LinkedIn Posts API: what you can schedule and how

LinkedIn's Posts API can publish text, images, video, documents, articles, polls and multi-image posts to a member profile or a Company Page, but its documentation describes no scheduling field. Tools that schedule LinkedIn posts store the post themselves and call the API at the chosen time.

What this means for you

When a scheduler posts to LinkedIn for you, it keeps your post on its own servers and sends it to LinkedIn at the time you picked. LinkedIn doesn't hold it in a queue. If you only post now and then, LinkedIn's own scheduler does the same job for free: see how to schedule LinkedIn posts.

The details

What the Posts API can create

The Posts API "facilitates the creation and retrieval of organic and sponsored posts" with POST https://api.linkedin.com/rest/posts. It replaces the older ugcPosts API. Every request needs the Linkedin-Version header (YYYYMM) and X-Restli-Protocol-Version: 2.0.0.

Scheduling: there is no publish-later field

The Posts, Videos, Images, MultiImage, Documents and Poll API pages describe no scheduling option. A post is created with lifecycleState: PUBLISHED. With the AUTHOR view context you can read a post that isn't published yet, in states such as DRAFT or PROCESSING. A scheduler therefore uploads media ahead of time if it wants to, stores the post, and sends the create request when the time comes.

Permissions

• w_member_social: post, comment and like on behalf of the signed-in member.
• w_organization_social: the same for a Company Page, only where the member is an ADMINISTRATOR, DIRECT_SPONSORED_CONTENT_POSTER or CONTENT_ADMIN.
• r_member_social: reading a member's posts back is restricted to approved users. A tool that needs a member's posts later should keep the post ID from the create response.

Media limits

• Video: 3 seconds to 30 minutes, 75 KB to 500 MB, MP4 (feed, non-CTV specifications). The Videos API takes files up to 5 GB in multipart upload and can add captions and a custom thumbnail.
• Images: JPG, GIF or PNG, under 36,152,320 pixels; GIFs up to 250 frames.
• MultiImage: 2 to 20 images per post, with alt text up to 4,086 characters each. See our entry.
• Polls: a question of up to 140 characters, 2 to 4 options, open for one day, three days, a week or two weeks.
• Articles: the API doesn't scrape URLs, so you set the article's title, description and thumbnail yourself.

Versions and deadlines

LinkedIn supports each monthly API version for at least a year; version 202511 sunsets on November 16, 2026. Every date is in our version sunset calendar. Other recent Posts API changes: celebration posts, the Shop Now button and the Boost API. Everything LinkedIn is on the LinkedIn hub.

What to do next

• Business owners: Nothing. Use LinkedIn's free scheduler or any tool that supports LinkedIn.
• Marketers and agencies: If your tool offers carousels on LinkedIn, expect them as document or multi-image posts, since organic carousels aren't in the API.
• Developers: Request w_member_social or w_organization_social, keep post IDs at publish time, pin a current Linkedin-Version, and run your own scheduler to send POST /rest/posts at the chosen time.