

There don't appear to be any social-media schedulers that support Mastodon yet,[^1] although there are a couple cross-posters to/from Twitter. If, however, you need to programmatically post to Mastodon through some service like [Make](https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=michele) (affiliate link) or [Zapier](https://zapier.com/), Mastodon conveniently has an API that you can use.

## Set up an Access Token

1. Create an application at `https://[YOUR MASTODON SERVER]/settings/applications` by clicking on **New Application**.
1. Set the **Application Name**, don't change the **Redirect URI**, and under **Scopes** check `write:statuses` and if you want to attach images `write:media`. You can uncheck the rest.

Once that is created, the application should now give you a **Client key**, **Client secret**, and **Your access token**. You only need the last.

## Post a Status

If you're setting up some sort of automation service, the module you're looking for will be `HTTP` in [Make](https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=michele) (affiliate link), the `POST` webhook in Zapier, or webhook in IFTTT.

Skip the next section if you don't need to attach media to your status, but even if I'm sharing a link, I prefer to attach an image over using the Mastodon link preview.

### Step 1. Upload media

Make a `POST` call to:

````
https://[YOUR MASTODON SERVER]/api/v1/media?access_token=[YOUR ACCESS TOKEN]
````

Set the type to `multipart/form-data` and attach your image (not an image URL) to the `file` field.

![My Mastodon publishing workflow on Make](../attachments/make-scenario-post-to-mastodon.jpg)

If like me you only have access to an image URL in your workflow, you'll also need to do some sort of file fetch. [Make](https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=michele) (affiliate link) conveniently has a 'Get a file' module for just such an occasion.

This call will return an object containing a media `id` that you will need for the next step.

More info: [Documentation](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/methods/media/) for the `/media` endpoint on Mastodon.

### Step 2. Post the status

Make a `POST` call to:

````
https://[YOUR MASTODON SERVER]/api/v1/statuses?access_token=[YOUR ACCESS TOKEN]
````

Set the type to `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` and pass the `status` field containing your status message. If you are attaching an image as well, pass the `media_ids[]` field with the media `id` you retrieved in the previous step.

More info: [Documentation](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/methods/statuses/) for the `/statuses` endpoint on Mastodon.

---

### Affiliate Promotion

I use [Make](https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=michele) for my personal, creator, and business automation needs. I am also an affiliate, so if you use my link to sign up for a [Make](https://www.make.com/en/register?pc=michele) account, you will also receive 1 month of Make's Pro plan free with 10,000 ops.

---

[^1]: Update 2023-02-10 [Buffer](https://buffer.com/) does now, which is lovely.


Use web requests to automate or programmatically post to Mastodon with Make.

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Programmatically Post to Mastodon with Make