Instagram error 2: Unexpected error - retry later

Code 2 is the platform telling you the failure is on its side: "An unexpected error has occurred. Please retry your request later." The documented first move is to check the Meta Developer Platform status page for an active incident. For messaging specifically, the Messenger Platform error page adds one twist that trips Instagram integrations: "You might also receive this error if a customer has blocked your business from messaging him or her." A block can therefore surface as a generic code 2 rather than the explicit 551.

That dual meaning dictates the handling. Code 2 spread across many recipients at once is an incident - wait it out with backoff. Code 2 pinned to a single recipient, recurring across days while everyone else delivers, is almost certainly a block and belongs on the same suppression path as 551. No message ID is returned on failure, so a retry cannot create a duplicate.

Queue outbound messages durably so platform incidents delay rather than lose them, and encode the per-recipient heuristic in your error handling from day one - it converts a confusing generic error into an actionable consent signal. Pair the retry policy with the throttling family (4, 613/2534040) so backoff logic is shared. Recipient-block siblings are 551 and 200/1545041.