PostNitro

Create on-brand social media carousels and schedule them to LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads from a single command. Turn a topic, article, or X thread into a finished multi-slide post — or import your own slides — then publish or draft it automatically. Fully scriptable (JSON in, JSON out), so an AI agent can run the entire create-to-schedule workflow. Use this skill whenever the user wants to create a carousel, slide post, or multi-slide content, repurpose an article, blog post, or X thread into slides, or automate and schedule social media posts. Requires a PostNitro API key.

PostNitro — Create & Schedule Social Carousels

PostNitro creates on-brand social media carousels and schedules them across LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads. This skill drives it from the command line, so an agent can take a topic, article, or set of slides and produce a finished, scheduled post in one workflow. Every command is JSON in / JSON out — safe to script and chain.

Setup

1. Install the CLI:

   bash

   npm install -g @postnitro/cli
   

2. Sign up at https://postnitro.ai and subscribe to a plan — the Embed API requires a paid subscription (no free tier). Then generate an API key at account settings → Embed → Generate API Key.
3. Authenticate (in order of precedence: --api-key flag → env var → saved config):

   bash

   postnitro auth set-key pn-xxxx        # persists to ~/.postnitro-cli/config.json
   export POSTNITRO_API_KEY="pn-xxxx"    # or use an env var
   

4. Save defaults so you don't repeat template/brand/preset IDs on every call (the CLI's alternative to per-call flags — no env vars needed):

   bash

   postnitro defaults set --template-id <id> --brand-id <id> --preset-id <id> --response-type PDF
   

Env var	Required	Purpose
POSTNITRO_API_KEY	Yes*	API key (*unless passed via --api-key or saved with auth set-key)
POSTNITRO_API_BASE_URL	No	Override API endpoint (default https://embed-api.postnitro.ai)

Key rule: carousel generate/import return an embedPostId (the async job). To schedule the result you need its designId (from the --wait output or carousel output). Never pass an embedPostId to schedule.

Core Workflow

Carousel creation is asynchronous — --wait handles the polling and returns the finished output (including designId) in one call.

1. Generate a carousel with AI

bash

postnitro carousel generate \
  --context "5 tips for growing your LinkedIn audience in 2026" \
  --type text \
  --instructions "Professional tone, actionable advice" \
  --wait

--type values:

• text — --context is the topic/text to turn into a carousel
• article — --context is an article URL to extract and convert
• x — --context is an X (Twitter) post/thread URL

Template/brand/preset come from saved defaults (or pass --template-id/--brand-id/--preset-id). The result JSON includes the designId.

2. Import your own slide content

bash

# From a file, or inline JSON with --slides (inline overrides --file)
postnitro carousel import --file ./slides.json --wait
postnitro carousel import --slides '{"slides":[
  {"type":"starting_slide","heading":"Your Title","description":"Intro text"},
  {"type":"body_slide","heading":"Key Point","description":"Details here"},
  {"type":"ending_slide","heading":"Take Action!","cta_button":"Learn More"}
]}' --wait

Slide rules: exactly 1 starting_slide (first), ≥1 body_slide, exactly 1 ending_slide (last); heading required on every slide. For infographics, set layoutType: "infographic" on a body slide (replaces its image with data columns, max 3). Run postnitro carousel import-template for the full schema. Ready-to-use: examples/import-default.json, examples/import-infographics.json.

3. Check status / get output (only if you didn't use --wait)

bash

postnitro carousel status <embedPostId>   # progress + step logs; poll until COMPLETED
postnitro carousel output <embedPostId>   # final file URL(s) + designId

Output is a PDF (single URL) or PNG (one URL per slide), in data.

4. Schedule the design to social accounts

bash

postnitro social list   # get account IDs + platforms

postnitro schedule create \
  --status SCHEDULED \
  --scheduled-at "2026-12-31T13:00:00Z" \
  --design-id <designId> \
  --selected-accounts '["<socialAccountId>"]' \
  --linkedin-post-settings '{"postType":"document","postTitle":"5–90 char title"}' \
  --post-content '{"common":"Caption with #hashtags"}'

5. One-shot: generate + schedule

bash

postnitro generate-and-schedule \
  --context "topic" --type text \
  --status SCHEDULED --scheduled-at "2026-12-31T13:00:00Z" \
  --selected-accounts '["<socialAccountId>"]' \
  --linkedin-post-settings '{"postType":"document","postTitle":"..."}' \
  --post-content '{"common":"..."}'

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: LinkedIn thought-leadership carousel

bash

postnitro carousel generate \
  --context "5 mistakes startups make with their LinkedIn strategy and how to fix each one" \
  --type text --instructions "Professional but conversational. One clear takeaway per slide." --wait

Pattern 2: Repurpose a blog post

bash

postnitro carousel generate --context "https://yourblog.com/posts/social-media-strategy-2026" \
  --type article --instructions "Extract the 5 most actionable points. Keep slide text concise." --wait

Pattern 3: Repurpose an X thread

bash

postnitro carousel generate --context "https://x.com/username/status/1234567890" \
  --type x --instructions "Maintain the original voice and key points" --wait

Pattern 4: Data-driven infographic carousel

Import slides with layoutType: "infographic" body slides — see examples/import-infographics.json.

Pattern 5: Generate → schedule to LinkedIn

bash

DID=$(postnitro carousel generate --context "5 remote work habits" --type text --wait | jq -r .designId)
LINKEDIN=$(postnitro social list | jq -r 'first(.accounts[] | select(.platform=="linkedin").id)')
postnitro schedule create --status SCHEDULED --scheduled-at "2026-12-31T13:00:00Z" \
  --design-id "$DID" --selected-accounts "[\"$LINKEDIN\"]" \
  --linkedin-post-settings '{"postType":"document","postTitle":"5 remote work habits"}' \
  --post-content '{"common":"New carousel 🚀 #remotework"}'

Pattern 6: Batch scheduling

bash

DATES=("2026-02-14T09:00:00Z" "2026-02-15T09:00:00Z")
TOPICS=("Monday motivation 💪" "Tuesday tips 💡")
for i in "${!DATES[@]}"; do
  postnitro generate-and-schedule --context "${TOPICS[$i]}" --type text \
    --status SCHEDULED --scheduled-at "${DATES[$i]}" \
    --selected-accounts '["<socialAccountId>"]' \
    --linkedin-post-settings '{"postType":"document","postTitle":"Daily post"}'
done

Content Strategy Tips

• LinkedIn: professional tone, actionable insights, 6–10 slides, clear CTA. PDF carousels post as postType: "document" (needs a 5–90 char postTitle).
• Instagram: visual-first, concise text, 5–8 slides, storytelling arc. postAsStory for stories.
• TikTok: trendy, punchy, 4–7 slides, hook on slide 1.
• X / Threads: data-driven, 3–6 slides, provocative opening.

Common Gotchas

1. Not authenticated — run postnitro auth status; set a key before anything else.
2. Scheduling with embedPostId — use the designId from --wait/carousel output, never the embedPostId.
3. Scheduled at is in the past — --scheduled-at must be a future ISO-8601 datetime with a trailing Z.
4. Invalid inline JSON — wrap JSON flags in single quotes; the CLI validates before any network call.
5. Missing --brand-id ... multiple candidates — pass the ID or save a default with defaults set.
6. LinkedIn document rejected — postType:"document" needs a 5–90 char postTitle.
7. Empty post — a scheduled post needs either --design-id or non-empty --post-content.
8. Destructive commands — social disconnect and schedule delete require --yes.
9. SCHEDULED publishes live — use DRAFT when unsure; confirm time/account with the user first.
10. Default responseType is PDF — pass --response-type PNG for individual slide images.
11. Credits vary — AI generation ≈ 2 credits/slide; content import ≈ 1 credit/slide. Warn before large batches.

Credits & Pricing

The Embed API requires a paid subscription — there is no free tier, and free accounts cannot call the API. See https://postnitro.ai/plans for current plans and credit allowances.

Approximate usage cost (observed):

• Content import: ~1 credit per slide
• AI generation: ~2 credits per slide

Supporting Resources

In this skill:

• references/cli-reference.md — complete command, platform-settings, and slide-schema reference
• examples/EXAMPLES.md — ready-to-use import & schedule JSON (import-default.json, import-infographics.json, schedule-post.json)

Full project docs (GitHub):

• README — full command reference
• QUICK_START.md — zero to a scheduled carousel in minutes
• HOW_TO_RUN.md — install & run methods
• PLATFORM_SETTINGS.md — platform settings schemas
• FEATURES.md — full feature list
• Per-command help: postnitro <command> <subcommand> --help

Quick Reference

bash

# Auth (do this first)
postnitro auth set-key pn-xxxx | postnitro auth status | export POSTNITRO_API_KEY=pn-xxxx

# Discover + defaults
postnitro template list | brand list | preset list | social list
postnitro defaults set --template-id <id> --brand-id <id> --preset-id <id> --response-type PDF

# Create (async — use --wait; result has designId)
postnitro carousel generate --context "topic|url" --type text|article|x [--instructions "..."] --wait
postnitro carousel import (--slides '{"slides":[...]}' | --file ./slides.json) --wait
postnitro carousel status <embedPostId>        # if not using --wait
postnitro carousel output <embedPostId>        # file URLs + designId

# Schedule (date REQUIRED + future; use designId, not embedPostId)
postnitro schedule create --status SCHEDULED|DRAFT --scheduled-at "<iso>" --design-id <id> \
  --selected-accounts '["<id>"]' --linkedin-post-settings '{"postType":"document","postTitle":"..."}' \
  --post-content '{"common":"caption"}'
postnitro schedule list --from "<date>" --to "<date>" | get <id> | delete <id> --yes

# One-shot
postnitro generate-and-schedule --context "topic" --status SCHEDULED --scheduled-at "<iso>" ...

Tips for the Agent

• Always confirm authentication (postnitro auth status) before running any other command. Never fabricate an API key — ask the user.
• Prefer --wait so one call returns the finished output and designId.
• Discover IDs with the list commands; save workspace defaults with defaults set so later calls stay short.
• Schedule with the designId, not the embedPostId.
• For --type article/x, --context must be a URL. For plain text, use --type text.
• Default responseType is PDF — pass --response-type PNG when the user wants individual slide images.
• --scheduled-at must be a future ISO-8601 datetime (trailing Z).
• status: SCHEDULED creates a live post that will publish — confirm the time and account with the user, or use DRAFT when unsure.
• Parse stdout as JSON; on failure read .error.message from stderr and fix the inputs.
• Warn about credit costs before large batches (AI generation is ~2× the cost of import).
• If the user doesn't specify a platform, suggest LinkedIn (most common carousel use case) and remember PDF carousels post there as document.