> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Comment funnels

> Somebody comments on a post and gets the link in their DMs — the six-step editor, the ready-made templates, and the results each funnel produced.

A comment funnel is the classic Instagram mechanic: post a Reel, say "comment LINK and
I'll send it", and the DM goes out on its own — optionally after asking the commenter to
follow you first.

It exists because the people this is for have **never messaged you**. A comment is not a
conversation, so [automations](/automations/overview) cannot reach them; a private reply
can, and that is what a funnel spends.

**Channels → Instagram → Comment funnels** is the list and the results.
**Channels → Instagram → Posts** opens the same editor from a post. There is one editor and
one underlying record — the Posts page calls it "an automation" because that is what you
are thinking about while looking at a post.

## Two switches, always

Nothing goes out unless both agree:

1. **Comment funnels** — the workspace-wide switch at the top of this page (and of the
   Posts page). Off means no funnel runs, whatever its own setting says.
2. The funnel's own switch, in the list and on the last step of the editor.

A funnel that is on while the master switch is off shows as **Blocked** rather than Live,
with the reason in its tooltip.

## Starting one

**New funnel** opens a gallery of ready-made wordings.

| Template                     | What it does                                                               |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Send my link**             | Someone comments a word and gets whatever you are pointing at in their DMs |
| **Free guide or freebie**    | Trades a download for a follow. The follow ask is on                       |
| **Discount code**            | Drops a code and a shop link in the DM                                     |
| **Waitlist or early access** | Captures interest for a launch that has not happened yet                   |
| **Start from scratch**       | An empty funnel with sensible defaults                                     |

Each tile also shows the caption line it is designed to pair with — *"Comment LINK and
I'll send it over"* — because the caption is the other half of the setup, and a funnel
whose post never tells anyone what to comment gets zero runs and no error.

<Warning>
  **No template is ever armed.** Every one of them, and every funnel you duplicate, is saved
  switched off. You turn it on at the last step once the wording reads the way you want —
  the first DM is not something you can take back.
</Warning>

## The editor

The editor is a step rail, not a form, because a funnel is a sequence the commenter
experiences in order. The rail is on the left, the step you are editing in the middle, and
a phone preview on the right showing that step ringed inside the whole exchange. Below `lg`
the rail becomes a stepper and the preview moves behind a **Preview** button.

| Step               | What you set                                             |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Trigger**        | Which comments start it                                  |
| **Public reply**   | What everyone else scrolling the comments sees. Optional |
| **Opening DM**     | The first message and its button. Required               |
| **Follow ask**     | An optional nudge before the link                        |
| **The link**       | The message they came for, and up to 3 link buttons      |
| **Name & go live** | The name you will recognise, and the switch              |

Each step carries its own state in the rail: done, still to do, needs attention, or
deliberately **off**. Off is not a gap — the public reply and the follow ask are genuinely
skippable and the rail does not nag about them.

### Trigger

Choose **Specific words** or **Any comment**. Words are matched anywhere in the comment and
case-insensitively, so "LINK please" matches `link`. Put the same word in your caption.

On the Comment funnels page you can also choose the **post**: one post, or **All posts —
every post, present and future**. A funnel for one post beats the all-posts funnel, so both
can run at once with the all-posts one as the fallback. Opening the editor from a post does
not offer the picker — "automate this post" already carries the answer.

### Public reply

A reply posted publicly under the comment, so everyone else reading knows commenting works.
Add several wordings and they are rotated one at a time.

<Tip>
  Add at least two. Hundreds of identical replies under one post is exactly what Instagram's
  spam filters look for, and the editor flags a single wording as needing attention.
</Tip>

### Opening DM

The first message and the button under it. **This step cannot be skipped.** Instagram will
not tell anyone whether a commenter follows you until that person has messaged you — a
comment does not count — so this message and its button exist to produce that first tap.
Everything after it depends on it.

**Wait before answering** sets a delay before the DM goes out: **Immediate**, **10 sec**,
**30 sec** or **1 min**. Answering within a second is the tell that a robot did it.

Messages are capped at 1,000 characters and button labels at 20 — Meta's limits.

### Follow ask

Optional, and shown only to people who do not already follow you. **It is a nudge, not a
gate**: the link is sent either way when they tap, so a follow status that is slow to
update never costs you the lead.

### The link

The message they came for, plus up to **3** link buttons — Instagram will not render more.
Each button needs a label and a URL starting with `http://` or `https://`. Leave the buttons
empty to send the message on its own.

### Name & go live

The name is only ever seen by you; it is how you will find this funnel in a list in six
weeks. The switch below it arms the funnel.

## The readiness panel

Under the rail is a list that answers "why isn't this running?" without reading a log. It
mirrors the checks the runtime makes, in the order it makes them:

1. **Instagram connected** — nothing runs without it.
2. **Comment automations switched on** — the master switch.
3. **This automation is on** — its own switch.
4. **A comment can match it** — trigger words exist, or it matches any comment.
5. **The opening DM is written** — message and button.
6. **The link message is written** — there is something to deliver.
7. **Link buttons are valid** — every button has a label and a real URL.
8. **The follow ask is written** — if the ask is on.
9. **More than one public wording** — a warning, not a blocker.

A red item means nothing will be sent. An amber one means something will be sent that we
would not have written that way. Each links to the step that fixes it.

## Results

Each funnel in the list shows how many comments it **matched** and how many people **got
the link**. Expanding **Results** shows the journey and the most recent 50 runs.

| Stage                | What it means                             |
| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Comments matched** | Everyone the funnel answered              |
| **Tapped in the DM** | They pressed the button in the opening DM |
| **Got the link**     | The final message was delivered           |

A row also says whether the person was following you when the link went out, and links to
the DM thread in the Inbox once one exists.

| Row state             | Meaning                                                                                                                              |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **DM sent**           | The opening DM went out and they have not tapped yet. Shown as *Hasn't opened the DM yet* — there is no contact record until the tap |
| **At the follow ask** | They tapped and are sitting on the follow nudge. They still get the link the moment they tap again                                   |
| **Got the link**      | Delivered                                                                                                                            |
| **Failed**            | Something was refused. The reason is quoted verbatim                                                                                 |

Failures are shown, not summarised. This runs unattended against Instagram, and a failure
count with the message underneath is the only way to learn that your private replies have
started being refused.

## Duplicating and deleting

**Duplicate** copies the wording as a new, unsaved funnel with no post chosen — the only
reason to duplicate is to point the same wording at a different post, and two funnels on
one post would give that post a row the server never picks.

**Delete** stops the funnel immediately and takes the record of everyone it has already
delivered to with it. You are asked to confirm.