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The Messages tab in Engagement brings your Instagram, Messenger, and X direct messages into a single inbox, so you can read and reply without opening each platform’s app separately. It sits next to the Comments tab (for public comments) and the Automations tab (for auto-replies) — Messages is specifically for one-to-one conversations with the people who DM your connected accounts.
Messages supports Instagram, Messenger (Facebook Pages), and X. YouTube, TikTok, and Threads don’t offer a way for apps like Hivra to send or receive direct messages, so those platforms never appear here.

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Opening Messages

1

Open Engagement

Click Engagement in the sidebar.
2

Click the Messages tab

Select Messages from the tab bar at the top, next to Comments and Automations. The tab only appears once you have at least one Instagram, Facebook Page, or X account connected.
3

Pick a conversation

Conversations from every connected account appear in a single list, newest first, with unread conversations shown in bold and a count badge. Click one to open the thread.
If you have no Instagram, Facebook Page, or X account connected, Messages shows a prompt to connect one instead of an empty inbox. See Integrations.

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Reading and replying to a conversation

Each conversation shows the sender’s name (or @username, or avatar), which platform they messaged you on, and the message history. Messages sent by an automation are marked with a small Automation tag so you can tell them apart from messages you typed yourself.
1

Open a conversation

Click any conversation in the list. On a phone or narrow window, the list and the open thread each take the full width — use the back arrow to return to the list.
2

Type your reply

Click the message field at the bottom of the thread and type your reply.
3

Send

Press Enter to send (use Shift + Enter for a line break), or click Send.
Each platform caps how long a single message can be:

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Filtering by platform

Above the conversation list, pill buttons let you filter to All, or to just Instagram, Messenger, or X — only the platforms you have connected and allowed appear as options.

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Reply windows: how long you have to respond

Instagram and Messenger only let you reply within a limited window after the other person’s last message — Hivra never messages someone first.
X has no reply-window restriction — you can reply to an X conversation at any time. Instead, every X DM you send (or receive) is billed against your workspace’s monthly X API budget, as explained below.

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Turning on X DMs

Because X charges for every DM its API delivers, X conversations are off by default per connected account. A card in the Messages tab invites you to turn them on, showing the cost: roughly $0.01 for each DM received and $0.015 for each one you send, drawn from your workspace’s shared monthly X API budget.
1

Review the cost notice

In the Messages tab, find the card for your X account prompting you to turn on DMs.
2

Click Turn on X DMs

Hivra subscribes to that account’s DM events. Messages sent before you turned it on are not shown — only new DMs from that point on appear.
If your workspace’s monthly X API budget is used up, X DMs are automatically paused for every X account in that workspace until the budget resets. A card in Messages explains this and offers a Turn back on button once the budget renews. See X API Usage for the full budget breakdown.

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Keeping the inbox up to date

Messages is designed to open instantly and then quietly catch up:
  • The tab first shows whatever Hivra already has stored, so it never waits on Instagram or Messenger to load.
  • In the background, Hivra checks Instagram and Messenger for new conversations and messages at most every 10 minutes while you have the tab open.
  • X conversations update as DMs arrive, since X delivers them directly once you’ve turned DMs on for that account.
  • While the tab stays open and visible, the inbox also re-checks what’s stored roughly every 30 seconds, so a reply you just sent or received shows up without a manual reload.
Click the refresh icon in the Messages header at any time to request an immediate sync instead of waiting for the next automatic one.
If a background sync fails — for example, a platform API hiccup — Hivra keeps showing your last-loaded inbox rather than clearing it or showing an error. Use the refresh button to retry.

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Reconnecting an account for Messages access

If an Instagram or Facebook Page account was connected to Hivra before Hivra started requesting DM permissions, a banner appears at the top of Messages asking you to reconnect that account so it can send and receive DMs.
1

Click Reconnect in the banner

This takes you to Integrations.
2

Reconnect the account

Reconnect the named account and accept the permissions requested. See Connect Instagram or Connect Facebook for the full connection flow.
Until you reconnect, that account’s conversations won’t load or send in Messages.

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Plan requirement

Messages is part of Engagement, which requires a Creator plan or higher. If you’re on the Free plan, you’ll see an upgrade prompt instead of the inbox. See Plans and pricing.

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Troubleshooting

The Messages tab only appears once you have at least one DM-capable account connected (Instagram, a Facebook Page, or X) and your plan includes Engagement. Connect an account from Integrations if you haven’t already.
This means the conversation’s reply window has closed. For Instagram and Messenger, that happens more than 7 days after the other person’s last message, or if they haven’t messaged you yet — Hivra can’t start a conversation on your behalf. Wait for them to message you (or message again) to reopen the window.
Check whether X DMs are turned on for that account in the Messages tab — they’re off by default. If you already turned them on, a paused card means your workspace’s monthly X API budget is used up; it resumes automatically once the budget resets, or you can upgrade or add a workspace for more budget. See X API Usage.
That account was connected before Hivra requested the permissions it needs to read and send DMs. Click Reconnect in the banner and complete the authorization again.
That reply was sent automatically by a DM automation configured in the Automations tab — for example, a keyword-triggered flow — rather than typed manually from Messages.