Inside Buffer's model
Use the Buffer API
Use Buffer's GraphQL API or MCP when organizations, channels, ideas, the queue, Needs Approval and its supported channel behaviors fit the product you are building.
Choose the integration architecture, not a slogan
Buffer API alternative: choose the architecture you need
Buffer API is the right choice when you want GraphQL or MCP inside Buffer's planning and approval model. Evaluate another architecture when its auth, media, measurement or interaction boundaries do not fit. Choose Postdom for evidence-disciplined publishing of supplied finished short-form video under human authority.
Which Buffer API architecture fits your publishing workflow?
Start with the data model, authentication boundary, media path and proof of completion. Buffer and Postdom both have real API and MCP surfaces.
Different architecture
Evaluate another architecture
Look elsewhere when you need a different auth model, binary media ingestion, deeper interaction APIs, a different measurement contract or broader provider state reconciliation.
Controlled supplied video
Use Postdom for the exact controlled job
Use Postdom when an agent publishes supplied finished short-form video under human authority and must reconcile terminal per-destination outcomes for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn, Facebook Reels, X, Snapchat Spotlight, Threads, Bluesky.
Postdom does not generate video and is not a broad replacement for Buffer's planning, engagement or analytics product.
Buffer's real developer surface
What the Buffer API already does
The official portal is the reference. This page makes its architectural consequences easier to scan.
GraphQL at one endpoint
Buffer documents its current GraphQL endpoint at api.buffer.com. It covers organizations, channels, ideas and post operations including creation, retrieval, editing, moving and deletion.
Two authentication models
A personal bearer key is tied to the user who created it. OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code with PKCE supports third-party clients, with public and confidential client handling documented separately.
Live MCP, including scheduling
Buffer's MCP can create, schedule and manage posts. API and MCP posts still honor Buffer's Needs Approval role and remain drafts until an approver advances them.
Eleven documented posting channels
Buffer documents eleven posting channels across its current developer material. Confirm each channel's fields before implementation; TikTok support in particular should not be inferred from a generic post shape.
Public-URL media, not binary upload
There is no documented native file-upload endpoint. Host the media at a stable, direct public URL that remains reachable when Buffer later fetches it.
Automatic and notification routes differ
Some channel features require notification publishing and a person to finish in the destination app. A scheduled Buffer item therefore does not always mean automatic provider publication.
Metrics are deliberately limited
The API exposes a limited, partly experimental post-metrics surface for personal-key workflows. It is not full production Buffer Insights parity.
No comment read or reply API
The reviewed Buffer API does not document reading or replying to comments. Use Buffer's Community product when that interaction job matters.
Official documents behind these facts
- Introduction — Buffer APIBuffer's GraphQL API at api.buffer.com and its posts, ideas, organizations and channels model.
- Authentication — Buffer APIUser-tied personal bearer keys and OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code with PKCE for third-party clients.
- Data Model — Buffer APIThe relationship between organizations, channels, posts and organization-level ideas.
- Posts & Scheduling — Buffer APICreating, retrieving and scheduling posts, channel metadata and the limited metrics surface.
- Hosting Media — Buffer APIPublicly reachable media URLs and the absence of a native binary upload endpoint.
- Get Post Metrics — Buffer APIPersonal-key access to individual post metrics rather than full production Insights parity.
- MCP — Buffer APIBuffer's developer path for connecting an MCP client.
- Buffer MCP Server: The Social Media MCP for AI AgentsBuffer's live MCP for creating, scheduling and managing posts.
- Managing and approving draft postsNeeds Approval behavior for posts created through the dashboard, API, MCP and third-party apps.
- Using notification publishingBuffer's person-finished publishing route for formats or features unavailable to automatic publishing.
- Supported channelsBuffer's documented posting-channel coverage and channel-specific behavior.
These titles are plain text so readers can find the current official pages without this comparison sending traffic to competitor properties.
Postdom's evidence model
Postdom is strongest for one controlled agent-publishing job
That job is publishing supplied finished short-form video under human authority, then preserving who acted, what each destination reported and what remains unknown.
Approval is tied to the exact work
A post in requires_approval is not handed to a destination until a human approves the exact post version and request hash. Agent credentials cannot use the human approval routes.
Not every post needs a separate approval: a previously human-authorized plan or policy can allow automatic scheduling.
Actors and system events stay attached to one post
Postdom durably records the credential ID that created a post, the human reviewer ID for approval or publish-now actions, and separate system submission and outcome events under the same post.
This does not identify which key or human completed the final provider handoff, and it is not a claim about a customer-facing audit screen.
Missing evidence stays missing
When a metric has no evidence-backed value, Postdom keeps it null with an availability state and reason. It excludes that observation from ranked metric results and aggregates rather than counting it as zero.
That does not mean Postdom never returns zero: observed and excluded counts can legitimately be zero.
Account policy can stop automatic handoff
Per connected account, Postdom can enforce daily caps and quiet hours for automatic publishing. Work outside those policy bounds falls back to human approval, while pausing an account blocks provider handoff until it is resumed.
Daily caps and quiet hours govern the automatic path; they are not a claim that provider publication can never happen.
- Human authority first.The human owns credentials, accounts, policy, consent, audience and disclosures; an agent cannot approve itself.
- Supply the finished video.Postdom publishes reviewed video and caption; it does not generate the creative.
- Keep the post ID.Accepted is not published, and scheduled is not published.
- Read terminal outcomes.One destination's outcome does not prove another destination's outcome.
- Keep uncertainty visible.Null is not zero; retain the availability state and reason.
Architecture checklist
Five questions before you commit
- Whose account is the integration acting for?Choose a user-tied personal key or a scoped third-party OAuth client deliberately.
- Where does media live?Decide whether public-URL media fits or whether you need native upload and managed storage.
- Which exact channel fields matter?Validate every destination-specific field, especially TikTok, against the live schema.
- What interaction and measurement depth is required?Separate publishing from comments, production Insights and experimental post metrics.
- What proves provider completion?Do not collapse a draft, approval, scheduled state or accepted request into publication.
Buffer API questions developers ask
Should I use the Buffer API for a Buffer-based workflow?
Yes, when Buffer's organizations, channels, queue, ideas, approvals and supported posting channels match your product. Its GraphQL API and live MCP are real developer surfaces, not missing capabilities.
How does Buffer API authentication work?
Personal workflows can use a bearer key tied to the user who created it. Third-party clients can use OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code with PKCE and request scoped access. Pick the model that matches who owns the Buffer account.
Can the Buffer API upload a video file directly?
No native binary upload endpoint is documented. The API expects a stable, direct, publicly reachable media URL that remains available until Buffer fetches it for publication.
Does Buffer MCP create and schedule posts?
Yes. Buffer documents a live MCP that can create, schedule and manage posts. Posts created by a user with Needs Approval remain drafts awaiting an approver, including posts created through API or MCP.
Does the Buffer API replace Buffer Insights and Community?
No. The API exposes a limited, partly experimental post-metrics surface for personal-key workflows, not full production Insights. It also does not document comment reading or replying, so use Buffer's product surfaces when those jobs matter.
Why choose Postdom for the controlled supplied-video job?
For that specific job, Postdom ties required approval to the exact version and request hash, records bounded actor and system events, preserves missing metrics as null, and applies connected-account policy. It publishes supplied finished short-form video to TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn, Facebook Reels, X, Snapchat Spotlight, Threads and Bluesky; it does not generate video.
Does accepted or scheduled mean a Postdom video is published?
No. Accepted is not published, and scheduled is not published. Keep the Postdom post ID and read the terminal per-destination outcome before reporting success or retrying.
How does Postdom treat missing metric evidence?
It keeps the observation null with an availability state and reason. Null is not zero and is excluded from rankings and aggregates instead of becoming an invented result.