Private Replies

Private Replies allows Businesses to reply to comments made on their posts with a single message on Instagram. When using this feature, the user will get a message with a reference link to the comment that is getting the reply. Private replies are allowed within 7 days, excepting Instagram Live, of the creation date of the comment. Please note that Private Replies do not open the 24 hour window for standard messaging.

This API will need a reference to comment id. Those references are typically obtained via webhook subscriptions to the Instagram feed field, to get this subscription the instagram_manage_comments permission must be present on the Page Access Token used when calling the subscribed_apps endpoint. See Instagram Webhooks.

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "recipient": {
    "comment_id": "17865799348089039"
  },
  "message": {
    "text": "Thanks for liking our logo! How can I help?"
  },
}' "https://graph.facebook.com/v12.0/me/messages?access_token=PAGE_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Private Reply for Instagram Live

Private Reply for Instagram Live has a different reply window from regular post comments private reply. Private reply for IG live can only be triggered while the live is happening and will no longer be valid as soon as the live ends. To support Private Reply on Instagram Live, developers can follow the following instructions:

• Ensure that you subscribe to live_comments webhook field under Instagram topic on the developer app dashboard and have completed app review for instagram_manage_comments permission.
• Read the changes in the Instagram live comments webhooks(several new fields were introduced to enable developers to simplify the workflow on handling comments and reduce direct API calls to GET /{ig-comment-id} to get the relevant details).
• Ensure that your system can differentiate regular comments vs IG live comments as IG live comments expire after the live ends.
• Ensure that your backend system can handle an increase load of comments webhook from IG live.
• Comments and webhooks on IG live will only be available via the API during the live duration. Developers can only trigger Private Reply response before the IG live ends.

Optionally, we have also provided several new endpoints related to IG live that could be leveraged for Private Reply or other use cases.

• GET /live-media to retrieve list of IG live media.
• GET /{ig-media-id}?fields={fields} now supports IG live media to allow developers to get details of the IG live media and comments(only available while live is ongoing).
• GET /{ig-comment-id}?fields={fields} now supports IG live comments during the live and several new fields (from.id, from.username, media.id, media.media_product_type, id.parent_id).

Limitations

• Private replies are currently not supported for Instagram ads and IGTV comments.
• Learn about rate limits for Instagram Messaging API.