Test Users

Tools

A test user is a special user account, invisible to "normal" users, which is created on behalf of an app for the purpose of testing that app's Facebook integration. You can use test users for manual or automated testing. Each app can create up to 2000 test users.

We allow you to access the test account via a login_url which allows you to directly log in to the account. The login_url expires on first use or after one hour whichever happens first, but you easily refresh it to get a new login_url for the same test user. We also provide you a user access_token for each test user, so that you can take actions on their behalf via the Graph API.

In addition to the Graph API functionality described below for managing test users programmatically, there is also a simple GUI in the App Dashboard, available at Settings->Developer Roles as shown in the screenshot below. It exposes all of the API functions described in this document.

Creating

You can create a test user associated with a particular app using the Graph API with your app access token.

API

https://graph.facebook.com/APP_ID/accounts/test-users?
  installed=true
  &name=FULL_NAME
  &locale=en_US
  &permissions=read_stream
  &method=post
  &access_token=APP_ACCESS_TOKEN

Parameters:

You can specify whether this user has already installed your app as well as the set of permissions that your app is granted for this user by default upon creation.

installed: This is a Boolean parameter to specify whether your app should be installed for the test user at the time of creation. It is true by default.

name: This is an optional string parameter. You can specify a name for the test user you create. The specified name will also be used in the email address assigned to the test user.

locale: This is an optional string parameter. You can specify a locale for the test user you create, the default is en_US. The list of supported locales is available as an XML file.

permissions: This is a comma-separated list of extended permissions. Your app is granted these permissions for the new test user if installed is true.

access_token: This is an app access token.

Response :

{ 
  "id": "1234...",  
  "access_token":"1234567..." , 
  "login_url":"https://www.facebook.com/platform/test_account..."
  "email": "example...@tfbnw.net",
  "password": "1234..."
}

id : User id of the test user

access_token: You can use this access token to make API calls on behalf of the test user. This is available only if your app has been installed by the test user.

login_url: You can login as the test user by going to this url. This expires on first use or after one hour whichever happens first to ensure that the test accounts remain secure. You can easily refresh the login_url by simply calling the get method again.

email: If logging in manually (that is, not using the login_url), you can use this as the user's email address.

password: If logging in manually (that is, not using the login_url), you can use this as the user's password. You should store this password, as it will only be returned on the creation of the test user. This is because we don't store the password ourselves, just the hash. See this section should you need to change/reset the password.

Error Codes:

If you exceed the limit of test users you can create for an app you will receive an error.

Error code: 2900 (Too many test accounts)

Adding existing test users to other apps

You can add existing test users to other apps by using the Graph API with the app access token that you're adding the user to.

https://graph.facebook.com/APP_ID/accounts/test-users?
  installed=true
  &permissions=read_stream
  &uid=TEST_USER_ID
  &owner_access_token=APP_ACCESS_TOKEN_OWNER
  &access_token=APP_ACCESS_TOKEN
  &method=post

Parameters:

uid : User id of the existing test user

owner_access_token : App access token of the app used to create the test user

Accessing

You can access the test users associated with an app by making a GET request to the Graph API with the app access token.

API

https://graph.facebook.com/APP_ID/accounts/test-users?
  access_token=APP_ACCESS_TOKEN

Response:

{
 "data" [
   { 
    "id": "1231....",  
    "access_token":"1223134..." , 
    "login_url":"https://www.facebook.com/platform/test_account.." 
   }
   { 
    "id": "1231....",  
    "access_token":"1223134..." , 
    "login_url":"https://www.facebook.com/platform/test_account.." 
   }
 ]
}

id : User id of the test user

access_token: You can use this access token to make API calls on behalf of the test user. This is available only if your app has been installed by the test user.

login_url: You can login as the test user by going to this url. This expires on first use or after two hours whichever happens first.

Making friend connections

You can use the API to make friends connections for a test user with other test users of that app. We provide an API for creating a friend request as well as for accepting a friend request. This enables developers to create several friend connections between test users via the API itself, without having to log-in as the test user to accept requests.

API

https://graph.facebook.com/TEST_USER_1_ID/friends/TEST_USER_2_ID?
  method=post
  &access_token=TEST_USER_1_ACCESS_TOKEN

https://graph.facebook.com/TEST_USER_2_ID/friends/TEST_USER_1_ID?
  method=post
  &access_token=TEST_USER_2_ACCESS_TOKEN

The first call should be made with access token of TEST_USER_1_ID. This will creates a friend request from TEST_USER_1_ID to TEST_USER_2_ID.
The second call should be made with access token for TEST_USER_2_ID and will confirm the request.

Response: true on success, false otherwise

Changing a test user's password and name

You can change a test user's password by simply issuing a POST request with a password parameter to the test user ID in the Graph API.

API

https://graph.facebook.com/TEST_USER_ID?
  password=NEW_PASSWORD
  &name=NEW_NAME   
  &method=post
  &access_token=APP_ACCESS_TOKEN

Parameters:

password and name: both optional parameters. This request can be used to change the name and/or password of an existing test user.

Response: true on success, false otherwise

Deleting

You can delete an existing test user like any other object in the graph.

API

https://graph.facebook.com/TEST_USER_ID?
  method=delete
  &access_token=TEST_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN (OR) APP_ACCESS_TOKEN

Response: true on success, false otherwise

Error Codes:

API_EC_TEST_ACCOUNTS_CANT_DELETE (2903) : Test user is associated with multiple apps.

API_EC_TEST_ACCOUNTS_CANT_REMOVE_APP (2902) : Test user must be associated with at least one app.

API_EC_TEST_ACCOUNTS_INVALID_ID (2901): Test user is not associated with this app.

Limitations

We ensure that test users are exempt from Facebook spam or fake account detection systems to ensure that you can test your app without worrying about getting disabled.

Also, to ensure that using test user accounts to test various scenarios doesn't end up unintentionally creating spam, we enforce certain limitations on what test users can do.

Test users can interact with other test users only and not with real users on site.
Test users cannot fan a public Page or create public content on them like writing on a Page's wall. A Test user can however view and interact with the app tab on the Page if they are associated with that app.
They can be accessed and used by any developer of the associated app.
They only have test privileges on the associated app. This implies that they can use the app in live mode or sandbox mode but cannot edit any technical settings or access insights for that app.
A test user is always a test user and cannot be converted to a normal user account.

Open Graph Test User

We have created a special test user on your behalf called Open Graph Test User.

When our review team reviews your submission for an Open Graph action, we test with this user. Therefore, before submitting, it is important to ensure that this user can successfully access your app and publish the action to their timeline, as outlined in your usage instructions. If your test user requires friends to perform the action please be sure to set up your test user with friends.

You can access this test user by navigating to Developer Roles, within your app settings.

Updated on Friday