Guidepost: a comment-to-DM web app for Instagram creators

What it is

Guidepost is a web app for Instagram creators who send guides by DM. A reader comments a keyword under a post, the guide arrives in their DMs, and a public reply under the comment tells the next reader it works. It began as a tool for one travel creator with itineraries to send, and it is now a service other creators sign up for, live at guidepost.komen.now. CodaMinds designed and built it, and we show it because it is a full product with sign-in, workspaces, plans and billing, not a page.

What it had to do

• Watch the comments and messages on a creator's posts and answer the right ones, with nobody at the keyboard
• Never send the same guide twice to the same comment, even when Instagram delivers the same event more than once
• Keep a record the creator can trust: what was sent, what was ignored, what failed, and why
• Show which posts earn saves, shares, profile visits and followers, from Instagram's own numbers
• Let a creator connect one Instagram account, pick a plan and pay, with nobody from the studio in the loop

What we built

• Keyword replies: one keyword per post, one guide text and link, a private reply by DM and a public reply under the comment
• A claim on each comment before anything is sent, so nobody gets a guide twice
• An inbox with every delivery and its status
• A growth page built from Instagram's own insights: views, reach, saves, shares, profile visits and follows, per post and per day
• Written reports on which posts to make next
• Sign-in by email link, workspaces with members, plans and billing, and one Instagram account connected per workspace
• A bio page that lists every guide

What is true today

• Live, and open to new creators
• Every reply is on the record: sent, ignored, failed, and why
• The app reads posts and insights and replies to comments and messages. It never posts for the creator
• Built by CodaMinds and kept running by us

What it means for your business

If your customers live on Instagram, WhatsApp or another platform, this is what a tool around it looks like: it listens to the platform, acts within its rules, keeps a record of every action and gives you numbers you can act on. The same shape serves a clinic that answers enquiries, a shop that sends a catalogue or a creator who sends guides. We build business systems like it for other businesses, with sign-in, workspaces and billing where the product needs them, and we keep them running after launch, with a fixed quote before any work starts.