Connecting social accounts

Summary#

Metric Vault can connect to six social channels: LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Threads. Connecting one lets you write a post in Metric Vault and publish or schedule it without opening the platform. This article covers what all six have in common, what each one asks you to approve, which account a post goes to, what publishing costs, and which channels can actually publish today, so you know what you are getting before you start.

Purpose#

Social work in an SEO platform usually stops at "here is a post you could write". You then copy the text, open another tab, log in, paste, and repeat for every channel. The connection exists to close that gap: the content you produce in Metric Vault can go out from Metric Vault, to several channels at once, on a schedule you set.

It also keeps the credentials out of your hands. You never paste an API key or a password. You approve a named permission list on the platform's own screen, and you can withdraw it there whenever you want.

Overview#

The six channels#

The composer has an Add image button. The image goes to Instagram, which will not post without one. Every other channel ignores it. A post sent to Instagram with no image returns Instagram needs an image. Add one to the post and try again.

TikTok can be connected, but a post sent to it returns TikTok needs a video — text-only posts are not supported there yet. Metric Vault does not upload video, so nothing reaches TikTok today.

There is no YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit, Mastodon or Bluesky connection. If a tool mentions Reddit or Pinterest, that is public data being measured rather than an account you have connected. See Where the data comes from.

What each channel asks you to approve#

The consent screen is the platform's own, and the permissions below are what Metric Vault requests. Nothing outside this list is asked for.

Facebook access is about Pages, not your personal timeline, which is why publishing needs a Page you manage. Instagram access runs through those same Pages, because an Instagram Business account is linked to one.

Choosing the account a post goes to#

Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn can give Metric Vault access to more than one account in a single login: several Pages, several Instagram accounts, or your profile plus a company Page. For those three, the popup shows Choose the account you want to connect after you approve, and lists every account the login gave access to. You pick one, even when there is only one, and posts go to that account. The row then shows its name, so you can see what you connected.

X, Threads and TikTok have one account per login, so they skip this step.

What it costs#

Connecting a channel is free on every plan.

Publishing costs 1 credit for each channel that accepts the post. Before anything is sent, Metric Vault checks that your allowance covers 1 credit for every channel you selected. After sending, only the channels that accepted the post are charged, so a channel that fails costs nothing.

Publishing counts against your monthly allowance even though it costs 1 credit. It is not covered by the allowance for light tools, because each post costs Metric Vault money with the platform.

The Free plan can connect channels but cannot publish. Pressing Publish on Free returns This tool needs a paid plan. Free includes the 10 technical SEO tools; upgrade to Pro to unlock the rest.

If you have switched into a team workspace, the workspace owner's plan and credits pay for the post. The post still goes out on your own connected channels, never the owner's. See Social Dashboard for the full cost table and How credits work.

Where you manage channels#

Dashboard → Account & Team → Integrations has the Connected channels card. Each of the six channels has a row with its status and one button.

Dashboard → Promote → Social Dashboard is where you use them: Compose a post, Calendar and Scheduled posts. The composer only lists channels you have connected. With none, it reads Connect a channel on the Integrations page to start posting.

How it works#

Reading a channel row#

The row shows the account name first. For X and Threads, where the platform may return only a username, the row falls back to the handle.

Setup needed is not something you can resolve from your account. Pressing Connect on such a channel opens a page explaining that an administrator needs to add the channel's credentials. Report it.

Two other states replace the whole list: Sign in to connect your channels. when you are not signed in, and Could not load channels. when the list could not be fetched. The second is transient; reload the page.

The connect flow#

1. Press Connect on the channel row.
2. A popup window opens, 600 by 720. Metric Vault checks that you are signed in, creates a single-use connect link, and sends the popup to the platform.
3. The platform shows its consent screen with the permission list.
4. You approve.
5. The platform returns to Metric Vault, which completes the exchange.
6. For Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, the popup shows Choose the account you want to connect. Select an account and press Continue.
7. The popup shows <Channel> connected and closes itself after a moment.
8. The channel list refreshes and the row now shows your account.

If the connect link cannot be created, the dashboard shows Could not start the connection. Please try again. If your browser blocks popups, nothing will appear. Allow popups for this site and try again.

The dashboard notices the popup finishing in three separate ways, so the list refreshes even when a platform severs the link between the popup and the page that opened it. If the row still looks stale, click away from the browser window and back again, which also triggers a refresh.

Connections that are refused#

Facebook and Instagram exist to post to a Page or an Instagram account. If the login gives Metric Vault access to none, the connection is refused rather than stored, and nothing you had connected before is changed. The popup explains why. The two cases, and their exact messages, are in Facebook and Instagram.

The connection request expires#

The request created when you press Connect is single-use and lasts 15 minutes. The account choice has the same 15-minute limit. The consequences:

• Starting a connection and finishing it much later shows The connection flow expired (over 15 minutes). Please start again.
• Opening the same connection twice shows This connection link is invalid or was already used. Please start again. for the second one.
• Reusing an old connect link shows This connection link has expired or is not valid. Please start again from the dashboard.
• Leaving the account list open too long before pressing Continue shows This connection expired. Please start again.

All of these are resolved by pressing Connect once and completing it.

More than one account on the same platform#

Metric Vault can hold several accounts for one platform. Connecting again and choosing a different Page, for example, adds that Page rather than replacing the first. The channel row shows the most recently connected account, and that is the account a post goes to.

Disconnect on the row removes every account stored for that platform, not just the one displayed. To move a channel to a different account cleanly, disconnect first, then connect and choose the account you want.

Renewal, and what expiry looks like#

Platforms issue access that expires. What happens next depends on the channel.

If the sixty-day exchange fails at connect time, the connection is still stored and works, but only for the short-lived period Meta issued, usually an hour or two. If a post fails soon after connecting, reconnect.

When a platform stops accepting a stored connection, publishing to it fails with a message naming the remedy, for example Your X connection has expired. Reconnect X and try again. For Facebook and Instagram the wording is Your Facebook connection has expired. Reconnect and try again. Press Disconnect, then Connect. Other channels are unaffected, and a failure on one channel never stops the others in the same post from going out.

What disconnecting does#

Disconnecting removes the stored connection from Metric Vault. Posts you have already published stay published. Anything still queued for that channel will fail on that channel when its time arrives, with Not connected. Connect <platform> first., because there is nothing left to send it with. Cancel scheduled posts for a channel before you disconnect it.

Disconnecting here does not revoke the grant on the platform. To end it at the source, remove Metric Vault in that platform's connected-apps or business integrations settings. See Disconnecting an integration.

Where to go next#

• LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and Threads cover each channel's specifics.
• Publishing and scheduling posts covers writing a post and sending it to several channels at once.
• Scheduled social posts covers queuing posts for later.
• Social Dashboard covers the screen itself.