How to connect ChatGPT to Instagram DMs
If your customers message you on Instagram, the DMs can take hours a day: sizes, prices, "is this back in stock?" and the odd collaboration request. ChatGPT can help you get through them, reading the DMs, summarising what people want and sending replies from your own account. This guide covers the setup, a worked example, the notes that keep ChatGPT on brand, and how to decide what it should and should not answer.
What you need
- A ChatGPT account that can add custom connectors. OpenAI decides which plans can do this, and it changes from time to time, so check their help pages if you cannot find the option.
- A Spaces account on a plan. You choose a plan before you connect a chat account.
- The Instagram account your customers already message you on.
- A short note about your business: what you sell, prices, opening hours and the things you never want promised. You will paste it into ChatGPT later.
- About ten minutes for the setup, and a little longer to try it on a few real messages.
Step 1: connect your Instagram account to Spaces
You sign in to Instagram through a secure link and approve the connection. Your account stays yours, and you keep using it on your phone as normal.
Once it is connected, the account shows in your Spaces dashboard. Connecting does not send anything. It only means Spaces can read and send on that account when an AI agent you have added asks it to.
Connect the account your customers actually message, usually your shop or studio account. If you also run a personal account, keep it separate, because ChatGPT can read every DM on the account you connect.
Step 2: add Spaces to ChatGPT
- In ChatGPT, open Settings, then Apps & Connectors, then Advanced, and turn on Developer mode.
- Create a connector named Spaces with the URL https://api.spacesos.com/mcp, and choose OAuth.
- Sign in to Spaces and approve access, then turn the connector on in a chat.
- Menu names and which plans can add connectors change from time to time. OpenAI’s help page has the current steps.
To check it worked: The connector page lists the Spaces tools.
You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so ChatGPT never sees your Instagram login or your Spaces password. If Spaces does not show up:
- Open a new chat and check the Spaces connector is turned on in it.
- Sign in to Spaces again from the connector, in case the first sign-in did not finish.
- Remove the connector and add it again, checking the address is exactly https://api.spacesos.com/mcp.
- If it still does not appear, OpenAI's help pages have their current steps, and our ChatGPT setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Open a new chat in ChatGPT, make sure Spaces is turned on, and ask in plain words:
- Summarise my Instagram DMs from the last 24 hours.
- Reply to everyone who asked about prices with our price list link.
- Which DMs have not had a reply yet?
- Check my message requests and tell me which look like real customers.
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that ChatGPT can see your Instagram messages before you let it send anything. Then try a draft, read it carefully, and only then let it send.
Good to know
ChatGPT acts when you ask it to in a chat. It does not watch your inbox on its own. For replies around the clock, use an agent that runs all the time, such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes, or set up a Spaces routine that sends set replies to set questions.
In practice, treat ChatGPT as a quick helper you sit down with a few times a day: first thing, at lunchtime and before you close. Each time, ask what came in, check its drafts and let it send the ones you are happy with. Customers who message in between wait until your next session, just as they would if you were answering by hand.
A Spaces routine is not an AI. It sends a reply you wrote in advance when something happens, such as a new message or a keyword. That makes it a good way to send "Thanks for your message, we will reply first thing tomorrow" after hours, while ChatGPT writes the real answers in your next session.
Instagram is built for replying to people who message you. Use ChatGPT to answer what comes in rather than to message followers first.
A worked example: a busy Monday in the DMs
Here is how a session might go for a small clothing brand after a weekend post did well. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| You, to ChatGPT | Summarise my Instagram DMs since Saturday and group them. |
| ChatGPT | There are 14 new DMs. Six ask about sizes for the linen shirt. Three ask when the green colour is back. Two ask about delivery to Ireland. One is a return request from Priya. Two look like spam offering promotion services. |
| You | Draft one reply for the size questions using our size guide, and a reply for the green shirt saying back on the 20th. Leave Priya for me. Ignore the spam. |
| ChatGPT | Size reply: "Hi! The linen shirt is a relaxed fit, so most people take their usual size. Here is our size guide with measurements: [link]. Happy to help if you are between sizes." Green shirt reply: "Thanks for asking! The green is back on the 20th. We will post on our stories the day it lands." |
| You | Good. Send them to the right people, but personalise each with their first name. |
| ChatGPT | Sent nine replies. Priya's return request and the two spam messages are untouched. |
Each reply goes out at least 15 seconds apart, and each one is a reply in a chat the customer started, which is exactly the kind of message Instagram is built for.
Replies, message requests and comments
Replies to people who have messaged you are where ChatGPT is most useful. Many first messages from people who do not follow you land in message requests rather than the main inbox, so ask ChatGPT to check both, as in the example prompts above.
Spaces can also list and reply to comments on your posts, within their own limits (4 an hour, 20 a day). When Instagram allows it, Spaces can send the commenter a private reply in DMs, which is handy when someone comments "price?" under a post. Ask ChatGPT to list new comments first, then decide which deserve a public reply and which a DM.
Notes to give ChatGPT for Instagram
Paste a note like this at the start of each chat. Keep it short and specific, and change it when your stock or prices change.
About us: Fern & Co, small-batch clothing, made in the UK.
Links: size guide [link], price list [link], returns form [link].
Delivery: UK 2-4 working days. Ireland and the EU 5-8 working days.
Restocks: only share dates I have given you. Otherwise say "we will post on stories".
Tone: warm, casual, first names, one emoji at most.
Never: promise a restock date I have not confirmed, offer discounts, or reply to collaboration requests.
Hand to me: returns, damaged items, anything about a payment, anyone upset.What to let ChatGPT answer
Not every DM should get the same treatment. A simple rule of thumb is below. Start everything as drafts, then move the safe rows to "send" once you trust the replies.
| Type of DM | Let ChatGPT | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sizes, prices, materials | Send, after the first few days | The answer is in your note and rarely changes. |
| Restock and delivery questions | Send, if your note has the dates | Wrong dates cause disappointment, so keep the note current. |
| Order status | Draft only | ChatGPT cannot see your shop system through Spaces, so you check the order. |
| Returns and damaged items | Leave for you | These need judgement and sometimes a refund. |
| Collaboration or press requests | Summarise only | You decide who you work with. |
| Spam and scams | Ignore | A reply tells the sender the account is active. |
How this differs from a keyword auto-reply
A keyword auto-reply sends the same message whenever someone types a set word. That is useful for "price" or "link", and a Spaces routine can do exactly that. It cannot cope with a question it was not set up for.
ChatGPT reads what the person actually wrote and answers that question, using your note. The trade-off is that it only works while you have a chat open with it. Many owners use both: a routine for instant set replies, and ChatGPT for a proper answer a little later.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using ChatGPT to message followers who never messaged you. Instagram watches for that, and it is not what the account is for.
- Leaving message requests unread. First messages from new customers often sit there.
- Sending one long reply that answers three questions nobody asked. Short DMs get answered.
- Letting it handle a complaint in public comments. Move it to DMs and answer it yourself.
- Forgetting to update the note after a sale or a sell-out, so ChatGPT keeps offering something you no longer have.
Summing up
With Spaces, ChatGPT can read your Instagram DMs and comments, group them, draft answers in your voice and send replies from your account at a safe pace. Give it a clear note, start with drafts, keep returns and complaints for yourself, and use it to answer the people who wrote to you rather than to start new conversations.
How Spaces keeps your account safe
Whatever you ask, Spaces keeps your Instagram account inside safe limits: at least 15 seconds between messages, up to 80 a day, and 20 new conversations a day at most, with a gentler start for a newly connected account. If your AI tries to go faster, Spaces holds the message and says when it can try again.
New conversations warm up over the first weeks after you connect:
| Since connecting | New chats an hour | New chats a day |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Week 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | 6 | 20 |
| After that | 6 | 20 |
Instagram only lets you message someone who has not replied inside its messaging window, so replies in existing chats work best.
These are Spaces' own limits. They lower the risk of a restriction, but they cannot remove it, because Instagram makes its own decisions about accounts. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Pricing
FAQ
Does it work with a personal or business account?
Spaces connects the Instagram account you sign in with. Business and creator accounts are the usual choice for a shop or studio, and keeping business DMs on their own account makes it easier to control what ChatGPT can see.
Can it reply to comments too?
Spaces can reply to comments on your posts, within its comment limits. Ask ChatGPT to list new comments first, then pick which to answer.
Will Instagram know I use ChatGPT?
Messages come from your own account. Read the note above about Instagram's terms before you connect, because automation on Instagram is restricted and Spaces lowers the risk rather than removing it.
Can ChatGPT send photos of products?
Keep photo replies for yourself to start with, or send a link to the product page. A link usually works just as well and is easier to keep up to date.
Does ChatGPT reply to DMs that arrive at night?
Not by itself. It only acts while you are chatting with it. A Spaces routine can send a set holding reply, and ChatGPT can write the full answer in the morning.
Can more than one person answer DMs this way?
Whoever runs the session needs Spaces added to their own ChatGPT. Agree who answers DMs at which times, so two people do not reply to the same customer.
What if a customer asks if they are talking to a bot?
Be honest. A reply such as "I use an AI agent to help me draft replies, and I read every one" is fine for most customers.