# An AI agent for your WhatsApp and Instagram

Source: https://postgale.com/use-cases/small-business-whatsapp-instagram-agent

With Postgale, an AI agent can read and answer WhatsApp Business conversations and Instagram direct messages, reply to Instagram comments and post the week’s updates, through Meta’s official APIs. Free-form replies are only sent inside the 24-hour messaging window (approved WhatsApp templates outside it), and with approval on, every reply and post waits for the owner to approve it in the dashboard first.

## What can the agent do for a small business?

Postgale is the secure layer for AI agents on social media. A shop, café or studio usually gets the same questions every day on WhatsApp and Instagram. The agent can draft or send the answers; the owner decides how much it does alone.

- WhatsApp Business: read conversations, reply with text, media, interactive messages or reactions inside the 24-hour window, and send Meta-approved templates outside it. Connect an existing number through Meta’s Embedded Signup.
- Instagram: answer direct messages inside the messaging window, read and reply to comments, hide or delete spam, and publish images, Reels, Stories and carousels.
- Facebook Page and Messenger work the same way, if the business uses them.
- Posts for the week: opening hours, specials and new stock, scheduled across Instagram, Facebook, Threads and a Bluesky account.

> Comments and direct messages on Instagram and Facebook depend on the permissions Meta grants the connection. If one is missing, the tool answers `missing_permission` and `get_account_health` lists what to fix.

## What about the 24-hour window?

Meta only allows free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. Postgale checks this before sending: outside the window the tool answers `outside_messaging_window` and nothing is sent. On WhatsApp the agent can then use an approved template; templates are created with `whatsapp_create_template` and reviewed by Meta.

## How do I set it up?

1. Connect the WhatsApp Business number and the Instagram professional account under Dashboard → Accounts.
2. Require approval on both accounts while you get to know the agent. Replies wait in Dashboard → Approvals; you can edit one before it goes out.
3. Connect the agent: [ChatGPT](https://postgale.com/guides/chatgpt) or [Claude](https://postgale.com/guides/claude) with a sign-in if you work from a chat, or [Hermes Agent](https://postgale.com/guides/hermes), [OpenClaw](https://postgale.com/guides/openclaw) or [n8n](https://postgale.com/guides/n8n) with an API key if it should run on its own.
4. Give it what it needs to answer: prices, opening hours, delivery areas, and what it must never promise.

> Ask your agent: “Check new WhatsApp and Instagram messages. Answer questions about opening hours and prices from our price list, leave anything about refunds or complaints for me, and draft Friday’s specials post for Instagram.”

When you trust it with routine answers, turn approval off for one account and keep it on for the other. Rules that pass routine answers and hold refunds or promises for you are in early access.

## What is available today, and what is in early access?

Available today: publishing and scheduling on Instagram, Facebook Pages, Threads, TikTok, Bluesky and Mastodon; comments on Instagram, Facebook and Threads; direct messages on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp; analytics; approval per workspace, account, API key or connected app, with one review queue for posts, replies, messages, moderation and edits to live posts; the audit log; revocable access; the REST API, the MCP server and signed webhooks. X, Telegram and Discord, Reddit and ads are coming soon.

In early access, not generally available: rules checked before every action (so safe actions go through and only risky ones wait), approvals from your phone, client approval links, shadow mode, pause and undo, fine-grained permissions per agent, and a weekly report per client.

## Questions

### Can an AI agent answer WhatsApp Business messages?

Yes. Through Postgale it can read conversations and reply inside the 24-hour window, or send an approved template outside it. With approval on, each reply waits for a person first.

### Can it answer Instagram DMs?

Yes, inside Meta’s messaging window, on an Instagram professional account connected in Postgale, provided Meta has granted the messaging permission for the connection.

### Do I need a developer?

No. Connecting accounts is a normal sign-in, and ChatGPT or Claude connect to Postgale with a pasted URL and a sign-in.

## Related

- [WhatsApp Business](https://postgale.com/integrations/whatsapp)
- [Instagram](https://postgale.com/integrations/instagram)
- [Connect Hermes Agent](https://postgale.com/guides/hermes)
- [WhatsApp docs](https://postgale.com/docs/whatsapp)