How to connect Grok to Instagram DMs
When a post does well on Instagram, the DMs and comments arrive all at once: prices, availability, "do you do custom ones?" and a few people who just want to say they love it. Grok can help you answer them. With Spaces added as a custom connector on grok.com, Grok can read your DMs and comments and reply from your own account. This guide covers the setup, a worked example from a small studio after a busy weekend, how to handle comments, and which messages to keep for yourself.
What you need
- A Grok account that can add custom connectors. xAI 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. Your trial starts when you connect a chat account, with no card needed.
- 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 Grok 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 message, usually your business or creator account. Grok will be able to read every DM on it, so keep personal conversations on a separate account.
Step 2: add Spaces to Grok
- Go to grok.com/connectors and choose New Connector, then Custom.
- Paste https://api.spacesos.com/mcp as the URL.
- Sign in to Spaces and approve access.
- On Business and Enterprise plans an admin adds the connector first.
To check it worked: Ask Grok to list your Spaces accounts.
You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so Grok 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, xAI's help pages have their current steps, and our Grok setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Open a new chat in Grok, make sure Spaces is turned on, and ask in plain words:
- Summarise my Instagram DMs and message requests since Friday.
- List new comments on my last post that ask a question.
- Draft replies to every price question and wait for my OK.
- Which DMs have been waiting more than a day?
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that Grok 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
Grok 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 Grok 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 Grok writes the real answers in your next session.
Ask Grok to group DMs before it drafts anything. Five people asking the same question need one good reply, personalised five times.
A worked example: after a busy weekend
Here is how a Monday session might go for a small ceramics studio whose reel did well. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| You, to Grok | Summarise my Instagram DMs and message requests since Friday. |
| Grok | Nineteen DMs, eleven of them in message requests. Eight ask the price of the speckled mugs. Four ask if you ship abroad. Three ask about the Saturday workshop. Two ask for custom wedding pieces. Two are spam. |
| You | Mugs are £28 and back in stock on the 15th. UK shipping only for now. Workshop has two places left. Draft those. Leave the wedding ones for me. |
| Grok | Mugs: "Hi! The speckled mugs are £28 each, and the next batch is in the shop on the 15th." Shipping: "Thanks for asking! For now we only ship within the UK." Workshop: "Hi, there are two places left on Saturday's workshop. You can book here: [link]." |
| You | Send them with first names. Skip the spam. |
| Grok | Sent fifteen replies, spaced out by Spaces. The two wedding enquiries and the spam are untouched. |
Fifteen replies at least 15 seconds apart take a few minutes to go out. Every one is a reply to someone who wrote first, which is the safest kind of Instagram message.
Notes to give Grok
Paste a note like this at the start of each chat on grok.com:
About us: Kiln & Co, a two-person ceramics studio.
Shop: [link]. Speckled mugs £28, bowls £22, plates £30.
Restocks: only share dates I give you. Otherwise say "we post restocks on our stories".
Shipping: UK only, 3-5 working days, £4.50.
Workshops: Saturdays 10am-1pm, £65, book at [link]. You cannot book for people.
Leave for me: custom and wedding orders, breakages, refunds, collaborations.
Tone: warm, short, first names, one emoji at most.What to let Grok answer
| Type of message | Let Grok | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Prices, sizes, materials | Send, after a few days of drafts | The answer is in your note. |
| Restocks and shipping | Send, if the note has the dates | Wrong dates disappoint people, so keep the note current. |
| Workshop and event questions | Send, with the booking link | Grok cannot see your bookings, so the link does the work. |
| Custom orders | Summarise for you | Pricing custom work is your call. |
| Breakages and refunds | Leave for you | These need judgement and sometimes money back. |
| Spam and scams | Ignore | A reply tells the sender the account is active. |
Grok on a team plan
On Grok Business and Enterprise plans, an admin adds the Spaces connector first, and the team can then use it. Agree who looks after the DMs at which times, so two people do not ask Grok to answer the same customer.
You can also add Spaces to another AI agent, such as ChatGPT or Claude. The limits belong to the Instagram account in Spaces, so they are shared whichever agent sends.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving message requests unread. After a busy post, most new customers land there.
- Using Grok to DM people who liked a post but never wrote to you. Instagram watches for that.
- Answering a complaint in public comments. Move it to DMs and answer it yourself.
- Forgetting to update the note after a sell-out, so Grok offers something you no longer have.
- Replying to every comment at once. Comments have their own, tighter limits.
Summing up
With Spaces, Grok can read your Instagram DMs and comments, group them, and reply from your account at a safe pace. Give it a clear note, check message requests, use private replies for questions in comments, and keep custom work and complaints for yourself.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| First 3 days | 1 | 3 |
| Rest of 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
Is this the same as Grok on X?
You add connectors on grok.com. Once Spaces is added there, Grok can use your Instagram through it.
Can Grok reply to comments as well as DMs?
Yes, within the comment limits (4 an hour, 20 a day). When Instagram allows it, it can also send the commenter a private reply in DMs.
Does Grok see my Instagram password?
No. You sign in to Instagram through Spaces' secure link, and Grok signs in to Spaces. Grok never sees your Instagram login.
Will Grok answer DMs while I am offline?
No. Grok acts when you ask it in a chat and does not watch your inbox. A Spaces routine can send a set reply, such as a link to your shop, when a keyword arrives.
Can Grok message my followers about a sale?
Not in the way you might hope. Instagram only lets you message someone who has not replied inside its messaging window, and it watches accounts that message many people first. Post the sale and answer the DMs it brings.
Does it work with a creator account?
Spaces connects the Instagram account you sign in with. Business and creator accounts are the usual choice for a shop or studio.
What if a customer asks if they are talking to a bot?
Be honest. Something like "I use an AI agent to help draft replies, and I read them" is fine for most people.
Comments and private replies
Spaces lets Grok list and reply to comments on your posts, within their own limits (4 an hour, 20 a day). When Instagram allows it, Grok can also send the commenter a private reply in DMs, which suits a comment like "price?" that is easier to answer one to one.
A good habit is to ask Grok to list comments with a question in them, reply publicly to one or two so others can see the answer, and send the rest a private reply. Leave praise for a like or a short thank-you from you.