Facebook messenger webhook not sending data for users that are not associated with the app

Question

So this has been such an annoying issue I've been having with facebook.

We :

• created a messenger app
• verified the web-hook
• submitted the app for review
• got approval from Facebook

Everything works perfectly if we use the developers and users associated with the app, but for some reason any other user will not work at all!

The only explanation I see why it isn't work is because the app is in development mode, but apparently facebook removed that and replaced it with Access Levels.

I've been looking at documentation and can't find anything! Any directional help that I may have missed would be greatly appreciated!

Sienkiewicz

Did you try putting your app in production mode and try ? – Jar

@Jar I believe the options to change to production mode has now changed per Facebook – Sienkiewicz

@StephenRomero Hey - your set bounty is soon going to expire. In case any of the answers have helped you out, please consider to accept a reply or else the bounty might be lost. Obviously, there is no obligation to do so! – Bud

Answer 1

The only explanation I see why it isn't work is because the app is in development mode, but apparently facebook removed that and replaced it with Access Levels.

You are indeed completely right!

The old system, consisting of Development Mode and Live Mode, has been replaced by respectively Standard Access and Advanced Access (cf. this documentation).

Apps in Development Mode can only request Permissions from app users who have a Role on the app or in a Business that has claimed the app. This is the same as Standard Access. Apps in Live Mode can request Permissions from anyone, but only if the Permissions have been approved through App Review. This is the same as Advanced Access. Features, although they cannot be requested from app users but are instead active/inactive, behave the same way.

This snippet was taken from this post.; Side note: They even wrote a paragraph about why they decided to switch and which features/improvements the new update brings - it's on the same site, just below the quote above

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Anyhow, due to logistic reasons (supposedly) the update is only being pushed gently into the broad mass:

Access Levels are gradually being applied to all existing Business apps automatically.

You can find the banner on the previously mentioned site:

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Summing up: Yes - the modes are actually replaced by their new "level system", though the update might haven't covered your Business app yet (but will so in the near future).

Bud

Great! I appreciate the feedback! Now the only question is, what permissions are required for our app to retrieve the user data? My snippet shows what we have, but I wasn't able to find anything related to what exactly we need. – Sienkiewicz

@StephenRomero Depends on which data you exactly want and what you're going to do with it.. Under developers.facebook.com/apps{ID}/app-review/permissions/ you can choose from a list of options, such as public_profile, pages_user_gender, etc. (it's well documented on the site and you can request Advanced Access respectively for the features you need). – Bud

I only need the conversations and the user name. I already have access to it, but the web hook is saying otherwise. I just didn't know if there was a permission option I didn't have that I needed for this. – Sienkiewicz

@StephenRomero With a code snippet of your webhook and a specific error message I could take a look at it and try to reproduce it locally. For me, as of twenty minutes ago, it's working properly (Webhook with advanced access after review). Platform status seems to be working and no similar bugs. – Bud

As mentioned in my answer, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the change of the mode-system to the access levels. You might have not been updated yet; though as mentioned with a lack of information and/or permission to view sensitive details I could only refer you to the Developer Support from Facebook. – Bud

Answer 2

I got this message from API, maybe this covers the reason:

"(#10) Cannot message users who are not admins, developers or testers of the app until pages_messaging permission is reviewed and the app is live.", "type":"OAuthException", "code":10, "error_subcode":2018028, "fbtrace_id":"AL....i9"}}

Celebes