post_to_social_media ships a file; it does not make one

post_to_social_media ships a file. It does not make one. It does not connect the account. It does not regenerate a fresh episode on a clock. Hand it a prompt instead of a URL and there is nothing to post. Hand it a generate because you said "post this every weekday" without "new footage" and you have scheduled last week's MP4 forever — or you have spawned a workflow you did not mean to pay per run.

Post or schedule to social media is the named agent job. Tell it what, where, and when. The agent is supposed to check connected accounts first (get_social_accounts). You give a caption, media URLs or a slideshow_id, and platforms. Immediate post, or scheduled_at for later. Cost: 2 credits per platform. Supported: Instagram, TikTok, TikTok Business, X, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Bluesky, Threads. A slideshow id expands to a carousel; you do not list every slide. TikTok may add trending music to slideshow/carousel posts. That is the whole product.

What the job is

A finished asset. A caption you will actually stand behind. Platforms you have connected. Optionally a time. Output is a published or scheduled post on each platform you named.

If nothing is connected, connect a social account is the OAuth job. The agent cannot finish OAuth for you. Posting before that returns a polite failure and a spent conversation, not a live Reel.

If you need to see the queue or pull a post, manage scheduled posts lists and cancels. Cancelling a live post is irreversible. Confirm.

What it is not

• A generate. Text-to-video, image, slideshow, lipsync — those mint files. Posting takes media_urls or a slideshow id. "Make a video and post it" is two named jobs. Pretending it is one is how you post a failure or skip the confirm on the expensive half.
• A recurring generation series. Run a recurring video series writes a new plot each run. Schedule a recurring slideshow series invents a fresh carousel. post_to_social_media with a schedule reuses the file you gave it. "Post this every weekday" without "new footage each run" is the classic mis-route.
• Analytics. Check my social media performance reads numbers. Posting does not.
• Disclosure, labels, or an Instagram AI badge. The publish call moves the file. Profile-level AI labels live in the platform settings. Do not expect the scheduler to set them.

Two credits per platform is small next to a video model, which is why people treat posting as "free enough to retry from a generate." The leak is the generate you did not need, or the series you accidentally started, not the 2.

The test

Is the file done, the caption written, the account connected, and the only remaining work "now" or "Thursday 9:00"?

Yes: this job. Name platforms. Confirm the 2-per-platform charge.

If the file does not exist, generate. If you wanted a new file every run, schedule a workflow or a slideshow series. If you wanted the queue, list posts. Do not stretch post_to_social_media over those.

FAQ

Does scheduling cost extra beyond the 2 credits per platform?

The tool's rate is 2 credits per platform you post to, scheduled or immediate. Generation of the media is a separate bill you already paid — or forgot to pay.

Can I post to a platform I have not connected yet?

No. Connect first. The OAuth link is a different capability. Posting cannot complete the handshake.

Will this generate a caption if I only pass a video?

You still owe a caption field — it is required. "Write something viral" is not this tool inventing a generate; it is the agent drafting copy then calling post. If you do not like that draft, say so before confirm.

Why isn't a recurring post the same as a recurring series?

A recurring post is the same MP4 on a clock. A series is a new render on a clock. One is this job plus a time. The other is a workflow or slideshow schedule. Mix them and you either spam one file or you buy N videos you did not ask for.