How to connect OpenClaw to your Instagram DMs
OpenClaw is a self-hosted agent gateway: your own AI agent, on a machine you control, that you can talk to from the chat apps you already use. Because it runs all the time, it can do what chat apps cannot and answer Instagram DMs while you are with a client or asleep. This guide is for owners of salons, studios and small shops who already run OpenClaw. It covers adding Spaces, connecting your Instagram, a worked example at a nail studio, how to handle message requests and comments, and the Instagram limits Spaces keeps it inside.
What you need
- OpenClaw running on a machine you control that stays on and online.
- A Spaces account. Your trial starts when you connect a chat account, with no card needed.
- Your business Instagram account, with two-step verification turned on.
- A separate way to talk to your agent, so your own chats never mix with customer chats.
- A short set of rules: what it may answer alone, what it must ask you about, and what it must never do.
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 Instagram account your customers DM. Turn on two-step verification in Instagram before you connect: it helps the sign-in go through. Read the note at the top of this page too, because Instagram restricts automation.
Step 2: add Spaces to OpenClaw
- Add Spaces once on the gateway, so every channel it routes gets the tools.
- Run openclaw mcp login spaces, open the address it prints, sign in to Spaces, then run the command again with the code it gives you.
openclaw mcp add spaces --url https://api.spacesos.com/mcp --transport streamable-http
openclaw mcp login spacesTo check it worked: Run openclaw mcp probe spaces. It lists the Spaces tools.
You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so OpenClaw never sees your Instagram login or your Spaces password. If Spaces does not show up:
- Check the address is exactly https://api.spacesos.com/mcp, with nothing added at the end.
- Run the sign-in step again, in case the first sign-in in the browser did not finish.
- Restart OpenClaw so it reads the new settings.
- If it still does not appear, the OpenClaw MCP docs have the current steps, and our OpenClaw setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Message your OpenClaw agent the way you usually do, and ask in plain words:
- List my Spaces accounts and tell me which one is Instagram.
- Summarise today's Instagram DMs and message requests.
- Draft replies to anything unanswered using my studio notes, and send them to me first.
- From now on, tell me here whenever someone asks about a refund or a reaction to a treatment.
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that OpenClaw 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
OpenClaw runs all the time, so unlike ChatGPT or Claude in the browser it does not wait for you to open a chat. It can answer Instagram while you are busy or asleep. That is the reason to use it, and the reason to give it clear rules before you let it send.
Start with OpenClaw sending you its drafts to approve, then let it answer simple, safe questions on its own once you have read a few days of replies. Keep a Spaces routine as a fallback holding reply. A routine is not an AI. It sends text you wrote in advance, and it runs on Spaces even if your OpenClaw machine is off.
Two conversations, kept apart
With OpenClaw there are two separate conversations. You talk to your agent through the chat apps OpenClaw is set up to use. Your customers talk to your business on Instagram, and OpenClaw reads and answers those chats through Spaces.
Keep them apart. Talk to OpenClaw from your own phone or app, never from the business Instagram, so a message meant for the agent never lands in a customer chat.
A worked example: an afternoon at a nail studio
Here is how an afternoon might go for a two-chair nail studio whose owner is with clients from 10 to 6. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| Customer, on Instagram | Hi! How much is a gel manicure and do you have anything Saturday? |
| OpenClaw, to the owner | New DM from Leah: price of a gel manicure and Saturday availability. Your notes give the price (£32). I cannot see the booking diary. Shall I send the price and the booking link? |
| Owner, to OpenClaw | Yes. |
| OpenClaw, to the customer | Hi Leah, a gel manicure is £32 and takes about 45 minutes. You can see Saturday's free times and book here: [link]. |
| Customer, on Instagram | Do you do removal of gel from another salon? |
| OpenClaw, to the customer | Yes, removal of another salon's gel is £10, or free if you book a new set with us. |
OpenClaw asked before the first reply because the notes say new enquiries go to the owner first, then answered the removal question on its own because the notes say price questions are safe. Spaces does not connect to booking systems, so the booking link does the job of the diary.
Message requests and comments
First messages from people who do not follow you often land in message requests rather than the main inbox, so ask OpenClaw to check both. Instagram only lets you message someone who has not replied inside its messaging window, so replies in existing chats work best.
Spaces can also list and reply to comments on your posts, within their own limits (up to 10 an hour and 100 a day, shared with likes, follows and new conversations). When Instagram allows it, Spaces can send the commenter a private reply in DMs, which is handy when someone comments "price?" under a photo of a new design.
| Where it arrives | What OpenClaw does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DMs from customers | Answers from your notes, or asks you | Replies to people who wrote in are the safest kind of message. |
| Message requests | Tells you which look like real customers | Spam and fake accounts are common here. |
| "Price?" comments | A short public reply, or a private reply in DMs | Keep public replies short and friendly. |
| Complaints in comments | Tells you at once | You answer these yourself. |
Rules for an agent that never sleeps
An always-on agent needs clearer rules than a chat app, because nobody reads its drafts by default. Write them in the notes OpenClaw reads:
You answer Instagram for Polished, a two-chair nail studio.
Answer on your own: prices (gel manicure £32, gel pedicure £38, removal £10 or free with a new set), opening hours (Tue-Sat 10am-6pm), the booking link, parking.
Ask me first: any new enquiry, nail art quotes from a photo, group bookings, anything you are unsure of.
Never: confirm a time (you cannot see the diary), offer discounts, give medical advice.
Hand to me at once: complaints, a reaction or infection after a treatment, refund requests.
Comments: short and friendly in public. Prices are fine. Anything else goes to DMs.
Quiet hours: between 9pm and 8am, only send the set holding reply.
Tone: warm, short, first names. One emoji at most, only if they used one.Read a few days of replies on your phone before you widen the "answer on your own" list. When something comes out wrong, the fix is usually a clearer rule.
How OpenClaw should listen for new messages
Ask it to call wait_for_events, which waits until something new arrives and returns it at once, then to call it again with the next_cursor it was given. Checking the chat list over and over looks like a bot to the platforms, and wait_for_events does not touch the platform at all.
This matters more on Instagram than almost anywhere else, because Instagram watches for automated behaviour. Spaces already paces reading for you, and answers from its own copy of your conversations where it can, but an agent that keeps asking "anything new?" is still the wrong pattern.
The safety nets Spaces adds
- Every send goes through Spaces' Instagram limits, however OpenClaw is prompted: at least 15 seconds between messages, and up to 100 new conversations a day once the account has settled in.
- Posts have their own limit (1 an hour, 3 a day). Keep posting for yourself.
- If Instagram pushes back, Spaces rests the account for a while and tells you, so it can recover.
- Pause all sending stops every send at once. Reading keeps working, so OpenClaw can still tell you what is coming in.
- Ask OpenClaw to hold replies as drafts in Spaces, and nothing goes out until you approve it.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Talking to OpenClaw from the business Instagram. Keep your own chat with the agent somewhere else.
- Letting it confirm appointment times it cannot see.
- Ignoring message requests, where many first messages from new customers wait.
- Asking it to like, follow or comment on other accounts to grow the page. Those count against the same tight limits and are what Instagram watches.
- Leaving the machine to sleep and assuming customers are being answered.
Summing up
OpenClaw and Spaces together give you an agent that can answer your Instagram DMs, message requests and comments around the clock, from your own account, inside careful limits. Keep your chat with the agent separate, write clear rules about what it answers alone, listen for messages with wait_for_events, and keep the pause switch as your safety net.
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 150 a day, and 100 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 | 2 | 22 |
| Rest of week 1 | 4 | 40 |
| Week 2 | 6 | 60 |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | 8 | 85 |
| After that | 10 | 100 |
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
Can OpenClaw answer Instagram DMs while I am with clients?
Yes, as long as the machine it runs on is on and online. That is the main difference from chat apps such as ChatGPT or Claude, which act only when you ask them.
Does this use Meta's developer platform?
No. Spaces signs in to your own Instagram account, so Instagram's Terms of Use apply. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Why turn on two-step verification first?
It helps the sign-in through Spaces go through, and it is a good idea for any business account. If Instagram asks for a code during sign-in, you complete it on that page yourself.
Can OpenClaw reply to comments on my posts?
Yes, within their own limits (up to 10 an hour and 100 a day, shared with likes, follows and new conversations). When Instagram allows it, it can also send the commenter a private reply in DMs.
Can OpenClaw message people who have not written to me?
Within the new-conversation limits, but it is a poor idea on Instagram. Instagram only lets you message someone who has not replied inside its messaging window, so replies in existing chats work best.
What if Instagram pushes back on the account?
Spaces rests the account for a while and tells you, so it can recover. Sign in to Instagram yourself, complete any check it asks for, and start again gently with replies.
What happens if my OpenClaw machine goes offline?
Customers wait until it is back. A Spaces routine runs on Spaces itself, so a holding reply can still go out while the machine is off. A routine is not an AI, and it sends text you wrote in advance.
Can I use Hermes instead?
Yes. Hermes is another always-on agent that works with Spaces. The limits and the advice here are the same, because they belong to the Instagram account in Spaces.