> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://connect.trypost.it/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect accounts

> Your user signs in at the network. Connect hosts the screens. You only start the flow and receive them back.

Connecting a network happens in the **browser**. You never send your API key to Facebook, LinkedIn, or X. Connect hosts OAuth, Page pickers, and the credential screens (Bluesky app password, Mastodon instance, Telegram `/connect` code).

There is **no MCP connect tool**. An agent publishes to accounts that are already connected.

```mermaid theme={null}
sequenceDiagram
  participant App as Your product
  participant Browser
  participant Connect
  participant Network

  App->>Connect: Start connect (where to return)
  Connect-->>App: URL to open
  App->>Browser: Send the user there
  Browser->>Network: Sign in / pick a Page
  Network->>Connect: Callback
  Connect->>Browser: Back to your product
```

For yourself, connect from [Accounts](https://connect.trypost.it/accounts) in the dashboard. For your users, start the same flow from your backend and send them to the URL Connect returns.

Paths and query params: [Connect social account](/docs/api-reference/social-accounts/connect).

## What the user sees

| Network                | What opens                                                                       |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| X                      | X OAuth. Always billable.                                                        |
| TikTok                 | TikTok OAuth                                                                     |
| YouTube                | Google OAuth                                                                     |
| Facebook               | Facebook OAuth, then Connect's Page picker when the login has more than one Page |
| Instagram              | Instagram Login (no Facebook Page)                                               |
| Instagram via Facebook | Facebook OAuth, then Connect's Page picker for a Page-linked Instagram           |
| LinkedIn               | LinkedIn OAuth, then Connect's profile / Page picker                             |
| LinkedIn Page          | LinkedIn OAuth scoped to Pages, then the same picker                             |
| Threads                | Threads OAuth                                                                    |
| Pinterest              | Pinterest OAuth                                                                  |
| Discord                | Discord OAuth                                                                    |
| Bluesky                | Connect-hosted app-password form                                                 |
| Mastodon               | Connect-hosted instance URL, then that instance's OAuth                          |
| Telegram               | Connect-hosted `/connect <code>` screen                                          |

You do not send people to the Connect dashboard to finish this.

## When they come back

On success, the browser lands on the return URL you passed in, with the network and the new social-account id. On failure, the same URL gets an `error` instead.

| `error`             | Meaning                                                              |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `access_denied`     | The user (or the network) cancelled                                  |
| `invalid_state`     | The session is missing, expired (15 minutes), or for another network |
| `session_expired`   | Connect no longer has this flow                                      |
| `error_connecting`  | The network or Connect failed while finishing                        |
| `payment_required`  | X, or a third non-X account, without a subscription                  |
| `network_taken`     | This Connect account already has that identity                       |
| `wrong_account`     | Reconnect came back as a different person                            |
| `busy`              | Another connect on this network is still finishing                   |
| `account_not_found` | The Connect account for this flow no longer exists                   |

Read identities by **id**, not by network name. The same network can appear more than once (two LinkedIns, three Instagrams). The same person cannot sit twice — reconnecting updates the existing row. Instagram Login and Instagram via Facebook are one identity, not two.

A connected account can later show as expired. Connect skips expired identities at publish time until the user reconnects.

## After they are connected

* Group them with [social sets](/docs/guides/social-sets).
* Disconnect from the dashboard or the API.
* Pinterest needs a board and Discord needs a channel before you can publish — pick those when you compose the post.

Connecting X, or a third non-X identity, without a card is refused.