Platform API: new Facebook Pages connection returns needs_reconnection immediately on POST

Status: Open · Asked by RevenYou Venezia on · 0 views

RevenYou Venezia — Question ·
Platform API: new Facebook Pages connection returns needs_reconnection immediately on POST /connections/{id}/token, while Google connections work fine". 

We are building a SaaS app that uses the Pabbly Platform API as a connection manager (multi-tenant). 
We request Facebook Pages access tokens from our backend via the Platform API and then publish posts 
to the user's managed pages using the Facebook Graph API.

Setup:
- Base URL: https://connect.pabbly.com/backend/platform/v1
- App: "Facebook Pages" (found via GET /apps?search=facebook pages)
- We create a connection via POST /connections/request-link, the user completes the Meta OAuth popup,
  and GET /connections/{id} returns status "active".

Problem:
On EVERY Facebook (and Instagram) connection — including freshly created ones — calling 
POST /connections/{connection_id}/token returns immediately:
  { "status": "needs_reconnection", "message": "token cannot be refreshed, please reconnect" }

This happens right after the connection shows as "active", before we ever use the token, and on 
brand-new connections created from scratch.

What we already verified:
- The Platform API key is valid (GET /apps and POST /connections/request-link both succeed).
- The OAuth consent is completed and the connection status is "active" in the Pabbly dashboard.
- A Google connection created on the SAME account works fine and returns a valid token.
- Only Facebook and Instagram connections fail, so it does not look like our app code or the key.

Expected:
POST /connections/{id}/token should return a usable Facebook Pages access token for an active 
connection, so we can call the Graph API (/me/accounts, /{page-id}/feed).

Could you confirm whether this is a known issue with Facebook Pages connections on the Platform API 
right now, or tell us what is needed for the token endpoint to succeed?

Pabbly Support — Reply ·

Hi,

Thank you for sharing the detailed implementation.

We understand that you are trying to use the Pabbly Platform API to retrieve the Facebook/Instagram access token and then use that token directly with the Meta Graph API.

However, Pabbly does not currently provide API documentation or a supported API flow for using the Platform API as a token provider for making direct Facebook/Instagram Graph API calls outside of Pabbly.

The Platform API is intended for managing connections and using them with the supported Pabbly integration capabilities. Since the use case you described involves extracting the Meta access token and independently calling Meta's Graph API, we are unable to confirm or support this flow.

Therefore, the needs_reconnection response should not be considered a confirmed Platform API bug for this particular use case.

We recommend referring to Meta's official Graph API documentation for implementing the direct Facebook Pages/Instagram API integration.

Thanks & Regards,
Hrishabh
Customer Support Associate
🌐 Pabbly.com
👉 Rate your support

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