Follow-back check
Who doesn't follow you back, no sketchy apps.
What it reaches for
- Handles personal data
One chore down.Three steps
- 1Copy the prompt and paste it into a new Muse chat.
- 2Tell Muse what you need, in your own words.
- 3Answer its questions. It follows the prompt from there.
Last verified: September 2026. A following list grows by accident: old classmates, a brand from one giveaway, accounts that stopped posting years ago. This skill sorts it into lists the user can act on, and leaves every unfollow and removal to them.
Why this skill exists
"Who doesn't follow me back" is a very common Instagram question, and the usual answer is a third-party app that wants the user's login. That's a real risk: a login gives the app control of the account, and Instagram can restrict accounts that use apps like these. The data to answer the question is already in the user's own download, so there's no need to hand anyone a login.
Step 1: Ask what they want
One short message, only what's missing:
- The goal: a cleaner feed, only following people they know, fewer bots in their followers, or just curiosity about who doesn't follow back
- Who to keep no matter what: creators, news, brands, and friends they want to follow even without a follow back. Celebrities and brands almost never follow back, and that's expected.
Step 2: Get the lists
In order of preference:
- The connected Instagram account, if the agent has access
- The user's Instagram data download (Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information → Followers and following, JSON). It includes who they follow, who follows them, and usually recent unfollows and pending follow requests. It's small and quick to request.
- Screenshots of both lists, for a small account
Never ask for their Instagram login, and warn them off apps that do. If they already used one, suggest changing their password and checking Settings → Accounts Center → Password and security → Where you're logged in.
Step 3: Sort the accounts
Compare the two lists, then put each account the user follows into one of these groups:
- Mutual: they follow each other. Leave these alone unless the user asks.
- Don't follow back, and that's expected: celebrities, creators, brands, news, businesses, public figures. Usually over about 10k followers or clearly an organization.
- Don't follow back, personal accounts: real people the user follows who don't follow them. This is usually the list they came for.
- Possibly inactive: accounts with no posts or stories in over a year, if you can see that. A data download alone doesn't show activity, so skip this group if you can't check.
- Pending: follow requests the user sent that were never accepted. These are safe to cancel.
For their followers, if they asked:
- Likely bots or spam: no profile photo, no posts, a random-looking handle, following thousands of accounts with few followers, or a bio that's only a link or a sales pitch. Removing these is safe; say which signals each one shows.
- Recently unfollowed them, if the download includes it. Report it neutrally.
Output format
Start with the counts: following, followers, mutuals, and the size of each group.
Then the groups the user cares about, most actionable first. For each account: @handle, the name if shown, and a few words on why it's in that group. For long lists, show the top 20 and offer the rest.
End with a suggested order for acting on it, e.g. cancel pending requests, remove obvious bots, then decide on the personal accounts one by one. Offer to split the personal list further, such as people they've never interacted with versus old friends.
Acting on the list
- The user does it. Hand back the list. Don't unfollow, remove, block, or cancel requests unless the user explicitly asks for that exact action on specific accounts, and confirm the list before starting.
- Go slowly. Unfollowing or removing a lot of accounts quickly can get actions temporarily limited. Suggest doing a few dozen at a time, spread over days.
- Gentler options exist. Mute keeps someone out of the feed without unfollowing. Restrict and removing a follower are quieter than blocking. Close Friends controls who sees certain stories. Mention these when the user seems unsure.
Rules
- No judgment. Not following back is normal. Don't describe anyone as fake, rude, or a bad friend, and don't guess why someone unfollowed.
- Keep it private. Don't post, share, or save the lists beyond this conversation unless the user asks.
- Public info only. Don't look people up outside Instagram or try to see private accounts.
- Be honest about limits. Say which groups you couldn't check, like activity when you only have a data download.
--- name: follow-audit description: Audit who someone follows and who follows them on Instagram, finding accounts that don't follow back, accounts they've outgrown, inactive accounts, and likely bots, then hand back a sorted list they can act on themselves. Use this whenever someone asks "who doesn't follow me back", "who unfollowed me", wants to clean up their following list, has too many accounts in their feed, or wants their follower count to reflect real people, even if they don't say "audit". --- # Follow Audit Last verified: September 2026. A following list grows by accident: old classmates, a brand from one giveaway, accounts that stopped posting years ago. This skill sorts it into lists the user can act on, and leaves every unfollow and removal to them. ## Why this skill exists "Who doesn't follow me back" is a very common Instagram question, and the usual answer is a third-party app that wants the user's login. That's a real risk: a login gives the app control of the account, and Instagram can restrict accounts that use apps like these. The data to answer the question is already in the user's own download, so there's no need to hand anyone a login. ## Step 1: Ask what they want One short message, only what's missing: - **The goal**: a cleaner feed, only following people they know, fewer bots in their followers, or just curiosity about who doesn't follow back - **Who to keep no matter what**: creators, news, brands, and friends they want to follow even without a follow back. Celebrities and brands almost never follow back, and that's expected. ## Step 2: Get the lists In order of preference: 1. **The connected Instagram account**, if the agent has access 2. **The user's Instagram data download** (Settings → Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information → Followers and following, JSON). It includes who they follow, who follows them, and usually recent unfollows and pending follow requests. It's small and quick to request. 3. **Screenshots** of both lists, for a small account Never ask for their Instagram login, and warn them off apps that do. If they already used one, suggest changing their password and checking Settings → Accounts Center → Password and security → Where you're logged in. ## Step 3: Sort the accounts Compare the two lists, then put each account the user follows into one of these groups: 1. **Mutual**: they follow each other. Leave these alone unless the user asks. 2. **Don't follow back, and that's expected**: celebrities, creators, brands, news, businesses, public figures. Usually over about 10k followers or clearly an organization. 3. **Don't follow back, personal accounts**: real people the user follows who don't follow them. This is usually the list they came for. 4. **Possibly inactive**: accounts with no posts or stories in over a year, if you can see that. A data download alone doesn't show activity, so skip this group if you can't check. 5. **Pending**: follow requests the user sent that were never accepted. These are safe to cancel. For their followers, if they asked: - **Likely bots or spam**: no profile photo, no posts, a random-looking handle, following thousands of accounts with few followers, or a bio that's only a link or a sales pitch. Removing these is safe; say which signals each one shows. - **Recently unfollowed them**, if the download includes it. Report it neutrally. ## Output format Start with the counts: following, followers, mutuals, and the size of each group. Then the groups the user cares about, most actionable first. For each account: @handle, the name if shown, and a few words on why it's in that group. For long lists, show the top 20 and offer the rest. End with a suggested order for acting on it, e.g. cancel pending requests, remove obvious bots, then decide on the personal accounts one by one. Offer to split the personal list further, such as people they've never interacted with versus old friends. ## Acting on the list - **The user does it.** Hand back the list. Don't unfollow, remove, block, or cancel requests unless the user explicitly asks for that exact action on specific accounts, and confirm the list before starting. - **Go slowly.** Unfollowing or removing a lot of accounts quickly can get actions temporarily limited. Suggest doing a few dozen at a time, spread over days. - **Gentler options exist.** Mute keeps someone out of the feed without unfollowing. Restrict and removing a follower are quieter than blocking. Close Friends controls who sees certain stories. Mention these when the user seems unsure. ## Rules - **No judgment.** Not following back is normal. Don't describe anyone as fake, rude, or a bad friend, and don't guess why someone unfollowed. - **Keep it private.** Don't post, share, or save the lists beyond this conversation unless the user asks. - **Public info only.** Don't look people up outside Instagram or try to see private accounts. - **Be honest about limits.** Say which groups you couldn't check, like activity when you only have a data download.