I'm encountering an issue with the Facebook Graph API when filtering leads based on the time_created field using UNIX timestamps. It seems that the API's time filtering is not precise down to the second.

For example, if I filter leads created at 06-07-2024 11:58:00 AM (actually in UNIX timestamp) and a lead has a time_created value of 06-07-2024 11:58:12 AM, the lead is still included in the response, resulting in duplicates in my data.

Has anyone else experienced this issue or found a way to ensure the filtering is precise to the second?

My Code:

$currentDateTime = Carbon::now(); //At Very Start of Code. $lastestDate = Carbon::parse(LeadData::latest()->first()->last_processed_time)->getTimestamp(); . . . . $newUrl2 = "https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/{$adId}/leads"; $paramsNew2 = [     //'since' => $lastestDate,     'filtering' => json_encode([         [             'field' => 'time_created',             'operator' => 'GREATER_THAN', //_OR_EQUAL             'value' => $latestDate, // 1720247400, getting it from DB as last_processed_time.         ]     ]),     'fields' => "id,form_id,platform,partner_name,field_data,ad_id,adset_id,campaign_id,ad_name,adset_name,campaign_name,created_time,post",     'access_token' => $accessToken, ]; $response2 = Http::get($newUrl2, $paramsNew2); $data3 = $response2->json(); $leadDatas = $data3['data'] ?? null; foreach ($leadDatas as $leadData)  {     try      {         LeadData::create([                 'account_id' => $adAccountId ?? null,                 'account_name' => null, ///$accountName,                 'campaign_id' => $leadData['campaign_id'],                 'campaign_name' => $leadData['campaign_name'],                 'adset_id' => $leadData['adset_id'],                 'adset_name' => $leadData['adset_name'],                 'ad_id' => $leadData['ad_id'],                 'ad_name' => $leadData['ad_name'],                 'ad_status' => $adStatus,                 'lead_id' => $leadData['id'],                 'lead_created_time' => $leadData['created_time'],                 'platform' => $leadData['platform'],                 'form_id' => $leadData['form_id'],                 'field_data' => json_encode($leadData['field_data'], JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE),                 'last_processed_time' => $currentDateTime,             ]);     } catch (\Exception $e) {         echo "Data entry in database failed: " . $e->getMessage() ."\n";         Log::error($e->getMessage());     } }

Then I'm saving the leads in the DB.

Tag:php, facebook-ads-api, facebook-graph-api, facebook-marketing-api, facebook-php-sdk

Only one comment.

  1. Vaibhav K. Patil

    I got a answer after some research and help from my friend, apparently you can use 2 parameters to compare data in the Graphs API,

    'filtering' => json_encode([ [ 'field' => 'time_created', 'operator' => 'GREATER_THAN', 'value' => $lastestDate, ], [ 'field' => 'time_created', 'operator' => 'LESS_THAN', 'value' => $currentDateTime ] ]),

    And my problem was not actually comparing in seconds, the leads being after the scheduler being run to enter the $currentDateTimein DB. Also currentDateTime should be in timestamp

    $currentDateTime = Carbon::now()->timestamp;
    Reply

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