Graph API

Overview

The Graph API is the primary way to get data into and out of the Facebook platform. It's an HTTP-based API that apps can use to programmatically query data, post new stories, manage ads, upload photos, and perform a wide variety of other tasks.

The Graph API is named after the idea of a "social graph" — a representation of the information on Facebook. It's composed of nodes, edges, and fields. Typically you use nodes to get data about a specific object, use edges to get collections of objects on a single object, and use fields to get data about a single object or each object in a collection. Throughout our documentation, we may refer to both a node and edge as an "endpoint". For example, "send a GET request to the User endpoint".

HTTP

All data transfers conform to HTTP/1.1, and all endpoints require HTTPS. Because the Graph API is HTTP-based, it works with any language that has an HTTP library, such as cURL and urllib. This means you can use the Graph API directly in your browser. For example, requesting this URL in your browser...

https://graph.facebook.com/facebook/picture?redirect=false

... is equivalent to performing this cURL request:

curl -i -X GET "https://graph.facebook.com/facebook/picture?redirect=false"

We have also enabled the includeSubdomains HSTS directive on facebook.com, but this should not adversely affect your Graph API calls.

Host URL

Almost all requests are passed to the graph.facebook.com host URL. The single exception is video uploads, which use graph-video.facebook.com.

Access Tokens

Access tokens allow your app to access the Graph API. Almost all Graph API endpoints require an access token of some kind, so each time you access an endpoint, your request may require one. They typically perform two functions:

They allow your app to access a User's information without requiring the User's password. For example, your app needs a User's email to perform a function. If the User agrees to allow your app to retrieve their email address from Facebook, the User will not need to enter their Facebook password for your app to get their email address.
They allow us to identify your app, the User who is using your app, and the type of data the User has permitted your app to access.

Visit our access token documentation to learn more.

Nodes

A node is an individual object with a unique ID. For example, there are many User node objects, each with a unique ID representing a person on Facebook. Pages, Groups, Posts, Photos, and Comments are just some of the nodes of the Facebook Social Graph.

The following cURL example represents a call to the User node.

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/USER-ID?access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

This request would return the following data by default, formatted using JSON:

{
  "name": "Your Name",
  "id": "YOUR-USER-ID"
}

Node Metadata

You can get a list of all fields, including the field name, description, and data type, of a node object, such as a User, Page, or Photo. Send a GET request to an object ID and include the metadata=1 parameter:

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/USER-ID?
    metadata=1&access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

The resulting JSON response will include the metadata property that lists all the supported fields for the given node:

{
  "name": "Jane Smith",
  "metadata": {
    "fields": [
      {
        "name": "id",
        "description": "The app user's App-Scoped User ID. This ID is unique to the app and cannot be used by other apps.",
        "type": "numeric string"
      },
      {
        "name": "age_range",
        "description": "The age segment for this person expressed as a minimum and maximum age. For example, more than 18, less than 21.",
        "type": "agerange"
      },
      {
        "name": "birthday",
        "description": "The person's birthday.  This is a fixed format string, like `MM/DD/YYYY`.  However, people can control who can see the year they were born separately from the month and day so this string can be only the year (YYYY) or the month + day (MM/DD)",
        "type": "string"
      },
...

/me

The /me node is a special endpoint that translates to the object ID of the person or Page whose access token is currently being used to make the API calls. If you had a User access token, you could retrieve a User's name and ID by using:

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/me?access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

Edges

An edge is a connection between two nodes. For example, a User node can have photos connected to it, and a Photo node can have comments connected to it. The following cURL example will return a list of photos a person has published to Facebook.

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/USER-ID/photos?access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

Each ID returned represents a Photo node and when it was uploaded to Facebook.

    {
  "data": [
    {
      "created_time": "2017-06-06T18:04:10+0000",
      "id": "1353272134728652"
    },
    {
      "created_time": "2017-06-06T18:01:13+0000",
      "id": "1353269908062208"
    }
  ],
}

Fields

Fields are node properties. When you query a node, or an edge, it returns a set of fields by default, as the examples above show. However, you can specify which fields you want returned by using the fields parameter and listing each field. This overrides the defaults and returns only the fields you specify, and the ID of the object, which is always returned.

The following cURL request includes the fields parameter and the User's name, email, and profile picture.

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/USER-ID?fields=id,name,email,picture&access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

Data Returned

{
  "id": "USER-ID",
  "name": "EXAMPLE NAME",
  "email": "EXAMPLE@EMAIL.COM",
  "picture": {
    "data": {
      "height": 50,
      "is_silhouette": false,
      "url": "URL-FOR-USER-PROFILE-PICTURE",
      "width": 50
    }
  }
}

Complex Parameters

Most parameter types are straightforward primitives such as bool, string and int, but there are also list and object types that can be specified in the request.

The list type is specified in JSON syntax, for example: ["firstitem", "seconditem", "thirditem"]

The object type is also specified in JSON syntax, for example: {"firstkey": "firstvalue", "secondKey": 123}

Publishing, Updating, and Deleting

Visit our Facebook Sharing guide to learn how to publish to a User's Facebook or our Pages API documentation to publish to a Page's Facebook feed.

Some nodes allow you to update fields with POST operations. For example, you could update your email field like this:

curl -i -X POST \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/USER-ID?email=YOURNEW@EMAILADDRESS.COM&access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

Read-After-Write

For create and update endpoints, the Graph API can immediately read a successfully published or updated object and return any fields supported by the corresponding read endpoint.

By default, an ID of the object created or updated will be returned. To include more information in the response, include the fields parameter in your request and list the fields you want returned. For example, to publish the message “Hello” to a Page's feed, you could make the following request:

curl -i - X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/PAGE-ID/feed?message=Hello&
  fields=created_time,from,id,message&access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

The above code example is formatted for readability.

This would return the specified fields as a JSON-formatted response, like this:

{
  "created_time": "2017-04-06T22:04:21+0000",
  "from": {
    "name": "My Facebook Page",
    "id": "PAGE-ID"
  },
  "id": "POST_ID",
  "message": "Hello",
}

Refer to each endpoint's reference documentation to see if it supports read-after-write and what fields are available.

Errors

If the read fails for any reason (for example, requesting a non-existent field), the Graph API will respond with a standard error response. Visit our Handling Errors guide for more information.

You can usually delete a node, such as a Post or Photo node, by performing a DELETE operation on the object ID:

curl -i -X DELETE \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/PHOTO-ID?access_token=ACCESSS-TOKEN"

Usually you can only delete nodes that you created, but check each node's reference guide to see requirements for delete operations.

Versions

The Graph API has multiple versions with quarterly releases. You can specify the version in your calls by adding "v" and the version number to the start of the request path. For example, here's a call to version 4.0:

curl -i -X GET \
  "https://graph.facebook.com/v4.0/USER-ID/photos
    ?access_token=ACCESS-TOKEN"

If you do not include a version number we will default to the oldest available version, so it's recommended to include the version number in your requests.

You can read more about versions in our Versioning guide and learn about all available versions in the Graph API Changelog.

Facebook APIs, SDKs, and Platforms

Connect interfaces and develop across platforms using Facebook's various APIs, SDKs, and platforms.

Next Steps

Get Started with Graph API – Let's explore the Facebook Social Graph using the Graph Explorer tool and run a couple requests to get data.

Guides

Various Guides for how to use the Facebook Graph API to send and receive data to the Facebook Social Graph.

Batch Requests

The Batch Requests guide describes how to make multiple Graph API requests in one call.

Debugging

The Debug Requests guide describes how to enable Debug Mode to view Graph API responses that may contain additional fields that explain potential issues with an API call.

Error Handling

The Handling Errors guide describes the recovery tactics and provides a list of error values with a map to the most common recovery tactic to use.

Graph Explorer Guide

The Graph API Explorer guide describes how to use the Graph Explorer tool](/tools/explorer). This tool allows you to construct, test, and debug queries and see their responses for any apps on which you have an admin, developer, or tester role.

Upload Files

The Upload Files guide describes how to upload photos and videos to the Facebook Social Graph that can then be shared in User, Group, or Page posts.

Graph API Reference

Graph API Root Nodes

This is a full list of the Graph API root nodes. The main difference between a root node and a non-root node is that root nodes can be queried directly, while non-root nodes can be queried via root nodes or edges. If you want to learn how to use the Graph API, read our Using Graph API guide, and if you want to know which APIs can solve some frequent issues, try our Common Scenarios guide.

Node

Description

Album

Get Fields and Edges on an Album.

App Request

An individual app request received by someone, sent by an app or another person

Application

A Facebook app

Async Session

Represents an async job request to Graph API

Atlas Ad Set

An Atlas AdSet

Atlas Campaign

An Atlas Campaign

Atlas FBConversion Event

Conversion Event Node

Atlas Publisher

An Atlas Publisher

Atlas Report

An Atlas Report

Atlas Report Run

An Atlas ReportRun

Atlas Report Schedule

An Atlas ReportSchedule

Atlas Tracking Connection

An Ad Platform Tracking Connection

Business Unit

Represents a group of certain types of Business objects in a Business. Will be used by Measurement Hub initially with more usage coming later on.

CPASAdvertiser Partnership Recommendation

Returns a recommendation of a single retailer for a specific brand. This endpoint returns a retailer-brand pair and an advertiser who can advertise on behalf of the producer.

This endpoint is mainly for Facebook’s Marketing Partners using Collaborative Ads.

CPASCollaboration Request

A collaboration request is a partnership request coming from a brand or agency to a retailer or marketing partner. Used for Collaborative Ads.

CTCert Domain

A domain name that has been issued new certificates.

Canvas

A canvas document

Canvas Button

A button inside the canvas

Canvas Carousel

A carousel inside a canvas

Canvas Footer

A footer of the canvas

Canvas Header

A header inside the canvas.

Canvas Photo

A photo inside a canvas

Canvas Product List

A product list inside the canvas

Canvas Product Set

A product set inside the canvas

Canvas Store Locator

A store locator inside the canvas

Canvas Text

Text element of the canvas

Canvas Video

A video inside canvas

Collaborative Ads Directory

Directory of retailers that use Collaborative Ads. This endpoint must be used in conjunction with the collaborative_ads_merchants field below.

Comment

A comment can be made on various types of content on Facebook. Most Graph API nodes have a /comments edge that lists all the comments on that object. The /comment node returns a single comment.

Commerce Merchant Settings

Commerce Merchant Settings object

Commerce Order

Represents an order placed directly on Facebook or Instagram

Conversation

Graph API Reference Conversation /conversation

Destination

Represents a destination in a catalog

Doc

A Document

Event

Get fields and edges on an Event.

Flight

Represents a flight in a catalog

Friend List

This represents a user's friend list on Facebook

Group

A Facebook group.

Group Doc

Graph API Reference Group Doc /group-doc

Group Message

GroupMessage

Image Copyright

Represents a copyright on an image asset.

Instagram Oembed

InstagramOembed

Lead Gen Data

A lead ad form

Link

A link shared on a wall.

Live Encoder

Get fields and edges on a LiveEncoder.

Live Video

Get fields and edges on a LiveVideo.

Live Video Input Stream

An ingest stream for a live video

Mailing Address

A mailing address object

Media Fingerprint

Media fingerprint

Message

An individual message in the Facebook messaging system.

Milestone

Graph API Reference Milestone /milestone

Native Offer

A native offer represents an Offer on Facebook. The /{offer_id} node returns a single native offer. Each native offer requires a view to be rendered to users.

Object Comments

This reference describes the /comments edge that is common to multiple Graph API nodes. The structure and operations are the same for each node.

Object Likes

This reference describes the /likes edge that is common to multiple Graph API nodes. The structure and operations are the same for each node.

Object Private Replies

Private replies for an object

Object Reactions

First revision to publish

Object Sharedposts

Graph API Reference /object/sharedposts

Oembed Page

OembedPage