We are having an issue with one facebook users account where the privacy field returned for his posts are always blank. I have tried reproducing this with my account or a test account, but in all cases the privacy is filled in. Here is a sample using the graph api tool (some fields removed for brevity):
{
"id": "<deleted_for_privacy>",
"from": {
"name": "Joe Blog",
"id": "<deleted_for_privacy>"
},
"story": "Joe Blog added a new photo.",
"picture": "<deleted_for_privacy>",
"link": "<deleted_for_privacy>",
"icon": "<deleted_for_privacy>",
"privacy": {
"value": ""
},
"type": "photo",
"status_type": "added_photos"
},
According to the documentation for privacy the field this should always contain a value.
My initial thoughts was it was related to the blackberry app being used and the old mobile version setting, but posting from the desktop browser results in the same issue.
So what does a blank setting mean? Is it public, private or a bug?
Not sure this is your case, but if the user is posting to a page, event, group or another users's feed, the privacy field is expected to be empty.
See the first note here (not the official fb doc page, I know):
http://api-portal.anypoint.mulesoft.com/facebook/api/facebook-graph-api/docs/reference/privacy-parameter
This is by design. You require a page access token or admin user
access token to retrieve this field.
Source: https://developers.facebook.com/bugs/300329193480725/?comment_id=345320875630426
Related
I am developing a program that needs to read a facebook page's posts. I have obtained a permanent page token which I can run through the "debug_token" endpoint in the API explorer and can see I have a page token with no expiry with the "manage_pages" and all the relevant pages permissions:
"data": {
"app_id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
"type": "PAGE",
"application": "Second",
"data_access_expires_at": 1583432075,
"expires_at": 0,
"is_valid": true,
"issued_at": 1575649224,
"profile_id": "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
"scopes": [
"user_events",
"email",
"read_insights",
"manage_pages",
"pages_manage_cta",
"pages_manage_instant_articles",
"pages_show_list",
"publish_pages",
"read_page_mailboxes",
"ads_management",
"ads_read",
"business_management",
"pages_messaging",
"pages_messaging_phone_number",
"pages_messaging_subscriptions",
"publish_to_groups",
"groups_access_member_info",
"public_profile"
],
...
Using this same token I query the /{page_id}/feed and I get a response with no "from" field:
"data": [
{
"id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
"created_time": "2019-12-05T20:24:24+0000",
"message": "Bla bla bla"
},
{
"id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
"created_time": "2019-11-20T18:17:54+0000",
"message": "Bla bla bla"
}
...
Even if I explicitly request "from" in the fields I don't get it back and the API explorer shows the field greyed out on the left hand side with a tooltip saying: "Fields is empty or disallowed by the access token".
Obviously the "from" field is not empty, it is disallowed. I understand that this is protected information in most cases but the "feed" endpoint documentation says
Publicly Identifiable Information - User information will not be in included in responses unless you make the request with a Page access token.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/v5.0/page/feed
So, this request is being done with a page access token, for the page that is the recipient of these posts. I am doing these posts myself with another vanilla account by the way, with no tweaking of permissions or privacy options. It seems legitimate to want the source of the post to know who you are talking to, right?
I've searched and tried other responses but answers are somewhat old and the rules in the facebook API do change often, so this is all fresh (as of Dec 2019).
The last relevant bit I want to add is that this page and app are not associated with a business manager account. From what I read, this should not be necessary for what I am trying to do.
Thank you.
Debug infor on token
Missing from field from feed
Ok, I figured this out myself. Hopefully the answer might help someone else in a similar situation.
The issue was that my app has a "development" status, and rightly so. According to the following security document from FB:
App users can only access the data of users who have a role on the app.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/security/
This extra layer of protection was keeping my app from even seeing who was directly posting on its associated page.
I gave the posting account a "tester" role on the app and now the response has the from field as expected:
"data": [
{
"id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
"created_time": "2019-12-05T20:24:24+0000",
"from": {
"name": "Poster Name",
"id": "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
},
"message": "Bla bla bla"
},
{
"id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy",
"created_time": "2019-11-20T18:17:54+0000",
"from": {
"name": "Poster Name",
"id": "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
},
"message": "Bla bla bla"
}
...
I have an issue with Facebook OpenGraph API. Whenever I request data using either '/home' or '/feed', none of the posts from Instagram showed up.
I've been googling around and apparently some people raised the same issue with no solution yet. And I read some that the issue not only affecting posts from Instagram, but also other third-party app/device/platform.
Even the ticket posted on Facebook's dev page seems somewhat dead (no continuation). Link: https://developers.facebook.com/bugs/110563582419837/
If any of you guys also stumbled on this issue and has some ideas/pointers/links, please do share and let's discuss it.
Much appreciated. Cheers!
There are two bug reports in Facebook's bug tracker about this:
https://developers.facebook.com/bugs/110563582419837 and https://developers.facebook.com/bugs/202119973248747
The core reason is that the photos are attached to Open Graph actions as User Generated Photos and not via the regular Photo upload API.
As such, the regular photos permissions don't grant access to them and you need the user to specifically allow you the access their Open Graph activity for the app that posted the actions. The bug reports above are accepted on the basis that this appears to be an oversight in the case of actions with user generated photos, but it could also be by design in which case what i've outlined below as a workaround would be the only supported way to do this:
If you specifically need to request Instagram (or another Open Graph photos app) photos for a user, you can ask for Permission to access the actions posted by that app.
For Instagram photos you can do this by requesting the user_actions:instapp permission and once you've done that the Instagram Photos album will no longer appear to be empty, and the Instagram activity will appear in the feed connection.
To find out the namespace for an arbitrary app, access https://graph.facebook.com/<APP ID> and look for the namespace field,
e.g. for instagram, a call to https://graph.facebook.com/124024574287414/?fields=id,namespace returns:
{
"id": "124024574287414",
"namespace": "instapp"
}
A sample photo from my own /feed connection, retrieved with the read_stream, user_photos, user_actions:instapp permissions, is:
{
"data": [
{
"id": "[SNIPPED]",
"from": {
"name": "[SNIPPED]",
"id": "[SNIPPED]"
},
"picture": "[SNIPPED]",
"link": "https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=[SNIPPED]",
"icon": "https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yb/x/StEh3RhPvjk.gif",
"privacy": {
"value": ""
},
"type": "photo",
"object_id": "[SNIPPED]",
"application": {
"name": "Instagram",
"namespace": "instapp",
"id": "124024574287414"
},
"created_time": "2013-01-07T17:33:04+0000",
"updated_time": "2013-01-07T17:33:04+0000",
"comments": {
"count": 0
}
},
I can also access the /photos connection of my 'Instagram Photos' album with the same permissions, and can access all Instagram 'take' actions (i.e the photos) at /me/instapp:take
Facebook employee here. Looking at the internal task that is tracking this issue, all I can say at this time is that this is an issue that we are currently aware and investigating into. If you would like to be notified of any updates, be sure to click "subscribe" on the bug report.
For the time being, I recommend finding the album ID of the user named "Instagram Photos", then calling a GET request to /INSTAGRAM_ALBUM_ID/photos to get their Instagram photos. On the Graph API Explorer tool, I confirm that I am able to fetch all of my instagram pictures. Since my album is public, you should be able to view them as well.
The Facebook posts in which you're tagged in - using #Name - appear in your wall feed.
A friend of mine posted a link and tagged me in it:
On the Graph API documentation, when I click on my wall feed link (Ctrl + F: Profile feed), I'm able to see this post:
...
{
"id": "XXX",
"from": {
"name": "XXX",
"id": "XXX"
},
"to": {
"data": [
{
"name": "XXX",
"id": "XXX"
},
{
"name": "Christophe Maillard",
"id": "XXX"
}
]
},
"message": "The startup Guide (cc XXX, Christophe Maillard)",
"link": "http://mashable.com/2012/06/27/startup-guide-1000-users/",
"name": "How to Get to Your First 1,000 Users",
"caption": "mashable.com",
"description": "With the help of some smart marketers and entrepreneurs, we're created a clear outline for attracting your startup's first 1,000 users.",
...
}
...
The URL of this feed is https://graph.facebook.com/me/feed?access_token=XXX.
When copy/pasting the given access token - the one replaced by XXX in the URL above - within the debugger, I get something like this:
As we can see, the access token is generated by the app Test_console which used quite a lot of scopes.
Then, I go to the Graph API Explorer, I generate an access token using the Get Access Token button, and I specify all the scopes the debugger gave me, i.e. the ones the Test_console app used to generate its working access token. Finally, I access the URL me/feed by submitting the GET request. The problem: I can't see the post in question in which I'm tagged in with the explorer.
I also have my own app, and it reacts exactly like the Graph API Explorer: I can't find that post in my wall feed using the Graph API as well.
Obviously, it's possible to get the posts in which you're tagged in using the Graph API, because the Test_console app is able to generate an appropriate access token. But how can I get such an access token for my own app?
You need to grant the appropriate permissions for your app. In the graph api explorer https://developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer?method=GET&path=me switch to your app in the applications field (top right) to see what permissions that currently grants your app (by clicking the "get access token" button again). Then make sure you add in the correct one (i think it's read_stream you're after ) https://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/permissions/
When using the requests dialog, facebook issues a notification like this:
What I'm looking to achieve is for the user to click the request link shown above and to present a "Random User invited you to..." message on our App.
However, when clicking that link Facebook doesn't seem to pass through the id of "Random User" to the App. The url accessed by the link looks something like:
http://apps.facebook.com/randomcomp/?fb_source=notification&request_ids=350578327437399,350578327437399&ref=notif&app_request_type=user_to_user¬if_t=app_request
which doesn't contain any reference to the user who initiated the request.
From the App's side, there doesn't seem to be a way to get this information from Facebook. Sure, you can get a list of requests, but that list can contain information for many requests, including requests from other users in addition to the one we're interested in, so it's not useful in this case. For example, here's a snapshot of data:
{
"data": [
{
"id": "340083146057323_100003817986566",
"application": {
"name": "Random Competition",
"namespace": "randomcomp",
"id": "350578327437399"
},
"to": {
"name": "Hannah Smith",
"id": "100003817986566"
},
"from": {
"name": "Random User",
"id": "100002286042525"
},
"data": "100002286042525",
"message": "Use the app!",
"created_time": "2012-05-14T13:26:30+0000"
}, {
"id": "358318457550141_100003817986566",
"application": {
"name": "Random Competition",
"namespace": "randomcomp",
"id": "350578327437399"
},
"to": {
"name": "Hannah Smith",
"id": "100003817986566"
},
"from": {
"name": "Jane Young",
"id": "100003771838663"
},
"data": "100002286042525",
"message": "Use the app!",
"created_time": "2012-05-14T10:54:25+0000"
}],
}
}
As you can see, the data is being passed in, but there's still no way to join the click from the link mentioned above (for Random User) to the correct request in the list; the link passes through the ID for both requests, not just the one for Random User, and while the link states "Random User" it doesn't pass through an identifier.
Am I missing something? Is there a mechanism that isn't in the docs that will allow me to pick-up the "Random User" id so I can provide a nice "Random User invited you to..." message in the App when they click through?
Edit:
Turns out that this isn't possible - see my answer.
You can add some data to the request so that when you process the request you can differentiate that from other requests.
The data can be sent with app requests and users requests and the parameter name is "data".
For example, in the guide for the Requests Dialog you can see it in the properties table at the (almost) end of the document, it says:
Optional, additional data you may pass for tracking. This will be
stored as part of the request objects created. The maximum length is
255 characters
There's also some info about it in the Social Channels documentation, and a sample of (php) usage in the official blog post about Upgrade to Requests 2.0.
I hope that this is what you're looking for.
Edit
When you send the request you know who is sending it right? It's the logged in user, and so you can put the user id/name/etc in the data parameter of the request.
Then, when someone clicks on a request, get the request by the id that facebook passes to you, and from the data extract the user id of the sender.
As the documentation states, you have 255 characters to use, and with that you can do what ever you want, you can even serialize an object to that parameter and deserialize it later.
As it turns out, this is in fact not possible at all.
The link, as shown in the image below, can present multiple users:
which is why multiple request IDs are passed in, and the sender's ID isn't.
I'm writing an app which requires me to determine whether I show the fb "like" button or not. fb profiles don't have "likes" but pages do. any recommendations on how I can programatically differentiate between a fb profile and a fb page? the only input i get from the user is the fb profile/page URL and based on that I need to determine whether its a page or a profile and then display the like button.
thx,
Yes, you can look at the type attribute of the returned JSON. For example, take a look at actual, redacted Graph API responses that I receive for a user and a page:
//This is JSON for a user
//Call to https://graph.facebook.com/123456789
{
"id": "123456789",
"name": "Sean Hill",
"first_name": "Sean",
"last_name": "Hill",
//more attributes
"type": "user" // <--- This one
}
vs
//This is JSON for a page
//Call to https://graph.facebook.com/thesolusean
{
"id": "323796444951",
"name": "Solusean",
"picture": "https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/50290_323796444951_3601170_s.jpg",
"link": "https://www.facebook.com/thesolusean",
"likes": 28,
// more attributes
"type": "page" // <---- This one
}
Without knowing which programming language you're using, this is the best answer I can give.
So far it seems the only quick way to know whether given profile is page or actual user is by looking at category attribute. If this attribute is present then its a page otherwise it could be user. FB reference docs doesn't seem to have any clear guidance (see https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/profile). In additional most of the APIs that return profile as part of other response only includes partial information of id, name and category:
"from": {
"category": "Magazine",
"name": "Astronomy Magazine",
"id": "108218329601"
},
Note: I'm confused by #Sean Hill's answer. There is no type attribute in profile objects.