# Social media scheduler with an API: what to check
URL: https://skedcast.com/developers/guides/social-media-scheduler-with-api

A social media scheduler with a good API lets you create, read, reschedule and cancel posts, upload media, and hear about results through signed webhooks. Before you build on one, check that it publishes an OpenAPI document, shows rate limits in headers, versions its paths with a deprecation policy, and uses scoped keys. SkedCast's API meets every check.

## What should a social media scheduler API let you do?
Everything you would do in the app, from code. That means the whole life of a post (create, read, change, reschedule, cancel and retry), media upload processed to each network's rules, the per-network fields a real post needs, and a way to learn the outcome, because publishing happens later than the request. A scheduler that only accepts a caption and a time is a posting form, not an API you can build a product on.

## Which checks matter before you build on a scheduler API?
Check | Why it matters | The standard behind it
Full post lifecycle, not just create | You need to read, reschedule and cancel what you created, not fire and forget | REST resource design
A media upload flow, not just a URL field | Processing images and video to each network's limits is where integrations break | Presigned uploads
Signed webhooks for publish results | Publishing is asynchronous; you need to know when a post went out or failed | Standard Webhooks, HMAC-SHA256
Per-network fields documented | TikTok privacy, a Pinterest board, a YouTube title: a generic caption field is not enough | Documented request schema
A public OpenAPI document | Generate a typed client and test against the contract instead of prose | OpenAPI 3.1
Rate limits in response headers | Back off before you are blocked instead of guessing | IETF RateLimit headers, Retry-After
Safe retries | A timeout should not create the same post twice | Idempotency-Key header
A versioned path and a deprecation policy | A breaking change should come with notice, not land under you | Path versioning, RFC 8594 Sunset
Scoped keys or OAuth | A leaked key should do no more than the integration needs | OAuth 2.1, least privilege

## How does a scheduled post move through an API?
You upload the media, create the post with a time and its destinations, and get a `201` that means accepted, not published. At the scheduled time the scheduler publishes to each network, then sends a webhook for each result. Your code listens for that event instead of polling, and retries a failed destination if the event says it can.

## From an API call to a published post.
![Diagram: upload the media, create the post with a time and destinations, the scheduler publishes at that time, and a signed webhook reports each result.](https://skedcast.com/images/articles/social-media-scheduler-with-api/api-flow.svg)

*From an API call to a published post.*

## How does SkedCast's API meet the checklist?
Check | SkedCast
Post lifecycle | Create, read, edit a draft, and reschedule, cancel or retry each destination
Media | Presign, upload and register, processed for each network
Webhooks | 44 events, signed with HMAC-SHA256 and sent with the Standard Webhooks headers
Per-network fields | Every documented override, such as TikTok privacy or a Pinterest board
Contract | A published OpenAPI 3.1 document and typed client libraries
Rate limits | `RateLimit-Limit`, `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset` on every response; `Retry-After` on a 429
Retries | `Idempotency-Key` on writes: the same key runs once or returns the first result
Versioning | `/v1` paths; breaking changes announced 90 days ahead with `Deprecation` and `Sunset` headers
Access | Scoped API keys and OAuth 2.1 for third-party apps

## Which SkedCast plans include the API?
API keys and the REST API are included from Studio, and MCP access for AI clients from Solo. See the pricing page for the current plans. Signed webhooks start on Studio. Start with the [5-minute quickstart](/developers/quickstart), see the [rate limits](/developers/conventions) and [webhooks](/developers/webhooks) pages, or read the full [API reference](/developers/api-reference).

## What should you ask a vendor before you commit?
- Does the documentation show real request and response bodies, or only endpoint names?
- Can you get a webhook the moment a post publishes or fails, and is it signed?
- Which headers tell you your rate-limit budget, and what happens on a 429?
- How much notice do you get before a breaking change, and where is it announced?
- Can you create a key that only reads, or only schedules?

## Sources
[OpenAPI Specification 3.1](https://spec.openapis.org/oas/v3.1.0), [Standard Webhooks](https://www.standardwebhooks.com/), [IETF RateLimit header fields for HTTP](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-httpapi-ratelimit-headers/), [IETF Idempotency-Key HTTP header field](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-httpapi-idempotency-key-header/), [RFC 8594, The Sunset HTTP header field](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8594.html) and [The OAuth 2.1 Authorization Framework](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-oauth-v2-1/). SkedCast's figures come from its API reference and changelog, 6 November 2026.

## FAQ
**Q: What should a scheduler's API cover besides creating posts?**
A: Reading, rescheduling and canceling posts, media upload, webhooks for publish results, and the per-network fields. The checklist above lists each one.

**Q: Why does a scheduler API need webhooks?**
A: Publishing is asynchronous. A 201 response means the post was accepted, not that it has published, so you need a webhook or a poll to learn the outcome.

**Q: How do I avoid creating the same post twice?**
A: Send an Idempotency-Key with each write and reuse it on a retry. SkedCast runs the request once and returns the first result for the same key.

**Q: How do I know my rate limit?**
A: Read the RateLimit-* headers on each response and wait for Retry-After on a 429, rather than hard-coding a delay.

**Q: Does SkedCast have a social media scheduling API?**
A: Yes. A REST API with an OpenAPI 3.1 document, signed webhooks, scoped keys and OAuth 2.1, plus an MCP server for AI clients.

**Q: Will a SkedCast API change break my integration?**
A: Breaking changes to /v1 are announced at least 90 days ahead in the changelog and through Deprecation and Sunset headers on the affected route.