Instant Games

Zero Permissions Social Features Overview

Updated: Mar 25, 2026
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Under Zero Permissions, your game cannot directly access player names or profile pictures. Social features that display this information — friend lists, leaderboards, player profiles — are implemented using overlay views, which render player data inside Meta-controlled iframes.
This section covers each social feature area with implementation guides, code examples, and best practices. The core pattern is the same across all features: retrieve player IDs through the SDK, then pass those IDs to overlay views for rendering.

Guides

How to retrieve a player’s friends who also play your game and display their names and photos using overlay views. Covers both rendering individual friends and rendering a full friend list.
How to display any player’s name and photo by player ID, even if they are not connected to the current player. Essential for building custom leaderboards and matchmaking UIs.
How to switch between game contexts (conversations) using both SDK calls and overlay view actions. Includes custom event handling for interactive overlay UIs.
How to share game content, send invites, and post updates to contexts. Covers the overlay flow for including player names and photos in shared content.
How to build leaderboards for Zero Permissions games using your own backend with overlay views for player rendering. The built-in Global Leaderboards API is deprecated in the restricted SDK — this guide covers the recommended backend-based approach.
How to send app-to-user notifications using player IDs and app access tokens. Covers the Graph API endpoint, scheduling, cancellation, and bot message integration.

Key Concepts

Overlay Views Replace Direct Data Access

In earlier SDK versions, you could call player.getName() and player.getPhoto() directly. Under Zero Permissions, these methods are removed. All player-visible data must be rendered through overlay views.
The FBInstant.overlayViews module provides methods for creating these views. See Overlay View Components for the XML syntax and API Reference for the JavaScript API.

Player IDs Are Your Bridge

Your game can still retrieve player IDs — from getConnectedPlayersAsync(), getID(), leaderboard entries, and context participants. You pass these IDs to overlay views, which resolve them into names and photos at render time. Your game code handles the logic; overlay views handle the presentation.

One Overlay vs. Many Overlays

When displaying lists of players, you have a choice:
  • One overlay with a For loop — Simpler code, consistent styling, but less control over individual row behavior.
  • One overlay per player — Maximum flexibility to mix overlay iframes with your own UI, but more iframes to manage.
The right choice depends on your UI complexity and the number of players you need to display. See Example Game Use Cases for detailed comparisons.

Next Steps