Refreshing Tokens
How SoSocial handles access token expiration and renewal for each platform.
How Token Refresh Works
Each social platform uses access tokens to authorize SoSocial to act on your behalf. These tokens have different lifespans and renewal mechanisms depending on the platform. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your connections active.
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook and Instagram Page Access Tokens are long-lived tokens that typically last about 60 days. However, they can expire or be invalidated if:
- You change your Facebook password
- You remove SoSocial from your Facebook app settings
- Facebook detects suspicious activity on your account
- The token simply reaches its expiration date
What to do when a token expires: If you notice publishing failures with authentication errors, go to Settings > Platform Connections and click Connect next to Facebook or Instagram. Completing the OAuth flow again generates a fresh long-lived token.
SoSocial doesn’t currently auto-refresh Facebook/Instagram tokens, so if you see recurring auth failures, reconnecting is the fix.
X/Twitter
X/Twitter tokens include a refresh token that SoSocial uses to automatically renew your access when it’s close to expiration. This happens behind the scenes — in most cases, your X connection remains active indefinitely without any manual intervention.
If automatic refresh fails (rare, but possible if X revokes your token), you’ll need to reconnect through Settings.
TikTok
Like X/Twitter, TikTok provides refresh tokens that SoSocial uses for automatic renewal. Your TikTok connection should stay active without requiring you to reauthorize.
In rare cases where the refresh token itself expires or is revoked, you’ll see publishing errors. Reconnecting through Settings resolves this.
How to Tell If a Token Has Expired
Signs that a token may need refreshing:
- Posts to a specific platform start failing while other platforms work fine
- You see authentication or authorization errors on failed posts
- The platform connection shows a warning or error status in Settings
Best Practices
- Check your connections periodically — visit Settings to confirm all platforms show a healthy status.
- Act on publishing failures quickly — if a post fails due to an auth error, reconnect the platform before more scheduled posts are affected.
- Don’t revoke access on the platform side unless you intend to disconnect from SoSocial. Revoking access externally invalidates the stored token immediately.
- Reconnecting is safe — it simply replaces the old token with a new one. Your post history, analytics data, and scheduled posts are not affected.