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Question

ManyChat Instagram automation randomly not sending DMs — not rate limited

  • September 4, 2026
  • 4 comments
  • 9 views
Julian_agu

I’m having a really strange issue with my ManyChat Instagram automation, and I’m hoping someone has experienced something similar.

The automation is triggered when someone comments a specific keyword on my Instagram Reels. It’s supposed to:

  1. Reply to the comment.

  2. Send the user a DM.

The problem is that it’s very inconsistent. Some users trigger the automation normally, while others comment the exact same keyword and receive nothing. When the DM fails, the automated reply to their comment also doesn’t happen.

What’s even more confusing is that Instagram shows that the message was sent by the ManyChat automation, but when I open the actual DM conversation, I can’t see the message there.

I initially thought this might just be an issue with the DM not appearing on my end, but I’ve had users reply saying there is no message there at all. So it seems the message actually isn’t being delivered, despite Instagram showing it as sent.

I’ve already:

  • Refreshed the Instagram/ManyChat permissions twice.

  • Checked the automation and its triggers.

  • Confirmed that I’m not rate limited and haven’t hit any of my ManyChat limits.

  • Manually replied to a lot of users because they never received the automated response.

The issue is happening across multiple posts, although some posts seem to be affected much more than others.

Has anyone experienced this before? Could this be an Instagram API/permission issue, a ManyChat automation issue, or something else?

I’d really appreciate any ideas because I’m losing leads/customers when the automation randomly doesn’t respond.

    4 replies

    Fabio Gaulke
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    • Fabio Gaulke
    • Community Moderator
    • September 4, 2026

    Hi, ​@Julian_agu!

     

    This issue usually comes down to a few potential causes related to Meta API limitations, Instagram permissions, or a backend sync discrepancy between Meta and Manychat...

     

    Meta API 1-Comment Limit

    Instagram's API only allows a comment-to-DM trigger to fire on the user's very first comment under a specific post or reel. If a user has previously commented on that post or tried testing the keyword multiple times, Meta will block subsequent DMs from triggering.

     

    Instagram App Connected Tools

    In your Instagram mobile app, go to Settings and activity > Messages and story replies > Message controls > Connected tools, and ensure "Allow access to messages" is toggled ON. If this setting flickers off, private replies will fail to deliver.

     

    Full Facebook Business Integration Reset

    Since refreshing permissions inside Manychat did not resolve it, try resetting the integration from Facebook. Switch to your personal Facebook profile, navigate to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Business Integrations, find Manychat, and remove or toggle off the access. Afterwards, return to Manychat and refresh permissions to perform a clean re-authorization.

     

    First Node Structure

    Ensure the first step connected to the comment trigger is configured strictly as a Private Reply and contains only compatible content blocks (standard text or a single image with buttons) without prohibited elements like User Inputs or Delay blocks.

     

    If Meta shows the message as sent in logs but users confirm they receive nothing, it indicates a technical delivery discrepancy on Meta's server side. In that case, you will need to open a ticket with the Manychat support team: https://help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281086345244-How-to-get-support-from-Manychat

     

    Hope this helps! 🙏

    @fabio.gaulke | @monada.ag
    Julian_agu
    • Julian_agu
    • Author
    • Up-and-comer
    • September 4, 2026

    I did everything you suggested, including checking the Instagram settings and removing ManyChat from the integrations in Accounts Center. Now, none of my automations are working at all.

    I’ve already reconnected the account twice, but nothing has changed. At this point, none of my Instagram automations are triggering or sending messages.

    Fabio Gaulke
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    • Fabio Gaulke
    • Community Moderator
    • September 4, 2026

    So sad that none of those steps worked 😓

     

    When you remove the integration directly from Facebook, Meta revokes access permissions entirely. Reconnecting inside Manychat usually gets stuck because Meta fails to re-issue those tokens back to the platform automatically.

    Since re-authorizing did not bring the triggers back, this means the permission tokens could be stuck on the backend and cannot be fixed through the standard settings.

     

    It will be necessary to open a ticket with the Manychat support team: https://help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281086345244-How-to-get-support-from-Manychat

     

    Wish you luck!

    @fabio.gaulke | @monada.ag
    Julian_agu
    • Julian_agu
    • Author
    • Up-and-comer
    • September 4, 2026

    I’ve already contacted support, but I haven’t received a response yet. Is there any way you can help escalate this or get someone from the support team to look into it sooner? This is currently affecting my business, so I’d really appreciate any help getting this resolved as quickly as possible.

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