Duplicate protection is the guard that stops Inrō starting the same scenario a second time for a contact while that contact's first run of it is still pending. The second trigger does not start a second run.
Duplicate protection is what stops the same contact entering the same automation twice at once. While a contact's run of a scenario is still pending, a new comment or DM that matches that scenario does not start a second run. When the first run ends, the guard ends with it.
It applies to one scenario and one contact.
A run is pending from the moment it starts until it is completed, failed or interrupted. The states a run can end in are covered in what a scenario execution is. A run waiting on a delay or on a reply is still pending, so it keeps blocking a restart for as long as it waits.
The check runs when an Instagram event starts the scenario: a comment on a post set up for comment to DM, a DM, a story reply or mention, an ad referral or an icebreaker. Folder, contact and Shopify events get the same check.
Inrō does not start the scenario again, and it does not hold the event to run later. Nothing shows in the scenario's results for the second trigger.
A DM that arrives while the flow is waiting, for example on a wait for reply step, goes to the waiting run first. It resumes that run instead of starting a copy.
The same comment or message does not start a scenario again, even if Instagram delivers it twice.
A recurring trigger skips any contact who is still mid-run from its last firing, so a scheduled automation does not stack runs on the same person.
DM campaigns have their own rule: a contact can receive a given campaign only once.
No. Once the first run has finished, the same contact can enter the scenario again on a new trigger. To stop repeats, turn on the scenario's "Limit frequency per contact" setting and choose "once" or "once every".
Duplicate protection also stops at the edge of one scenario. A contact can run two different scenarios at the same time, unless both sit in the same priority folder. For how triggers, scenarios and steps fit together, read the guide to Instagram DM automation, or browse the other terms in the Inrō automation glossary.
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