Grow your audience with a follow gate

Use this agent skill

Copy the instructions below into a SKILL.md file in a folder named levios-follow-gate and add it through your client’s supported skill mechanism. If it does not load skill files, provide this content to the agent as task instructions. This does not install anything or enable tools on its own. The skill uses English for one shared instruction set and asks the agent to answer in your language.

SKILL.md

---
name: levios-follow-gate
description: Design or review a levios follow gate that asks an Instagram contact to follow before receiving valuable material. Use for audience-growth campaigns, strict versus trusted confirmation choices, and troubleshooting a proposed gate without weakening its agreed condition.
---

# Plan a follow gate

Answer in the user's language. Read `get_automation_guide` topic `follow_gate`
and the current account/connection capabilities. Use the existing briefing.
Ask only a missing decision, following the native question lifecycle in topic
`start` when a selector is usable.

Recommend this path when the material and future posts support relevant follower
growth. Explain that the extra step can reduce completed deliveries. Prefer
direct delivery for minimum friction when that is the stated goal. Do not
promise improved conversion or add a gate without the owner's chosen behavior.

## Configure the protected path

1. Use `contact_filter=anyone` for acquiring new followers unless a narrower
   audience is explicitly intended. `followers_only` excludes non-followers;
   it does not ask them to follow.
2. Plan opening `start_follow_up` button, then `ask_to_follow`, then the actual
   `send_message` or `send_media` delivery, and `finish`. Do not expose the
   protected material or a bypass URL in the opening.
3. Explain verification: `strict` checks Instagram; unknown status is not a
   confirmed follow. `trusted_click` trusts the contact's confirmation and
   must not be described as verified by Instagram. Never silently downgrade.
4. Propose the message, profile and confirmation buttons, neutral retry text,
   bounded attempts, recheck interval and expiration. Show the consequence of
   `retry_exhausted_action`: `stop` withholds delivery after failed attempts;
   `continue` can release it without satisfying the condition.
5. Explain that timers and gate expiration do not extend the messaging window.
   The initial DM alone does not open it; the eligible opening click does.
   This condition is not DRM: recipients may share a delivered link.
6. Do not combine follow and email/phone capture gates in this public sequence.
   If both are requested, explain the constraint and choose the priority with
   the owner rather than silently dropping one.

## Validate and review

Read `get_automation_schema` for exact required fields. Call
`validate_automation_configuration` with the user language and previous
configuration when revising. Present its complete `preview_markdown`, including
gate copy, verification, attempts, expiration, failure behavior and delivery.
Add verified account and intended state separately. A valid configuration is
not proof of account permissions, successful follow verification or delivery.
Execute only within the authorization and confirmation flow in topic `review`,
then read back. Do not troubleshoot a failure by removing the agreed gate.

[Detailed gate behavior and example](https://docs.levios.app/mcp/follow-gate).

Reference and examples

A follow gate can support audience growth when people want your material and are likely to value future posts. It adds a step before delivery. Discuss that cost before choosing it, especially when immediate delivery or a purchase is the main objective. Conversion gains are a hypothesis to test.

Describe the path before creating it

The contact starts the sequence through an opening button, receives the follow request, confirms, and receives the material when the configured condition is satisfied. The public configuration uses start_follow_up, ask_to_follow, a delivery action, and finish, in that order. Use contact_filter set to anyone when acquiring new followers. followers_only excludes non-followers before the gate. It is an audience filter, not a substitute for the follow request. Keep the protected link or attachment after the gate. A link in the opening message would let someone bypass the condition. Once delivered, a link can still be shared; a follow gate is not content access control.

Choose what confirmation means

Mode	Meaning	What the agent may report
`strict`	levios checks the follow status with Instagram	A follow is verified only when the check confirms it
`trusted_click`	levios trusts the contact’s confirmation click	The contact confirmed; Instagram verification is not implied

Unknown or unavailable status is not a confirmed follow. Prefer neutral copy such as “We could not confirm the follow yet.” Do not accuse the contact of not following when the check is inconclusive. Do not silently change modes to get around an unsuccessful check. Verify the selected mode with the actual account before relying on it. A valid configuration alone does not establish plan eligibility, permissions, or a successful Instagram check.

Decide what happens if the gate cannot complete

Review the attempt limit, retry message, recheck interval, and expiration. With retry_exhausted_action set to stop, the condition remains required. With continue, delivery can proceed after exhausted attempts, weakening that condition. Make the choice visible in the preview. A recheck interval is not a promise of recurring reminders. Gate expiration never extends Instagram’s messaging eligibility. The current public contract cannot combine this gate with email or phone capture in the same sequence.

Example: verified follow before a guide

This illustrative configuration uses strict and stop. Replace sample values with the user’s decisions and actual material. Its six-hour cooldown is an example, not a universal recommendation.

{
  "contact_filter": "anyone",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "comment",
    "publication": {
      "mode": "next_published"
    },
    "keywords": {
      "mode": "specific",
      "match_mode": "whole_word",
      "values": [
        "GUIDE"
      ]
    }
  },
  "opening": {
    "public_reply": {
      "enabled": false
    },
    "direct_message": {
      "delay_seconds": 0,
      "message": {
        "text": "Tap below to request your guide.",
        "buttons": [
          {
            "type": "start_follow_up",
            "title": "Get guide"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "follow_up": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "ask_to_follow",
        "delay_seconds": 0,
        "message": "Follow this profile for the guide, then confirm below.",
        "buttons": {
          "open_profile_title": "Open profile",
          "confirm_title": "I followed"
        },
        "verification_mode": "strict",
        "not_following_message": "We could not confirm the follow yet. Check the profile and try again.",
        "max_attempts": 3,
        "retry_exhausted_action": "stop",
        "recheck_after_seconds": 60,
        "expires_in_seconds": 86400
      },
      {
        "type": "send_message",
        "delay_seconds": 0,
        "text": "Here is your requested guide.",
        "buttons": [
          {
            "type": "url",
            "title": "Open guide",
            "url": "https://example.com/guide"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "type": "finish"
      }
    ]
  },
  "extras": {
    "cooldown": {
      "mode": "fixed",
      "seconds": 21600
    }
  }
}

Your agent can consult get_automation_guide with topic follow_gate when the tool is available. Review Instagram limits and the creation journey before activation.

Overview

Agent Skills

Setup guides

Grow your audience with a follow gate

Use this agent skill

Reference and examples

Describe the path before creating it

Choose what confirmation means

Decide what happens if the gate cannot complete

Example: verified follow before a guide

​Use this agent skill

​Reference and examples

​Describe the path before creating it

​Choose what confirmation means

​Decide what happens if the gate cannot complete

​Example: verified follow before a guide

Use this agent skill

Reference and examples

Describe the path before creating it

Choose what confirmation means

Decide what happens if the gate cannot complete

Example: verified follow before a guide