≈ 20 min

Connect Instagram and Messenger

Instagram Direct and Messenger are the same setup: both hang off a Facebook Page and a Meta app. If you already made an app for WhatsApp, reuse it — you do not need a second one.

What you need

  • A Facebook Page you administer
  • For Instagram: a professional (business or creator) account linked to that Page, with "Allow access to messages" turned on in the Instagram app
  • A Meta app — the one you created for WhatsApp works fine

Steps

  1. 1

    Add the product to your Meta app

    On the app dashboard press "Set up" on "Messenger" for Facebook, on "Instagram" for Instagram Direct, or on both. Then connect your Facebook Page to the app.

  2. 2

    Subscribe the Page to webhooks

    In the product settings open "Webhooks" → "Add callback URL". Copy the callback URL and verify token from the panel ("Channels" → "Add channel" → "Instagram" or "Messenger"), then subscribe the Page to the messages and messaging_postbacks fields.

  3. 3

    Generate a Page access token

    Open the Graph API Explorer, select your app and your Page, and request pages_messaging — plus instagram_basic and instagram_manage_messages if you are connecting Instagram. Then generate the token.

  4. 4

    Exchange it for a long-lived token

    The token from the Explorer expires in about an hour. Use the Access Token Debug Tool, or the token exchange endpoint, to turn it into a long-lived Page token before you paste it anywhere.

  5. 5

    Paste it into the panel

    Back in "Channels" → "Add channel" → "Instagram" or "Messenger", paste the Page ID and the long-lived Page token — and, for Instagram, the connected Instagram account. We encrypt it before storing.

  6. 6

    Submit for App Review

    While the app is in development mode it can only message people who have a role on it. To answer real customers, submit pages_messaging — and instagram_manage_messages for Instagram — for App Review from the app dashboard. Meta asks for a short screencast of the flow.

  7. 7

    Test with a second account

    Write to your Page or your Instagram profile from another personal account, not the admin one. The message should appear in "Inbox" and get an answer.

    There is no "send test message" button for these channels: Meta only allows a message within 24 hours of the customer writing first, so the test has to start from the customer’s side.

What happens next

After App Review approves the permissions, every Instagram Direct and Messenger message reaches the same Inbox as your other channels, with the same knowledge base and the same handoff rules. Replies to your Instagram stories arrive as ordinary messages too.

Other guides

Prefer we do it for you?

We connect the channels, import your knowledge base and tune the tone in your languages. You approve the result.

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