TryGhost/Ghost · warning

The URL must be in a format like https://www.facebook.com/yo

Error message

The URL must be in a format like https://www.facebook.com/yourPage

What it means

Thrown by the platform-validator engine for the Facebook definition when input is URL-shaped but can't be resolved to a valid facebook.com profile/page URL. Message declared in facebook.ts ('The URL must be in a format like https://www.facebook.com/yourPage'); thrown in platform-validator.ts at: URL regex non-match (line 227 — wrong domain), no path-type match or empty remainder (line 233 — fullPath mode captures everything after facebook.com/, but an empty path 'https://www.facebook.com/' still throws), or built URL failing validator.isURL (line 263). Facebook uses fullPath: true so the whole path (including query) becomes the handle, and the only username rule is /^\S+$/ (no whitespace).

Source

Thrown at apps/admin/src/settings/app/utils/social-urls/facebook.ts:3

import {createPlatformValidator} from './platform-validator';

const ERROR_MESSAGE = 'The URL must be in a format like https://www.facebook.com/yourPage';

// Facebook is deliberately the loosest platform: pages, groups, people/… and
// profile.php?id=… are all valid profile locations, so the whole path (query
// string included) is the stored handle and the only rule is "no whitespace".
const facebook = createPlatformValidator({
    domains: ['facebook.com'],
    www: true,
    fullPath: true,
    pathTypes: [
        {urlPrefix: '', storagePrefix: '', rule: {patterns: [/^\S+$/]}}
    ],
    errors: {
        invalidUrl: ERROR_MESSAGE,
        invalidUsername: ERROR_MESSAGE
    }
});

export const validateFacebookUrl = facebook.validate;

View on GitHub (pinned to 47d8b0e2ad)

Solutions

1. Use a full facebook.com URL with a page/profile identifier, e.g. https://www.facebook.com/yourPage or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123.
2. Ensure the domain is facebook.com (www. optional, accepted and kept).
3. Remove any whitespace from the pasted URL — the only username rule for Facebook is no-whitespace.
4. For non-throwing checks, use the platform's urlToHandle which returns null on invalid input.

Example fix

// before — throws on empty-path or wrong-domain URL
const normalized = validateFacebookUrl(value);

// after — strip whitespace, non-throwing pre-check, then validate
const trimmed = value.trim().replace(/\s+/g, '');
try {
    if (trimmed && trimmed.includes('://') && facebookUrlToHandle(trimmed) === null) {
        setFieldError('facebook', 'Use a full https://www.facebook.com/yourPage URL');
    } else {
        setNormalized(validateFacebookUrl(trimmed));
    }
} catch (e) {
    setFieldError('facebook', e instanceof Error ? e.message : 'Invalid Facebook URL');
}

// Non-throwing pre-check + whitespace strip
import {facebookUrlToHandle} from './facebook';
function looksLikeFacebookUrl(input: string): boolean {
    if (!input || !input.includes('://')) return true;
    return facebookUrlToHandle(input) !== null;
}

null

const cleaned = value.trim().replace(/\s+/g, '');
try {
    const normalized = validateFacebookUrl(cleaned);
} catch (e) {
    setFieldError('facebook', e instanceof Error ? e.message : 'Invalid Facebook URL');
}

When it happens

Trigger: Input is URL-shaped but: the domain isn't facebook.com; the path after facebook.com/ is empty; the captured full path contains whitespace (fails /^\S+$/); or the built canonical URL fails validator.isURL. Because fullPath is true, pages/…, groups/…, people/…, and profile.php?id=… are all accepted as long as there's no whitespace.

Common situations: User entered a URL for a different platform; user typed 'https://www.facebook.com/' with no page identifier; user pasted a URL that contained a space (e.g. from a wrapped line); built canonical URL rejected by validator.isURL due to unusual characters.

Related errors

• The URL must be in a format like @username@instance.tld or h
• Your Username is not a valid Mastodon Username
• The URL must be in a format like https://x.com/yourUsername
• Your Username is not a valid Twitter Username
• The URL must be in a format like https://www.linkedin.com/in

AI-assisted analysis of TryGhost/Ghost@47d8b0e2ad (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/19f868de8d535be8. Report an issue: GitHub.