How do I complete private messages handled by third-party platforms?
Table of Contents
How do I complete private messages handled by third-party platforms?
If your team uses a third-party bot platform or marketing automation tool alongside Sprout to handle Facebook or Instagram DMs, you can configure Sprout to automatically mark those externally-handled messages as complete. This reduces clutter in your Smart Inbox so agents only see messages that need their attention.
Note: This feature applies to messages handled by platforms outside of Sprout (e.g., Botpress, Ada, click-to-Messenger ad platforms). If you use Sprout's own bots, this setting does not apply — Sprout bots have their own auto-complete setting within each bot's configuration.
Availability
|
|
|---|---|
Plans | All plans |
Networks | Facebook and Instagram |
Mobile | Not available — setting is configured on web only |
Permission required | Manage Message Status |
How it works
When a third-party platform (not Sprout) is configured as the primary app for your Facebook Page or Instagram profile, Meta's handover protocol sends incoming private messages to that platform first, marking them as "standby" for other connected apps like Sprout.
With this setting enabled, Sprout will automatically mark those standby messages as complete — so they won't require manual agent review.
What's affected:
✅ Private messages in standby mode (handled by external platforms)
What's NOT affected:
❌ Public interactions (posts, comments, mentions)
❌ Messages handled by Sprout's own bots
❌ Messages where Sprout is the primary/default app
Turning on the setting
Navigate to Settings by clicking your initials in the lower left corner.
Click Inbox Settings under the Inbox and Reviews section.
In the Automations section, toggle on Complete private messages handled by third-party platforms.
Select the specific profiles this should apply to.
This setting is off by default.
Excluding third-party messages from Cases and Salesforce
If you also want to prevent these messages from creating Cases in Sprout or Salesforce, you can add the "is not handled by third-party platforms" criteria to your Send to Salesforce or Create Case automated rules. This criteria becomes available once the autocomplete setting above is enabled.
Note: If you have multiple case creation rules, each rule must be updated individually. This criteria cannot be the sole criteria in a rule.
Permission required: Manage Advanced Inbox Features (to edit automated rules).
Meta integration setup best practices
This feature is relevant when Sprout is the secondary app and another vendor is the primary/default app in Meta's handover protocol. Here are Meta's recommendations:
Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
Human agent responses via Sprout | Set Sprout as the default app so it can respond to all conversations unless another app is specified. |
Using a third-party bot platform | Enable Take Control of Conversations so human agents in Sprout can take over when bots can't handle a query. |
Using Sprout bots for marketing | Configure them as marketing bots in your Meta account. Sprout cannot be set as the marketing application, but bots can respond to marketing questions when no other app is actively responding. |
Meta Business Suite Inbox | Can be used as the default app, but it will always allow responses regardless of which app is active. |
Was this article helpful?
