Mastodon API
Marketing & SEO Free key (no card)
Documentation: docs.joinmastodon.org ยท Checked Sep 13, 2026
About
Mastodon is a free, decentralized social network, and every server ships the same well-documented API. Register an app (or just get a token), and you can publish and schedule posts, upload media, read timelines and notifications, search, follow accounts, and manage lists. There is no developer portal or approval queue; your account on any server is all you need. It is ideal for indie cross-posters and fediverse analytics experiments.
Details
Free to start. You may need a free key, but no credit card.
Auth: Free key (no card)
Rate limit: Free; each server sets its own limits, so check the rules of the instance you use.
Verified: 2026-09-13
Best for: social marketing publishing open-source
Setup
- Pick a Mastodon server and create a free account there
- Go to Settings, then Development, and create a new application
- Copy the access token shown for your app
- Send posts with the token in the Authorization header
- Schedule posts with the scheduled_at parameter or poll for notifications
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" -d "status=Hello from the API" https://<your-instance>/api/v1/statusesUse cases
- Auto-post blog updates to your Mastodon account
- Build a cross-poster that sends one message to Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads
- Track mentions of your brand across the fediverse