Ice Breakers

Ice Breakers provide a way for users to start a conversation with a business with a list of frequently asked questions. A maximum of 4 questions can be set. This feature is not available on Desktop!

To setup Instagram Ice Breakers, simply update the corresponding field in the channel's configuration page:

Each Ice Breaker must consist of a question and a payload. To remove all Ice Breakers, simply set this field to an empty array []!

Instagram Chatbots are quite similar to Messenger Chatbots, but there are quite a few differences. Here is everything you can do with Instagram Chatbots!

Available components

Messenger channel supports many CSML components: Text, Typing, Wait, Image, Question, Button, Card, Audio, Video, Url, File.

Note that the Typing component is converted to a simpler Wait component, and Carousel components are entirely unavailable.

Also, all types of Buttons do not display at all on the web version of Instagram (but a vast majority of Instagram users are on the mobile app).

Broadcast

Instagram supports broadcasts, with the same limitations as with Messenger. Please refer to the Messenger Channel documentation for more information!

Limitations

In general, all Instagram limitations apply. For example, texts can not be larger than 2000 UTF-8 characters, and attachment sizes (Videos, Audio, Files) can not be larger than 25MB.

Regular buttons are limited to 13 per component. The length of the button title should also never be longer than 20 characters.

You can also refer to the Messenger Channel documentation for relevant information on other Facebook limitations.

Event Metadata

A sample _metadata for an incoming event will be similar to the following object:

{
  "_channel": {
    "name": "test_myinstapage",
    "page_id": "866763783487618",
    "type": "instagram"
  },
  "name": "John Doe"
  "id": "1106013791815671",
  "profile_pic":"https://example.com/XXXX"
}

Instagram Setup

Instagram Business Account

The first thing you need is an instagram business account. Luckily, switching from personal to business account is a straightforward process: simply follow this guide.

Some common issues may come up and prevent you to correctly connect your chatbot to your Instagram account:

• Make sure that your Instagram account has the Business type (not the Creator type). You can switch from a Creator to a Business account under Settings > Account > Switch to Business Account.

• You also need to allow access to messages for the chatbot to be able to access them. Here is how.

Facebook Business Page

You will also need a Facebook page linked to your Instagram Business account. You can easily create a new page or use an existing one, and connect it to your Instagram account by following this process.

CSML Studio Setup

To connect your Instagram account to your CSML Studio chatbot, visit the Channels page, then click on Instagram to create a new Instagram channel. Then, follow the Login with Facebook flow, and make sure to select both the Instagram Business Account, and the Facebook Page it is linked with:

Also, make sure that all the requested permissions are checked:

After this flow, you will be presented with a list of your Facebook pages. Select the one that is linked to your Instagram page:

After a few seconds, you are redirected to a new page. It's done!