Buffer API — Content Operations

Purpose

Create, schedule, edit, and analyze social media content through Buffer's GraphQL API at https://api.buffer.com.

Inputs to request

• What to do: create, schedule, draft, edit, delete, list, or analyze a post — or save/list ideas.
• Channel ID(s) to target (or ask the user to run the "get channels" query first).
• Post content: text, and optionally image/video URLs or thread structure.
• Scheduling intent: add to queue, schedule at a specific time, publish now, or save as draft.
• For analytics: which post ID(s) and which metrics matter (impressions, reactions, comments, etc.).

Operations map

Goal	API call
Create / schedule a post	createPost mutation
Save a post as draft	createPost with saveToDraft: true
Edit an existing post	editPost mutation
Delete a post	deletePost mutation
List scheduled / sent posts	posts query with filter: { status: [scheduled] }
Get a single post	post query by ID
Read post metrics	post { metrics } or aggregatedPostMetrics query
Save a content idea	createIdea mutation
Find channel IDs	channels query by organization ID
Find organization ID	account { organizations { id } } query

Auth setup (one-time)

All requests need Authorization: Bearer $BUFFER_API_KEY and Content-Type: application/json.

For personal scripts and automations: use an API key from https://publish.buffer.com/settings/api. For multi-user apps: use OAuth 2.0 with PKCE — authorize at https://auth.buffer.com/auth, exchange at https://auth.buffer.com/token. Refresh tokens are single-use; always save the new one immediately after refresh.

Workflow

1. Get your organization ID (first time only):

   query { account { organizations { id name } } }
   

2. Get channel IDs for your target platforms:

   query GetChannels($orgId: String!) {
     channels(input: { organizationId: $orgId }) {
       id name service
     }
   }
   

3. Create or schedule the post using the relevant example below.

4. Check the response — the mutation returns a union type. PostActionSuccess means it worked; MutationError carries the reason it failed. GraphQL always responds with HTTP 200, so always inspect the response body.

5. Edit or delete if needed using the post id returned in step 3.

6. Pull analytics after the post publishes (metrics are refreshed daily; allow up to 24 hours after publish).

Examples

Create a text post (add to queue)

mutation CreatePost($input: CreatePostInput!) {
  createPost(input: $input) {
    ... on PostActionSuccess {
      post { id text status dueAt }
    }
    ... on MutationError { message }
  }
}

{
  "input": {
    "text": "Your post content here",
    "channelId": "$CHANNEL_ID",
    "schedulingType": "automatic",
    "mode": "addToQueue"
  }
}

Schedule at a specific time

{
  "input": {
    "text": "Your post content here",
    "channelId": "$CHANNEL_ID",
    "schedulingType": "automatic",
    "mode": "customScheduled",
    "dueAt": "2026-07-01T14:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Save as draft

{
  "input": {
    "text": "Draft content here",
    "channelId": "$CHANNEL_ID",
    "schedulingType": "automatic",
    "mode": "addToQueue",
    "saveToDraft": true
  }
}

Post with image

{
  "input": {
    "text": "Your caption here",
    "channelId": "$CHANNEL_ID",
    "schedulingType": "automatic",
    "mode": "addToQueue",
    "assets": [{ "image": { "url": "https://your-public-image-url.jpg" } }]
  }
}

Image URL must be publicly accessible. Each asset entry specifies exactly one type: image, video, document, or link.

Edit an existing post

mutation EditPost($input: EditPostInput!) {
  editPost(input: $input) {
    ... on PostActionSuccess {
      post { id text status dueAt }
    }
    ... on MutationError { message }
  }
}

{ "input": { "id": "$POST_ID", "text": "Updated content here" } }

Delete a post

mutation DeletePost {
  deletePost(input: { id: "$POST_ID" }) {
    ... on PostActionSuccess { post { id } }
    ... on MutationError { message }
  }
}

List scheduled posts

query GetScheduledPosts($orgId: String!) {
  posts(input: {
    organizationId: $orgId,
    filter: { status: [scheduled] },
    sort: [{ field: dueAt, direction: asc }]
  }) {
    edges {
      node { id text dueAt channelId }
    }
    pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
  }
}

For more pages, add after: "$endCursor" to input. Page size: 20–50 items.

Get post analytics

query GetPostMetrics {
  post(input: { id: "$POST_ID" }) {
    id text metricsUpdatedAt
    metrics { type name value unit }
  }
}

Available metric types (varies by network): reactions, reposts, comments, shares, impressions, reach, views, saves, follows, likes. Metrics appear up to ~24 hours after publish.

Save an idea

mutation CreateIdea($input: CreateIdeaInput!) {
  createIdea(input: $input) {
    ... on MutationError { message }
  }
}

{
  "input": {
    "organizationId": "$ORG_ID",
    "content": { "title": "Optional title", "text": "Idea content here" }
  }
}

Ideas are org-level (not tied to a channel). Promote to a post by using the idea's text in createPost.

Rate limits

Buffer enforces three time windows. On HTTP 429, read retryAfter (seconds) from the response body.

Plan	15-min	24-hr	30-day
Free	100	100	3,000
Essentials	100	250	7,500
Team	100	500	15,000

Troubleshooting

• No post field in mutation response → MutationError fired; log data.<mutationName>.message.
• UNAUTHORIZED → check Authorization: Bearer $BUFFER_API_KEY header is present and token is valid.
• FORBIDDEN → token lacks the right scope (e.g., posts:write needed for create/edit/delete).
• Metrics missing → post published less than 24 hours ago; check metricsUpdatedAt.
• Image not attaching → URL must be publicly accessible; see the Hosting Media guide.

Quality bar

• Always use GraphQL variables — never interpolate user content into query strings.
• Include ... on MutationError { message } in every mutation.
• Never expose real tokens or channel IDs in examples.
• Metrics API is preview-only and available for personal API keys only (not OAuth apps).