What the follow gate is

The follow gate holds back your automated DM until the person confirms they follow you. It is the most common reason creators use dmrabbit at all: answer the question, and gain a follower doing it.

It asks, it does not check

Instagram does not tell anyone whether a person who commented follows you. That information only becomes available after that person sends you a message.

So the gate cannot quietly look them up and decide. Instead it does this:

1. Someone comments and your automation matches.
2. Your public reply posts as normal.
3. Instead of the DM, they get a short message asking them to follow, with a button to confirm.
4. They tap it.
5. dmrabbit checks properly this time, and sends your real message.

It only holds the DM

A public comment reply always posts, gated or not. The gate applies to the DM channel only, which is why an automation needs a DM switched on before the gate can be enabled.

People who already follow you often skip the whole thing

If someone has messaged you before, dmrabbit can already see that they follow you, and sends your message straight away with no prompt. Someone who has been through the gate once is remembered too, and is never asked again.

The prompt is for people dmrabbit genuinely cannot verify.

What it cannot do

It cannot force anyone to follow you, and it cannot detect someone who follows, taps the button, and unfollows afterwards. Instagram sends no notification when someone unfollows, so once a person has cleared your gate they stay cleared.