Apr 20, 2026 · Free Guide

Automate Your DMs While You Sleep

Every DM you ignore is a lead you lost. Every unanswered message is a potential client, collab, or sale rotting in your inbox because you didn't get to it fast enough. Here's the exact 5-step setup that hands the whole thing to Claude Code and lets it run on autopilot — in your voice, 24/7.

Why most DM "automation" sucks

Every tool out there either sends the same copy-paste reply to every DM (looks like a bot, reads like a bot), locks you into a dashboard you have to check anyway, or charges you $99/month to do what Claude Code can do for free.

What you actually want is something that reads each DM, understands who it's from, replies in your voice, and does it without you lifting a finger. That's what this setup does.

The 5-step setup

STEP 01
Connect your accounts to Zernio
Go to zernio.com and click Get Started. Connect every social account you want DMs handled on — Instagram, Messenger, whatever you have. Zernio is the bridge. It gives Claude a single API to read and send messages across all your platforms.
STEP 02
Create your Zernio API key
Inside Zernio, go to API Keys and click Create New Key. Copy it and keep it somewhere safe — a password manager, not a chat message.
STEP 03
Install the Zernio MCP in Claude Code
Open Claude Code and tell it: “Install the Zernio MCP server using this API key: [paste your key]”. That’s it. Claude handles the install.
STEP 04
Give Claude your brain
This is the step most people skip — and it’s why most DM automations sound like a robot. Just tell Claude Code: “Make me a DM playbook. Ask me about my business, my tone, and how to handle each type of DM. Save it to its own folder.” Claude interviews you — who you are, what you sell, how you talk, how to handle cold leads vs existing clients vs random hey/hi’s vs spam. Then it writes the playbook file for you in a clean dedicated folder. Want to tweak something later? Tell Claude “update my DM playbook — change X” and it does it.
STEP 05
Schedule it inside Claude Code
Claude Code has scheduled tasks built in. No terminal, no crontab, no cron syntax. Just tell Claude: “Schedule a task every 30 minutes that reads my DM playbook, checks my Zernio inbox for new DMs, and replies using the playbook. Skip anything you’re unsure about.” Done. The task runs in the background — your laptop can be closed, you can be asleep. Claude answers your DMs in your voice on autopilot.

How to check, pause, or kill it

You don't need to touch the terminal to manage your automation. Just talk to Claude:

"List my scheduled tasks"
"Pause the DM automation task"
"Delete the DM automation task"

How often should it run?

Match it to your DM volume. Start with every 30 minutes and adjust.

  • Every 15 minutes — high volume, fast replies matter (think: launch day, ad traffic)
  • Every 30 minutes — the sweet spot for most creators
  • Every hour — lighter touch if your DMs are slower paced
  • Only during business hours— say "every 30 minutes between 9am and 9pm"

When to skip this

If you only get a couple DMs a week — don't bother. You're fine answering manually.

If your DMs are 90% existing clients asking sensitive questions — skip it. Don't let AI answer stuff that actually matters to your business relationships.

Everyone else: set this up today. Every DM you miss is money you left on the table.

All Resources

ZernioThe bridge between your socials and Claude
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Claude CodeYou need this installed to run the whole thing
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@tenfoldmarc on InstagramWeekly AI automation guides
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