Facebook Platform enables a developer with a great idea to reach over 800 million users without cost and with minimal friction. Because the Open Graph lets you integrate your app directly into all parts of the Facebook experience simply by making one API call, we are introducing a lightweight review and approval process before your app can publish Open Graph actions to all users.

This process is straightforward. As soon as your app begins using the Open Graph, all Open Graph activity will be immediately visible to the developers and testers of your app. This allows you to do end-to-end testing of your integration. Once that is complete, submit your actions via the App Dashboard for review. After we have verified that your use of the Open Graph meets our criteria, we will approve your app to publish your Open Graph actions to all Facebook users. Please note that we are not approving your app, just your use of the Open Graph.

This is a living document and will change as we and 3rd party developers understand more about how users interact with the Open Graph.

Open Graph Criteria

Your app must publish actions that are simple, genuine and non-abusive.

• Simple. Actions must correspond to single verbs and objects must correspond to single nouns. We will reject apps that corrupt the structure of graph by adding poorly named actions and objects as well as apps publishing activity that appear to be Requests.
• Genuine. Your app must publish Open Graph actions that are based on actions that users take in your app.
• Non-abusive. Do not mislead, confuse, or surprise users with unexpected posts. Action and objects must be well-formed and not violate our content policies.
• For more information that can help with your design and help during the review process, read our Open Graph Checklist

For example, below are specific examples of things we are not a fan of:

• Automatically publishing Open Graph actions on a timer. Actions should not be triggered based on time elapsing.
• Posting multiple actions for the same real-world action. If you need to post multiple actions to generate the right timeline units, you must turn off feed stories for those actions (no_feed_story=1).
• Using an object that is unrelated to the action (e.g., You would not drink computers).
• Misleading users by publishing stories based on an action users did not take.
• Violating our content policies (e.g., inappropriate actions or action/object combinations).
• Changing links and titles of objects shown in profile units (by changing object properties after a story has been published).
• Using poor grammar (e.g., incorrect action or object conjugations)
• Compounding action types together, using adverbs, or adding adjectives to object types. You must formulate simple actions and objects.

Submitting Actions for Review

Step 1

After defining your actions, you must submit each action for approval in order to have the stories visible to all users. To request approval, click the Submit link next to the action in the App Dashboard.

Step 2

After clicking Submit, you will be prompted with a dialog where you must provide step-by-step instructions for how this action is triggered within your app. These instructions will be used by the team evaluating your app. If the Tag or User message properties are used with this action, you must also request approval to use these properties. Please explain how these properties are used with the action. You will receive a binary outcome for the request.

Step 3

After clicking Submit in the dialog, you will see the status text change from Submit to Pending. At any time, you may cancel your pending request.

Step 4

Once an Open Graph action is reviewed, the App Dashboard will indicate the resulting status (Approved, Rejected) in the Open Graph Dashboard and on the Edit Action page.

The developer that submitted the action type for approval will receive a notification on Facebook when the action is approved. An email will also be sent to the contact email address.

Step 5

If your action is Rejected, a banner will appear in the top of the action edit section with a link explaining why you this action was rejected. You must make the appropriate corrections and resubmit for approval.