Hey everyone, I’m building a custom Node.js/TypeScript backend hosted on Render to receive and handle Instagram direct messages for my app. I am currently in Development Mode and hitting a very strange issue that is driving me crazy. Here is my setup: - Created a Meta Dev App (Customize Use Case with Instagram API). - Generated an Instagram Access Token with all required scopes approved (instagram_business_manage_messages, etc.) and verified it on the Token Debugger. - Successfully added an approved Instagram Tester account. - Confirmed that "Allow Access to Messages" is turned ON in the Instagram mobile app settings for the receiver account. The Problem: - When I trigger a dummy message via the Meta dashboard's "Test to Server" button, my Render backend successfully parses the payload and text content perfectly. - When my tester account reacts with an emoji (like 👍) to an existing message, my backend successfully receives the message_reactions webhook payload in real-time. - BUT, when the tester account sends a regular direct text message, absolutely nothing hits my server. No logs, no empty objects, just dead silence. It seems like Meta is explicitly filtering out text messages in Development Mode while allowing reactions to pass through. Is this a known restriction or a Catch-22 bug where text webhooks only fire once the app goes Live? Or am I missing some hidden permission? I really don't want to submit for App Review just to test standard text DMs. Any help, insights, or bypass workarounds would be highly appreciated! Thanks.

Hey everyone, Hamid here from Pakistan. I've spent the last few months working on a pretty random mix of projects. One week I was helping design a review management system for a KFC franchise group and discussing what it would take to support review operations at a 4,300+ location scale. Another project involved building out revenue operations workflows for a home services company, connecting lead intake, CRM processes, follow-ups, and field operations. More recently, I've been working on an AI commerce intelligence MVP around Shopify, vector search, and AI workflows. One thing all of these projects had in common was that the technical implementation wasn't usually the hardest part. Understanding how the business actually operated was. That's one of the reasons I joined this community. I'm less interested in AI as a trend and more interested in how people are using it to solve real operational problems inside businesses. Looking forward to learning from the builders, operators, agency owners, and founders in here. If you're working on something interesting, I'd love to hear about it.

Let's get to know each other! Comment below sharing where you are in the world, a career goal you have, and something you like to do for fun. 😊

Hey everyone, I built a Google Sheet that has every video I've published in 2026 along with the links to all resources, tools, and files mentioned in each one. If you're ever looking for something I referenced in a video, start here: 📌 YouTube Video Database This will get updated as new videos drop. Bookmark it. Check the tabs at the bottom to make sure you're on the right sheet. - Nate

One thing I've learned... A skill by itself doesn't make you money. The ability to package that skill into something people want is what makes you money. I've seen people spend months learning new tools, watching tutorials, and collecting certifications. But they never stop to ask: "What problem can I solve for someone?" The people who earn from their skills aren't always the most talented. They're usually the ones who can: ✅ Identify a problem ✅ Create a simple solution ✅ Communicate the value clearly ✅ Put an offer in front of the right people Whether it's AI Automation, copywriting, design, coding, or any other skill, the process is the same. Learn the skill. Build something useful. Turn it into an offer. Get it in front of people who need it. That's where income starts. What's one skill you're currently working on, and have you thought about how you could monetize it?