How to Generate a Facebook Page Access Token & Extend to Never Expire

Understanding Facebook Access Token Lifespans

Meta provides three distinct tiers of access tokens:

• Short-Lived User Token: Valid for only 1 to 2 hours. Useful for temporary debugging only.
• Long-Lived User Token: Valid for 60 days. Can be obtained by extending a short-lived user token.
• Permanent Page Access Token (Never Expires): When generated from a long-lived user token for a Facebook Page you manage, the Page Access Token never expires as long as your Facebook user remains an Admin of that Page!

Visual Walkthrough & Token Architecture

Required Permissions (Scopes)

To enable full social auto-pilot, ensure your token contains the following 5 permissions:

Permission Scope	Purpose in SmartCity Growth
pages_manage_posts	Allows automated publishing of status updates, blog previews, and links.
pages_read_engagement	Retrieves reach, impressions, and engagement metrics for analytics reporting.
pages_show_list	Enables the platform to discover the list of Pages associated with your account.
instagram_basic	Connects linked Instagram Professional accounts for automated media publishing.
instagram_content_publish	Publishes single photo/carousel posts directly to your Instagram Business feed.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the Meta Graph API Explorer

Go to developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer/ and sign in with your Facebook account that has Admin permissions on your target Facebook Page.

Step 2: Select Your Meta App

In the top-right corner, find the Meta App dropdown menu. Select your registered Developer App (e.g. SmartCity Growth Automation or your company app). If you don't have an app yet, click Create App → Select Other → Choose Business.

Step 3: Select Your Facebook Page

In the User or Page dropdown, click the selector. Do not leave it on "User Token". Scroll down to the Page Access Tokens section and click on your target Page (e.g. Infusionics / SmartCity Growth).

Step 4: Add Permissions & Generate Token

1. Under Permissions, click the Add a Permission dropdown.
2. Add: pages_manage_posts, pages_read_engagement, and pages_show_list.
3. Click the blue Generate Access Token button.
4. A Facebook authorization popup will appear. Check the box next to your Page and click Save and Got It.
5. Copy the string that appears in the Access Token field.

Step 5: Convert to a Never-Expiring Token in the Debugger

To make sure this token does not expire after 1 hour:

1. Open a new browser tab and navigate to the Access Token Debugger.
2. Paste your copied token into the text field and click Debug.
3. Inspect the Expires row. If it says anything other than "Never", scroll down to the bottom of the debugger page.
4. Click the blue button labeled Extend Access Token.
5. Meta will prompt you for your password and generate a long-lived token.
6. Click Debug on the new token. Look at the Type and Expires fields. When generated for a Page, it will now state: Expires: Never.
7. Copy this permanent token.

Step 6: Connect into SmartCity Growth

1. Log in to your account at grow.infusionics.com.
2. Navigate to Websites → Click Edit on your website.
3. Scroll to the Social Auto-Pilot Settings section.
4. Enter your Facebook Page ID (found in your Page's "About" → "Page Transparency" section or by calling GET /me in Graph API Explorer).
5. Paste the permanent Page Access Token into the Facebook Page Access Token field.
6. Click the Test Facebook Connection button.

You will see an immediate green confirmation: ✓ Facebook Connected: Post permissions active (Permanent).

Troubleshooting "Token Expired" or "Session Invalidated"