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FAQs

Instagram publishing, account connections, Reels, media conversion, and errors.

For API and MCP fields, examples, and prerequisites, start with Instagram publishing.

Can I read or reply to Instagram comments in Blotato?

Yes. Blotato reads and posts comments on your published Instagram posts through the Comments API and the MCP tools.

You can list the comments on your published Instagram posts, including audience replies and your own, post a top-level comment, and reply to a top-level comment.

Blotato does not support:

  • Replies to replies. You can reply to a top-level comment, but not to a reply.

  • Commenting on other people's posts.

To respond to a comment from your audience, reply to it or post a new top-level comment on the same post.

How do I add a first comment to my Instagram post?

Blotato's First Comment field auto-posts a comment right after your Instagram post publishes. Many creators use it to put a link in the first comment instead of the caption.

  • Web app: Fill in the First Comment field in the Instagram post/schedule options.

  • API/MCP: Set target.firstComment in Publish Post, or pass firstComment to the blotato_create_post MCP tool.

First comments work on posts, carousels, and reels, up to 2200 characters. Stories are not supported.

Replying to your audience's comments is different, and uses the Comments API.

Why don't older Instagram comments show up?

Blotato does not backfill comments. It starts capturing comments once your account has comments enabled and you connect or reconnect your Instagram account. Comments left before then do not appear.

Blotato also retains comments for up to 45 days. Comments older than 45 days may no longer appear.

To grant the comment permission, reconnect your Instagram account in Accounts. See Connect Instagram.

Can I read or send Instagram DMs in Blotato?

Yes. Blotato reads and sends direct messages on your Instagram account through the Messages API and the MCP tools.

You may reply to people who already have a conversation with you, or send a private reply to a comment on your posts. Instagram limits who you can message and when:

  • If they sent a direct message to you, you have 24 hours to respond to them.

  • If they posted a comment to one of your posts, you have up to 7 days to send a single private reply/direct message to them. You may not message them again after your private reply until they re-open your 24-hour messaging window.

Blotato does not support cold outreach or messaging people who have not contacted you.

To reply automatically when someone comments on your post or sends you a DM, set up a DM automation.

Sending a message to a new person counts toward your monthly active-contacts limit. See Active Contacts.

If you connected your account before messaging launched, reconnect it to grant the permission. See Connect Instagram.

Can Blotato auto-reply to Instagram comments and DMs?

Yes. Set up a DM automation. When someone comments a keyword on your post or reel, or sends your account a keyword DM, Blotato answers with a direct message.

A comment trigger answers with a private reply to the comment: one per comment, within 7 days. A message trigger answers within 24 hours of the person's last message. See Instagram Limitations.

Two optional steps run before the message sends. A follow gate holds it back until the person follows you, and an email gate holds it back until they reply with an email address. On automations published after September 14, 2026, a contact with an email already on file skips the email gate. A webhook posts the captured address to your own endpoint once the message sends. See DM Automations.

Can I make someone follow me before Blotato sends my link?

Yes. Turn on Ask for a follow in the automation. Blotato sends your gate message with a confirm button, waits up to 30 days for a reply, then checks whether the person follows you. A follower gets your link, and someone who does not follow gets the gate message again.

Instagram grants Blotato access to follower status once the person opens a DM thread with your account, so the gate message always goes out before the check. Instagram withholds follower status for someone who never granted profile access, and Blotato sends your link rather than blocking them. A confirmed follow is reused for 30 days.

Two things to set up first:

  • Reconnect the account if you connected it before follow gating landed. Blotato subscribes your account to button-tap events at connect time, so an older connection does not reliably receive the tap and runs stall until they expire. Reconnect in Accounts.

  • Write the gate message for desktop readers. Instagram shows DM buttons in the mobile app only. Blotato runs the follower check on any text reply, so ask them to reply with a word, for example "Reply FOLLOWING once you have." A desktop reader who types it moves forward the same way a mobile reader who taps does.

See Ask for a Follow.

Blotato does not message people who never contacted you.

Why don't the buttons show up in my DM automation message?

Instagram shows DM buttons in the Instagram mobile app only. Someone reading your message on instagram.com in a desktop browser sees the text with no buttons under it. Instagram sets this behavior, not Blotato.

On a follow gate, write the message to ask for a typed reply as well, for example "Reply FOLLOWING once you have." Blotato runs the follower check on any text reply, so a desktop reader still moves forward.

If taps register for nobody on any device, reconnect the account in Accounts. Blotato subscribes your account to button-tap events at connect time, and an account connected before DM automations landed does not reliably receive them.

If the first message arrives and the person taps I'm following, but the next message does not send, another app might control the conversation in Meta. Remove the default routing app or select Blotato, then turn off Take control of conversations for every other app. Follow the conversation routing checklist.

To work around this, you can paste the same URL into the message text instead. Use a button or a plain-text URL, not both. A message carrying both leaves the URL unclickable on desktop, so a desktop reader ends up with no working link at all.

  • If your audience reads mostly on mobile, keep the link button.

  • If your audience reads mostly on desktop, remove the button and put the URL in the message text instead.

See DM Automations.

Why don't older Instagram messages show up?

Blotato retains messages for up to 45 days. Messages older than 45 days may no longer appear.

Why did my post fail with "Error posting to Instagram: An internal server error occurred"?

This error comes from a brief temporary outage of Instagram's API, not from Blotato. It is rare, and there is nothing to fix on the Blotato side.

Blotato automatically retries the post 2 times when this error happens. If the post still failed, the outage lasted longer than a few minutes. Wait a few hours, then retry the post from Posts > Failed.

Why does Instagram keep rejecting my posts? ("Instagram rejected your post")

Repeated "Instagram rejected your post" errors mean your account is hitting Instagram's spam and bot-risk checks, not a Blotato problem.

To show Instagram a real person runs the account:

  1. Log into your Instagram account daily for the next week

  2. Scroll the feed for about 10 minutes, like a normal user

  3. Space out your posts instead of retrying in a rapid loop

This helps tell Instagram you are not a bot, and the rejections clear as the account builds trust.

My Instagram Reel is under 300 MB and 15 minutes. Why was it rejected?

Blotato downscales Instagram videos above 2,073,600 pixels and reduces video bitrate above 25 Mbps to 20 Mbps. Automatic conversion requires a video of 120 seconds or less. The Instagram video converter does not force a 9:16 crop.

An .mp4 filename does not prove the container, video codec, audio codec, aspect ratio, resolution, or bitrate. Inspect the file metadata.

For example, a 1340 x 2160 video has 2,894,400 pixels, above the conversion threshold. If it is longer than 120 seconds, export a smaller version before publishing. For a 9:16 portrait Reel, use 1080 x 1920 or 720 x 1280. Choosing this aspect ratio is export guidance, not an automatic crop requirement.

Using Blotato Web App

Before uploading a Reel longer than 120 seconds:

  1. Choose a 9:16 frame for a portrait Reel.

  2. Export the video at 1080 x 1920 or 720 x 1280 pixels.

  3. Export the file as MP4.

  4. Select H.264 as the video codec.

  5. Select AAC as the audio codec.

  6. Set the video bitrate to 25 Mbps or lower.

  7. Keep the file size at 300 MB or smaller.

  8. Keep the duration at 15 minutes or shorter.

  9. Upload the exported file again.

If the error asks for downscaling or bitrate adjustment, re-export the file or shorten it to 120 seconds or less for automatic conversion. Shortening a video does not fix every platform rejection.

Using Blotato API (n8n / Make.com)

Before passing a Reel longer than 120 seconds to the Publish node:

  1. Choose a 9:16 frame for a portrait Reel.

  2. Export the video at 1080 x 1920 or 720 x 1280 pixels.

  3. Export the file as MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio.

  4. Set the video bitrate to 25 Mbps or lower.

  5. Keep the file size at 300 MB or smaller.

  6. Keep the duration at 15 minutes or shorter.

  7. Confirm the media URL opens without a login or access token.

  8. Pass the direct media URL to content.mediaUrls in the Publish node.

See Social Platform Requirements.

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