Thread ownership is Meta's rule that only one connected app at a time can answer an Instagram DM conversation. When another app holds the thread, Inrō marks the conversation as locked in your Inbox.
Thread ownership is Meta's rule for which connected app may answer an Instagram DM conversation. Only the app holding the thread can send. When another app holds it, Inrō marks the conversation as locked in your Inbox.
Meta's Conversation Routing, which replaced the Handover Protocol, lets several apps connect to one Instagram account and picks which one answers each conversation: the thread owner. A default app answers when no other app holds the thread. Control usually expires after 24 hours of inactivity, and an app can extend it to 7 days (Meta for Developers, Conversation Routing for Instagram, checked 1 October 2026).
An app that is not the owner gets error 100, subcode 2534037, when it sends: "The action is invalid since it's not the thread owner" (Meta for Developers, Common Error Codes, checked 1 October 2026).
This is not human handover, where the Inrō AI agent steps back so you can answer.
When Meta refuses a DM because another app holds the thread, Inrō marks the conversation as locked. This covers DMs from a comment-to-DM automation or any other scenario, from the AI agent for Instagram DMs and from you in the Inbox.
In the Inrō smart inbox, the conversation gets a red warning icon. Inside, a banner reads Conversation locked: "Another application has requested exclusive control over this conversation until" a date and time. Meta tells Inrō when control expires, not which app holds it.
Inrō cannot force the thread open. Once the date passes, the banner goes and you can send again. Removing the other app does not lift a lock already in place.
A lock can come from another DM tool set as the default app, or an old tool still connected. On the Facebook Page linked to your Instagram account, open Settings, Page setup, Instagram conversation routing, and leave no default app. You do not need to set Inrō there. Meta lets an app request control only when no default app is set (Meta for Developers, Conversation Control APIs, checked 1 October 2026).
Switching to Inrō? Disconnect the old tool first. See how Inrō connects as a Meta Tech Provider in whether Instagram automation is safe, how Meta delivers DMs to apps under Instagram webhook, and more terms in the Inrō automation glossary.
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