Someone comments GUIDE on your reel and gets the file. Then they comment "thanks!" under your public reply, and your automation sends the file again. On a busy post the same person can get your DM two or three times, and every "thank you" under your reply starts another one.
Settings > Automations has two switches that fix this for every comment automation in your workspace. They're included in the Pro, Ultimate and Business plans.
Open Settings > Automations
Already using Zorcha: open Settings in the left sidebar, then click Automations. It sits between Account Safety and Billing.
New to Zorcha: finish sign-up and connect your Instagram account or Facebook Page first. The page is then in the same place.
Each switch saves the moment you click it. You don't need to open your automations or click Go Live again, and the change applies to all your comment automations at once.
Trigger on comment-thread replies
This switch is On by default. Instagram and Facebook treat a reply underneath a comment as a comment too, so a "thanks!" under your public reply starts the automation again.
Turn it Off and only new top-level comments on the post trigger your automations. Replies underneath a comment, including replies to your own public reply, are left alone. No DM, no public reply.
For example, a shop runs "comment PRICE for the link". With the switch off, the person who comments PRICE gets the DM, and their friend who replies "me too" under that comment doesn't. If your audience often replies with the keyword under each other's comments, leave this switch on.
Reply once per person per post
This switch is Off by default. Turn it On and each automation sends its DM and public reply to a person once per post. If the same person comments again on that post, the automation skips them.
A few things to know:
It counts per post. Someone who comments on your next reel gets that reel's DM as usual.
If the DM couldn't be sent the first time, the person isn't counted. Their next comment on the post gets the DM.
Zorcha remembers who it replied to on a post for 30 days.
People who commented before you turned the switch on can get one more reply. From then on they're skipped on that post.
The switch works for Comment to DM automations and for Flow Builder flows that start from a comment, on Instagram and Facebook Pages.
On the Free plan
On the Free plan both switches show the Pro badge. Clicking a switch or the badge opens the plan options, and the switches work as soon as you're on Pro, Ultimate or Business.
If you later move back to Free, both switches return to their defaults: comment-thread replies on, reply once per person off.
Quick answers
Do these switches change my keywords or messages?
No. They only decide which comments start an automation. Your keywords, DMs and public replies stay as they are.
Someone got my DM twice before I turned Reply once per person per post on. Can it happen again?
They can get one more reply on that post, because Zorcha starts counting from the moment the switch is on. After that they're skipped on that post.
Can I turn off public replies as well?
Public replies are set per automation. Open the automation, scroll to Advanced Automations and change the public reply settings there. For a cap on how many public replies a post gets, see How to Limit Public Replies in Comments to DM Automations?
To control how many comment-triggered DMs Zorcha sends per hour, see What is Account Safety in Zorcha?