Do I need a Facebook developer account?

No. There is no Facebook app, OAuth flow or app review. One InsightSocial API key works for this endpoint and every other platform, and your first 10 calls priced at 100 credits or less are free.

How do I get every result, not just the first page?

This endpoint pages. Each response carries pagination.next_cursor and pagination.has_more. Send next_cursor back unchanged as the cursor parameter and stop when has_more is false. Every page is a separate call and is charged as one.

What happens if the account is private or nothing is found?

You get an error or an empty result, and it costs 0 credits. The API reads public Facebook data only, so private accounts and deleted content come back as not found rather than as partial data.

Can I call the Facebook Search Groups API from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes. Add the hosted MCP server at https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp to your AI app and sign in. The assistant finds this endpoint by name, shows its price and calls it with your credits.

GET /v1/facebook/search/groups

Facebook Search Groups API

Returns public Facebook groups matching your keywords, one row per group, with the group's name, id and URL in the same shape the group endpoints take.

Get a free API key Full API reference

10–110 credits, metered · cursor pagination · failed calls free · 10 free calls to start

curl "https://api.insightsocial.app/v1/facebook/search/groups?query=vintage+cars" \
-H "x-api-key: $INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY"

200 OKJSON

{
"success": true,
"platform": "facebook",
"endpoint": "/v1/facebook/search/groups",
"schema_version": "2",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"author": {
"id": "<string>",
"username": "<string | null>",
"display_name": "<string | null>",
"avatar_url": "<string | null>",
"bio": "<string | null>",
"verified": "<boolean | null>",
"followers": "<integer | null>",
"followers_approximate": "<boolean | null>",
"following": "<integer | null>",
"posts_count": "<integer | null>",
"likes_count": "<integer | null>",
"url": "<string | null>",
"location": "<string | null>",
"external_url": "<string | null>",
"private": "<boolean | null>",
"joined_at": "<string | null>",
"last_post_at": "<string | null>",
"ext": "<object | null>"
}
}
],
"total": "<integer | null>",
"truncated": "<boolean | null>"
},
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "<string | null>",
"has_more": "<boolean>"
},
"unavailable": [],
"credits_used": "<integer>"
}

When to use it

Use it when you need to find the groups to read before pulling their posts. Add include=details for member counts, descriptions and privacy.

Parameters

Query parameters for GET /v1/facebook/search/groups. Send your key in the x-api-key header.

Name	Required	Description
query	Yes	Keywords describing the groups to find, for example vintage cars. Keywords only: the search is already limited to public Facebook groups, so a site: operator is refused before billing.
page	No	Page number, starting at 1. Forwarding pagination.next_cursor as cursor does the same.
include	No	Set to details (one token only) to fill, on every group in this one call, author.followers (members), author.bio (the description), author.joined_at, author.ext.group.privacy_label, visibility_label, activity and id (the numeric group id), and the name where it was null. Without it the call is unchanged.
cursor	No	The pagination.next_cursor from the previous page, sent back unchanged. Omit it for the first page.

Response fields

The same unified schema every platform returns, so code written for Facebook works on the other eight. A field the platform did not provide is null and listed in unavailable.

Field	Type	Notes
id	string	An identifier, always a string. Never parse it as a number: several platforms use ids above 2^53.
username	string \| null
display_name	string \| null
avatar_url	string \| null
bio	string \| null
verified	boolean \| null
followers	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
followers_approximate	boolean \| null
following	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
posts_count	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
likes_count	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
url	string \| null
location	string \| null
external_url	string \| null
private	boolean \| null
joined_at	string \| null	ISO-8601 timestamp in UTC, ending in Z.
last_post_at	string \| null	ISO-8601 timestamp in UTC, ending in Z.
ext	object \| null	Platform-specific fields, snake_case.

Every field, error and example is in the Facebook Search Groups API reference.

How much does the Facebook Search Groups API cost?

Metered: 10–110 credits a call. The ceiling is reserved when the call starts and you are charged what it actually read.

Failed calls are free
A call that errors or finds nothing costs 0 credits.
Know the price first
Add dry_run=1 and the response quotes the call without making it. Nothing is charged.
One balance
API calls and Chrome extension exports share the same credits, on the free plan too.

See plans and credit packs How credits work