ForushAI lets businesses that have an Instagram Professional/Business account connect that account and manage customer conversations — direct messages and comments — from the ForushAI dashboard. ForushAI uses Meta's APIs to provide this integration and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta or Instagram.
1. How the connection works
- The business owner clicks "Connect Instagram" in ForushAI and is redirected to Instagram's official authorization screen.
- The business owner reviews the requested permissions and explicitly authorizes (or declines) the connection.
- Instagram redirects back to ForushAI with an authorization code, which ForushAI exchanges for an access token. The token is stored encrypted.
- Instagram sends message and comment events for the connected account to ForushAI through the API/webhook.
- ForushAI processes each event: it matches the message or comment text against the automation rules configured by the business owner, and — depending on those rules — sends a reply, does nothing, or flags the conversation for a human operator.
- Replies configured or approved by the business owner are sent back to the customer through the same authorized Instagram integration.
- The business owner can view the conversation, take it over manually, or disconnect the integration at any time.
In short: Instagram Professional/Business account → business owner authorizes ForushAI → Instagram sends permitted message/comment events → ForushAI processes the event against the owner's automation rules → the owner can view/manage the conversation in ForushAI → ForushAI may send an automated reply → the reply is sent back through the authorized Instagram integration.
2. Permissions we request, and why
instagram_business_basic
What it allows: read basic information about the connected Instagram Professional/Business account (such as the account ID and username).
Why we need it: to identify which Instagram account is connected to a ForushAI customer and to show the account's name in the dashboard.
Customer benefit: confirms the correct Instagram account is connected before any messages or comments are handled.
Where it's used: account connection flow and the account switcher in the dashboard.
instagram_business_manage_messages
What it allows: receive direct messages sent to the connected account and send messages on its behalf.
Why we need it: this is the core of the product — without it, ForushAI cannot show incoming direct messages or send the replies the business owner configures.
Customer benefit: the business owner can see and reply to Instagram DMs from one dashboard, and set up automated replies for common questions, without missing messages.
Where it's used: the conversations/inbox view and the automated-reply engine.
instagram_business_manage_comments
What it allows: receive comments on the connected account's posts and reply to them (publicly, privately by DM, or both, depending on the rule configured).
Why we need it: to support comment-based automation — for example, replying automatically when a comment contains a specific keyword, or sending a private follow-up DM.
Customer benefit: the business owner can respond to comments faster and run keyword-triggered promotions or FAQs directly in the comments.
Where it's used: the comment-automation rules section of the dashboard.
3. Data handling summary
ForushAI stores the connected account's ID, username, and an encrypted access token, plus non-content metadata about each message or comment event (sender, timestamp, direction, and — for comments — the comment and post IDs). ForushAI does not store the text content of direct messages in its database. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.
4. Disconnecting
The business owner can disconnect the Instagram integration at any time from the ForushAI dashboard or from Instagram/Meta's connected-apps settings. See our Data Deletion page for the full process, including full account deletion.
