Got it, let's break down how to retrieve the like count for your shared external page (e.g., www.example.com/test-page) on Facebook. Your previous API calls were targeting the wrong data structure—here's the correct approach:

Step 1: Get the Facebook Share Object ID for Your URL #

When you share an external URL to Facebook, the platform creates a unique share object linked to that URL. You first need to fetch this object's ID using the Graph API:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/?id=https://www.example.com/test-page&access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

The response will include an id field—this is the unique identifier for your URL's Facebook share object (e.g., 12345678901234567).

Step 2: Fetch the Like Count Using the Share Object ID #

Once you have the share object ID, you can query it directly to get the like count. You have two reliable options:

Option 1: Use the like_count Field #

This field returns the total number of likes for the share object:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/[SHARE_OBJECT_ID]?fields=like_count&access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

Option 2: Target Specific Reactions (Likes Only) #

If you want to exclude other reaction types (e.g., Love, Haha) and only count pure likes, use the reactions endpoint with a filter:

GET https://graph.facebook.com/v18.0/[SHARE_OBJECT_ID]?fields=reactions.type(LIKE).summary(total_count).limit(0)&access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

The summary.total_count value in the response will be your exact like count.

Key Notes #

• API Version: Always use the latest stable Graph API version (e.g., v18.0 or newer) to avoid deprecated fields.
• Access Token Permissions: For public share objects, a valid app access token is sufficient. If the content is restricted, you may need a user access token with appropriate permissions (e.g., pages_read_engagement).
• URL Crawling: If your URL hasn't been shared on Facebook before, you may need to trigger a crawl first using Facebook's official share debugging tool to generate the share object.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者sethu kumar