Configure the agent

The Meta agent page gathers everything that drives its behaviour, split into tabs. This page covers the first one, “Agent”: the basic settings. The other tabs each have their own page in this guide.

How to open the agent page

Go to “AI Agents”, find your Meta agent in the list and click it. The page opens with the tabs at the top. If you have just created the agent, you are already here.

A Meta agent's tabs

Agent

Name, activation, DM reply mode, reply delay and transcript saving. This is the tab described on this page.

Direct messages

The first message and the instructions that drive DM replies. See “Direct messages”.

Comments

The instructions for public replies and the moderation rules. See “Comments and moderation”.

Tools

What the agent can look up or do: built-in, external and MCP. See “Meta agent tools”.

Versions

The history of saved configurations, with preview and restore.

Switching the agent on

At the top of the “Agent” tab, next to the name, you'll find the activation toggle with the status: “Active” (green) or “Draft”. While the agent is not active, messages and comments get NO automatic reply: they are still recorded in the inbox.

• No required fields to complete. Unlike voice agents (which require a voice and a language), a Meta agent can be switched on right after creation. That doesn't make it a good idea: with no instructions it will answer generically.
• If the toggle is locked. The only possible block is instruction length: if your prompt exceeds the token limit shown by the counter at the top, a warning appears and activation stays disabled until you shorten it.
• Switch it on only when you're ready. It's best to activate the agent after writing the DM and comment instructions, so the first reply a real customer gets is already the right one.

Agent name

The name you recognise the agent by in the dashboard list. You can also use it in the instructions so the agent introduces itself to customers (“I'm Sofia from…”). Changing it has no effect on conversations already in progress.

Agent type

It shows “Meta — Replies to Instagram and Facebook DMs” and is deliberately locked: the type is chosen at creation and a Meta agent cannot be converted into a phone agent (or vice versa).

DM reply mode (who answers messages)

This is the most important setting: it decides WHO answers incoming direct messages. It has no effect on comment replies, which are handled separately from the “Comments” tab. You get a dropdown with three options.

• The agent replies automatically (recommended). The agent answers every direct message on its own. This is the right choice in most cases: pick it if you want customers to get an immediate reply.
• A workflow handles replies. The agent's automatic reply is disabled, so a workflow started by the “Meta DM received” trigger can handle replies with the logic you prefer. Choose this ONLY if you have built (or will build) that workflow in the Workflows section.
• Don't reply to DMs automatically. Messages are recorded in the inbox but never get an automatic reply: you answer manually from the inbox. Choose this if for now you only want to collect messages without automation.

DM reply delay

It only appears when the mode is “The agent replies automatically”. It gives the customer time to finish writing: instead of answering the first message and then again the second and the third, the agent waits a while after the last message received and then answers the whole sequence once. It applies to direct messages only, not comments.

Instant

No wait: the agent replies as soon as the message arrives. Maximum responsiveness, but with people who type in bursts you risk fragmented replies.

Fast — 30 seconds

A good compromise: it groups messages fired off in a row while still feeling immediate.

Medium — 5 minutes

Useful if your customers write in pieces, perhaps attaching photos or extra details in separate messages.

Slow — 15 minutes

For non-urgent conversations, where you prefer one complete answer over many partial ones.

Custom

You set the minutes yourself, from 0 to 30 (0.5 = 30 seconds). The countdown restarts with every new customer message.

Transcript saving

With the switch on, the text of every conversation is kept in the history, so you can re-read it and get summaries. If you turn it off, conversations are still recorded but without the text detail. Only turn it off if you prefer to store less data; otherwise keep it on.

The interaction counter

At the top of the agent page, next to the badges, there is a pill with a speech-bubble icon and a number: those are the Meta interactions still available in the current billing period. Click it to see how many you have used, how many your plan includes and when the count resets. When the number hits zero the agent stops replying. Full details in “Plans, interactions and limits”.

The “Versions” tab

Every time you save the configuration, a copy is kept. From the “Versions” tab you can browse previous versions, open them in read-only preview (the striped background reminds you that you are looking at history, not the live configuration) and restore one if a change didn't work out.

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