Skip to main content

Buffer

Queue, reschedule and send social posts across every account connected to a Buffer profile, and read what is queued or already sent.

Connect Buffer to schedule across networks from one place: queue a post to any combination of connected accounts, put it at the front of the queue, edit or cancel it before it goes out, send it immediately, and read both the pending queue and what has already been sent with its engagement statistics. Queueing is the default and it is not publishing - every result says which state a post is actually in.

Connect

Credential fieldRequiredWhere it comes from
Access token (ACCESS_TOKEN)YesThe access token from your Buffer developer app (buffer.com/developers/apps). It does not expire on a clock; revoking the app invalidates it.
SettingRequiredWhat it is
Default profile ids (DEFAULT_PROFILE_IDS)NoComma-separated Buffer profile ids used when a tool call omits them - the destinations this connection posts to by default. From List profiles.

Tools

ToolAccessWhat it does
Get user (yekar.buffer.get-user)ReadThe Buffer account this connection signs in as: name, plan and timezone. The PLAN matters more than it looks - how many profiles can be connected and how many posts a queue may hold are both plan-derived, and exceeding either is refused rather than truncated. The timezone is what a scheduled time is interpreted against.
List profiles (yekar.buffer.list-profiles)ReadEvery social account connected to this Buffer account, with the profile id that Create update needs and Buffer's own count of what is queued on each. This is the tool to call first: a Buffer 'profile' is one destination (a Page, a channel, a handle), a post goes only to the profiles you name, and a Facebook Page and a Facebook profile share the service name 'facebook' while being different places. Buffer returns every profile in one response - there is no paging here, and the list is bounded by the account's plan.
Get profile (yekar.buffer.get-profile)ReadOne connected account's details: which network it is, its handle, how many posts are queued on it, and how many posting slots a day its schedule defines. That last number is what decides how far away 'the next slot' actually is - a profile with one slot a day queues tomorrow's post, not this afternoon's.
List pending updates (yekar.buffer.list-pending-updates)ReadThe posts waiting in a profile's queue, in the order Buffer will send them, each with the time it is due. Nothing here has been published - every item reports published: false - which is exactly what makes this the tool for checking what an automation actually scheduled. The total is Buffer's own count for the whole queue rather than the size of this page.
List sent updates (yekar.buffer.list-sent-updates)ReadPosts Buffer has actually sent from a profile, newest first, with each one's engagement statistics as Buffer reports them and the id the social network itself assigned. Use this to confirm a queued post really went out - a post that failed at the network appears with an error status rather than silently missing.
Get update (yekar.buffer.get-update)ReadOne post's current state: its text, whether it is still QUEUED or has actually been sent, when it is due or when it went out, and the id the social network assigned once it did. This is the honest way to check on something an automation queued - Buffer's own status word for 'queued' is 'buffer', which reads like success.
Create update (yekar.buffer.create-update)WriteQUEUE a post to one or more connected accounts. By default this does NOT publish: Buffer adds it to each profile's queue and sends it at that profile's next scheduled slot, which may be hours away or tomorrow - check Get profile for how many slots a day it has. Pass now to send immediately, or scheduledAt for a specific time. One call creates one update PER PROFILE, each with its own id. The result reports published, which is false for anything queued.
Edit update (yekar.buffer.edit-update)WriteRewrite a post that is still in the queue, and optionally move it to a different time. Only QUEUED posts can be edited - once Buffer has sent something, the post belongs to the social network and this cannot reach it. Media is replaced wholesale rather than merged: passing a link without its title clears the title.
Share update now (yekar.buffer.share-update-now)WriteSend a queued post immediately instead of waiting for its slot. This is the tool that turns a plan into something public, and it cannot be undone from here - Buffer hands the post to the social network, and deleting it afterwards is that network's job, not Buffer's. The post leaves the queue either way.
Move update to top (yekar.buffer.move-update-to-top)WriteMove a queued post to the front of its profile's queue, so it goes out at the next slot instead of waiting its turn. It does NOT send it - the post is still queued afterwards, just sooner. Use Share update now to publish immediately. Everything behind it shifts back by one slot.
Delete update (yekar.buffer.delete-update)WriteRemove a post from the queue before it is sent. This is how a scheduled post is cancelled. It only works while the post is still QUEUED - once Buffer has sent it, the post lives on the social network and must be deleted there; Buffer's own record of it is not the post.

Notes

  • You need a Buffer developer app and its access token. Buffer has not opened new developer-app registration for a long time, so this integration fits someone who ALREADY has an app; if you do not, use the per-network integrations instead.
  • Get the access token from your app's page at buffer.com/developers/apps and paste it here. It does not expire on a clock, but revoking the app invalidates it.
  • Run List profiles first. A Buffer 'profile' is ONE connected destination - a Page, a channel, a handle - and its id is what every posting tool takes. A Facebook Page and a Facebook profile both report the service 'facebook' and are different places.
  • CREATE UPDATE DOES NOT PUBLISH. It queues the post for each profile's next scheduled slot, which can be tomorrow if the profile has one slot a day. Pass now to send immediately, scheduledAt for a specific time, or check Get profile to see how many slots a day a profile has.
  • Every result carries a published flag. Queued posts report false; only a post the network has actually received reports true and carries the network's own post id.
  • Set the Default profile ids property if this connection always posts to the same accounts. There is deliberately no 'all profiles' default - a Buffer account usually holds every network a business posts to, and an accidental fan-out cannot be taken back.
  • One Create update call makes one post PER PROFILE, each with its own id. Editing, moving and cancelling all work per post, not per call.
  • Editing and cancelling only work while a post is still queued. Once Buffer has sent it, the post belongs to the social network - delete it there.
  • Buffer's rate limit is 60 calls a minute per token, with a much smaller separate ceiling on creating updates, and it reports both as a 403 rather than a 429.
  • Everything acts as the ONE Buffer account this token belongs to. Bind automations using it as a service connection.