Question 1

how do I create my first campaign?

Accepted Answer

open the campaigns page and click 'create campaign'. choose your objective type (venue booking, product promotion, or custom outreach), fill in the details, discover contacts, and activate. iris drafts personalized messages for each contact using AI.

Question 2

how does contact discovery work?

Accepted Answer

iris finds leads on Instagram and TikTok, plus public business listings for venue and location-based campaigns. specify your target profile, location, and filters, and iris finds relevant contacts with emails and social handles for your campaigns.

Question 3

how do I connect my social accounts?

Accepted Answer

go to settings and click 'connected accounts'. you can link Twitter and Instagram via OAuth. once connected, iris can send DMs and track conversations across all channels.

Question 4

do I need any technical skills to use iris?

Accepted Answer

no. the entire app is point-and-click - you describe who you want to reach, iris finds them, drafts messages, and routes replies. the API and MCP server are available if you want to script things, but they're optional. if you can use Gmail you can use iris.

Question 5

how is iris different from Apollo, Lemlist, or Instantly?

Accepted Answer

iris drafts every message from scratch per contact instead of personalizing a shared template, treats Instagram and Twitter DMs as first-class channels alongside email, and threads every reply into one inbox per contact. see the comparison pages at /compare for side-by-side breakdowns.

Question 6

what are objective types?

Accepted Answer

campaigns are driven by objectives: 'book DJ gigs' and 'host events' for venue outreach, 'promote a product' for AI-analyzed product marketing with auto-generated target profiles, and 'custom outreach' for your own criteria. iris infers the right objective from your goal description in chat - you don't pick it manually.

Question 7

how does AI message generation work?

Accepted Answer

when you activate a campaign, iris uses Claude to draft personalized emails for each contact. it considers the contact's business, your campaign objective, and any product analysis to write relevant outreach. you review and approve drafts before they're sent.

Question 8

can I customize email templates?

Accepted Answer

yes. use variables like {{business_name}} and {{contact_name}} to personalize. you can also let the AI generate templates based on your campaign objective and target audience.

Question 9

how many contacts can I target per campaign?

Accepted Answer

campaign size scales with your plan. starter campaigns hold 30 contacts, pro hold 40, premium hold 60. each contact gets about 8 message slots (initial outreach plus follow-ups across email, Instagram, and Twitter), which is why a 30-contact campaign carries 240 messages.

Question 10

can I pause or cancel a campaign mid-send?

Accepted Answer

yes. open the campaign, hit pause, and iris stops queueing new drafts immediately. anything already in the review queue stays there - you can approve, edit, or discard. resume the campaign anytime; it picks up where it left off.

Question 11

how do I duplicate a successful campaign?

Accepted Answer

from the campaign detail page, click 'duplicate'. iris copies the objective, brand voice, target profile, and channel settings into a fresh campaign with no contacts attached, so you can run discovery against a new region or audience without rebuilding the brief.

Question 12

how do I import existing contacts?

Accepted Answer

go to contacts and click 'import'. upload a CSV with columns for business name, email, phone, website, Instagram, and address. download the template first to get the correct format.

Question 13

what data sources does discovery use?

Accepted Answer

iris discovers contacts on Instagram and TikTok, plus public business listings for venue and location-based campaigns. social sources give handles and follower counts; business listings give addresses and phone numbers.

Question 14

how does fit scoring work?

Accepted Answer

every discovered contact gets a 0-100 fit score against your campaign brief. iris weighs the match between the contact's profile (business type, location, social signals, listed services) and your objective + target profile. you can sort or filter the discovery results by fit score before adding contacts to a campaign.

Question 15

can I exclude contacts I've already messaged?

Accepted Answer

yes. iris dedupes against your contact history so a contact already reached in a prior campaign isn't silently re-added to a new one. you can also unselect contacts in the discovery review step before activating a campaign.

Question 16

is the contact data legal to use?

Accepted Answer

iris pulls from public sources (public Instagram and TikTok profiles, public business listings, company websites). every outreach email includes a per-contact unsubscribe link as required by CAN-SPAM, and one click flips the contact's status to opted_out across email, Instagram, and Twitter so iris stops sending on every channel. for GDPR jurisdictions you remain the data controller; keep your campaign briefs compliant with local rules.

Question 17

what channels does iris support?

Accepted Answer

email (via SendGrid), Instagram DMs, and Twitter DMs. each channel has its own adapter for formatting, rate limits, and delivery tracking. the orchestrator picks the best channel per contact based on available handles.

Question 18

what happens when someone replies?

Accepted Answer

replies are tracked in the unified inbox. email replies come through SendGrid inbound webhooks, Twitter and Instagram DMs come through platform webhooks. AI can help draft responses, which you review before sending. on Instagram you can also turn on the responder, which answers for you without review - it is off unless you turn it on.

Question 19

what is the email sending limit?

Accepted Answer

message limits are per campaign, not global. starter: 240 messages per campaign, pro: 320, premium: 480. each campaign's cap scales with its contact size (8× contacts) to cover initial outreach plus follow-ups across email, instagram, and twitter. the number of campaigns you can create per billing period determines total capacity.

Question 20

what is humanized pacing?

Accepted Answer

iris staggers sends with a randomized delay between each message instead of blasting an entire campaign at once. delays are tuned per channel: email is the fastest, Instagram and Twitter DMs are slower to stay well under platform thresholds. the goal is a cadence that doesn't trip platform anti-spam.

Question 21

do you support LinkedIn?

Accepted Answer

not currently. iris sends across email, Instagram DMs, and Twitter DMs. LinkedIn outreach isn't supported yet because LinkedIn's API restricts third-party messaging to specific partner programs.

Question 22

how do I tune the tone of AI drafts?

Accepted Answer

the campaign brief drives the tone. when you describe the campaign objective and target audience, iris uses that context (alongside the contact's profile) when prompting Claude. there is no separate per-contact 'persona' field - the campaign brief is the lever.

Question 23

what happens to bounced emails?

Accepted Answer

iris records hard and soft bounces from SendGrid webhooks. hard bounces (invalid address) mark the contact as undeliverable so iris stops sending to that address. soft bounces (full inbox, temporary delivery failure) are recorded but don't block future sends. bounce status shows next to each contact in the conversation view.

Question 24

what is the responder?

Accepted Answer

the responder answers your inbound Instagram DMs for you. it has two switches, both off by default. the first threads DMs from anyone into your inbox, so a message from someone new becomes a contact. the second lets iris send replies itself, written from what you told it about your business. manage it at settings > responder.

Question 25

does iris send replies without me reviewing them?

Accepted Answer

only if you turn on "let iris reply for you". with it on, replies go out with no review. iris states nothing about you that is not in your responder instructions or your profile background, and says it is automated in the first reply of each conversation. a reply that carries a link, email address, or phone number you never gave iris is not sent: the conversation is handed to you instead. everything else iris drafts, including campaign outreach, still waits for your approval.

Question 26

when does iris stop and hand the conversation to me?

Accepted Answer

when someone asks for a person, asks something your instructions do not cover, raises a complaint or a refund, sends a photo, video, or story reply, or says stop. it also hands off after 8 automatic replies in one conversation (you can change the number), and when your plan's message allowance is used up. you get a notification with the reason each time.

Question 27

can iris DM people who comment on my posts?

Accepted Answer

yes, with a comment trigger, on accounts where they are available. you pick a word, and when someone comments it on your instagram post iris sends them one DM with the message you wrote, followed by the notice that it is automated. instagram allows one DM per comment, within 7 days of it, and nothing more unless the person replies. comment triggers are not on every account yet: when they are on yours, a comment triggers card shows up at settings > responder.

Question 28

do I still get notified about new DMs?

Accepted Answer

not for a message iris is answering: it stays unread in your inbox with no notification. you get a notification when iris hands a conversation to you, and whenever iris does not answer a message it was going to. if something keeps iris from processing a message at all, the usual new-message notification arrives within 90 minutes.

Question 29

what happens when I reply myself?

Accepted Answer

iris steps back. a reply you send from iris pauses automatic replies in that conversation until you resume it from the inbox. a reply typed in the Instagram app does the same once Instagram reports those to iris - the responder settings page says whether it does for your account. if it does not, pause the conversation in iris before you answer from Instagram.

Question 30

can the responder message people first, or follow up days later?

Accepted Answer

no. Instagram only allows a message to someone who wrote to you first, and only within 24 hours of their last message. the responder cannot start a conversation and cannot reply after that window closes.

Question 31

can iris book calls?

Accepted Answer

iris shares your booking link (Calendly, Cal.com, or any https link) when someone asks to talk or book, after any qualifying questions you set. the booking itself happens on your booking page, so iris cannot see whether they booked.

Question 32

does the responder cost extra?

Accepted Answer

no. it is part of every plan. each reply iris sends counts as a message on your plan, the same as a reply you send from the inbox. iris works on at most 300 inbound messages per account per day.

Question 33

how does iris handle email deliverability?

Accepted Answer

iris sends from your verified sender email through SendGrid and paces sends with randomized delays between messages. you keep ownership of your sender reputation: iris doesn't pool many users' sends through one shared address.

Question 34

what stops my emails from landing in spam?

Accepted Answer

the biggest factors are sender authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC on your domain), the content itself (spam-trigger words, excessive links, large images), and engagement signals (opens, replies, low spam complaints). iris drafts plain conversational text by default and embeds a single unsubscribe link, both of which help. set up SPF/DKIM through the verify-sender-email guide before running a real campaign.

Question 35

what is the unsubscribe flow?

Accepted Answer

every iris outreach email contains a per-contact unsubscribe link in the footer. one click flips the contact's status to 'opted_out' and stops every future send across all channels - email, Instagram DM, and Twitter DM - automatically. the contact stays in your database for audit purposes but is excluded from all campaign send queues.

Question 36

what plans are available?

Accepted Answer

iris offers starter, pro, and premium plans with monthly and yearly billing. each plan caps the number of campaigns and the size of each campaign (contacts and messages); AI drafting and response analysis are bundled in. see the pricing page for current rates.

Question 37

is there a free plan?

Accepted Answer

yes. the free tier includes two campaigns per month so you can run real outreach end-to-end before paying. AI drafting, discovery, and the unified inbox all work on free - the cap is on campaign volume, not on the features you can try.

Question 38

what counts as a campaign for billing?

Accepted Answer

a campaign is a single outreach project with one objective and one target audience. activating a campaign consumes one of your monthly campaign credits. duplicating a campaign without activating it is free; only activation counts. saved drafts and paused campaigns don't consume additional credits.

Question 39

do unused campaigns roll over?

Accepted Answer

no. campaign credits reset at the start of each billing period and don't accumulate. if you need more campaigns in a given month, upgrade temporarily - changes take effect immediately and prorate against the period.

Question 40

how do I upgrade or cancel?

Accepted Answer

go to settings > billing to manage your subscription. you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime. cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing period.

Question 41

does iris have an API?

Accepted Answer

yes. iris has a REST API at api.iris-ai.dev with 80+ endpoints covering campaigns, contacts, conversations, messages, discovery, AI, analytics, billing, and webhooks. authenticate with API keys (is_live_...) or agent payment protocols (x402, MPP).

Question 42

how do I get an API key?

Accepted Answer

go to settings > API keys and click 'generate key'. choose the scopes you need (read, write, generate, send, delete, admin) and set an expiration. the raw key is only shown once, so save it securely.

Question 43

what are x402 and MPP?

Accepted Answer

x402 and MPP are agent payment protocols that let AI agents use the iris API without an API key. x402 agents pay per-campaign ($2.25). MPP agents buy credit packs (5 for $12.00). each campaign credit covers the starter envelope: 30 contacts and 240 messages, with AI drafting bundled in. credits never expire and are refunded if campaign creation fails.

Question 44

is there an MCP server for AI agents?

Accepted Answer

yes. the iris MCP server exposes campaigns, contacts, discovery, drafting, and analytics as MCP tools that Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP clients can call directly, as an npm package or as a hosted endpoint at https://api.iris-ai.dev/mcp. installation and tool reference live at /docs in the iris app.

Question 45

where is the full API documented?

Accepted Answer

/docs in the iris app has the full reference - resources, endpoints, parameters, request/response schemas, error codes, code examples, and rate limits. agent-readable formats are available at /llms.txt, /llms-full.txt, and /openapi.json. the .well-known/x402 endpoint advertises pricing for x402 agents.

Question 46

can I receive webhooks for inbound replies?

Accepted Answer

yes. configure a webhook subscription at /api/v1/webhooks and iris pushes events for inbound messages, campaign state changes, message status updates, and discovery completions to your endpoint. each delivery is signed with HMAC so you can verify it's from iris.

Question 47

how do I track campaign performance via API?

Accepted Answer

the analytics endpoints provide open rates, click rates, response rates, and conversions. filter by date range and campaign. webhook subscriptions can push events to your server in real-time.

Question 48

my campaign drafts aren't generating, what's wrong?

Accepted Answer

drafts run through QStash as a background job after activation, so there can be a short delay. if drafts haven't appeared after 5 minutes, check (1) the campaign has at least one selected contact, (2) your AI generation usage hasn't hit the plan limit, and (3) the activity feed on the campaign page for any error messages. if the issue persists, contact support with the campaign ID.

Question 49

a contact replied but I can't see it in the inbox

Accepted Answer

for email, check that the verified sender's reply-to domain is configured to forward to iris's inbound webhook (the verify-sender-email guide covers this). for Instagram and Twitter DMs, the inbound webhook needs the platform's app review approval, which iris handles - if a known-good reply is missing, contact support and include the platform handle and approximate timestamp.

Question 50

email sender verification is stuck on 'pending'

Accepted Answer

SendGrid emails the verification link to the address you added, not to your iris account. check that mailbox (and spam folder) and click the link. if the link expired, return to settings > channels and click 'resend verification'. verification is a one-time step per sender address.

Question 51

a connected social account is showing as disconnected

Accepted Answer

OAuth tokens expire when the platform rotates them or you revoke iris from your platform settings. go to settings > connected accounts, click 'reconnect' on the affected platform, and complete the OAuth flow again. iris re-encrypts and stores the new token automatically.

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