Why Python for social media automation

Python is the go-to language for automation. It's readable, has a massive ecosystem, and it's perfect for scripts that run on a schedule. And when it comes to posting to social media programmatically, the alternative to using an API like Upload-Post is building OAuth integrations for each platform yourself. That means handling TikTok's Content Posting API, Instagram's Graph API, YouTube's Data API, and so on. Each with its own authentication flow, rate limits, and quirks.

With the social media posting API, you make one API call and it posts to all ten platforms. The Python SDK makes this even simpler.

Setting up your environment

1. Install the SDK

pip install upload-post

2. Get your API key

Create a free account at app.upload-post.com and generate an API key from the API Keys dashboard. Store it as an environment variable:

export UPLOAD_POST_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

3. Connect your social accounts

In the Upload-Post dashboard, create a profile (e.g. "mybrand") and connect your TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and any other accounts you want to post to. The profile name is what you'll reference in your code.

Your first upload: posting a video

import os
from upload_post import UploadPostClient

client = UploadPostClient(
    api_key=os.environ["UPLOAD_POST_API_KEY"]
)

response = client.upload_video(
    video_path="my-video.mp4",
    title="Our new product in action",
    user="mybrand",
    platforms=["tiktok", "instagram", "youtube"]
)

if response["success"]:
    for platform, result in response["results"].items():
        if result["success"]:
            print(f"{platform}: {result['url']}")
        else:
            print(f"{platform}: upload failed")
else:
    print("Upload failed:", response)

That's a working script. Run it and your video goes live on three platforms. Now let's make it do more.

Posting photos and carousels

response = client.upload_photos(
    photos=["slide-1.jpg", "slide-2.jpg", "slide-3.jpg"],
    title="Summer collection lookbook",
    description="Every piece, made in Portugal. Shop the link in bio.",
    user="mybrand",
    platforms=["instagram", "tiktok", "linkedin"]
)

print(response)

Instagram creates a carousel post, TikTok creates a slideshow, and LinkedIn shows a multi-image post. Each platform gets the format it prefers.

Posting text content

For text only posts (think Twitter threads, LinkedIn updates, or Reddit submissions):

response = client.upload_text(
    title="We just shipped a huge update to our API. Here's what changed...",
    user="mybrand",
    platforms=["x", "linkedin", "threads", "bluesky"]
)

print(response)

If your text exceeds the character limit on a platform, the API handles it smartly. On X, text over 280 characters automatically becomes a thread. On Threads, the split happens at 500 characters. On Bluesky, at 300.

Using platform specific parameters

The title parameter sets the default caption for all platforms, but you'll often want different copy for each one. Here's how to customize per platform:

import requests
import os

API_KEY = os.environ["UPLOAD_POST_API_KEY"]

with open("product-demo.mp4", "rb") as video:
    response = requests.post(
        "https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Apikey {API_KEY}"},
        files={"video": video},
        data={
            "user": "mybrand",
            "title": "Check this out",
            # Platform specific titles
            "tiktok_title": "POV: your product sells itself #ecommerce #dropshipping",
            "instagram_title": "New drop. Link in bio for early access.",
            "youtube_title": "Product Demo | Full Review",
            "youtube_description": "In this video we show you exactly how it works...",
            "linkedin_title": "Excited to share our latest product launch with the community.",
            # Platform specific settings
            "platform[]": ["tiktok", "instagram", "youtube", "linkedin"],
            "privacy_level": "PUBLIC_TO_EVERYONE",
            "media_type": "REELS",
            "tags[]": ["product", "demo", "review"],
            "privacyStatus": "public",
        }
    )

print(response.json())

This example uses the requests library directly instead of the SDK, which gives you access to every single API parameter. Check the full API reference for all available options per platform.

Scheduling posts for later

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

# Schedule for tomorrow at 9 AM
tomorrow_9am = (datetime.now() + timedelta(days=1)).replace(
    hour=9, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0
)

response = client.upload_video(
    video_path="tomorrows-content.mp4",
    title="Good morning! Fresh content for your feed",
    user="mybrand",
    platforms=["tiktok", "instagram"],
    scheduled_date=tomorrow_9am.isoformat(),
    timezone="America/New_York"
)

print(f"Scheduled! Job ID: {response['job_id']}")
print(f"Will publish at: {response['scheduled_date']}")

You can schedule up to 365 days in advance. For more details on scheduling and the queue system, read our scheduling guide.

Building a full automation: folder watcher

Here's a practical script that watches a folder for new video files and automatically uploads them. This is great for agencies that receive client content in a shared folder:

import os
import time
import json
from upload_post import UploadPostClient

client = UploadPostClient(
    api_key=os.environ["UPLOAD_POST_API_KEY"]
)

WATCH_FOLDER = "/path/to/content/inbox"
PROCESSED_FILE = "/path/to/content/processed.json"
CHECK_INTERVAL = 60  # seconds

def load_processed():
    if os.path.exists(PROCESSED_FILE):
        with open(PROCESSED_FILE) as f:
            return set(json.load(f))
    return set()

def save_processed(processed):
    with open(PROCESSED_FILE, "w") as f:
        json.dump(list(processed), f)

def upload_video(filepath):
    filename = os.path.basename(filepath)
    title = filename.rsplit(".", 1)[0].replace("-", " ").replace("_", " ")

    response = client.upload_video(
        video_path=filepath,
        title=title,
        user="mybrand",
        platforms=["tiktok", "instagram", "youtube"],
        add_to_queue=True,
        async_upload=True
    )
    return response

print(f"Watching {WATCH_FOLDER} for new videos...")

processed = load_processed()

while True:
    for filename in os.listdir(WATCH_FOLDER):
        if filename in processed:
            continue
        if not filename.lower().endswith((".mp4", ".mov")):
            continue

        filepath = os.path.join(WATCH_FOLDER, filename)
        print(f"New file detected: {filename}")

        try:
            result = upload_video(filepath)
            print(f"  Queued successfully: {result.get('job_id', 'done')}")
            processed.add(filename)
            save_processed(processed)
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"  Error: {e}")

    time.sleep(CHECK_INTERVAL)

Run this script in the background (or as a systemd service) and every time someone drops a video in the folder, it gets published to all your connected platforms. If you need something more robust, consider using n8n or Make.com for a managed workflow.

Working with the API directly (without the SDK)

If you prefer not to use the SDK or need lower level control, you can use the requests library directly. Here's the equivalent of the SDK upload:

import requests

API_KEY = "your-api-key-here"
API_URL = "https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload"

# Upload a video
with open("video.mp4", "rb") as f:
    response = requests.post(
        API_URL,
        headers={"Authorization": f"Apikey {API_KEY}"},
        files={"video": ("video.mp4", f, "video/mp4")},
        data={
            "user": "mybrand",
            "title": "Posted with Python requests",
            "platform[]": ["tiktok", "instagram"],
        }
    )

print(response.status_code)
print(response.json())

Validating your API key

Before running a big batch, it's a good idea to validate that your key works and check your plan limits:

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.upload-post.com/api/uploadposts/me",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Apikey {API_KEY}"}
)

data = response.json()
print(f"Email: {data['email']}")
print(f"Plan: {data['plan']}")

Error handling best practices

When building production scripts, handle these common scenarios:

import requests

def upload_with_retry(video_path, title, platforms, max_retries=3):
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        try:
            with open(video_path, "rb") as f:
                response = requests.post(
                    "https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload",
                    headers={"Authorization": f"Apikey {API_KEY}"},
                    files={"video": f},
                    data={
                        "user": "mybrand",
                        "title": title,
                        "platform[]": platforms,
                        "async_upload": "true",
                    },
                    timeout=120
                )

            if response.status_code == 200:
                return response.json()
            elif response.status_code == 429:
                # Rate limited, check usage
                usage = response.json().get("usage", {})
                print(f"Rate limited. Used {usage.get('count')}/{usage.get('limit')}")
                return None
            elif response.status_code == 401:
                print("Invalid API key")
                return None
            else:
                print(f"Attempt {attempt + 1} failed: {response.status_code}")

        except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
            print(f"Attempt {attempt + 1} timed out, retrying...")

    print(f"All {max_retries} attempts failed for {video_path}")
    return None

Checking upload history

You can pull your upload history to verify what went through or build a reporting dashboard:

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.upload-post.com/api/uploadposts/history?page=1&limit=20",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Apikey {API_KEY}"}
)

for entry in response.json()["history"]:
    status = "OK" if entry["success"] else "FAILED"
    print(f"[{status}] {entry['platform']} - {entry['post_title']} - {entry['post_url']}")

Next steps

Now that you have the basics, here are some ideas for what to build next:

Connect your script to a CMS or database so new content gets published automatically
Use the bulk upload approach to process entire content libraries
Repurpose long videos into short clips using FFmpeg and the Upload-Post API
Build a white label integration if you're building a SaaS product that needs social publishing
Explore our n8n templates for AI powered workflows that generate and publish content automatically

How to Automate Social Media Posting with Python