“Code word in a comment” (Instagram)

The most common way to collect leads on Instagram: you publish a post saying “write ‘want’ in the comments and I will send you the checklist”. Someone writes it, the bot answers them in direct messages, optionally checks the follow and hands over what you promised: a link, a file, a promo code.

Who it is for

• You want followers and contacts from a single post or Reel.
• You want to hand out material only to users who follow the account.
• You do not want to answer everyone by hand: a good post gets hundreds of comments.

This bot has one fixed trigger — a comment under a post. If you need several ways in (DMs, stories, lives), take “Gift for a follow”: the conversation is the same, only the trigger differs.

What the follower sees

1. They write your code word under your post.
2. The bot replies publicly under the comment with a short phrase such as “Replied in your messages!”. It picks the phrase at random from your variants. Each user gets one public reply per post.
3. At the same time the bot writes to them in direct messages: the welcome and a button.
4. They tap the button.
5. If the follow check is on, the bot looks at whether they follow the account. If they do, it hands the gift over right away. If not, it sends the “If not subscribed” message with a “Done” button.
6. They follow you, tap “Done” — the bot checks again and hands over what you promised: a message with the link (the link travels as a button inside the message) or a file as a separate message.

Tapping the button always delivers, even if the user already got the gift before. A random message inside the conversation (“thanks”), however, does not make the bot send the gift again, and it writes nothing extra.

Important Instagram rule: in reply to a comment the platform allows exactly one private message. The chat only opens when the user taps the button inside that message or writes back. See Instagram limits.

Wizard settings, step by step

Step “About the bot”

The first step of every template bot. Two rows: Name — what the bot is called in your bot list (“Code word 1” by default, the next such bot gets “Code word 2” and so on; feel free to rewrite it), and Description — a short note for yourself on what the bot does (empty when the bot is created, optional). Only you see these.

Step “Account”

Pick the Instagram account the bot will run in and decide whether to require a follow.

“Instagram account” — the list comes from “Connections”. If you have no account yet, or need a different one, tap “Add account”: the connection opens right here, and once it is done you are back on this step with the new account already selected. Required.

“Require subscription” — a switch, on by default. The hint reads: “The bot hands out the material only to followers of the account”. While it is on, the welcome text carries a sentence about following — edit it as you like; turn it off and it is removed.

• On — the bot checks the follow and, if there is none, sends the message from the “If not subscribed” step and waits for another tap.
• Off — the bot hands the gift over right after the button is tapped, and the “If not subscribed” step disappears from the wizard entirely.

Step “What starts it”

A comment under a post starts the bot: a user writes the code word and the bot answers them in direct messages.

“When to start” — three options, “Comment that contains a word” by default.

• “Any comment” — the bot answers any comment, no code word needed. The code words field is hidden.
• “Comment that contains a word” — the bot answers when the code word appears in the comment, even among other words. “really want this, please send” works.
• “Exact comment” — the bot answers only when the comment is exactly the code word and nothing else.

Case does not matter: “Want” and “want” are the same.

“Code words” — shown for the last two options. Words are entered as chips: type a word and press Enter to add the next one. You can have several — any of them starts the bot. Example: want, checklist, send. It cannot be left empty: the wizard will not move on and says “Add at least one code word”.

“Posts” — which posts the bot listens under. “Under all posts” by default.

• “Under all posts” — the bot listens to comments under any of your posts and Reels, including future ones.
• “Only under selected” — a picker appears with your posts and their images; tick the ones you need. Up to 50 posts.

“Selected posts” — shown only for “Only under selected”. If you pick none, the wizard will not move on: “Pick at least one post — or switch to ‘Under all posts’.” The reason is simple: otherwise the bot would silently listen to everything.

The same word under different posts is fine. A specific post is more precise than “all posts”, and under that post the post’s bot wins. See Launch rules.

Step “Welcome”

This is the first thing a user sees from the bot, and the button they tap to get what you promised.

“Welcome message” — the text of the private message. Default: “Hi! I have a free checklist for you. Follow the account and tap the button below.” Required.

“Button text” — the label of the button inside the message. Default: “Get it”. Tapping that button is what opens the chat and lets the bot write again, so make it inviting.

“Welcome image” — the only field in the wizard you may skip. Uploaded as a file: JPG or PNG, up to 8 MB (that is what Instagram accepts). If the format or size is wrong, the wizard warns you and offers to compress the image (your own device does that) or pick another one. For this bot the field carries an honest note: Instagram does not allow an image in reply to a comment. It only reaches users who wrote in DMs or replied to a story, so a comment-only bot has no image in the conversation at all.

Step “If not subscribed”

The step is absent when “Require subscription” is off.

The user tapped the button but does not follow the account — this is what they see.

“Message” — default: “I do not see your follow yet. Follow the account, tap ‘Done’ and I will send everything right away.” The hint reads: “Sent when the user taps the button but has not subscribed yet”.

“Button text” — default “Done”. Tapping it makes the bot check the follow again.

Worth knowing: Instagram does not report a new follow instantly. If someone has just followed you and the bot “does not see” it, tapping the button once more is enough.

Step “What we hand over”

This is what the user came for — the bot sends it once everything checks out.

“Message” — the text the gift travels with. Default: “Here you go! The checklist is at the link below”.

“What to send” — what exactly goes out. Options: Link (default), Image, Video, Audio, File.

“Button text” — shown only for “Link”, default “Open”. The label of the button that opens your link.

“Link” — shown only for “Link”. An address like https://…. The hint reads: “Opens via the button inside the message — no grey preview card in the chat”. The link goes as a button on purpose: a bare address in the text is turned into a grey preview card by Instagram. If the address does not look like one, the wizard says “That does not look like a link”.

“File” — shown for attachments (image, video, audio, file). Uploaded the same way as the welcome image. The attachment goes out as a separate message after the text — that is how Instagram works.

Step “Replies in comments”

The bot always answers in direct messages. Here you decide whether it also replies publicly, right under the comment.

“Reply in comments” — when any comment starts the bot, this is a row: tap it to choose “Do not reply”, “Reply to everyone” or “Only comments with the word” (and then which comment and which words). The private message still goes to everyone — the choice only affects the public reply under the comment. That is the point: you asked users to write “want it”, someone writes it and someone just leaves an opinion — the bot stays silent under the opinion and answers everyone in direct messages. If a comment with a code word starts the bot, it is a plain switch (on by default): the public reply already goes only to those who wrote the word.

“Reply variants” — a list of phrases, one per line. Five come ready; remove the ones you do not need, add your own. The bot picks one at random: identical replies under every comment are treated as spam by Instagram. Ready-made examples: “Replied in your messages!”, “Sent it to your direct, take a look”, “It is already in your messages”.

Each user gets one public reply per post. Under a different post the same user gets a public reply again — it is a different post.

Step “Additional settings”

Here the bot can write once more after handing everything over, and here you set the point at which the bot considers itself finished.

This bot has no “Remind about the gift” setting: a comment does not open a reply window, so a reminder ten minutes later would simply never arrive. That is an Instagram limit, not a setting of ours.

The remaining fields — “Follow-up message”, “Interval, minutes”, “Finish the conversation after (hours)” — are explained in Additional settings.

Common questions

The bot does not answer comments — why? Check three things: the bot is on (“on” on its card), the account in “Connections” is healthy, and the post is one of those selected in “What starts it”. With “Only under selected”, the bot stays silent under the rest on purpose.

Someone wrote the word but got no private message. Instagram does not deliver a private reply if the user’s account blocks messages from strangers. The public reply under the comment usually still goes out.

Can the bot reply under every comment from the same user? No: one public reply per user per post. That is deliberate — otherwise the comment thread turns into a column of identical phrases, which Instagram treats as spam.

Can I have two bots with the same word on different posts? Yes. The same word under different posts is normal. What you cannot have is two bots with the same precision on the same event — see Launch rules.

The bot handed the gift over and the user asks for it again. Let them tap the button in the bot’s message again — a tap always delivers. If they wrote in words, the bot does not resend; then send the material by hand from “Chats”.