How to troubleshoot Meta Ads sync issues

Meta Ads sync issues fall into a handful of buckets. Work through this checklist in order.

Before you start

Have these tabs open:

• SourceLoop’s Meta Ads card at Setup -> Ad Platforms -> Meta Ads
• Meta Events Manager for the Pixel you’re reporting to
• Meta Business Settings in case you need to regenerate a System User token
• The most recent Sync log entry on the Meta card

Step 1: Check the connection status

1. Open Setup -> Ad Platforms -> Meta Ads in SourceLoop.
2. Look at the card:
   • Active with recent Last sync → healthy; problem is downstream
   • Active with stale Last sync (>24 hours) → Insights sync stuck
   • Token expired → reconnect or update the token
   • Disconnected → run the Connect flow

Step 2: For ‘Token expired’ / ‘Disconnected’

The fastest fix is to update the token directly in the Meta drawer:

1. In Meta Business Settings, generate a new System User Access Token with ads_management and the correct Pixel assignment (see Configure Meta Conversions API sync for the System User setup).
2. In SourceLoop, open Setup -> Ad Platforms -> Meta Ads.
3. Paste the new token in the CAPI configuration section and click Save.
4. The connection flips back to Active immediately.

If you’d rather run a fresh OAuth flow instead, click Reconnect on the card. Note: user tokens from OAuth expire every 60 days, so you’ll see this issue again. System User tokens don’t expire.

Step 3: For ‘conversions not appearing in Events Manager’

This is the most common issue. Walk through:

1. Open the Sync log on the Meta card (three-dot menu).
2. Find a conversion you expected. Each push is logged with the event_name, Pixel ID, value, and status:
   • sent → SourceLoop successfully called the Conversions API. The event may take 20-60 seconds to appear in Events Manager.
   • pending_identity → the visitor had no usable identity signal (no fbc, no fbp, no email, no phone). Skip these.
   • error → Meta rejected the push. Click the row to see the exact error message.

Common errors and fixes:

• Invalid OAuth access token → token expired or revoked. See Step 2.
• Pixel not found / unauthorized → wrong Pixel ID, or the System User isn’t assigned to the Pixel.
• Permission OAuthException → token has correct format but isn’t authorised for this Pixel. Regenerate with ads_management and confirm the System User is assigned to the Pixel.
• Field "event_name" is invalid → custom event_name contains spaces or unsupported characters. Use camelCase or underscored names.
• server_event has no fields → SourceLoop sent an event with no matchable data and Meta rejected it. Same root cause as pending_identity — improve the identity capture (see Step 5).

Step 4: For ‘test events not showing in Events Manager Test events tab’

If you set a test_event_code but events aren’t appearing:

1. Confirm the test_event_code in SourceLoop matches the one in Events Manager Test events tab. They must be identical, case-sensitive.
2. The code is per Pixel, make sure you’re looking at the Test events tab for the same Pixel ID you configured in SourceLoop.
3. After firing a conversion, refresh the Test events tab manually, it doesn’t always live-update.
4. Confirm the conversion actually fired in SourceLoop by checking the Contacts Hub for a new entry with a recent timestamp.

Step 5: For ‘poor Match Quality score’

Match Quality is Meta’s measure of how often your CAPI events successfully match to real Meta users. Low scores mean Meta can’t optimise bidding well off your data.

To improve Match Quality:

1. Make sure the SourceLoop tracking pixel is installed on every landing page, not just the conversion page. The fbc cookie is set on first ad-click landing; if the page doesn’t load the SourceLoop tracker, that cookie never gets captured.
2. Capture email and phone in your forms. Meta hashes them client-side before sending and uses the hashes to match against its user database. Email + phone together produce match rates near 100%.
3. Don’t push events for anonymous visitors. SourceLoop already skips conversions with no identity signal (pending_identity status). Make sure your conversion sources are configured to require email at minimum.
4. Send fbc and fbp reliably. These are set by the SourceLoop tracker on first ad-click and propagate through to the conversion event. If you have aggressive cookie-clearing or privacy plugins on your site, they may strip these.

Step 6: For ‘Insights data not updating’

If campaign / ad set / ad spend and impressions look stale in SourceLoop:

1. Check the last sync timestamp on the Meta card. Insights sync runs daily at 05:00 UTC. Within 24 hours is normal.
2. Force a manual resync. Click Resync now on the card. This triggers an immediate Insights sync re-fetching the last 14 days.
3. Check Meta’s own reporting. If Meta Ads Manager shows the same lag (common for the last 1-3 days), the data isn’t ready yet on Meta’s end. SourceLoop can only show what Meta has.

How to disconnect or reset

• Soft reset (re-run the click-mapping backfill if you suspect attribution issues): three-dot menu -> Reset click mapping on the Meta card.
• Hard reset (disconnect entirely): see Disconnect Meta Ads from SourceLoop.

When to email support

If you’ve worked through the checklist and CAPI events still aren’t appearing correctly, email [email protected] with:

• The Meta Ads card’s current status
• Two or three error messages from the Sync log (verbatim, including the Meta-side error message)
• Your Ad Account ID (visible on the Meta card)
• Your Pixel ID

We respond within one business day.