If your scenario isn't firing when you expect it to, work through the checks below in order. Most cases come down to one of a handful of settings.
Is the scenario active?
This is the most common cause. A paused scenario won't trigger, no matter what.
Go to Automation → Scenarios and find the scenario. If it shows a pause icon or says Inactive, open it and click Activate scenario.
If the scenario shows a Suspended badge instead, Inrō has switched it off for a guideline violation and it can't be edited or activated until the suspension is lifted. The badge explains why; contact support if you think it's a mistake.
Are your trigger settings right?
Open the scenario and look at the trigger block at the top:
Comment triggers: Is the right post selected? If you chose "Select posts manually," a post published after you set up the trigger won't be included. Add the new post or switch to "All posts."
Keyword triggers: Does the keyword match what people actually send? Check your AND/OR logic. Two keywords set to AND both have to appear in the same message. Switch to OR if that's not what you want.
DM triggers: Is "All messages" selected, or are you filtering by keyword or intent? If you're filtering, confirm the filter matches what people send.
For the full list of triggers and how each one fires, see Triggers: the complete reference.
Did you edit or re-upload the post?
If your trigger is tied to a specific post or reel and you deleted, re-uploaded, or replaced it, Instagram gives it a new ID. The scenario is still pointing at the old one.
Open the scenario and reselect the current post in the trigger block.
Is a frequency limit or run-once setting blocking it?
If the scenario worked before but won't fire again for the same contact, a frequency limit may be the reason.
In the flow builder, check the left panel. If Limit frequency per contact is on and set to "once," that contact can never trigger it again. Adjust the setting or remove the limit if you want the scenario to fire every time.
Is the contact in an excluded folder?
Scenarios can be set to skip contacts in certain folders. In the flow builder left panel, check Exclude specific folders. If the contact is in one of those folders, the scenario won't run for them.
On top of that, there's an account-wide filter: the Exclude specific contacts card on the Scenarios page. Any contact who matches those filters is skipped by every scenario and campaign, and a flow that's already running stops if the contact lands in an excluded folder part-way through. If one contact never triggers anything, check that card before anything else.
Is another scenario taking priority?
An active scenario already running for a contact can hold back others. If the scenario is in a group, a higher-priority scenario in that group may run first. Check Scenario group in the flow builder left panel. See How to use scenario groups for how priority works.
For comment-to-DM: is the contact reachable?
A comment-to-DM scenario can only send the contact one opening DM, and only within 7 days of their comment. If someone already received that message, or commented more than 7 days ago, a repeat won't send. See Comment-to-DM: turn comments into customers for the rules.
Is the conversation locked?
If another automation tool is connected to the same account, it may hold control of the conversation, and your scenario can't send into a locked thread. See How to fix the Thread Ownership error if you think this is the case.
Are you testing in the right mode?
A scenario in test mode runs against your own account, not your live audience. If you set it up to test but expect it to fire for real contacts, switch it out of test mode and activate it.
Is your message within the limit?
A single message step is capped at 1,000 characters. If a message step is longer than that, it can fail to send. Trim long steps, or split them across two message actions.
Have you hit your activation cap?
On plans with a monthly cap (Free, Pro Annual and the trial), once you reach your activated-contacts cap, Inrō blocks further automation messaging until the next period. Pro Monthly has no cap. Check your usage at Accounts → Subscription & add-ons. See What are activated contacts for how the cap works and how to lift it.
Is your Instagram connection healthy?
If your account disconnected, scenarios stop running. Go to Accounts → Instagram account and confirm it shows Connected. If not, see How to fix common Meta & Instagram connection errors.
Runs that were due while you were disconnected are held, not lost: after reconnecting, use Run paused executions on the scenario to replay them.
A few commenters got nothing, the rest were fine
If most people on a post were answered and a handful weren't, the usual cause is Instagram never telling Inrō about those comments. It happens to scattered individual comments rather than to a whole post.
You don't need to do anything. While a post has a live comment automation on it, Inrō keeps checking Instagram's own comment count, pulls in anything it is missing, and runs the automation those people missed. Each person gets one message even if they left several comments.
Give it up to an hour on a busy post, longer on a quiet one, then check the post's comments in Content. If the comments still aren't there after that, treat it as a connection problem and work through the checks above.
Is it late rather than missing?
A scenario normally replies within seconds of the comment or DM. If replies arrive minutes late or in a batch, the cause is on Inrō's side (a sync that stalled and was recovered), not your settings; nothing to change, and the held runs are replayed. To see exactly what happened for one contact, open Profile → View platform logs (Pro) and search the Automations tab by contact: every run is listed with its status and each action's result.
⚠️ If none of these fix it
Reach out to our support team. Share the scenario name, the trigger you're using, and a description of what happened (or didn't). We'll dig into it with you.