-Spam Throttling: If the public comment reply and DM use identical, static copy across tests, Instagram’s spam filters will temporarily block message dispatch while still creating the notification thread. Adding randomized variations solves this.

    • Account Privacy / Message Requests: If the recipient account has strict message request filters enabled, the DM payload may land silently in "Hidden Requests" or get blocked entirely.

    If you're experimenting with different flow logic, branching conditions, or fallback triggers to isolate where the flow breaks, you can use https://freedecisionmaker.com/ to map out your testing sequence.

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