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GUIDE

How to connect your Instagram account

One button. You go to Instagram, grant the two permissions, and come back with the account connected. No Meta app to create, no token to copy.

Before you start

Your Instagram account has to be professional, either business or creator. That is Instagram's rule, not ours: its API only publishes to professional accounts, so a personal account never reaches the permission screen. Switching is free, reversible, and covered step by step in Instagram's own help page.

That is the whole prerequisite for the path below: one button, two permissions, and you come back connected. If the button in Networks is greyed out, Meta is still reviewing our app's permissions and your account is not enabled yet. The last block covers that case, connecting with a token from the Meta dashboard.

Step by step

  1. 01
    Open Your account and go to NetworksThe five networks are there with their logos. Instagram is the only live connection today, and the only tile with a Connect button.
  2. 02
    Press Connect on the Instagram tileWe send you to Instagram. If you are not signed in there, Instagram asks for your username and password on its own screen. The Agentcy never sees them.
  3. 03
    Grant the two permissionsInstagram shows exactly what you are giving. One reads your basic profile, which is how we show your handle and confirm you connected the account you meant. The other publishes content, which is what sends the piece out when you press Publish. Those two are all we ask for.
  4. 04
    Instagram sends you back to NetworksThe return is automatic and there is nothing to copy. The Instagram tile stops saying Not connected and shows your handle.
  5. 05
    Check that it is the right accountThe date it was connected sits under the handle. If you picked the wrong account, Disconnect on the same tile removes it and you can start again.

It takes about twenty seconds and happens once. Every permission decision happens on Instagram, on Instagram's screen, with your session.

What we store, and for how long

What we keep is the permission Instagram granted, encrypted on the server. It never leaves it and we never show it back to you: it is used when publishing and for nothing else. Your Instagram password never passes through The Agentcy.

The permission expires, and it renews on its own while the account stays connected: with fewer than fifteen days left, we renew it for you. If it did expire, Instagram will not renew it, and Networks offers Reconnect, which opens the same permission screen as the first time.

To end it, Disconnect on the Instagram tile. You can also revoke The Agentcy from Instagram: when you do, Instagram notifies us and the account is disconnected on this side too.

If something fails

You cancelled on InstagramNetworks reads: you didn't grant the permission on Instagram, so nothing was connected. Nothing was saved on either side. Press Connect again whenever you want.
Instagram stopped the authorizationThe message reads: Instagram stopped the authorization. Try again. Usually a half-open Instagram session or an extension breaking the return. Retrying is safe.
It authorized but was not savedThe message reads: Instagram authorized it but we couldn't save the account. Try again. The permission was granted on Instagram's side and nothing was written here, so starting over does not leave two connected accounts.
You took too longThe message reads: the connection took too long and expired. Start again. The trip to Instagram is valid for ten minutes, so a tab left open needs a fresh start from the button.
The token expiredNetworks says the token expired and scheduled pieces won't go out. The way out is Reconnect, the same button as the first time: Instagram does not renew a permission that already expired.
Your account is still personalInstagram will not offer the publishing permission and you come back with nothing connected. Switch to professional and press Connect again.
The button is greyed outDirect connection is rolling out per account while Meta finishes reviewing our app's permissions. A grey button means yours is not enabled yet: until then, use the token path below, or download the piece and upload it yourself.
Test connection does not return your handleThe id and the token have to belong to the SAME account. The usual mistake is copying the token from one account and the id from another, or generating a token without both permissions. The red line under the fields is Meta's own answer, so it says what was rejected.

In the meantime: connect with a token

Meta is reviewing our app's two permissions, and until that finishes the button only works for accounts we enabled. If Networks shows it greyed out, this is the path that does work today: you do it once, in the Meta developer dashboard, and it leaves the account connected all the same.

  1. 01
    Switch Instagram to a professional accountSame prerequisite as the button path, so if you already switched there is nothing to do here. Instagram's API only publishes to business or creator accounts.
  2. 02
    Open Meta DevelopersSign in at developers.facebook.com with your usual Facebook account. On a first visit it asks you to accept the developer terms: one click, not a review.
  3. 03
    Create an appPress create app. When it asks for the use case, pick the one that names Instagram. The app name is for you: nobody else sees it.
  4. 04
    Add Instagram with Instagram LoginIn the app dashboard, find the Instagram product and add it. Of the two variants, the one that signs in with Instagram Login: it publishes to your own account without a Facebook page and without Meta review.
  5. 05
    Add yourself as a test userThe product settings have an accounts or testers section: add your Instagram username. The invitation is accepted from the Instagram app, in your account settings, under app invitations or experiences.
  6. 06
    Generate the token and copy the idBack in the dashboard, generate an access token for that account with instagram_business_basic and instagram_business_content_publish. The same screen shows your professional account id: a long number that usually starts with 178. Copy both.
  7. 07
    Paste them in Your account, Networks, under Connect with a tokenThe link opens the two fields below the networks grid. Enter the id and the token, press Test connection, and we answer with the handle those values open. If it is yours, press Save.

The whole thing takes about ten minutes and needs no app review and no Facebook page: the app stays in development mode and still publishes to your account, because your account is part of the app. The official reference is Meta's Instagram Platform documentation. The token enters through a password field, is encrypted, and never comes back out of the server. It lasts 60 days, and Networks shows how many are left plus the button to renew it. When Meta approves the permissions, the button is enough for everyone and this path stops being needed: an account connected with a token keeps publishing until you decide to reconnect it.

How to connect your Instagram account · The Agentcy