The DMs inbox is a dedicated screen for handling direct messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Every inbound DM lands here. For messages not owned by an explicit automation, you choose whether the agent does nothing, prepares a draft, or sends its reply automatically.
Find it in the left sidebar under DMs, between Comments and Automations.
What the inbox does
- Collects every inbound Messenger and Instagram DM in one chat-style view.
- Uses the agent's brand context, knowledge base, and optional DM-specific instructions when generating a reply.
- Either saves that reply as a draft or sends it automatically, according to the visible Inbox handling setting.
- Lets a teammate take over manually at any point, which pauses AI drafting on that conversation.
- Tracks the 24-hour reply window that Meta enforces, so you know how much time is left before a conversation closes.
Inbox handling modes
- Off records the inbound message but does not generate a reply.
- Draft saves a model-authored reply for a teammate to review and send.
- Automatic sends the model-authored reply without requiring review.
This setting applies only when no explicit automation owns the inbound message. An automation uses its own configured publish behavior.
How this is different from automation DMs
ReplyZen has had automation-triggered DMs for a while: a comment matches a trigger ("customer asks about returns"), and the automation sends a follow-up DM to that user. That's a one-shot send, fired in response to a comment.
The DMs inbox also handles messages for which no automation matches. A matched automation owns that turn, so the inbox does not generate a second response.
The two work together. If an automation kicks off a DM and the user replies, the conversation continues in the same inbox thread. The thread header even shows a "Triggered by a comment" link so you can jump back to the comment that started it.
What you need
- Your team must be in the DM inbox beta. The DMs section appears in the sidebar only for enrolled teams. Reach out to support if you'd like access.
- Each Page you want covered must have an agent assigned with Inbox handling set to Draft or Automatic (covered next).
- Messenger / Instagram webhooks must be configured on the connected Page (handled automatically during Page setup).
Next steps
Choose the inbox mode for each agent that should handle unmatched messages.
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