Instagram and Facebook are not a single on/off switch. Each thing you can do — reading Pages, publishing, moderating comments, Messenger, analytics — is gated by its own Meta permission, and Meta lets a user grant some and decline others in the same dialog.
The Instagram and Facebook capabilities panel on the Channel setup page is the one place that shows the true state of all of them.
Reading the panel #
Each capability shows a status badge:
| Badge | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Green — ready | Fully authorized and usable | Nothing |
| Red — permission missing | Meta has not granted a required scope; the exact scope is named underneath | Click Grant all missing permissions |
| Amber — Finish setup | Permissions are fine, but no Page/account has been synced yet | Refresh the Meta connection |
| Blue — Not in your plan | Your subscription does not include this capability | Upgrade the plan |
| Grey — Needs setup | Meta is not connected yet | Complete 8.1 Connect to Meta |
Granting everything in one go #
Click Grant all missing permissions. This opens a single Meta dialog requesting every scope you are still missing across both platforms, rather than one dialog per product.
Tick every box. Meta lets you decline individual permissions, and a declined permission is silently withheld — the connection still reports success. Unticking one box is the most common reason a capability stays red.
You must be an admin of the Meta Business portfolio to grant these.
Which permission unlocks what #
| Capability | Meta permission |
|---|---|
| Facebook — Page access | pages_show_list, pages_read_engagement |
| Facebook — Publishing | pages_manage_posts |
| Facebook — Comment moderation | pages_manage_engagement |
| Facebook — Messenger | pages_messaging |
| Instagram — Account access | instagram_basic |
| Instagram — Publishing | instagram_content_publish |
| Instagram — Comment moderation | instagram_manage_comments |
| Instagram — Messaging | instagram_manage_messages |
| Either — receiving webhooks at all | pages_manage_metadata |
If a capability stays red after granting #
Some permissions require the Peikly Meta app to hold Advanced Access through Meta’s App Review process. Until that is approved, Meta grants them only to people with a role on the Meta app and silently omits them for everyone else — even though the dialog completes successfully.
pages_messaging (Facebook Messenger) is the one this affects most often, followed by the
Instagram messaging scopes. If you ticked every box and the capability is still red immediately
afterwards, this is the cause and it is not something you can resolve yourself — contact support.
Errors, Messages, and Exceptions #
| Message | Why It Happens | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|
(#200) Permissions error | The action needs a Meta scope your connection was never granted | Open Channel setup and click Grant all missing permissions |
Meta has not granted pages_manage_posts, which Facebook needs for publishing. | Publishing was attempted without pages_manage_posts | Same as above |
Facebook permissions are granted, but no Facebook Page has been synced yet. | Permissions are fine; discovery has not run | Click Re-launch Meta to re-sync Pages |
Publishing for Facebook is not included in the current subscription. | Plan gating, not a Meta problem | Upgrade the plan |
