late-api

Late API Management Skill

Operational workflows for managing scheduled social media posts via the Late.co API (https://getlate.dev/api/v1). This skill helps you list, reschedule, bulk delete, and sync posts when the posting schedule changes or issues arise.

Prerequisites

• LATE_API_KEY environment variable set (Bearer token, format: sk_...)
• The project's schedule.json in the repo root defines posting time slots per platform

Authentication

All requests use Bearer auth:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts

API Base URL

https://getlate.dev/api/v1

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API Reference

Posts

Accounts

Profiles

Queue (Late's built-in scheduling)

Media

Analytics

Publishing Logs

Webhooks

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Rate Limits

Additional limits:

• Velocity: 15 posts/hour/account
• Daily: Platform-specific (X: 20, Pinterest: 25, Instagram/Facebook: 100, Threads: 250, others: 50)
• Cooldown: Escalating backoff on repeated errors (10min → 20min → 40min → 24h)

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Project-Specific Context

schedule.json Format

The project's schedule.json (repo root) defines local posting time slots:

{
  "timezone": "America/Chicago",
  "platforms": {
    "linkedin": {
      "slots": [
        { "days": ["tue", "wed"], "time": "08:00", "label": "Morning thought leadership" }
      ],
      "avoidDays": ["sat", "sun"]
    }
  }
}

Existing LateApiClient (src/L2-clients/late/lateApi.ts)

The project has a TypeScript client with these methods:

• listProfiles() → LateProfile[]
• listAccounts() → LateAccount[]
• getScheduledPosts(platform?) → LatePost[]
• getDraftPosts(platform?) → LatePost[]
• createPost(params) → LatePost
• updatePost(postId, updates) → LatePost
• deletePost(postId) → void
• uploadMedia(filePath) → {url, type}
• validateConnection() → {valid, profileName?, error?}
• listQueues(profileId, all?) — List all queues for a profile
• createQueue(params) — Create a new queue
• updateQueue(params) — Update queue (supports reshuffleExisting)
• deleteQueue(profileId, queueId) — Delete a queue
• previewQueue(profileId, queueId?, count?) — Preview upcoming slot times
• getNextQueueSlot(profileId, queueId?) — Get next available slot

Approved posts use queue-first scheduling: VidPipe resolves queueId via {platform}-{clipType} naming, sends queuedFromProfile + queueId, and relies on Late FIFO order. Manual scheduledFor is fallback-only.

Local Queue (src/services/postStore.ts)

Published posts are tracked locally in publish-queue/ (pending) and published/ (done). Each item has metadata.json with latePostId, scheduledFor, platform, accountId, status.

Scheduler (src/services/scheduler.ts)

findNextSlot(platform) finds the next available time slot by:

1. Loading schedule.json config
2. Fetching booked slots from Late API + local published items
3. Generating candidates in 14-day chunks, sorted chronologically
4. Returning the first unbooked candidate

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Operational Workflows

1. List All Scheduled Posts

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts?status=scheduled" | python -m json.tool

Filter by platform:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts?status=scheduled&platform=linkedin"

Filter by date range:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts?status=scheduled&dateFrom=2026-02-01&dateTo=2026-03-01"

2. Reschedule a Single Post

curl -s -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts/{postId}" \
  -d '{"scheduledFor": "2026-02-20T08:00:00-06:00"}'

3. Bulk Reschedule All Posts (Schedule Change)

When schedule.json changes, use this workflow:

1. Read the new schedule from schedule.json
2. Fetch all scheduled posts from Late API
3. For each post, compute the new optimal time slot based on the updated schedule
4. Update each post with the new scheduledFor datetime via PUT /v1/posts/{postId}
5. Report what changed (old time → new time for each post)

Important: Always confirm with the user before executing bulk reschedule. Show them the proposed changes first.

Recommended: Use vidpipe sync-queues --reshuffle for automated bulk reschedule via Late queue system. Use vidpipe realign --queue or vidpipe reschedule --queue for queue-based alternatives.

4. Bulk Delete Scheduled Posts

# First list to confirm what will be deleted
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts?status=scheduled&platform=twitter"

# Then delete each post by ID (published posts CANNOT be deleted)
curl -s -X DELETE -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/posts/{postId}"

Important: Always list and confirm with the user before deleting. Show post content previews.

5. Sync Local Queue with Late API

Compare local published/ metadata with Late API state:

1. Read all local published items from recordings/*/publish-queue/ and published/
2. For each item with a latePostId, fetch the Late post via GET /v1/posts/{postId}
3. Report mismatches:
   • Orphaned in Late: Posts in Late API with no matching local item
   • Orphaned locally: Local items with latePostId that no longer exists in Late
   • Schedule mismatch: scheduledFor differs between local metadata and Late API

6. Validate Late API Connection

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/profiles"

If this returns profiles, the connection is valid. If 401, the API key is invalid or expired.

7. View Publishing Logs

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/logs"

Shows publishing attempts with platform API endpoint, HTTP status, request/response bodies, and retry info. Logs are retained for 7 days.

8. Inspect Connected Accounts

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/accounts" | python -m json.tool

Returns all connected social accounts with _id, platform, username, displayName, isActive, profileId.

9. Update Late Queue Slots (with auto-reshuffle)

If you want Late's built-in queue (not the local schedule.json) to reschedule existing posts:

curl -s -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $env:LATE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://getlate.dev/api/v1/queue/slots" \
  -d '{
    "profileId": "PROFILE_ID",
    "timezone": "America/Chicago",
    "slots": [
      {"day": "tue", "time": "08:00"},
      {"day": "wed", "time": "12:00"}
    ],
    "reshuffleExisting": true
  }'

The reshuffleExisting: true flag tells Late to automatically move existing queued posts to match the new slots.

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Safety Rules

1. Never delete published posts — the API will reject it anyway (400 error)
2. Always list before bulk operations — show the user what will be affected
3. Confirm destructive actions — ask the user to approve before deleting or rescheduling multiple posts
4. Use dryRun for bulk uploads — test with ?dryRun=true query param first
5. Respect rate limits — add delays between bulk API calls (60 req/min on free plan)
6. Handle 429 responses — check Retry-After header and wait before retrying

Troubleshooting