Threadline

Create your Meta app

WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram all belong to Meta, so all three connect through a Meta developer app. You create it once, in Meta's dashboard, and then connect each channel to it. This page covers the app. Each channel then has its own short page.

In plain words

What this is. A free "app" record in Meta's developer dashboard. It is not a real app you build. It is the account Meta uses to let Threadline send and receive messages for you.

One app or three? One app can carry all three channels, and that is what this guide uses. Keep this page open, then follow WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

Where you will work. Two browser tabs: Meta's dashboard and your Threadline admin panel. You copy values from one to the other.

Meta changes its dashboard often. If a button is named a little differently on your screen, look for the closest match. The steps and the values you collect stay the same.

1. Start a new app

  1. Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and sign in with the Facebook account tied to your business.
  2. Click Create app.
  3. On App details, type an App name (for example "Threadline Support") and an App contact email you check regularly. Click Next.

2. Choose the use cases

Meta now asks what you want the app to do. These are called use cases.

  1. In the Filter by list on the left, click All. The Featured list does not show every option.
  2. Tick the ones for the channels you plan to connect:
    • Connect with customers through WhatsApp
    • Engage with customers on Messenger from Meta
    • Manage messaging & content on Instagram
  3. Click Next.

Meta notes that some use cases cannot be combined on one app. WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram can be ticked together. If Meta ever refuses a combination, create a second app for the one it rejects. Threadline keeps credentials per channel, so two apps work fine.

3. Business portfolio, requirements and overview

  1. Business: choose your business portfolio, or I don't want to connect a business portfolio yet. You can change this later. A portfolio only has to be verified when you want access to other businesses' data, which you do not need while testing.
  2. Requirements: Meta may say "No requirements identified". Click Next.
  3. Overview: check the app name, email and use cases, then click Create app.

You land on the app Dashboard. It lists one "Customize the … use case" item for each use case you chose. You will open those one by one in the channel pages.

4. Find the App ID and App Secret

Every channel needs the App secret. Threadline uses it to check that a message really came from Meta.

  1. In the app's left menu, open App settings → Basic.
  2. Copy the App ID (a long number).
  3. Next to App secret, click Show (Meta may ask for your Facebook password) and copy it.

Both values are the same for all three channels on this app, so copy them once and reuse them.

Keep the App secret private. Anyone who has it could fake messages to your Threadline. Never paste it in a chat, a screenshot or a public page.

What comes next

Channel What you collect from Meta Guide
WhatsApp Phone number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID, access token Connecting WhatsApp
Messenger Facebook Page ID, Page access token Connecting Messenger
Instagram Instagram account ID, Page ID, access token Connecting Instagram

The same pattern for every channel

  1. Collect the channel's values from Meta, plus the App secret from this page.
  2. Create the channel in Threadline (Channels → Connect a channel) and paste them in.
  3. Threadline then shows a Callback URL and a Verify token. Copy them.
  4. Paste them into Meta on that channel's webhook screen, and click Verify and save.
  5. Test by sending a message.

While your app is unpublished

A new Meta app starts in Development mode and shows Unpublished on its Dashboard. That is fine for testing, with these limits:

  • Only people who have a role on the app (administrators, developers, testers) can message the channels.
  • For WhatsApp, the app only gets test webhooks sent from Meta's dashboard until it is published. See the note in Connecting WhatsApp.
  • To serve real customers you must submit the app for App Review and publish it. Meta may also ask you to become a Tech Provider and verify your business. This happens entirely on Meta's side.

Platform owners who want clients to connect with one click can set up a shared Meta app. That is covered in the Owner guide.