Getting Started with a Unified Social Media API

Managing multiple social platforms shouldn't mean juggling half a dozen SDKs. A unified social media API lets you publish to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube video workflows from one integration — saving weeks of engineering time and endless maintenance headaches.

In this guide, you'll learn how to post to Instagram, Facebook, and Threads with a single API call using Ampost.

YouTube is part of the broader Ampost platform matrix, but its current launch state is more constrained: it is video-only and public or unlisted visibility may remain private until Google audit approval is complete.

Why use a unified API?

Every major platform has its own auth flow, media requirements, rate limits, and error formats. A unified social media API normalizes all of that into a single, predictable interface:

• One auth flow for every platform
• One payload shape regardless of destination
• One set of webhooks for publish status
• One dashboard to manage connections and scheduling

If you've ever had to update your integration because Instagram bumped their API version or Facebook changed their media specs, you already know why this matters.

Quick start: post to Instagram, Facebook, and Threads

Connect your accounts through the Ampost dashboard, grab an API key, and publish everywhere with a single POST request.

curl -X POST https://api.ampost.io/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer amp_live_xxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Ship once. Publish everywhere.",
    "platforms": ["instagram", "facebook", "threads"],
    "media": [
      { "url": "https://cdn.example.com/hero.jpg", "type": "image" }
    ]
  }'

The response includes a post ID and per-platform status tracking:

{
  "id": "post_abc123",
  "status": "publishing",
  "platforms": {
    "instagram": { "status": "queued", "platformPostId": null },
    "facebook": { "status": "published", "platformPostId": "fb_987654" },
    "threads": { "status": "publishing", "platformPostId": null }
  }
}

Platform-specific options

A unified API doesn't mean losing control. Ampost lets you override defaults per platform when you need fine-grained control:

{
  "content": "Big announcement today!",
  "platforms": ["instagram", "facebook", "threads"],
  "media": [
    { "url": "https://cdn.example.com/video.mp4", "type": "video" }
  ],
  "options": {
    "instagram": { "placement": "reel" },
    "facebook": { "placement": "feed" }
  }
}

Supported placements vary by platform:

YouTube uses a separate video upload contract with explicit media metadata instead of feed, story, reel, or carousel placement controls.

Scheduling posts

Set a future publishAt time and Ampost handles the rest:

curl -X POST https://api.ampost.io/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer amp_live_xxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Monday morning motivation.",
    "platforms": ["instagram", "twitter"],
    "publishAt": "2026-05-25T09:00:00Z"
  }'

Posts are stored in a queue and processed by a cron job at the scheduled time. You can cancel or reschedule anytime before publish.

Webhooks and status tracking

Subscribe to webhooks to get real-time updates on publish status:

{
  "event": "post.status_changed",
  "postId": "post_abc123",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "status": "published",
  "platformPostId": "ig_178923456",
  "publishedUrl": "https://instagram.com/p/xyz"
}

Next steps

• Use https://api.ampost.io as the canonical public API host. The dashboard, OAuth callbacks, and billing/session flows remain on https://ampost.io.
• Explore the full API documentation for endpoints, authentication, and error handling
• See how multi-platform publishing works under the hood
• Connect your first account and make a test post from the dashboard

Start building with Ampost today — the free tier includes 1 social account and 10 posts per month with no credit card required.