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Facebook Messenger

The Facebook Messenger channel connects a Flametree agent to a Facebook Page. Customers write to the Page in Messenger, the agent answers as the Page, and every conversation appears in Sessions like any other channel. The integration uses Meta's Graph API with a Page access token from a Meta app you control.

Use this channel to:

  • Answer customers where they already find your business — on its Facebook Page.
  • Run an inbound bot that handles questions on the Page around the clock.
  • Serve several Pages — for example, one per brand or region — from a single connection.

A Messenger conversation starts with the customer. The channel answers people who write to the Page; it does not start conversations with people who have not, and Facebook Messenger is not available as a campaign channel.

Setting up Messenger has three parts: set up the Meta side, add the credentials as a channel connection in Settings > Channels, and attach the connection to an agent.

Before you start​

Connect Facebook Messenger​

Set up the Meta app​

Create the Meta app that links your Page to Flametree and collect the values you will paste into the portal. Meta's console changes over time; for current details, see Meta's Messenger Platform documentation.

  1. Create an app. Go to developers.facebook.com/apps, click Create App, select the Business app type, and select your business account.

  2. Add Messenger. In the App Dashboard, find the Messenger product and click Set Up.

  3. Connect the Page and generate a token. In the app's Messenger settings, add your Facebook Page to the app, then select the Page under Access Tokens and click Generate Token. Save the token — this is the Access token for the portal form.

  4. Collect the remaining values:

    ValueWhere to find it in the Meta console
    App ID, App SecretApp Settings > Basic
    Page ID, Access tokenMessenger > API Settings, after you connect the Page
Live mode

While the app is in Development mode, only people with a role on the app can message the Page through it. Switch the app to Live mode in App Settings > Basic before real customers use the channel.

Webhooks are managed for you

You do not configure the Messenger webhook in the Meta console. When the channel starts with an inbound agent attached, it registers its callback URL with your Meta app — including a verify token it generates itself — and subscribes to incoming Messenger events. Because this registration replaces the app's previous Messenger webhook, give each connection its own Meta app; to serve several Pages, put them in one connection instead.

Create the connection​

  1. Go to Settings > Channels, select Facebook in the channel list, and click Add. The New connector form opens on the right.

  2. Fill in the form:

    FieldRequiredDescription
    NameYesAn internal name shown across the portal.
    DescriptionNoInternal reference.
    App IDNoThe ID of your Meta app. If you leave it empty, the connection uses the Meta app configured on the server, if your deployment has one — when in doubt, enter your own app's values.
    App SecretNoThe app secret, found next to the App ID. Fill it in whenever you fill in App ID.
    Page IDYesThe ID of your Facebook Page. For several Pages, see Connect several Pages.
    Access tokenYesThe Page access token generated in the app's Messenger settings. Stored as a secret and displayed masked.

  3. Click Save.

  4. Click Start in the panel header.

The status dot turns purple (STARTING), then green (RUNNING). On startup the channel checks every Page with the Graph API — if a Page ID or access token is wrong, the status turns red (ERROR); hover over the dot for the message and click Logs for details.

Advanced mode

The Facebook form has an Advanced mode switch. Advanced mode is the manual form described above; with the switch off, you sign in with your Meta account instead of pasting credentials by hand. If the switch is disabled with the message "Meta App ID and App Secret are not configured on the server", use Advanced mode.

For the general mechanics of the screen — status dots, Logs, editing credentials, stopping and restarting — see the Channels overview.

Connect several Pages​

One connection can serve several Facebook Pages, all connected to the same Meta app. Enter the Page ID values separated by commas, and the matching Access token values separated by commas in the same order — the first token belongs to the first Page, and so on. Enter App ID and App Secret once; they apply to every Page in the connection.

Each conversation stays on the Page the customer wrote to, and the agent answers as that Page.

Attach to an agent​

A running channel does nothing on its own — attach the connection to the agent that should answer the Page's messages.

  1. Open AI Agents and select the agent.
  2. Find the Communication channels card and click Add.
  3. Pick Facebook from the dropdown and tick the checkbox next to your connection.
  4. Enable the Inbound switch so the agent answers incoming messages. With Inbound off, the agent can only send outbound messages through the channel.
  5. Save the agent, then restart it (Stop agent, then Start agent).

The channel completes its webhook registration with Meta only after an inbound agent is attached — until then it shows RUNNING but does not receive messages. After the agent restarts, new messages to the Page open sessions for this agent.

One Page, one inbound agent

Only one agent should handle inbound traffic from a Page — otherwise several agents would answer the same customer message. To put several inbound agents on Messenger, create a separate connection with its own Page for each.

With Show deprecated on, the dropdown also lists a legacy Facebook Messenger DEPRECATED integration that was configured directly on the agent. Do not use it for new setups — use the channel connection described on this page. See Deprecated channels.

Test the channel​

  1. From a Facebook account other than the Page — while the app is in Development mode, one with a role on the app — open the Page and send it a message in Messenger.
  2. Check that the message shows as seen and the agent replies as the Page according to its instructions.
  3. Open Sessions in the portal and confirm the conversation appears there with the Facebook channel icon.

Conversations on this channel are text-based. The agent receives and answers text messages; images, voice messages, and files sent by customers are not processed, so a message that is only an attachment gets no reply. When an agent reply includes images — for example, product cards — the channel sends it as a Messenger carousel of up to 10 cards, with any text before and after the cards as separate messages. See Supported channels for the capability comparison.

Meta also applies its Messenger platform policies to replies, including the 24-hour standard messaging window — see Meta's Messenger Platform documentation for the current rules.

Common issues​

  • The channel goes to ERROR on Start. A Page ID or access token is wrong — the startup check requests every Page from the Graph API. Click Logs for the exact message, fix the values, click Save, then Start. If the error says the app credentials must be set, fill in App ID and App Secret — the channel needs them even though the form does not mark them as required.
  • The channel is RUNNING but the agent stays silent. The connection is not attached to the agent, Inbound is off, or the agent was not restarted after attaching. Also note that the webhook is registered only after an inbound agent is attached.
  • Your own tests work, but messages from real customers never arrive. The app is still in Development mode, so only people with a role on the app can message the Page through it. Switch the app to Live mode in the Meta console.
  • Messages stopped arriving after you started another Facebook connection with the same Meta app. Each connection registers its own webhook on the app, and the most recent registration wins. Keep one connection per Meta app — to serve several Pages, list them all in one connection.
  • The access token was revoked or expired. Open the connection, paste the new token over the masked value, click Save, then restart the channel (Stop, wait for STOPPED, then Start).
  • A customer sends a photo or voice message and gets no reply. The channel processes text only. Ask the customer to type the question.
  • You cannot enable Inbound for the connection on a second agent. Expected — one agent handles inbound traffic per connection. Create another Page and a separate connection for the other agent.

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