PlugKit tutorial: from zero to your first automated DM

By the end, you’ll have an automation that replies publicly to every comment containing your keyword and sends your link by DM. The full video is further down this page (in French, step 1 starts at 0:59); the menu names below come from PlugKit’s official English documentation.

Before you start: what you need

1. A professional Instagram account (creator or business). A personal account won’t do: that’s an Instagram requirement, not a PlugKit one.
2. A PlugKit account with your Instagram connected. The trial lasts 7 days, no card, one account, and it starts when you connect your first network. Have your post and your link ready before you connect Instagram.
3. Claude. Our demo runs in claude.ai. According to PlugKit’s documentation read on 24 October 2026, custom connectors are available on Claude’s Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, with one custom connector on Free.
4. A second Instagram account for the final test.
5. A published post and the link you want to send.

Step 1: add the PlugKit connector in Claude

1. In Claude, open Settings, then Customize, then Connectors.
2. Click Add, then Custom connector.
3. Name it PlugKit and paste the server address: https://api.plugkit.co/mcp.
4. Leave the advanced OAuth fields empty (PlugKit registers the client automatically) and click Connect.

Do this yourself, in the settings. PlugKit’s documentation warns that an assistant asked to install its own connector will decline, and that an API key pasted into a conversation connects nothing but stays in the history.

Step 2: sign in to PlugKit and choose your access

1. Claude sends you to a PlugKit page. Sign in to your PlugKit account if asked.
2. The page lists what Claude will be able to do: read your accounts and analytics, but also post, send messages and reply to comments.
3. Pick read-only if you only want to look at your numbers: write tools are then not even offered to Claude. To create an automation, choose full access.
4. Approve. PlugKit now shows up in your connectors.

Check suggested by PlugKit’s documentation: ask Claude “What PlugKit accounts do I have?”. It should list your profile and connected accounts. If your Instagram isn’t there, connect it in PlugKit first.

Step 3: your first request, in plain language

Write what you want, with everything the automation needs: the account, the post, the keyword, the public reply, the private message with a button to your link. End with the instruction that protects you.

Example request:

On my Instagram account, when someone comments AUTO under my latest reel, reply publicly and send them the link to my video by DM, with a button. Show me the summary before you create anything.

Claude looks up your account and post in PlugKit. Each time it wants to use a tool, it asks your permission: read what it’s asking before you accept.

Step 4: review the summary before you approve

Claude shows the watched post, the trigger word, the texts and the button. Now is the time to fix things, not later. In our test, it raised three points:

• Reserve the link for followers: an option to decide right away.
• The caption didn’t tell people to comment “auto”: without that line, nobody comments.
• The same public reply repeated twenty times if twenty people comment: we added two variants.

Only say OK when everything is right, since that’s when the automation gets created. One tip PlugKit gave during the test: use a button rather than a raw link, Instagram is less likely to treat it as spam.

Step 5: test from a second account

1. From your second account, comment the keyword under the post.
2. Check the public reply: in our test, it arrived within seconds.
3. Open the second account’s messages. If it doesn’t follow you, your DM lands in message requests, not the main inbox.
4. Run this test in the app: on Instagram’s web version, the message button doesn’t show in requests.
5. Ask Claude for a recap. Ours: one comment, one message sent, no errors.

Safety checks once you’re connected

• Each tool’s setting in Claude. In the PlugKit connector settings, each write tool can either run without asking or require your approval. On 22 October 2026, we found two set to run without asking on our account, including post creation: no prompt appeared before a post was created. We switched them back to require approval.
• Approval is an instruction, not a lock. PlugKit’s documentation says it: posting, sending a message and replying to a comment are public and immediate. Always ask for a draft first.
• Revoke access anytime. Per the documentation, you can disconnect any assistant from Settings → Connected apps in the PlugKit dashboard.

Instagram traps to know about

These rules come from Instagram and apply to every tool:

• One private reply per comment, and only within 7 days of the comment.
• The 24-hour window: to keep the conversation going, the person has to reply, and you then have 24 hours. On Occirank’s account, 3 conversations out of 160 were inside that window on 24 October 2026.
• Two automations on the same post and keyword: only one can send its DM. Keep one automation per keyword and per post.
• The caption does the work: if it doesn’t say which word to comment, the automation has nothing to trigger.

Test in the app, not on the web: that’s where the DM button shows up.

Going further

• Know your real cost for your number of accounts: our PlugKit pricing page.
• See the other demos (posting everywhere, welcome message) and our list of limits: the full PlugKit review.
• Learn everything, from connecting to follow-ups: our free social media automation course (in French).
• Watch every step on screen: our PlugKit video tutorials.
• Understand the mechanics behind this setup: our guide to comment to DM automation.
• Torn between this and ManyChat: the ManyChat vs PlugKit comparison.