Does Instagram Graph API has sandbox mode?

Question

The docs say (step 4):

In the App Review for Instagram section, click Add to Submission for each permission your App will need from its Users. instagram_basic is required. instagram_manage_comments, instagram_manage_insights, and instagram_content_publish are optional.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, and in the Current Submission sub-section, for each submission, click its View Notes link.

In the View Notes dialogue for each permission submission, provide a description for how you will use the data returned by any endpoints that require the permission, and a screencast showing how your app will use the data.

Once you've completed your notes for all of your permission submissions, click the Submit For Review button at the bottom of the page. Note that this is separate from your App Review, which you will do after testing.

After you've added both Facebook Login and Instagram API products to your app configuration, add Facebook Login to your app and record a screencast showing how you will use data returned by the Instagram API. This is similar to the Facebook Login screencast but with Instagram data, so the same guidelines apply.

Step 5:

Once you've been notified that your Instagram API product submission has been approved, you can use the Graph API Explorer to test your app.

With Facebook Login I can create an app that works in sandbox mode. Which lets me create a screencast. To be able to use Instagram Graph API (on a site) I need (from what I can gather):

• Facebook Page linked to Instagram Business Account
• an app icon
• a privacy policy page
• a site with working Facebook Login
• description of how each permission is going to be used
• screencast of... what exactly? of a site that is basically ready, but instead of fetching data from Instagram, it has them hardcoded in the code?

Or there is a sandbox mode after all?

UPD I've highlighted the important parts in the quotes above. Then:

5. Test Your App

Once you've been notified that your Instagram API product submission has been approved, you can use the Graph API Explorer to test your app.

Go to the Graph API Explorer...

The first call you will make is to the Graph API's /user/accounts edge...

Locate the Page that you connected to the Instagram Business Account and click its ID...

Next, [make /page?fields=instagram_business_account request].

This is where I get empty response in Graph API Explorer (only id field is returned), or:

200:- OAuthException:(#200) Access to this data is temporarily disabled for non-active apps or apps that have not recently accessed this data due to changes we are making to the Facebook Platform. https://developers.facebook.com/status/issues/205942813488872/

GET /...?fields=instagram_business_account HTTP/1.1

on my site. Which requests to Instagram Graph API can I make before passing reviews (Instagram App Review, and Facebook App Review)?

Answer 1

It looks like the documentation that Facebook provides is somewhat misleading. You can actually use Instagram Graph API via Graph API Explorer (or by sending GET requests from your code) in a very limited way accessing only your instagram business account BEFORE you get initial approval described in Step 4.

Steps:

1. Open Graph API Explorer.
2. First, you need to add extra permissions in the "Access Token" section. There is a "Add a Permission" drop down on the bottom of that section. Open that drop down and select: instagram_basic, manage_pages, business_management permissions. Depending on what you are trying to do, you may need other permissions as well (e.g. instagram_manage_comments, ads_management, manage_pages).
3. Once you selected the extra permissions, click on the "Get Access Token" button.
4. Now, you have access token with correct permissions and you should be able to execute instagram_business_account request. This will return the instagram id of your business account, which you can then use for other requests.

After going through these steps, I'm able to get media for my business account via Instagram Graph API, although I'm still trying to figure out why tags request returns empty list.