PostThatLater Skill

Schedule and manage social media posts from Claude Code or any AI assistant.

Setup

1. Create an account

Sign up at https://postthatlater.com — a subscription is required to use the API.

2. Generate an API key

In PostThatLater: Account Settings → API Keys → Create new key

Copy the sk_ptl_... key — it's shown only once.

3. Set the environment variable

export PTL_API_KEY=sk_ptl_your_key_here

Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc to persist across sessions.

4. Verify

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/accounts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

You should see your connected social media accounts.

Base URL

https://postthatlater.com

All API requests require:

Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json   (for POST/PATCH)

Critical Tips for Agents

1. Call GET /api/v1/accounts first — you need numeric account IDs to schedule posts. Never guess them.
2. Ask for timezone once per session — all scheduled_at values must be ISO 8601 UTC (e.g. 2026-03-10T09:00:00Z). Convert from the user's local time.
3. Confirm before publish_now — publishing is immediate and irreversible. Always confirm with the user before calling the publish-now endpoint.
4. Use Idempotency-Key on every POST/PATCH — generate a UUID per request to prevent duplicate posts on retry. Example: Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]').
5. Check platform limits — always call GET /api/v1/platforms to get the live list of available platforms and their limits. Never hardcode a platform list or assume a platform is available.
6. Cross-posting — pass multiple IDs in account_ids to post the same content everywhere at once. The API creates one post record per account and links them via group_id.
7. All times are UTC in responses — convert to the user's timezone when displaying scheduled times.
8. Posting with an image — first POST /api/v1/images with the image URL to get a filename, then pass that filename in the images array of POST /api/v1/posts. Use GET /api/v1/images to list already-stored images that can be reused without re-uploading.

Accounts

List all connected accounts

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/accounts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 12,
      "platform": "bluesky",
      "handle": "you.bsky.social",
      "display_name": "you.bsky.social",
      "status": "connected",
      "created_at": "2026-01-10T08:30:00.000Z",
      "updated_at": "2026-01-10T08:30:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "request_id": "..." }
}

status is "connected" (healthy) or "error" (needs reconnecting in dashboard).

Get a single account

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/accounts/12 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Posts

List posts

curl "https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts?status=pending&limit=10&offset=0" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

• status — pending, posted, or failed (omit for all)
• platform — e.g. bluesky, mastodon, linkedin
• limit — max results (default: 20, max: 100)
• offset — skip N results for pagination (default: 0)

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 101,
      "text": "Hello from the API!",
      "scheduled_at": "2026-03-15T09:00:00.000Z",
      "status": "pending",
      "platform": "bluesky",
      "account_id": 12,
      "images": [],
      "platform_post_id": null,
      "platform_post_url": null,
      "error_message": null,
      "retry_count": 0,
      "likes": 0,
      "comments": 0,
      "shares": 0,
      "group_id": null,
      "created_at": "2026-03-01T12:00:00.000Z",
      "updated_at": null
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "request_id": "...", "total": 5, "limit": 10, "offset": 0 }
}

Create a post (schedule)

curl -X POST https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Hello from the PostThatLater API!",
    "scheduled_at": "2026-03-15T09:00:00.000Z",
    "account_ids": [12, 15]
  }'

Body parameters:

• text (required) — post content; must not exceed platform char limit
• scheduled_at (required) — ISO 8601 UTC datetime; must be in the future
• account_ids (required) — array of account IDs (at least one)
• images — optional array of image filenames

Returns HTTP 201 with the first created post. All posts share a group_id.

Get a single post

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts/101 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Update a post

Only works on pending posts. Returns 409 conflict if already published or failed.

curl -X PATCH https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts/101 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Updated content for the post",
    "scheduled_at": "2026-03-16T10:00:00.000Z"
  }'

Delete a post

Cannot delete posted posts (returns 409). Failed posts can be deleted.

curl -X DELETE https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts/101 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Response:

{ "data": { "deleted": true, "id": 101 }, "meta": { "request_id": "..." } }

Publish immediately

Bypasses the scheduler. Post must be pending or failed. Irreversible — confirm with user first.

curl -X POST https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts/101/publish-now \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": 101,
    "status": "posted",
    "platform_post_url": "https://bsky.app/profile/you.bsky.social/post/...",
    ...
  },
  "meta": { "request_id": "..." }
}

Images

Post with images by first ingesting the image from a URL, then passing the returned filename when creating a post.

Ingest an image from a URL

Downloads, processes (EXIF rotation, compression, format conversion), and stores the image server-side. Returns a filename to use in posts.

curl -X POST https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/photo.jpg"}'

Response:

{
  "data": { "filename": "1741036800000-123456789.jpeg" },
  "meta": { "request_id": "..." }
}

Pass the filename in the images array of POST /api/v1/posts. Check GET /api/v1/platforms for the max_images limit per platform.

List stored images

Returns all images referenced by your posts with file metadata and which post IDs use each image. Use this to reuse an already-uploaded image without re-ingesting.

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "filename": "1741036800000-123456789.jpeg",
      "url": "/uploads/1741036800000-123456789.jpeg",
      "size": 284672,
      "created_at": "2026-03-01T09:00:00.000Z",
      "referenced_by_post_ids": [101, 104]
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "request_id": "...", "total": 1 }
}

Analytics

Overall posting health summary

curl "https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/analytics/summary?period=30d" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Query parameters: period — 7d, 30d, 90d, or all (default: 30d)

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "period": "30d",
    "total_posts": 45,
    "by_status": {
      "posted": 40,
      "pending": 3,
      "failed": 2
    },
    "success_rate": 95.2,
    "total_likes": 312,
    "total_comments": 48,
    "total_shares": 91,
    "total_engagement": 451
  },
  "meta": { "request_id": "..." }
}

Top posts by engagement

curl "https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/analytics/top-posts?period=30d&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Query parameters:

• period — 7d, 30d, or all (default: 30d)
• limit — number of posts (default: 5, max: 20)

Per-post metrics

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/posts/101/metrics \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "post_id": 101,
    "platform": "bluesky",
    "likes": 42,
    "comments": 8,
    "shares": 15,
    "engagement": 65,
    "published_at": "2026-03-01T09:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "meta": { "request_id": "..." }
}

Breakdown by platform

curl "https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/analytics/by-platform?period=30d" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Timeline (daily post counts)

curl "https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/analytics/timeline?period=7d" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTL_API_KEY"

Platform Capabilities

Public endpoint — no authentication required.

Returns character limits and capabilities for all currently available platforms. New platforms may be added over time, so always fetch this list rather than hardcoding platform names or limits.

curl https://postthatlater.com/api/v1/platforms

Response fields per platform:

• name — slug used in API calls (e.g. bluesky)
• display_name — human-readable name
• char_limit — maximum post length in characters
• max_images — maximum images per post
• supports_video — whether video uploads are accepted
• notes — platform-specific connection or usage notes

---

## Error Handling

All errors follow:
```json
{
  "error": {
    "code": "validation_error",
    "message": "Validation failed.",
    "details": [
      { "field": "text", "message": "Text exceeds Bluesky character limit (300 chars)." },
      { "field": "scheduled_at", "message": "scheduled_at must be a future datetime." }
    ]
  }
}

Example Session

User: Schedule a post about our summer sale on Bluesky and Mastodon for tomorrow at 10am EST

Agent workflow:
1. GET /api/v1/accounts       → find Bluesky (id: 12) and Mastodon (id: 15)
2. GET /api/v1/platforms      → confirm char limits (300 / 500)
3. Convert 10am EST → 15:00 UTC (March 5 → 2026-03-05T15:00:00Z)
4. Confirm with user: "Ready to schedule 'Summer sale...' to Bluesky + Mastodon for Mar 5 at 10am EST?"
5. POST /api/v1/posts with account_ids: [12, 15] and Idempotency-Key header
6. Report back: "Scheduled! Post #101 and #102 will go out March 5 at 10am EST."