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

# Comment automations: turning comments into conversations

> Public replies, private replies and hiding — what each platform allows, Meta's one-reply-per-comment rule, and the comment-to-DM flow.

The highest-value automation most businesses build: someone comments "price?" on an ad, and
they get a direct message with the answer within seconds.

## What each platform allows

The three comment blocks are not equally available. This is platform capability, not a
Linkiasoft limitation.

|                               | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Telegram | WhatsApp |
| ----------------------------- | -------- | --------- | ------ | -------- | -------- |
| Comments arrive               | Yes      | Yes       | Yes    | —        | —        |
| **Reply to comment** (public) | Yes      | Yes       | Yes    | —        | —        |
| **Reply privately** (DM)      | Yes      | Yes       | **No** | —        | —        |
| **Hide comment**              | Yes      | Yes       | Yes    | —        | —        |

**TikTok has no private reply.** TikTok does not expose direct messaging for this, so a
TikTok flow can reply publicly and hide, nothing more. Design TikTok flows to move people
somewhere else — a link in the public reply — rather than expecting a DM.

**Telegram and WhatsApp are not comment platforms.** Telegram gives you groups and channels
(see [Connect Telegram](/help/channels/telegram)); WhatsApp is messaging only. Neither fires
the comment trigger.

## Meta's private reply rules

These are strict, and they shape what is worth building.

<Warning>
  **One private reply per comment. Ever.** Not one per day or one per conversation — one, for
  the lifetime of that comment. If your flow sends it, you have used it.

  **Seven days.** A private reply must be sent within 7 days of the comment. On **Instagram
  Live** the window is far shorter: only during the broadcast itself.
</Warning>

And the part people misread most often:

**A private reply does not open a conversation.** It buys you exactly one message. Only if
the person *replies to you* does a standard 24-hour messaging window open, letting you talk
normally. So that single message has to do all the work — answer the question and give them
a reason to reply.

### What we do when a reply is not allowed

If a private reply is ineligible — already used, past 7 days, live broadcast ended — the
automation **skips that step and carries on** rather than failing the whole run. Later
blocks still execute.

That is deliberate: ineligibility is expected and routine, not an error, and a flow that
died on it would abandon the public reply as well. It does mean a flow can appear to run
successfully while sending no DM, so if people report not receiving one, this is the first
thing to check.

## The comment-to-DM flow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Trigger: New comment on a post">
    Optionally scope it to Facebook only or Instagram only. Leave it unscoped and TikTok
    comments arrive too — where the private reply step will simply be skipped.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reply to comment — publicly, and briefly">
    Something like "Sent you a DM!". Public replies are visible to everyone and signal
    responsiveness to people who never comment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reply privately — with the actual answer">
    Your one shot. Include the answer and an invitation to reply.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Keep the public reply short and the private one substantive. Putting pricing in a public
reply under an ad invites competitors to read it and invites a thread you have to moderate.

### Writing the one private message

It has to survive being the only message you get to send:

* **Answer the question.** "Thanks for your interest!" wastes the single reply.
* **Ask something.** A question is what earns the reply that opens the 24-hour window.
* **Do not open with a link.** Many people will not tap one from an unknown business, and if
  they do not reply you have no second chance.

## Ads, and the 72-hour window

If the comment is on a **Click-to-WhatsApp ad**, there is real money in this.

Someone who moves from your ad into WhatsApp and gets a reply within 24 hours opens a
**72-hour free entry point window** in which every message type, including marketing
templates, is free. See
[Meta windows and pricing](/help/campaigns/meta-pricing-and-windows#the-72-hour-free-entry-point).

So a comment automation on an ad campaign is not only faster service — it converts ad
engagement into a free messaging window. Replying quickly is a billing decision.

<Note>
  Comments on boosted and ad posts can produce duplicate notifications from Meta. If a flow
  occasionally seems to run twice on one comment, that is why — build it so running twice is
  harmless rather than assuming it runs once.
</Note>

## Hiding comments

**Hide comment** hides it on the platform, and can unhide.

Some comments **cannot** be hidden — the platform refuses, and the step fails terminally
rather than retrying. Instagram in particular restricts this on certain comment types.

<Warning>
  Auto-hiding on keywords needs a careful list. Hiding a genuine complaint because it
  contained a word you blocked is worse than the complaint — and customers notice being
  silenced, then say so somewhere you cannot hide.

  Restrict automatic hiding to unambiguous spam and abuse. Route anything judgment-based to
  a human instead.
</Warning>

## Patterns worth building

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Price inquiries on ads">
    Comment contains "price" or "cost" → short public reply → private reply with pricing and
    a question. The highest-return automation for most advertisers.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Comment-to-lead">
    Private reply, then **Hand to a human** so a salesperson picks it up with the ad and the
    comment already in context.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Out-of-hours acknowledgment">
    A public reply that sets expectations, so a comment left at 2am does not read as ignored
    by morning.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Spam removal">
    Hide comments matching an unambiguous spam pattern. Keep the list narrow and review what
    it hid.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="TikTok: public reply with a route out">
    No DM is available, so the public reply has to carry the call to action.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The public reply worked, the DM never arrived">
    Almost always Meta's rules: the comment already had its one private reply, it is more
    than 7 days old, or it is TikTok, where private replies do not exist. The run will show
    the step as skipped rather than failed.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Nothing runs at all">
    Check the automation is **published** — see [Automation basics](/help/automation/overview)
    — and that the trigger's platform scope is not excluding the channel the comment came
    from.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It ran twice on one comment">
    Duplicate notifications on boosted or ad posts. Expected; design for it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Hiding fails on some comments">
    The platform does not permit hiding that comment type. Not retryable.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Nobody on the team sees the comments">
    Comment channels are granted to roles like any other — see
    [Roles and permissions](/help/team/roles-and-permissions#channel-access-and-teams).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Comments and posts" icon="comments" href="/help/inbox/comments-and-posts">
    Handling comments by hand in the inbox.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Meta windows and pricing" icon="tag" href="/help/campaigns/meta-pricing-and-windows">
    The 24-hour and 72-hour windows, and what gets charged.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Triggers and blocks" icon="bolt" href="/help/automation/triggers-and-actions">
    The full catalog.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Messenger & Instagram" icon="facebook" href="/help/channels/facebook-instagram">
    Connecting the channels comments arrive on.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>