How to Schedule Twitter/X Posts via API

Schedule tweets and Twitter/X posts programmatically using the SocialRails API. This guide covers character limits, supported content types, code examples, and best practices for automated Twitter posting.

Character Limits

• Standard tweets: 280 characters
• Twitter Blue/Premium: Up to 4,000 characters (long-form)
• URLs count as 23 characters regardless of actual length
• Images don't count against the character limit

Supported Content Types

API Example

# Schedule a tweet
curl -X POST https://socialrails.com/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sr_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Our new API! Check out the docs at socialrails.com/documentation",
    "platform": "twitter",
    "scheduled_for": "2026-03-03T14:00:00Z"
  }'

Best Practices

• Optimal posting times: Weekdays 9-11am and 1-3pm in your audience's timezone
• Hashtags: Use 1-2 relevant hashtags (more can reduce engagement)
• Media: Tweets with images get 150% more retweets
• Thread timing: If posting a thread, space tweets 1-2 minutes apart
• Keep content concise, tweets under 100 characters see 17% higher engagement

Rate Limits

Twitter's own API limits apply in addition to SocialRails rate limits:

• 300 tweets per 3 hours per account
• 1,000 direct messages per 24 hours
• Media uploads: 15 per 15 minutes

SocialRails handles these limits automatically and will retry failed posts.