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What I'm trying to do is basically described in this particular doc page from FB itself: click (post, comment content and listen for new content), but for a "normal" closed group instead of a group in a workplace.
According to the document, this would only be possible by storing the user access token of the group admin and use various graph API endpoints, but this does not seem like a good solution to me.

Is there any other known way (something like creating a Facebook app which will create posts, comment/like stuff and listens to new posts made in the group (similar to the group bots in workplaces))?

Thank you in advance! Luca

Tobias Wilfert
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Luca
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2 Answers2

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Is there any other known way (something like creating a Facebook app wich will create posts, comment/like stuff and listens to new posts made in the group (similar to the group bots in workplaces)) ?

No, there is not.

Reading posts and creating them using the group admin's token would be possible, but that's about it.

  • Liking posts in the name of users has generally been removed (not just for group posts),
  • commenting will likely not be possible either for any non-admin in a closed group, and
  • Webhooks do not cover non-workplace group feeds as of now either, so you'd have to do constant pulling to get new posts.
CBroe
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  • Thank you, unfortunately that's what I expected. Is there a reason stated somewhere? I see the point of removing the 'user_groups' permission from graph api, in order to prevent third party apps to post stuff from closed groups to the public, but why wouldn't you allow to create a bot (which is approved by the group admin) for a 'normal' group? – Luca Nov 04 '17 at 16:27
  • That could possibly range anywhere from being considered not important enough in the first place, haven't gotten around to implement it yet, to wanting to protect core parts of own business model ... they don't usually state reasons for particular API design decisions. – CBroe Nov 04 '17 at 17:03
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And yet, the Facebook API clearly states:

In groups, bots can do many of the things that people can do. This means you can build bots that post new content, comment on content with new information and like posts to indicate acknowledgment or approval.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/workplace/integrations/custom-integrations/bots#botsingroups

Yitzhak
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    Yes, but that page opens with "With custom integrations for Workplace", suggesting that it is specifically Workplace groups they are referring to later. – Jobjörn Folkesson Nov 21 '18 at 11:16
  • Yeah @JobjörnFolkesson is right, I hope **Yizhak** provide more help in this, I have been looking for this for long time so far. – Ahmed Shendy Sep 28 '19 at 19:39