Social networks issue access tokens that expire. frik.io works hard to keep yours alive automatically — here's how it works and what to do when a connection needs your attention.
Connection Statuses (Accounts Page)
Each account card shows its health:
- Connected / Auto-renews — token is valid. For accounts with a refresh token, a background worker renews it for you; the card shows "Auto-renews · last renewed …".
- Expiring soon — for accounts that can't auto-renew, frik.io warns when the token expires within 7 days (and more urgently within 1 day).
- Needs Attention / Expired — the token can't be used; posts to this account will fail until you reconnect.
Proactive Refresh
frik.io doesn't wait for tokens to die. A background worker proactively re-validates and refreshes tokens before they expire (well ahead of the deadline). When renewal succeeds, the fail counter resets and the card stays green.
The 3-Strike Expiry
If a background refresh fails, frik.io doesn't give up immediately — it retries on subsequent runs. After repeated failures (around the third strike) the connection is marked expired and you're alerted, because at that point only a fresh authorization can fix it. You may see an intermediate "Auto-renewal struggling — reconnect if this persists" note before that point.
How to Reconnect
- Go to Social Accounts.
- Find the account showing Needs Attention / Expiring soon.
- Click Reconnect and re-authorize on the platform.
For Meta (Facebook/Instagram) a reconnect performs a full asset re-sync — reconnecting is the standard fix for most Meta issues. For Google Business, reconnecting re-runs the two-phase location flow.
Why It Happens
- The platform's token simply reached its lifetime.
- You changed your password or revoked frik.io on the platform.
- Your role/permissions on a Page or location changed.
- Meta's reconnect screen dropped a permission (re-tick everything — see the Instagram guide).
Tip
Reconnect as soon as you see Expiring soon to avoid any gap in scheduled posts.