Threads API - Post to Threads via REST API

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Post to Threads (by Meta) programmatically using the Publora REST API. A simpler alternative to the official Threads API or Meta Graph API for Threads.

Permission requirement: Threads chains need the threads_manage_replies permission on the connection. Publora checks the grant when you schedule (from a per-connection cache up to five minutes old) and re-checks it against Meta immediately before publishing; a connection whose token predates that permission is rejected with THREADS_PERMISSION_REQUIRED before any part is published. Reconnect that account in Publora Channels and approve all requested permissions. Single posts and carousels are unaffected.

Threads API Overview

Publora provides a unified REST API for publishing single text posts, images, videos, carousels, and multi-part chains on Threads.

Why Use Publora Instead of Threads API / Meta Graph API?

Feature Publora API Threads API (Meta)
Authentication Single API key Meta OAuth 2.0 flow
API access Instant Requires Meta app review
Multi-part thread creation Automatic from one content field Manual implementation
Multi-platform Post to 10 platforms Threads only
Setup time 5 minutes Days to weeks
Carousel support Yes Yes

Keywords: Threads API, Threads posting API, Meta Threads API, post to Threads programmatically, Threads REST API, Threads developer API, Threads automation API, Threads bot API, Instagram Threads API, publish to Threads API

Platform ID Format

threads-{accountId}

Where {accountId} is your Threads account ID assigned during connection via Meta OAuth.

Requirements

  • A Threads account connected via Meta OAuth through the Publora dashboard
  • API key from Publora

Supported Content

Type Supported Limits
Text Yes 500 characters
Images Yes Up to 20 per carousel, WebP auto-converted
Videos Yes MP4, MOV formats, 1 per post (see Platform Quirks for video inside a carousel)
Carousels Yes 2-20 items; a video item behaves differently per path (see Platform Quirks)
Multi-part threads Yes 500 characters per part; automatic splits are numbered, --- breaks are not
Hashtags Yes Maximum 1 hashtag per post

Threading

Threads supports multi-part chains (supportsThreading: true). One create-post call with one content field produces the whole chain.

How It Works

Publora uses the official Threads API reply_to_id parameter to chain posts together. Each subsequent post is posted as a reply to the previous one, creating a connected thread visible on Threads.

Technical flow:

  1. First post is published normally
  2. Each subsequent post is published with reply_to_id set to the previous post's ID
  3. All posts appear as a connected thread on Threads

Automatic Splitting

Content over 500 characters is split into a chain instead of failing validation. Splitting prefers paragraph breaks, then line breaks, then sentence endings, then word boundaries, and cuts mid-word only as a last resort. Automatically split parts carry a (1/3)-style suffix, and 10 characters of each part's 500 are reserved for it — so roughly 490 characters of your own text land in each part. Emoji and other astral characters count as 2 toward that limit.

Controlling the split

Method 1: Triple dash separator

This is my first post in the thread.
 
---
 
This is my second post in the thread.
 
---
 
And this is my third post!

Method 2: Explicit markers

First part of the thread [1/3]
 
Second part of the thread [2/3]
 
Third and final part [3/3]

Both separators work, and both split content that would otherwise fit in a single post:

  • A --- break must sit on its own line with a newline before and after it (\n---\n or \n\n---\n\n). --- as the very first or very last characters of content, or ----, does not register.
  • [n/m] markers must form a complete set — [1/3], [2/3], [3/3], all sharing the same total. An incomplete or inconsistent set is ignored and the text is treated as ordinary content.

Parts you separate yourself are published exactly as written — no numbering is added. Numbering appears only when Publora splits the text itself. A part you defined that exceeds 500 characters is re-split automatically when it came from ---, but a [n/m] part is not — an oversized marker part is rejected at scheduling with 400 / THREAD_PART_TOO_LONG.

There is no public parts array and no numbering or threading switch in REST or MCP: content is the only input.

Media in Threads

  • Carousel/Images: Attached to the first post only
  • Video: Attached to the first post only
  • Subsequent posts in the thread are text-only

Platform-Specific Settings

Threads supports a replyControl setting that controls who can reply to your posts:

{
  "platformSettings": {
    "threads": {
      "replyControl": ""
    }
  }
}

Reply Control

Value Description
"everyone" Anyone can reply. This is a valid enum value in the schema but is distinct from the default "". When explicitly set, it is sent to the Threads API.
"" (empty string) Default. No replyControl value is sent to the Threads API — the platform's own default behavior applies (anyone can reply). This is NOT included in the API's default platform settings.
"accounts_you_follow" Only accounts you follow can reply
"mentioned_only" Only accounts mentioned in the post can reply

First Comment

Pass firstComment to create-post and Publora replies to your own post right after it publishes (on a chain, under the last part). Up to 500 characters; the connected account must grant threads_manage_replies, otherwise the result is failed with FIRST_COMMENT_PERMISSION_REQUIRED — reconnect the account in Publora Channels. The reply's media ID is returned in get-post → posts[].firstCommentResult.commentId.

Reply Management

Threads supports reply management through the Publora dashboard. The getReplies endpoint retrieves replies to a Threads post, and the manageReply endpoint allows you to hide or unhide individual replies. These endpoints are accessible via the dashboard API routes.

Note: Reply management requires the threads_manage_replies OAuth scope. The current OAuth flow requests this scope automatically, but older connections established before this scope was added may lack it. If reply management returns permission errors, disconnect and reconnect your Threads account to obtain the updated scopes.

Examples

Post a Text Update

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch('https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: 'Just shipped a major update to our API. Faster response times, better error messages, and new endpoints for batch operations.',
    platforms: ['threads-55667788']
  })
});
 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Python (requests)

import requests
 
response = requests.post(
    'https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={
        'content': 'Just shipped a major update to our API. Faster response times, better error messages, and new endpoints for batch operations.',
        'platforms': ['threads-55667788']
    }
)
 
data = response.json()
print(data)
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-publora-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Just shipped a major update to our API. Faster response times, better error messages, and new endpoints for batch operations.",
    "platforms": ["threads-55667788"]
  }'
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Node.js (axios)

const axios = require('axios');
 
const response = await axios.post('https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post', {
  content: 'Just shipped a major update to our API. Faster response times, better error messages, and new endpoints for batch operations.',
  platforms: ['threads-55667788']
}, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});
 
console.log(response.data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Post with an Image Carousel

Carousels support 2-20 images. The workflow is: create a draft post, upload images, then schedule.

JavaScript (fetch)

const API_KEY = 'YOUR_API_KEY';
const BASE_URL = 'https://api.publora.com/api/v1';
 
// Step 1: Create a draft post (no scheduledTime)
const postResponse = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/create-post`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': API_KEY
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: 'Our product evolution over the past year. #buildinpublic',
    platforms: ['threads-55667788']
    // No scheduledTime = draft
  })
});
 
const { postGroupId } = await postResponse.json();
 
// Step 2: Upload each image (2-20 images supported)
const images = ['photo1.jpg', 'photo2.jpg', 'photo3.jpg'];
 
for (const fileName of images) {
  // Get upload URL
  const uploadUrlResponse = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/get-upload-url`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'x-publora-key': API_KEY
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      fileName,
      contentType: 'image/jpeg',
      type: 'image',
      postGroupId
    })
  });
 
  const { uploadUrl } = await uploadUrlResponse.json();
 
  // Upload to S3
  const fileBuffer = await fs.promises.readFile(`./${fileName}`);
  await fetch(uploadUrl, {
    method: 'PUT',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'image/jpeg' },
    body: fileBuffer
  });
}
 
// Step 3: Schedule the post
await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/update-post/${postGroupId}`, {
  method: 'PUT',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': API_KEY
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    status: 'scheduled',
    scheduledTime: '2026-03-15T14:00:00.000Z'
  })
});
 
console.log('Carousel scheduled!');

Python (requests)

import requests
 
API_KEY = 'YOUR_API_KEY'
BASE_URL = 'https://api.publora.com/api/v1'
HEADERS = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': API_KEY
}
 
# Step 1: Create a draft post (no scheduledTime)
post_response = requests.post(
    f'{BASE_URL}/create-post',
    headers=HEADERS,
    json={
        'content': 'Our product evolution over the past year. #buildinpublic',
        'platforms': ['threads-55667788']
        # No scheduledTime = draft
    }
)
 
post_group_id = post_response.json()['postGroupId']
 
# Step 2: Upload each image (2-20 images supported)
images = ['photo1.jpg', 'photo2.jpg', 'photo3.jpg']
 
for file_name in images:
    # Get upload URL
    upload_response = requests.post(
        f'{BASE_URL}/get-upload-url',
        headers=HEADERS,
        json={
            'fileName': file_name,
            'contentType': 'image/jpeg',
            'type': 'image',
            'postGroupId': post_group_id
        }
    )
 
    upload_url = upload_response.json()['uploadUrl']
 
    # Upload to S3
    with open(f'./{file_name}', 'rb') as f:
        requests.put(upload_url, headers={'Content-Type': 'image/jpeg'}, data=f.read())
 
# Step 3: Schedule the post
requests.put(
    f'{BASE_URL}/update-post/{post_group_id}',
    headers=HEADERS,
    json={
        'status': 'scheduled',
        'scheduledTime': '2026-03-15T14:00:00.000Z'
    }
)
 
print('Carousel scheduled!')

cURL

API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
 
# Step 1: Create a draft post (no scheduledTime)
POST_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-publora-key: $API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Our product evolution over the past year. #buildinpublic",
    "platforms": ["threads-55667788"]
  }')
 
POST_GROUP_ID=$(echo "$POST_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.postGroupId')
 
# Step 2: Upload each image (2-20 images supported)
for FILE in photo1.jpg photo2.jpg photo3.jpg; do
  UPLOAD_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST https://api.publora.com/api/v1/get-upload-url \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "x-publora-key: $API_KEY" \
    -d "{
      \"fileName\": \"$FILE\",
      \"contentType\": \"image/jpeg\",
      \"type\": \"image\",
      \"postGroupId\": \"$POST_GROUP_ID\"
    }")
 
  UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$UPLOAD_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.uploadUrl')
 
  curl -s -X PUT "$UPLOAD_URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: image/jpeg" \
    --data-binary @"./$FILE"
done
 
# Step 3: Schedule the post
curl -X PUT "https://api.publora.com/api/v1/update-post/$POST_GROUP_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-publora-key: $API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "status": "scheduled",
    "scheduledTime": "2026-03-15T14:00:00.000Z"
  }'

Note: For immediate publishing, set scheduledTime a few seconds in the future — a time already in the past is clamped to server time and flagged with a SCHEDULED_TIME_COERCED warning (see past scheduled times). For more details, see the media upload workflow.

Post a Thread (Long Content)

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch('https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: `We just completed a major infrastructure migration and I want to share what we learned. Moving from a monolithic architecture to microservices is not as straightforward as the blog posts make it sound.
 
First, we had to map every single dependency between our services. This alone took two weeks. We discovered circular dependencies we never knew existed and had to refactor several core modules before we could even begin the migration.
 
The actual migration took three months. We ran both systems in parallel, comparing outputs in real-time. When we finally cut over, we had 99.97% uptime throughout the process. The key was incremental rollout and comprehensive monitoring at every step.`,
    platforms: ['threads-55667788']
  })
});
 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Python (requests)

import requests
 
content = """We just completed a major infrastructure migration and I want to share what we learned. Moving from a monolithic architecture to microservices is not as straightforward as the blog posts make it sound.
 
First, we had to map every single dependency between our services. This alone took two weeks. We discovered circular dependencies we never knew existed and had to refactor several core modules before we could even begin the migration.
 
The actual migration took three months. We ran both systems in parallel, comparing outputs in real-time. When we finally cut over, we had 99.97% uptime throughout the process. The key was incremental rollout and comprehensive monitoring at every step."""
 
response = requests.post(
    'https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={
        'content': content,
        'platforms': ['threads-55667788']
    }
)
 
data = response.json()
print(data)
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-publora-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "We just completed a major infrastructure migration and I want to share what we learned. Moving from a monolithic architecture to microservices is not as straightforward as the blog posts make it sound.\n\nFirst, we had to map every single dependency between our services. This alone took two weeks. We discovered circular dependencies we never knew existed and had to refactor several core modules before we could even begin the migration.\n\nThe actual migration took three months. We ran both systems in parallel, comparing outputs in real-time. When we finally cut over, we had 99.97% uptime throughout the process. The key was incremental rollout and comprehensive monitoring at every step.",
    "platforms": ["threads-55667788"]
  }'
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Node.js (axios)

const axios = require('axios');
 
const content = `We just completed a major infrastructure migration and I want to share what we learned. Moving from a monolithic architecture to microservices is not as straightforward as the blog posts make it sound.
 
First, we had to map every single dependency between our services. This alone took two weeks. We discovered circular dependencies we never knew existed and had to refactor several core modules before we could even begin the migration.
 
The actual migration took three months. We ran both systems in parallel, comparing outputs in real-time. When we finally cut over, we had 99.97% uptime throughout the process. The key was incremental rollout and comprehensive monitoring at every step.`;
 
const response = await axios.post('https://api.publora.com/api/v1/create-post', {
  content,
  platforms: ['threads-55667788']
}, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-publora-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});
 
console.log(response.data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123...", "scheduledTime": null }

Long content like this is split into a numbered chain automatically. Inspect the result with GET /api/v1/get-post/:postGroupId, which reports isThread and one threadParts[] entry per part.

Platform Quirks

  • Single hashtag limit: Threads allows a maximum of 1 hashtag per post. If your content includes more than one hashtag, only the first will be recognized by the platform.
  • WebP auto-conversion: If you provide WebP images, Publora automatically converts them to JPEG before uploading to Threads.
  • Chains need a permission: threads_manage_replies must be granted on the connection. Publora rejects a chain before publishing anything if the grant is missing.
  • Numbering depends on who split the text: parts Publora derives automatically are numbered; parts you separate with --- are published verbatim.
  • No chain-wide ID: postedId is the first part's ID. Per-part IDs are in threadParts[].publishedId.
  • No edit support: Once posted, Threads posts cannot be edited via the API. You would need to delete and repost.
  • MP4 and MOV for videos: MP4 and MOV video formats are supported. Other formats will be rejected.
  • Carousel video support depends on the path: a single (non-chain) Threads post uploads every carousel item as an IMAGE, so a video inside one is not published as video. On a chain's first part Publora sends each item with its own type, so a video item is submitted as VIDEO — whether Threads accepts a mixed carousel is Meta's call, not Publora's. Standalone video posts work normally either way.

Character Limits

Element Limit
Post body 500 characters
Hashtags 1 per post
Carousel items 2-20 items (see Platform Quirks for video inside a carousel)

API Limits

Text Limits

Element Limit
Post body 500 characters
Links per post 5
Hashtags 1 per post

Media Limits

Media Type Max Size Max Count Supported Formats
Images 8 MB 20 per carousel JPEG, PNG, WebP
Videos 1 GB 1 per post (see Platform Quirks for video inside a carousel) MP4, MOV
Video Constraint Limit
Duration 5 minutes

Rate Limits

Threads-side posting quotas are advisory, account-dependent, and may change without notice; they are not a Publora numeric contract.

Additional Notes

  • Multi-part chains are supported: 500 characters per part, media on the first part only.
  • Platform-side rate-limit failures are surfaced; do not assume automatic retry or redistribution.

What you can't do

  • Submit thread parts as a list: there is no public parts array and no numbering or threading switch. The only public input is content, optionally with standalone --- lines.
  • Address a chain by one ID: no single platform ID represents the whole chain; read threadParts[].publishedId for the individual messages.
  • Attach media to a reply: media go on the first part only; later parts are text-only.

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