Guide: Build your first flow
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/flow-builder/build-your-first-flow
Topic: Flow builder
Time: about 7 minutes
Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox
Result when done: A flow that answers a comment with a DM, live on your page.
Context: A flow is a set of steps on a canvas, joined by wires: one start, then whatever should happen. This guide builds the classic one: someone comments a word under your post, gets the one private reply Meta allows, taps it, and the next message lands in the chat. Every other flow is the same moves with other steps.

Before you start:
1. The flow builder is on Starter and every plan above it. On Mini and Lite, the owner can run DM automation live for 7 days, free, once.
2. Your page is connected, and the connection allows messages.
3. A flow holds up to 60 steps. Nothing runs until you switch it live.

Steps:
Step 1 of 9: Press New automation.
Where: Left sidebar, under Pages, click the page, then the Automation tab. New automation is the green button at the top right (or press N). On a phone it sits under the heading Automation.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the app)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-home.en.webp (The Automation list, with New automation at the top right.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-home-phone.en.webp (New automation on a phone, under the heading.)
You should see: New automation opens: a box to describe the automation in your own words, and under it the line Or pick a ready-made one.

Step 2 of 9: Press Start from a blank canvas.
Where: On the right of the line Or pick a ready-made one, under the box. Further down, under Your own flow, the card Build your own flow (Open the builder) does the same. On a phone the link sits right under that line.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-gallery.en.webp (Start from a blank canvas, under the describe box.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-gallery-phone.en.webp (The same link on a phone.)
You should see: An empty canvas opens with the window Start automation when… over it.

Step 3 of 9: Pick what starts it: Someone comments on your post or reel.
Where: The window Start automation when… lists the Triggers. The comment start is the first one: on Instagram its small label reads Post or reel comments; on Facebook, Post or ad comments. Hover a start to see how it plays out; Build with AI sits above the list if you would rather describe the flow.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-starts.en.webp (The comment start, first under Triggers.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-starts-phone.en.webp (The same start on a phone.)
You should see: The start lands on the canvas as the first card, named Someone comments, and its settings open on the right.

Step 4 of 9: Say which posts.
Where: The panel on the right, titled Trigger. Under On which posts choose Any post or ad, Ads only, Posts and reels only, Pick posts, or Your next post. On a phone the panel opens as a sheet from the bottom.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-start-comment.en.webp (On which posts, in the Trigger panel.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-start-comment-phone.en.webp (The same menu on a phone.)
You should see: The start card names the posts: Any post or ad, or the number you picked.

Step 5 of 9: Say which comments start it.
Where: In the same panel, under Which ones: Any comment, Has a keyword, or Is exactly. With a keyword choice, type each word in the box below and press Enter; capitals do not matter.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-start-comment-more.en.webp (The keyword box under Which ones, with LINK in it.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-start-comment-more-phone.en.webp (The keyword box on a phone.)
You should see: The start card reads your choice back in a sentence, with the keyword on it.

Step 6 of 9: Add a Private reply.
Where: The Steps panel on the left groups the steps as Send, Ask and wait, Decide, Do and, at the end, On the comment (the panel is folded to icons until you open it with the arrow at its top). With the start card selected, click Private reply: it is added after the start, wired to it. Dragging it onto the canvas works too. On a phone: Add step, at the top left of the canvas, opens the same list as a sheet.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-palette-more.en.webp (Private reply, in the last group of the Steps panel.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-palette-more-phone.en.webp (Private reply, at the end of the Add step sheet.)
You should see: A second card, On the comment · Private reply, joined to the start by a wire, with its settings open on the right.

Step 7 of 9: Write the private reply and give it a button.
Where: In the panel on the right, type the text in the box at the top. Under Button, type the label of the button they tap, such as Send my code: their tap opens the chat, and the step you connect goes next. Meta allows one private reply per comment, so this is the one message that can go out before they answer.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-node-private.en.webp (Button, under the text of the private reply.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-node-private-phone.en.webp (Button on a phone.)
You should see: The card on the canvas shows the reply with its button, and under it the way out When they tap or reply.

Step 8 of 9: Add a Message after it.
Where: With the private reply still selected, click Message, the first step under Send in the Steps panel. It lands after the private reply, on its way When they tap or reply. Write what they should get in the panel on the right. You can also drag from the dot on When they tap or reply onto any card to wire it yourself.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-palette.en.webp (Message, first under Send.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-palette-phone.en.webp (Message, first in the Add step sheet.)
You should see: Three cards joined by wires: the start, the private reply, the message.

Step 9 of 9: Switch it live.
Where: The Live switch on the bar at the top, left of Save. Switching it on saves what is on the canvas and puts it live in one go; Save alone, with the switch off, keeps it as a draft. The pill at the top right of the canvas says Ready to go live, or how many things are left to fix.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow.en.webp (The Live switch on the bar, on.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-flow-phone.en.webp (The Live switch on a phone.)
You should see: A toast says Saved. It's live on your page; the next matching comment starts it.

If something is off:
Problem: The Live switch will not stay on
Fix: Something is left to fix. The toast says how many and the canvas takes you to the first; the guide Fix the problems and go live walks through them.
Problem: It asks to reconnect the page
Fix: Meta did not give CommentWatchDog the permission to send messages on that page. Reconnect it and allow messages, then switch it live again.
Problem: A wire snaps back
Fix: Meta would refuse what it describes, for example a message before the person has tapped or replied. The message on screen says which rule; Add, connect and remove steps lists them.

Common questions:
Question: Does a flow run while I am still building it?
Answer: No. A paused flow saves itself as a draft as you work and runs for nobody. It starts answering only when you switch it live.
Question: How many steps can one flow have?
Answer: Up to 60. The canvas stops adding at that number, the same limit the save checks.
Question: Which plans include the flow builder?
Answer: Starter and every plan above it. On Mini and Lite the owner can run DM automation, the flow builder included, live for 7 days, free, once.
Question: Can I start from something ready instead of a blank canvas?
Answer: Yes. Under the recipes in New automation, Start from a template opens a ready flow on the canvas as a draft, and Build with AI builds one from a sentence.

Related guides:
- Add, connect and remove steps: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/flow-builder/add-connect-and-remove-steps
- Fix the problems and go live: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/flow-builder/fix-the-problems-and-go-live
- Start a flow when someone comments: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/flow-starts/start-a-flow-when-someone-comments

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/flow-builder/build-your-first-flow.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt