Facebook Automation

Facebook Automation

Use when automating Facebook: Marketplace data extraction, account creation, or signup flows.

Support files (shared with browser-automation):

• references/facebook-marketplace-graphql.md — Facebook Marketplace scraping via direct GraphQL API (no browser), doc IDs, variable structure, response parsing
• references/facebook-signup-2026.md — Current Facebook signup form DOM: input selectors, birthday/gender comboboxes, dialog workarounds
• templates/scraper.py — Complete Facebook Marketplace scraper (copy, configure, run)
• templates/extract_cookies.py — Chrome/Edge cookie extraction helper (run from Windows, not WSL)
• templates/create_account.py — Facebook account creator: Playwright + temp email + 5sim/SMSPool auto-SMS verification

Facebook Marketplace Scraping (GraphQL — No Browser)

Skip browser automation entirely and use direct GraphQL API requests.

• Endpoint: POST https://www.facebook.com/api/graphql/ with url-encoded body
• Query: MarketplaceFeedStoriesPaginationQuery — requires fb_dtsg token (extracted from homepage HTML) + valid cookies (c_user, xs, fr)
• Filters: Encode price, recency, location, and category in the params JSON string inside variables
• Pagination: Use end_cursor from page_info as the next request's cursor
• Doc IDs: Rotate periodically — extract fresh ones from browser DevTools Network tab when auth errors appear

Rate limiting defense: Randomized 1-3s delays between requests, rotate __req counter, cap 5 pages per search query.

Facebook Account Creation (SMS Auto-Verification)

Facebook signup automation requires handling their checkpoint/phone verification wall (~85-95% of new accounts).

Flow: signup form fill → email confirmation (mail.tm/GuerrillaMail) → checkpoint detection → auto-purchase phone number → enter number → poll for SMS code → enter code → account created.

Key selectors for Facebook signup form (as of mid-2026):

First name:     input[name="firstname"]
Last name:      input[name="lastname"]
Email:          input[name="reg_email__"]
Email confirm:  input[name="reg_email_confirmation__"] (sometimes appears)
Password:       input[name="reg_passwd__"]
Birthday:       select[name="birthday_month"], select[name="birthday_day"], select[name="birthday_year"]
Gender:         input[name="sex"][value="2"] (male), input[name="sex"][value="1"] (female)
Submit:         button[name="websubmit"]

Phone verification detection: Check for "checkpoint" in URL or keywords in page content.

Pitfalls

• Facebook scraping accounts need aging: Newly created accounts used immediately for scraping get flagged quickly. Warm accounts for 1+ weeks with normal browsing before using for Marketplace scraping. The GraphQL API is authenticated — stale or flagged cookies result in empty responses, not clear error messages.
• Facebook doc ID rotation: The GraphQL doc_id parameter changes periodically. When requests return auth errors despite valid cookies, the doc ID is the first suspect — open Marketplace in a real browser, check the Network tab for current values.