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Inbox Automations

Set up rules that automatically respond to incoming comments and DMs — with optional approval steps so nothing risky goes out unchecked.

What Inbox Automations is for

When you publish a post, you get comments and DMs. Most of them fall into a handful of repeating patterns: "What plan should I buy?", "Where do I sign up?", "Is this still available?". Replying manually for the hundredth time is a waste.

Inbox Automations lets you set up rules: when a comment matches X, do Y. Y can be a templated reply, an AI-drafted reply that uses your brand voice, or a routing action (assign to a teammate, label for follow-up).

You stay in control: every rule can be set to auto-send or require approval before the response goes out.

This guide walks you through:

  1. Creating your first rule
  2. Choosing trigger patterns that work
  3. Auto-send vs. approval
  4. Editing or pausing a rule
  5. Reading the rule history

Before you start

  • Connect the social accounts whose inbox you want to monitor (Workspace Settings → Social Connections).
  • Open the Inbox once first so you've seen how raw inbox items look — that helps you write rules that match.

Step 1 — Open Inbox Automations

  1. In the left sidebar, click Inbox, then click the Automations tab at the top.
  2. The page shows existing rules (empty on first run) with a + New automation button in the top-right.

Step 2 — Create your first rule

  1. Click + New automation.
  2. Give the rule a clear name (e.g. "Pricing FAQ on IG comments").
  3. Pick the scope — which accounts and which types of inbox item (comments, DMs, both).
  4. Move to the Trigger section.

Step 3 — Set the trigger

Triggers decide when the rule fires. You have three options:

  • Exact phrase — fires when the incoming message contains an exact phrase ("how much"). Best for high-precision triggers.
  • Phrase contains any of — fires when any of a list of phrases appears. Best for variations of the same question.
  • AI intent match — fires when the message matches an intent you describe ("the user is asking about pricing"). Most flexible, slightly slower, slightly less precise.

Tip for beginners: start with exact phrase or phrase contains any of. Move to AI intent later when you've seen the rule work and want to handle more variations.

Step 4 — Set the response

The response is what the rule does when triggered. Pick one:

  • Send a templated reply — type the exact reply (supports {{first_name}} and {{post_title}} placeholders).
  • Generate an AI reply — Aidelly drafts a reply that uses your brand voice and references the original message. Best for high-touch replies.
  • Just label and route — no auto-reply, but tag the item and assign to a teammate (e.g. "Send pricing leads to @sales").

You can combine actions: e.g., AI reply + label + assign.

Step 5 — Decide: auto-send or require approval?

This is the most important setting.

  • Auto-send — the reply goes out the moment the trigger fires. Use for safe, low-risk rules (templated FAQ responses where the wording is fixed).
  • Require approval — the reply is drafted and queued in Review (see Review & Automation). You approve or edit before it ships.

Recommended default: require approval for every new rule. Watch it run for a week. When you're confident the reply quality is right, switch to auto-send.

For AI-drafted replies in particular, leave approval ON until you've seen at least 10 drafts and they all look good.

Step 6 — Save and test

  1. Click Save.
  2. The rule is active by default.
  3. Test it: drop a triggering comment on one of your posts from another account.
  4. Watch the History tab — the rule appears with the matched item and the action taken (sent / queued for approval / failed).

Step 7 — Edit, pause, or delete

  1. Open any rule from the list.
  2. Edit — change name, trigger, response, scope, approval setting. Saved changes apply to future triggers immediately.
  3. Pause — the rule stops firing but stays in the list. Useful when a rule is too broad and you want to fix it without losing history.
  4. Delete — removes the rule permanently. History is preserved for past triggers.

Step 8 — Read the rule history

Every rule keeps a log.

  1. Open a rule.
  2. Click History.
  3. Each row: the matched inbox item, the response, whether it was sent automatically or queued, the timestamp.
  4. Use this to tune your trigger — if you see false positives (rule fired when it shouldn't), tighten the trigger phrase.

Common pitfalls

  • The rule never fires. Two common causes: (a) the trigger phrase is too specific — try contains any of with variations, (b) the scope doesn't include the right account. Open the rule, check both.
  • The rule fires too often. Trigger is too broad. Switch from contains to exact phrase, or add an exclusion list.
  • AI replies sound generic. Brand Profile drives the voice. Fill it in (see Brand Profile).
  • Approved replies don't go out. Check the platform connection — Aidelly can draft when disconnected, but can only send when the account is connected. Look for a warning badge on the rule card.
  • A rule fires on my own comments. Toggle "Skip messages from my own connected accounts" in the rule's advanced settings.

What to do next

Inbox

One place to triage every comment and DM from your connected accounts — read, draft AI-assisted replies, and clear the queue.

Brand Profile

Tell Aidelly who your brand is — voice, audience, do's and don'ts — so AI-generated content, replies, and images consistently sound and look like you.