Connect your Facebook page and Instagram DMs
Short answer: In Tanet Chat, open Dashboard → Settings → Connected Pages and press Connect New Page. Facebook then asks you to tick which pages to grant and approve six permissions; every page you tick is connected and subscribed to message events. An Instagram Business account already linked to that page is picked up in the same step. A Facebook page can belong to only one Tanet Chat account.
Connecting a page is the step that takes the bot from "configured" to "answering". Until a page is attached, the status pill in the dashboard header reads Standby — the agent is switched on but nothing is being sent to it.
Everything below happens in one place: Dashboard → Settings → Connected Pages. That is the only screen in Tanet Chat that starts a Facebook connection.
Connect the page in six steps
- Sign in to Tanet Chat. Access is invite-only — if you do not have an account yet, request access on the apply page first. There is no self-serve signup.
- Go to Settings → Connected Pages and press Connect New Page.
- Log in to Facebook as the person who manages the page. Facebook only lists pages your account holds a role on. If the shop page is not in that list, you are signed in as the wrong person or your role is too limited — fix it in Facebook's Page Access settings before continuing.
- Tick the pages you want to grant, then approve the permissions. Facebook's screen is where you choose — Tanet Chat connects every page you grant, it does not ask you to pick one afterwards. If you run three pages and want one bot, tick one.
- You land back on Settings with a green toast: "Facebook pages connected and synced successfully."
- Check the Connected Pages list. Your page should be there with a green dot and the word Active.
The whole loop has a ten-minute time limit. If you leave the Facebook tab open, go and pack an order, and come back, you land on Settings with a red "Failed to connect Facebook pages" toast and nothing connected. Nothing is broken: the one-time token that carries your account through the Facebook screens expires after ten minutes, so it has to be done in one sitting.
What Facebook is asking permission for
Six permissions are requested in one dialog. Each one is load-bearing, and none of them lets Tanet Chat publish a post to your page — the permission that would allow that is not requested.
| Permission | What it is for |
|---|---|
pages_show_list | Lists the pages you manage so there is something to tick. Without it Facebook returns an empty list. |
pages_messaging | Sends the replies. This is the product. |
pages_read_engagement | Meta requires it before an app may read anything from the page itself. It is read-only. |
instagram_basic | Finds the Instagram Business account linked to the page. |
instagram_manage_messages | Reads and answers Instagram DMs. |
pages_manage_metadata | Subscribes the page to message webhooks. This is the one that makes messages arrive at all. |
That last permission was added after the first version of the connect flow. If you connected your page long ago and Instagram messages never arrive, your stored token predates it. Run the connect again — you do not have to disconnect first, because reconnecting your own page overwrites the stored token in place.
The page is subscribed to message events only: messages, postbacks, read receipts and delivery receipts. Comment events are not part of it, which is why the agent does not answer public comments and starts working the moment someone opens a message thread.
Instagram DMs arrive through the same connection
There is no separate Instagram button. During the connect, Tanet Chat asks Facebook whether the page has a linked Instagram Business account. If it does, a second row is saved using the same page token, named "<your page> (Instagram)".
Two conditions have to be true before you connect:
- The Instagram account is a Business or Creator account, not a personal one.
- It is linked to the Facebook page in Meta's settings.
If you link them afterwards, reconnect the page — the lookup only runs during a connect.
One quirk worth knowing so you do not think something is broken: in the Connected Pages list both rows currently carry the blue FB badge and read "Facebook Page" underneath. The Instagram row is the one with (Instagram) on the end of its name — on that screen, the name is all you have to go on.
If Instagram is connected and DMs still do not reach the bot, the remaining causes are Meta-side rather than Tanet-side: on the Instagram account, open Settings → Messages → Connected Tools and allow access to messages.
A page can only be claimed by one account
The first Tanet Chat account to connect a page owns it. This is not a policy written on a screen — page_id is unique in the database, and a trigger on the pages table refuses any update that would move a page from one account to another.
A Facebook page belongs to whichever Tanet Chat account claimed it first, and that is enforced by a database trigger, not by a screen you can talk your way past.
Without that rule, anyone with an admin role on your page could attach it to their own account and start receiving your customers' messages.
The awkward side effect is that the second account's connect looks like it worked. The redirect still says "connected and synced successfully", because other pages in the same batch may genuinely have connected. The claimed page is skipped quietly and simply never appears in the list.
What to do if the page is already claimed
You cannot take a page over from the outside — the takeover is exactly what the trigger blocks. The fix has to happen on the account that holds it:
- Find which account has it. Usually a business partner, a former agency, or a trial account you opened yourself and forgot.
- On that account, open Settings → Connected Pages, press the trash icon on the page and confirm the prompt. That deletes the claim.
- If the page had Instagram, delete that row too. They are two separate rows and removing one leaves the other.
- Now connect from the account you want to keep. A freed page can be claimed again immediately.
If nobody can find the holding account, that is a support conversation, not something to solve by reconnecting repeatedly.
How to tell it is actually working
Four checks, in order:
- The page is in Connected Pages with a green Active dot.
- The status pill in the dashboard header reads Active, not Standby. Standby means the agent is switched on but no active page is attached — a page sitting there marked Offline does not count.
- Message the page from a second Facebook account, not the one that owns it. Send what a real buyer sends: "dam koto?".
- The thread appears in Conversations within seconds, and the reply goes out. If the conversation appears but no reply does, the connection is fine and the problem is elsewhere in the agent's configuration.
When it goes wrong
| What you see | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Failed to connect Facebook pages" | The generic failure. Most often the ten-minute window ran out while you were on Facebook's screens. | Press Connect New Page and finish it in one sitting. |
| "Failed to connect: …" | Meta refused the connection itself, and its own wording follows the colon. | Retry once. If it repeats, send us that exact text — it names the cause. |
| Connect said success, page is missing | Already claimed by another account, or the webhook subscription failed. | Check the claim first (above), then retry the connect. |
| Page is listed, dot is red, row reads Offline | The row is inactive, so no messages are routed to it and the header pill stays on Standby. | Reconnect the page — a fresh connect sets it active again. |
| Messenger works, Instagram does not | The IG account was not a linked Business account at connect time. | Link it in Meta's settings, then reconnect the page. |
| Everything looks right, no replies | The connection is fine — the agent is paused or its config is incomplete. | Check the pill: Paused means the agent is switched off, not disconnected. |
Do this today
Connect the page, then message it from a second phone and watch the reply land. That test tells you more than any status screen — it is the same path a real customer takes, and it is the reason replying inside the first ten minutes wins the order.
If you run more than one shop page, check how many pages your plan covers before you tick them all on Facebook's screen. Not been through the setup assistant yet? Do that first — setting up Tanet Chat after your invite covers it, and connecting the page is the step that follows.
Common questions
What permissions does Tanet Chat ask for on Facebook?
Six. pages_show_list to list the pages you manage, pages_messaging to send replies, pages_read_engagement because Meta requires it before an app may read anything from the page itself, instagram_basic to find the linked Instagram account, instagram_manage_messages to answer Instagram DMs, and pages_manage_metadata to subscribe the page to message webhooks. Without the last one Facebook never delivers a message to Tanet Chat at all.
Do I need to connect Instagram separately?
No. If your Instagram account is a Business or Creator account and it is already linked to the Facebook page, it is picked up during the same connect and appears in Connected Pages as "<your page> (Instagram)". If the link is made after you connect, reconnect the page so Tanet Chat can find it.
Can two accounts connect the same Facebook page?
No. A page is claimed by the first Tanet Chat account that connects it, and the claim is enforced by a database trigger, not only by the interface. A second account's connect skips that page silently — the screen still says the connect succeeded, but the page never shows up in its Connected Pages list.
My page is not in the list after connecting. What happened?
Three usual causes. You are not an admin of the page on Facebook, so Facebook never offered it. The page is already claimed by another Tanet Chat account. Or subscribing the page to message webhooks failed at Meta's end, in which case Tanet Chat skips saving the page rather than storing one that cannot receive messages. Try the connect again first.
How many pages can I connect?
One on the free tier, two on Starter (৳599/month), ten on Business (৳3,999/month). A linked Instagram account is stored as its own row. Limit enforcement is not switched on yet, so an over-limit connect is currently not blocked — do not build a plan around that.