ListeningKitFacebook groups: the page and its requests
The groups domain of Facebook's client (rule 48): the requests a group page
makes, one doc each, built by log facebook capture --docs from the runs' recordings.
The code that works on groups is its own library, src/facebook/group/<domain>/
(rule 45): join (request to join), answer (the membership questions),
read (the posts, issue #27, docs/groupRead.md), members (the People
tab's newest members, rule 77, docs/groupMembers.md).
What can be done on a group page
Every interactive element on a group's Discussion tab, as the accessibility
snapshots of run 20261020T143506 recorded them (Bethlehem, a group it is a
member of: load, a snapshot, three scrolls; log inspect, rule 29). There
were 810 refs on the page after the scrolls; these are the 110 kinds they
fall into. Writes is what changes something on Facebook, which needs
matt and --live (rule 8). Request is what the page sends, linked to its
doc where a run has recorded it; "not recorded" means no run has clicked it
yet, and code that clicks it waits for a recording that does (rule 29).
Top bar (every Facebook page, not the group's)
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| link "Facebook", "Home", "Reels", "Friends", "Groups" | Navigate away from the group | no | the target page's root query |
| combobox "Search Facebook" | Facebook-wide search | no | CometSearchBootstrapKeywordsDataSourceQuery (on load), SearchCometResultsInitialResultsQuery |
| button "Facebook menu", "Messenger", "Your profile" | Open the menus | no | not recorded |
| button "Notifications, N unread" | The notifications list | no | CometNotificationsDropdownQuery (on load) |
Group header
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| link "Cover photo" | Opens the cover photo | no | not recorded |
| heading (the group's name) | The group | — | CometGroupRootQuery, GroupsCometDiscussionLayoutRootQuery (on load) |
| link "N members", "See everyone" | The People tab | no | not recorded |
| 20 links, one per member's avatar | That member's profile; resting the cursor shows their hover card | no | CometHovercardQueryRendererQuery |
| button "Invite" | Invite friends | sending an invite | opening: GroupsCometInviteFriendsDialogQuery, triggerGroupsCometHeaderInviteWithEmailExposureQuery, GroupsCometInviteFriendsCategorizedInviteSearchQuery (run 20261020T153648; sending not recorded) |
| button "Share group" | The share sheet for the group | sharing | CometUnifiedShareSheetDialogQuery, UnifiedShareSheetMessengerSectionQuery; opening it also sends, by itself, useLinkSharingCreateWrappedUrlMutation, useIncrementLinkSharingDisclosureImpressionCountMutation, CometLinkSharingInlineDisclosureCountQuery, MAWFetchXMAData_fetchXmaPreviewDataQuery and the composer's mention queries (useFeedComposerCometMentionsBootloadDataSourceQuery and its two tagging versions) |
| button "Joined" | The membership menu: Manage notifications, Unfollow group, Leave group | each of its items | opening: GroupsCometJoinedActionMenuQuery (run 20261020T153648; no item recorded). For a non-member it is Join: useGroupRequestToJoinMutation, log facebook join group |
| button "See Recommended Groups" | Other groups Facebook suggests | no | GroupsCometRecAffordanceSectionQuery |
| button "Search within this group" | Search the group's posts | no | opening: GroupsEntityScopedCometTypeaheadDialogQuery, useGroupsEntityScopedRecentSearchAndExploreDataSourceQuery, withSearchCometTypeaheadSERPWarmCallDecoratorQuery (typing not recorded) |
| button "More" | The group's menu: Your content, Share, Manage notifications, Pin group, Report group | depends on the item | opening: GroupsCometMoreActionMenuQuery (no item recorded) |
The header repeats as a sticky bar once the page scrolls (the group's name as a link, Invite, Share, Joined): the same controls.
Group tabs
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| tab "Discussion" (selected) | The feed below | no | CometGroupDiscussionRootSuccessQuery (on load) |
| tab "Featured" | /announcements, the featured posts | no | CometGroupAnnouncementsRootFeedQuery |
| tab "Open questions" | /questions, the question posts, each with its first comments | no | GroupsCometQuestionsRootSuccessQuery |
| tab "People" | /members: admins, moderators, members in common | no (its Follow buttons are) | GroupsCometMembersRootQuery |
| tab "Events" | /events: upcoming and past | no (Interested, Going are) | CometGroupEventsRootQuery |
| tab "Media" | /media: the photos grid (Photos, Videos, Albums) | no | GroupsCometPhotosRootQueryContainerQuery |
| tab "Files" | /files/files: shared files | no | GroupsCometFilesTabRootQuery |
| tab "About" | /about: description, history, rules | no | CometGroupAboutRootQuery |
Every tab also sends CometGroupRootQuery (the header) and /ajax/navigation/; back on Discussion, useGroupsCometVisitMutation. Flow: groupTabs (run 20261020T153648).
A second, sticky copy of the tabs is in the page with every tab disabled and unnamed (24 refs): it isn't clickable.
Composer and featured section
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| link "<account>'s profile" | The account's own profile | no | — |
| button "Write something..." | Opens the post composer | posting | not recorded |
| button "Anonymous post", "Feeling/activity", "Poll" | The composer, in that mode | posting | not recorded |
| button "About featured section", "Expand/Collapse featured section" | The featured posts' panel | no | not recorded |
Feed
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| button "sort group feed by New posts" | The sort switcher (the read keeps New posts: CHRONOLOGICAL) | no | not recorded; the choice is the feed query's sort |
| (scrolling) | Loads three more posts | no | GroupsCometFeedRegularStoriesPaginationQuery: what src/facebook/group/read reads |
Each post
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| link (the author's name) | The author's profile; resting the cursor shows the hover card | no | CometHovercardQueryRendererQuery |
| link "N hours ago" (the time) | The post's own page (its permalink) | no | CometSinglePostDialogContentQuery |
| button "Actions for this post by <author>" | The post's menu: Turn on notifications, Report to group admins, Hide post, Report post | each of its items | opening: CometFeedStoryMenuQuery and useCIXLogMutation (no item recorded) |
| button "Follow" / "Follow <page>" | Follow the author | yes | not recorded |
| button "See more" | Shows the rest of a long text (the feed query already holds all of it) | no | none |
| link "May be an image of …", "No photo description available.", "N remaining items" | Opens the photo viewer (/photo/, dialog "Photo viewer": Previous, Next, Zoom, full screen, View Post, the post's comments) | no | CometPhotoRootContentQuery, CometPhotoTagLayerQuery |
| link "<page>, view story", "<page>" | A shared post's story, and its page | no | not recorded |
| link "Open reel in Reels Viewer", button "Unmute", "<page> · Original audio", link "See owner profile" | A reel in the feed | no | FBReelsEntityDialogImplQuery (when it comes into view) |
| button "AI content" | The AI label's explanation | no | not recorded |
| (the reaction icons) | Who reacted, on hover | no | CometUFIReactionIconTooltipContentQuery |
| button "Like" | Likes the post | yes | CometUFIFeedbackReactMutation |
| button "React" | The reaction picker; picking one sets it | yes | CometUFIFeedbackReactMutation. Opening the picker is not recorded: the button sits under the Like button (it opens on hover), the cursor check refuses the click, and log inspect has no hover step (run 20261020T153648 steps 37, 38, 44) |
| button "Leave a comment" | On Discussion: opens the post in its dialog and focuses the comment box. On Open questions: opens the comments inline under the post | no (until one is sent) | Discussion: CometSinglePostDialogContentQuery and the comment box's three queries below; Open questions: none (the tab's feed already holds them). Flows: groupPostDialog, groupPostComments |
| textbox "Submit your first comment…" | The comment box | sending a comment | on focus: useGroupsCometTypeaheadBootloadDataSourceQuery, useGroupsCometMentionsBootloadDataSourceWithTaggingTransparencyQuery, CometUFIConversationGuideContainerQuery |
| button "Comment with an avatar sticker", "Insert an emoji", "Attach a photo or video", "Comment with a GIF", "Comment with a sticker" | Parts of a comment | with the comment | not recorded |
| button "Share, send this to friends or post it on your profile." | The share sheet for the post | sharing | CometUnifiedShareSheetDialogQuery |
| button "View more comments" | Loads more of the post's comments | no | not shown on run 20261020T151100: scrolling the post's dialog loads them, CommentsListComponentsPaginationQuery |
| button "Most relevant" (in the post) | The comments' sort: Most relevant, Newest (every comment, newest first), All comments (with potential spam) | no | opening it sends nothing; picking All comments: CommentListComponentsRootQuery (run 20261020T153648, inline and in the dialog). Under All comments the replies show inline; this run met no "View … replies" button |
Each comment (shown under a post)
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| link (the commenter), link (the comment's time) | Their profile; the comment's own link | no | CometHovercardQueryRendererQuery |
| button "Like", "React" | React to the comment | yes | CometUFIFeedbackReactMutation |
| button "Reply" | The reply box | sending a reply | not recorded |
| button "Share" | Share the comment | sharing | not recorded |
| button "Edited" | The comment's edit history | no | not recorded |
| button "Hide …" | Hides the comment for the account | yes | not recorded |
Elsewhere on the page
| Control | What it does | Writes | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| button "New message" | A Messenger chat | sending a message | not recorded |
| button "Choose File" | The page's hidden file input | — | — |
What the read uses
The group read touches none of these: it scrolls, and reads the posts from
what the page already sent, the group page's HTML and the feed query (rule 22,
src/facebook/group/read). Comments are read too (matt, 2026-10-20): from the post's
dialog or its own page, sorted Newest, scrolled until the list ends
(commentsFromResponse, commentsFromPostPage, recorded on run
20261020T151100). Every control marked "not recorded" is one log inspect step
away from a doc of its own. Run 20261020T153648 (Bethlehem, 48 steps) recorded the tabs, the
header's menus and dialogs, a post's menu, its comments and the photo viewer;
its flows are groupTabs, groupHeaderMenus, groupPostComments and
groupPostDialog (docs/platforms/facebook/flows/).