The Conversions API is a Meta tool that allows you to send marketing data directly to Meta technologies like Ads Manager. It helps improve ad performance and increases the return on your advertising investment by creating a direct server-to-server connection.

Connect the Conversions API (CAPI) to Manychat

There are two ways to connect the CAPI to Manychat:

• Manual connection
• One-button connection

One-button connection

💡 Available for:

• Facebook Messenger
• Instagram accounts connected through the old registration flow (via Meta Business Suite)

This method provides a simplified setup by automatically creating and connecting a dataset with one click.

1. Open Manychat and click on Settings. 
2. From the list of channels select Instagram or Messenger, depending on the channel you want to connect CAPI with.
3. Scroll down to Ads Optimization.
4. Click Connect and select Connect through Facebook from the dropdown.

Keep in mind that if you choose this type of connection and your Instagram account is not yet linked to a Dataset, a new Dataset will be created during the process. Once connected, the Dataset cannot be changed or unlinked from your Instagram account due to Meta’s limitations. However, this restriction does not apply to Facebook Pages — those can be unlinked if needed.

Manual connection

Use this method if your Instagram account is connected through the new registration flow, or if you already have an existing dataset you want to use.

If you have an existing dataset:

1. Open Manychat and go to Settings.
2. Select Instagram or Messenger, depending on the channel you want to connect CAPI with.
3. Scroll down to Ads Optimization, click Connect, then select With dataset and token.
4. Enter your existing Dataset ID and token, then click Enable.

If you don’t have an existing dataset, first you will need to create one (steps 1-15), then copy the Dataset ID and Token (steps 16-18) and lastly paste both in Manychat:

1. Open Manychat and go to Settings.
2. Select Instagram or Messenger, depending on the channel you want to connect CAPI with.
3. Scroll down to Ads Optimization and click Open Event Manager.
4. Alternatevly, you can open Meta Business Suite select All tools from the left menu and go to Events Manager.
5. From the dropdown menu on the right, select the Business Portfolio to use with CAPI.
6. Click Connect Data.    
7. In the window that opens, select Messaging from the list, then click Next.
8. Choose the channel you want to share messaging data from and click Next.
9. Choose your Page/account, then click Next.
10. Review the dataset information, check the box I’ve read and I understand, then click Next.
11. Click Start integration.
12. In the next window, select Direct integration, then click Next.
13. Review the list of parameters, then click Continue.
14. Click Confirm Setup.
15. Click Finish to finalize connecting the data.
16. In Datasets/Data Sources, choose your dataset and go to Settings.
17. Copy the Dataset ID. You will need to paste it into Manychat later.
18. Scroll down to the Set up direct integration section, then click Generate access token. Copy the token for use in Manychat.
19. Go back to Manychat and once again open Settings and select  Instagram or Messenger, depending on the channel you are connecting.
20. Scroll down to Ads Optimization and paste the Dataset ID and Access Token, then click Enable.

⚠️ Important: For a successful integration, it is essential that your Manychat account and the corresponding token are linked to the same Instagram or Messenger account. Integration will not succeed if your Manychat account is connected to one Instagram account (e.g., @creatorig) but the token you are trying to use is associated with a different one (e.g., @creatorig2).

Send a Conversion Event in Manychat

💡 The steps described below work with both Messenger and Instagram.

1. After connecting the Conversions API, go to the Automations tab in your Manychat account and open an existing automation or create a new one that you’ll use for advertising purposes.
2. Set the trigger to User clicks an Instagram Ad.
3. Determine where in the automation you want to mark a conversion (e.g., after email submission or purchase).
4. Add an action node: click +Action > Ads Optimization > Send event to Meta Conversions API.     
5. Select the Channel and Conversion type for this event.
6. Once you're done with editing or creating your automation click Set Live.

✅ You’ve successfully set up a conversion event in Manychat. These events will be sent directly to Ads Manager to help optimize your campaigns and improve performance.

Available Conversion types

For Purchase, OrderCreated, and OrderShipped, you’ll need to specify a price and currency. You can refer to the Meta supported currencies for a full list of accepted values.

Automatic event sending

Some conversion events are triggered automatically without user interaction. These include:

• LeadSubmitted is triggered when an email address or phone number is collected through a Data Collection step.
• Purchase is triggered when a user completes a purchase via Buy Button, once payment confirmation is received from Stripe or PayPal.
• ViewContent is triggered when a user clicks a link in a button, or a user shares a file or image.

To enable or disable automatic tracking:

1. Go to Settings > Instagram/ Messenger.
2. Open Ads Optimization.
3. Switch the toggle.

Create a paid campaign in Ads Manager using CAPI

Once CAPI is connected and your automation is set up in Manychat, you can create an Instagram ad that sends conversion events to Ads Manager.

1. In Ads Manager, create a new campaign. Check out Meta’s official guide.
2. Choose Engagement as your objective.
3. Set Conversion location to Messaging apps, and select a Send Message call-to-action. This opens a conversation in Instagram DMs.

⚠️ The Instagram Ads Trigger is only available for Engagement campaigns with the current Ads Manager objective options.

With Instagram Ads trigger

1. In the Message Template section, select Partner app.
2. Click Select Flow to open the setup window.
3. In the Select message flow section, set up your conversation:
   • Choose Manychat from the Partner app dropdown.
   • Select the desired automation from the Message flow dropdown.
4. Once everything is configured, click Finish, then proceed to publish your Instagram ad.

🔗 Learn more about setting up the Instagram Ads Trigger in this article.

With Keyword trigger

1. In the Message Template section, select Start Conversations and edit the greeting message to fit your brand or campaign.                                   
2. Make sure the greeting message and expected responses match the keywords you’ve used in your Manychat automation. This ensures the automation is triggered correctly.
3. Once your greeting and keyword responses are linked to a Manychat automation, click Publish to launch your campaign.

💡 You do not need to connect CAPI manually in the Conversion section of Ads Manager. Events will be sent automatically to your Ads Manager based on the automation you’ve configured in Manychat.

After launching your campaign, you’ll see conversion events tracked in Ads Manager under columns such as Meta Leads or Meta Purchases, depending on the Conversion Type selected in your automation.

💡 We recommend extending your automation with additional messages or actions to keep the conversation going. Below is an example of a lead generation campaign offering a free online course:

Region restrictions

The Conversions API is subject to regional privacy regulations, which may limit or block its functionality.

• Region: European Union. Limitation: CAPI does not work without explicit user consent due to GDPR regulations.

• Region: United States (California). Limitation: Limited functionality under CCPA.

• Region: Other restricted regions. Limitation: Countries such as China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Cuba may block or limit access to the Conversions API.

What does this mean?

You can still create and connect a dataset, but sending and receiving events through Events Manager will not work without valid user consent in these regions.