How to Post on Threads via API in 2026

July 8, 2026·5 min read·Jonathan Geiger

threads apimetatutorial2026

Threads has Meta's OAuth flow, a two-phase container/publish model, and 60-day tokens that need refreshing. If you just want to post text and images from code, that's a lot of boilerplate.

PostPeer wraps it into one endpoint. Same call you'd use for Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Here's how to set it up.

What you need

A PostPeer account (free tier works)
Your access key from the dashboard
A Threads account

Step 1: Get your API key

Sign up at PostPeer, go to the dashboard, and copy your access key from the Access Keys page. Every request uses the x-access-key header.

PostPeer Access Keys

Step 2: Connect your Threads account

Get the OAuth URL:

curl https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/connect/threads \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "url": "https://threads.net/oauth/authorize?..."
}

Redirect the user to that URL. They authorize threads_basic and threads_content_publish, then PostPeer handles the token exchange and stores the long-lived credential.

You can also connect directly from the integrations dashboard without any code.

PostPeer Integrations Dashboard

Step 3: Find your account ID

curl "https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/connect/integrations?platform=threads" \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

The response has id (your accountId for posting), displayName (the @handle), and imageUrl.

Step 4: Post to Threads

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "First post via the PostPeer API.",
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads", "accountId": "your-account-id" }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Threads caps posts at 500 characters. PostPeer enforces this and returns a clean error if you go over.

Posting an image

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "New shot from this morning.",
    "mediaItems": [
      { "type": "image", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/photo.jpg" }
    ],
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads", "accountId": "your-account-id" }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Image carousel (2–10 images)

Attach 2 to 10 image items and PostPeer handles the multi-step container build for you.

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "A few shots from the launch event.",
    "mediaItems": [
      { "type": "image", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/1.jpg" },
      { "type": "image", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/2.jpg" },
      { "type": "image", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/3.jpg" }
    ],
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads", "accountId": "your-account-id" }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Posting a video

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Quick walkthrough of the new feature.",
    "mediaItems": [
      { "type": "video", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/walkthrough.mp4" }
    ],
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads", "accountId": "your-account-id" }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Video is capped at 5 minutes and 1 GB.

Alt text

Pass alt text per image in the same order as mediaItems:

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Sunset over the bay.",
    "mediaItems": [
      { "type": "image", "url": "https://your-cdn.com/sunset.jpg" }
    ],
    "platforms": [
      {
        "platform": "threads",
        "accountId": "your-account-id",
        "platformSpecificData": {
          "altText": ["Pink sunset over the bay with silhouetted boats"]
        }
      }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Reply controls

Threads lets you restrict who can reply. Set it with replyControl:

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Thoughts on the new release.",
    "platforms": [
      {
        "platform": "threads",
        "accountId": "your-account-id",
        "platformSpecificData": {
          "replyControl": "accounts_you_follow"
        }
      }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Options: everyone (default), accounts_you_follow, mentioned_only.

Scheduling

Swap publishNow for scheduledFor plus a timezone:

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "This was scheduled a week ago.",
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads", "accountId": "your-account-id" }
    ],
    "scheduledFor": "2026-08-01T10:00:00",
    "timezone": "America/New_York"
  }'

Everything scheduled and published shows up in the Posts dashboard.

Cross-posting

Add more entries to platforms and the post goes to all of them at once:

curl -X POST https://api.postpeer.dev/v1/posts \
  -H "x-access-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Just shipped something new.",
    "platforms": [
      { "platform": "threads",  "accountId": "acc_th_123" },
      { "platform": "twitter",  "accountId": "acc_tw_456" },
      { "platform": "linkedin", "accountId": "acc_li_789" }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

One request, three platforms. PostPeer adapts to each platform's rules automatically.

Tokens

Threads issues 60-day tokens. PostPeer auto-refreshes before expiry, so the integration stays live as long as at least one post goes through every 60 days. If a user revokes access from their Threads settings, the next post returns an auth error. Surface a reconnect prompt pointing them back to /v1/connect/threads.

Limits

Limit	Value
Text length	500 characters
Images per post	1 or 2–10 (carousel)
Videos per post	1
Video size	1 GB max
Video duration	5 minutes max
GIFs	Not supported

Full reference is in the Threads platform docs. The free tier includes 20 posts to test with.