# fb_action_ids and fb_action_types — Facebook's action tags

- Canonical: https://linkclean.app/trackers/fb-action-ids/
- Updated: 2026-10-05
- Author: Ken Tominaga (https://ken0nek.com)
- Get the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/linkclean/id6758604043

Parameter: `fb_action_ids` · Category: Social · Vendor: Meta (Facebook)

> fb_action_ids is **one of four tags that ride on a link Facebook opens from a story**, with `fb_action_types`, `fb_source` and `fb_ref`. Facebook's own SDK reads them as the IDs and types of the actions behind the link and a breadcrumb set when the story was made. The destination is in the rest of the address, and LinkClean strips all four on every site.

## What Facebook's SDK says they are

Facebook's iOS SDK, in version 3.13.0 (tagged in March 2014), has a class for "an App Link from Facebook". It reads `fb_action_ids` and `fb_action_types` from the link, splitting each on commas, and documents them as the "List of the ids of the actions for this target" and the "List of the types of actions for this target". Its `ref` field is described as a "Reference breadcrumb provided during creation of story", and Facebook's Android SDK fills the same field from `fb_ref`.

The SDK's own test builds a destination of the form `target-url.com/?deeplink=1&fb_action_types=action1,action2&fb_source=source&fb_ref=ref1,ref2`. That is where the four tags sit: on the address of the page the story linked to.

## What they reveal

They tell the destination that the visit came through Facebook and which actions, by ID and type, the link was attached to. The SDK does not say whether an action ID can be traced to the person who took the action, so this page does not claim it either way.

## How LinkClean removes them

Default-on and global. LinkClean strips these four names wherever they appear, and no other `fb_` parameter. The page loads the same without them. AdGuard's filter and Brave strip all four, and ClearURLs strips `fb_action_ids` and `fb_action_types`.

They are a different thing from [fbclid](https://linkclean.app/trackers/fbclid/), Meta's per-click identifier, and from [mibextid](https://linkclean.app/trackers/mibextid/), the share token of the Facebook app. A link can carry any of them.

## Example

Looks like this in a URL: `https://example.com/recipe/42?fb_action_ids=1234567890&fb_action_types=action1&fb_source=source&fb_ref=ref1`

After LinkClean: `https://example.com/recipe/42`

## Frequently asked

**Where do the fb_ tags come from?**

From Facebook. Its iOS SDK reads them from App Links that Facebook opens, and documents them as action IDs, action types and a reference breadcrumb.

**Is fb_action_ids the same as fbclid?**

No. fbclid is a click identifier. fb_action_ids lists the actions a link was attached to.

**Is it safe to remove the fb_ tags?**

Yes. The page is addressed by the rest of the link, and none of the four is needed to load it.


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