Why connections expire
Connections expire because Meta (Facebook and Instagram) issues time-limited access tokens, and those tokens eventually lapse. This is normal and expected — it is Meta’s security mechanism, not a fault in your account or ours. When a connection expires, we email you and show a Re-auth badge on the account so you can reconnect in a few clicks.
This page explains, in plain language, how Meta’s tokens work, which tokens your connected accounts actually use, what can end a token early, and how we alert you. When you are ready to fix one, go to Fixing a disconnected account.
Why this is normal
Section titled “Why this is normal”When you connect a Facebook or Instagram account, Meta gives us an access token (a time-limited key that lets the app read and moderate comments on your behalf). Meta sets the lifetime of that token — we cannot make it last forever, and we do not want to. A token that never expired would be a standing security risk if it ever leaked.
So expiry is designed in. Every connected account will need re-authentication (reconnecting through Meta’s login) from time to time. Nothing is broken when this happens; the token simply reached the end of the window Meta allows.
The tokens your account uses
Section titled “The tokens your account uses”Which token you have depends on how you connected the account. There are two connection methods, and they behave differently.
Facebook Login — long-lived Page tokens
Section titled “Facebook Login — long-lived Page tokens”When you connect through Facebook Login (a Facebook Page, and any Instagram account linked to that Page), the app stores a Page access token for each Page. These are long-lived tokens that last roughly 60 days.
If you connected an Instagram Business or Creator account through a linked Facebook Page, that Instagram account rides on the same Page token — so it follows the same ~60-day clock.
Instagram Login — a refreshable long-lived token
Section titled “Instagram Login — a refreshable long-lived token”If you connected a standalone Instagram Business or Creator account directly (Instagram Login, not through a Facebook Page), the app stores a long-lived Instagram token. This token is refreshable: the app renews it by re-presenting it to Meta before it lapses.
How refresh works
Section titled “How refresh works”The app refreshes tokens on demand rather than nagging Meta on a fixed clock. For a Facebook Page, if a Page token is missing when the app goes to check for new comments, it tries to re-derive that Page token from your account automatically. If that self-heal fails, the account is marked invalid and moves to Re-auth.
So most of the time you will not notice a token being renewed. You only hear from us when a token has actually lapsed and cannot be refreshed silently — at which point reconnecting is the fix.
What can end a connection early
Section titled “What can end a connection early”A token does not only expire when its clock runs out. Meta can invalidate a token before its expiry date. Common triggers on Meta’s side include:
- A password change on the Facebook or Instagram account.
- A permission review — Meta or you removing a permission the app relies on.
- A role change — losing or downgrading your role on the Facebook Page you moderate.
- A Meta security checkpoint or sweep — Meta forcing re-login after unusual activity.
In the app, these show up in one of two ways on the Accounts page:
- An amber Re-auth badge with a This account needs re-authentication banner — the token expired or lapsed and the account needs reconnecting.
- A red Error badge with a banner showing an error reason — access is invalid for a reason beyond a plain expiry, such as a removed permission. Read the reason before reconnecting.
Either way, the fix is the same first step: reconnect through Meta. See Fixing a disconnected account for the exact steps per state.
How we alert you
Section titled “How we alert you”You do not have to watch the Accounts page to catch an expired connection. We alert you two ways:
- By email. When a connection lapses, we send a connection-health alert email so you know to reconnect. This article is the companion to that email.
- In the app. The account shows a Re-auth (amber) or Error (red) badge on Accounts, with a banner and a Re-authenticate Now button on the account’s detail panel.
What happens to moderation meanwhile
Section titled “What happens to moderation meanwhile”Expiry pauses moderation for the affected account’s pages; it does not delete anything and, in the normal case, does not silently drop the backlog. For the full behavior of the pause and backfill, see What happens while disconnected.