Filters let you find exactly the contacts you're looking for. Segments are saved filters you can reuse as campaign audiences, automation targets, or a quick view into a slice of your list. Together they turn your contact database into a targeting system.
Adding a filter
Go to Contacts in the left sidebar and click Add filter next to the search bar. A panel opens with every filter type, grouped into four categories.
You can stack several filters at once. By default they use AND logic, so every condition must match. You can switch the set to OR logic instead (see "AND or OR logic" below).
As you build, Inrō shows a live count ("N contacts match") so you can see the size of your audience before you save or send.
The filter categories
Engagement
These look at whether and when a contact interacted with you. Each takes a date range (see below).
Any engagement: had any message activity in the range.
First interaction: their first-ever interaction falls in the range. Great for finding brand-new contacts.
Message: sent you a DM in the range. You can also match on words the message contained.
Comment: commented in the range, optionally on a specific post.
Story reply: replied to a story in the range, optionally a specific story.
Story mention: mentioned you in their story in the range.
Mention in caption: mentioned you in a post caption in the range.
Referral ad: arrived through an ad in the range, optionally a specific ad.
Transaction
Appointment: has (or hasn't) a booking in the range.
Payment link: received a payment link in the range. You can narrow by payment status (for example paid, awaiting, refunded).
Automation
Folder: is in a chosen folder, or with no folder selected, is in no folder at all.
Clicked conversion link: clicked a tracked link in the range, optionally a specific link.
Campaign: received a campaign in the range, optionally a specific one.
Scenario: went through a scenario in the range, optionally a specific one.
Survey: their relationship to a survey in the range: received and completed, received but not completed, or never received.
Contact Info
These compare a contact's attributes and take an operator instead of a date range.
Email: has, doesn't have, or contains a value.
Name: the contact name matches a condition.
Phone: has, doesn't have, or contains a value.
Username: the Instagram handle matches a condition.
Language: the detected language matches.
Follower count: above, below, equal, or not equal to a number.
Follows you or not: whether they follow your account.
Followed by you or not: whether you follow them.
Status: the contact status (Active, Inactive, and the rest). See Understanding Contact Status.
Contact property: any custom property value matches a condition.
Using the Contact property filter
The Contact property filter is the most flexible one. Pick the property from the dropdown (for example "Buyer or Seller"), then set the condition: is present, is not present, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain. For choice-type properties, the value becomes a dropdown of your allowed options.
This is how you build specific audiences like "active contacts, interested in buying, with a price range over 500k."
The operators
Which operators you see depends on the filter:
is present / is not present: the field has a value or it doesn't.
contains / does not contain: text match (not case sensitive).
is equal to / is not equal to: exact match (status, language, properties, numbers).
is above / is below: numeric comparison (follower count, number properties).
is true / is false: for the "follows you" and "followed by you" filters.
Date ranges
Engagement, transaction, and automation filters take a date range. The full set is: today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, last 90 days, last 365 days, all time, and specific dates (a custom start and end). New activity filters start at last 30 days. Narrower ranges are faster than "all time."
AND or OR logic
A filter set (saved or not) uses one logic mode:
Match all filters (AND): a contact must meet every condition. This is the default.
Match any filter (OR): a contact needs to meet at least one condition.
Switch the mode at the top of the filter set. Use AND to narrow ("Active and has email and in 'New Leads'"); use OR to widen ("commented in the last 7 days or replied to a story in the last 7 days").
There's no nesting of segments inside other segments. A segment is one flat list of filters with a single AND or OR mode.
Generate filters with AI
If you'd rather describe your audience in words, use the Generate filters with AI box in the filter builder. Type something like "active contacts who clicked a link last week but never replied," and Inrō turns it into a filter set for you, then replaces the current filters with the generated ones.
⚠️ The AI generator covers the common cases but a slightly smaller set than building by hand: it won't produce survey or "mention in caption" filters, and it won't invent a custom date range. For those, add the filter manually.
Saving a segment
Once your filters give you the right audience, save them as a named segment so you don't rebuild them each time.
Click + Create segment in the tab bar at the top of the Contacts page (it appears after you've applied at least one filter), give it a name, and save. Saved segments appear alongside All contacts at the top of the page, each with its live contact count. They're also available when building a campaign: under Send campaign to, expand Segments.
Segments are dynamic
A segment isn't a fixed list. It shows whoever matches its filters at the moment you look. If a contact goes Inactive tomorrow, they drop out of an "Active contacts" segment on their own; a new contact who fits drops in. You can't add or remove someone from a segment by hand: membership is decided entirely by the filters. When you want a list you control yourself, use a folder instead.
This matters for campaigns: the recipient list is locked at the moment you send, so you always know who received a campaign even if the segment changes afterward.
Folders vs segments
Folders are a fixed assignment. You put a contact in a folder and they stay until you remove them.
Segments are dynamic. They reflect whoever currently matches your filters.
Use folders to track funnel stage or relationship type ("Customer," "VIP," "Hot Lead"). Use segments to find everyone with a property value or engagement pattern right now.
You can also filter by folder inside a segment, which combines both: "everyone in 'New Leads' who clicked a conversion link but hasn't replied to a campaign in the last 30 days."
For how to create and automate folders, see Folders: Create, Organise & Automate.
Exporting a filtered list
After applying filters, you can export the matching contacts to a spreadsheet from the Contacts page. The export covers the built-in fields and has a size threshold. For the format, what's included, and the custom-property caveat, see Contact Profiles & Custom Properties.
🐾 Netsuke's Tips
Combine Status: Active with almost every campaign audience. Sending to Inactive contacts won't reach them and skews your numbers.
Before sending a campaign, build the filter and watch the live count. It takes thirty seconds and catches surprises before you hit send.
The Scenario: has not run filter is one of the most useful for re-engagement: find everyone who came through a comment but never finished your flow, and send them a campaign that picks up where the scenario left off.
What's next?
Now that your audience is ready, see Audience Selection & Segmentation for Campaigns to plug your segments straight into a campaign send.