Start here: WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram setup
Connect your business messaging accounts to Salesforce in a clear sequence: prepare Meta, collect the right credentials, create the Connect Account, connect incoming messages, then test with your team. This guide covers REDA Connect Winter 2026, version 1.94000. Meta navigation and the Salesforce setup screens were checked on 10 October 2026.
WhatsApp uses the WhatsApp Business Platform. Facebook Messenger uses a Facebook Page. Instagram uses a professional account connected to that Page, through Facebook login. The separate “API setup with Instagram login” route is not the route used by this release.
REDA Connect supports custom objects through Connect Account Config. Lead and Contact include ready-made packaged fields; they are examples, not a restriction on which objects can use messaging.
How the accounts fit together
Your customers use WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram. Your team works in the Connect Feed in Salesforce. Meta delivers incoming messages to your Salesforce public Site, and REDA Connect associates each message with the configured record.
| Layer | What it contains | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Business portfolio | Your business assets, people, apps and System Users | Controls who can manage the business and use its assets. |
| Meta app | Messaging use cases, permissions, App ID, App Secret and webhook subscriptions | Identifies the integration to Meta. The app is different from a Facebook Page or an Instagram account. |
| Business messaging assets | WhatsApp Business Account → phone number; Facebook Page → Messenger; Facebook Page ↔ Instagram professional account | These are the business identities your customers actually contact. |
| Salesforce public Site | One HTTPS incoming-message address | Receives Meta callbacks so messages and delivery updates can reach Salesforce. |
| Connect Account → Account Config → Connect Feed | Channel credentials → record matching and creation → agent workspace | Routes messages to the right Lead, Contact or configured object and lets agents respond. |
Who needs to be involved
- Meta administrator: can administer the intended app, portfolio, Page, Instagram professional account and/or WhatsApp account. A Salesforce administrator does not automatically have this access.
- Salesforce administrator: can install/configure REDA Connect, assign its existing permission sets, maintain the public Site and create account configuration rows.
- Test participant: can send a message from a separate customer account or phone and check the reply. Messenger development testing requires an appropriate app role. Follow the channel-specific testing instructions.
A System User is an integration identity inside the Meta portfolio, not a person signing in to Salesforce. An app tester is a person/account allowed to exercise the app during development. They serve different purposes.
Choose your channel
| Channel | Prepare at Meta | Continue with |
|---|---|---|
| Business portfolio, app with WhatsApp use case, WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), business phone number and access token | WhatsApp prerequisites and setup sequence | |
| Facebook Messenger | Business portfolio, app with Messenger use case, Facebook Page, permissions and User/System User token | Facebook Messenger setup |
| Messenger/Page foundation plus an Instagram Business or Creator account linked to the Page, message access and Instagram permissions | Instagram setup with Facebook login |
One Connect Account can serve the channels enabled for the same Meta app. It serves one Facebook Page and its linked Instagram account. Use a separate Connect Account when the Meta app or Page is different. Keep one active route for each business asset and channel; two active accounts receiving for the same Page and channel are ambiguous.
The complete setup journey
- Prepare ownership and access. Select the business portfolio that owns or has access to the intended assets. Confirm the app, Page and account names before collecting IDs.
- Create or select the app. Follow Creating your Meta app. Select the messaging use cases you intend to use; an existing app can be reused if its access and callback destinations fit this implementation.
- Prepare the channel assets. Register a WhatsApp number, or confirm the Facebook Page and linked Instagram professional account.
- Obtain credentials. Follow Tokens, permissions and identifiers. Keep each value labelled; several IDs look alike but identify different things.
- Prepare Salesforce. Install the released package, assign administrator access, and create or confirm the public Site.
- Create and save the Connect Account. Leave messaging channels unselected while preparing it. Use the setup action to save credentials, add the account configuration rows, and connect webhooks. See Salesforce account and record matching.
- Enable and test. Enable the intended channels, check setup again, then perform an inbound message and reply test on each channel. Follow Webhook verification and go-live.
Keep these values distinct
| Value | Meaning | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| App ID | The Meta app | Connect Account: Meta App Id |
| App Secret | The app credential used to verify Messenger/Instagram callbacks | Set Up Messenger and Instagram: App Secret |
| Facebook Page ID | Your business Page | Connect Account: Meta Page Id |
| Instagram account ID | The linked professional account; not its @username and not the separate Instagram App ID | Instagram Account Id, filled by the setup action |
| WABA / Messaging account ID | The WhatsApp business messaging account containing the number | WhatsApp Account Id |
| Phone Number ID | Meta's identifier for a WhatsApp number | WhatsApp Number Id; the visible phone number goes in WhatsApp Number |
| Access token | Permission to call Meta for the assigned assets | The relevant setup action, never an ID field |
| Verification token | A shared value for confirming the incoming callback address | Connect Account Verification Token; setup creates it if missing |
Customers' Messenger and Instagram IDs are different again: they identify individual senders within the channel's scope. REDA Connect receives them with incoming messages. Do not enter a Page ID, phone number or Instagram username into a customer's channel identity field.
If you are upgrading an existing installation
Keep the working WhatsApp and SMS configuration. Add Messenger/Instagram only where required. Review custom layouts for the new fields/actions, channel picklist values and dependencies, the existing Admin/User permissions, and relevant Remote Site Settings. The Winter 2026 release notes provide the upgrade checklist, including improvements carried forward from the earlier patches.
If a step does not produce the expected result, use Meta setup troubleshooting to check that specific connection before changing other settings.