# Buffer API Alternative: What to Do Before the Legacy API Retires on February 1, 2027

> Buffer is retiring its legacy REST API on February 1, 2027, with brownouts on November 11 and December 9, 2026. Your two options, and an endpoint-by-endpoint map.

Canonical: https://tesselith.com/blog/buffer-api-alternative
Last updated: 2026-11-06

**Buffer hasn't shut down its API, but it is retiring the legacy REST API on February 1, 2027.** After that date, requests to the old endpoints stop returning data, and two brownouts are planned before then, on **November 11, 2026** and **December 9, 2026**, when legacy calls will fail temporarily. Buffer's replacement is a GraphQL API, launched in May 2026, with an MCP server, a CLI and managed OAuth. If your code still calls the old REST endpoints, you have two choices: migrate to Buffer's new API, or move to another scheduling API. Either way it's a rewrite, so it's the cheapest moment to compare.

**Key takeaways**
- Legacy Buffer REST API: retired February 1, 2027. Brownouts November 11 and December 9, 2026.
- Buffer's new API is GraphQL, with an MCP server, a CLI and managed OAuth.
- Staying on Buffer makes sense if your users' accounts live in Buffer.
- Switching makes sense if you post to your own accounts and want REST, multi-channel posts and webhooks.
- Either way you rewrite auth, objects and error handling, so compare before you start.

## What changes in Buffer's new API

According to Buffer's own announcement, the new API changes the core objects and the way scheduling works:

| Legacy REST API | New GraphQL API |
| --- | --- |
| Profiles | Channels |
| Updates | Posts |
| One request to many profiles (`profile_ids[]`) | One channel per request |
| Recurring time slots per profile | Per post: add to queue, set a time, or publish now |
| Page and offset pagination | Cursor-based pagination |
| Errors as HTTP status codes | Errors as typed fields in the response body |

Buffer's migration guide is at developers.buffer.com, and legacy responses now carry `Deprecation` and `Sunset` headers pointing to it.

## Option 1: Migrate to Buffer's new API

Choose this if you're building an integration **for Buffer users**: their channels, queues and teammates already live in Buffer, and that's where they expect your posts to appear. The new API is a modern design and comes with an MCP server, so AI assistants can use it too.

## Option 2: Switch to another scheduling API

Choose this if the integration is **your own automation**, for example a CMS, a product feed or an internal tool that posts to your company's accounts. Then the question is simply which API fits best. Things worth checking, whichever provider you look at:

- **Which networks you can post to today**, not on the roadmap. Network access depends on each platform's approval.
- **REST or GraphQL**, and whether there's an OpenAPI spec you can generate a client from.
- **Multi-channel posts** in one request, or one request per channel.
- **Idempotency keys**, so a retried request never posts twice.
- **Webhooks** for published and failed posts, so you don't have to poll.
- **Price**, and whether API access needs a higher plan.

Our [12-point buyer's checklist for scheduling APIs](https://tesselith.com/blog/social-media-scheduling-api) goes deeper on each.

## Legacy Buffer endpoints mapped to Tesselith's API

If you're switching to [Tesselith's REST API](https://tesselith.com/docs/api), most legacy calls have a direct equivalent: one request can target many channels, and each channel has weekly posting slots, as in the legacy Buffer API.

| Legacy Buffer REST | Tesselith /v1 |
| --- | --- |
| `GET /1/profiles.json` | `GET /channels` |
| `POST /1/updates/create.json` with `profile_ids[]` | `POST /posts` with `channel_ids` |
| `scheduled_at` on create | `POST /posts/{id}/schedule` with `scheduled_at` |
| Add to queue (default) | `POST /posts/{id}/queue` |
| `top=true` | `POST /posts/{id}/queue` with `position: "next"` |
| `GET /1/profiles/{id}/updates/pending.json` | `GET /queue?channel_id=…` |
| `GET/POST /1/profiles/{id}/schedules` | `GET/PUT /channels/{id}/schedule` |
| `POST /1/updates/{id}/update.json` | `PATCH /posts/{id}` |
| `POST /1/updates/{id}/destroy.json` | `DELETE /posts/{id}` |
| `GET /1/updates/{id}/interactions.json` | `GET /analytics/posts/{id}` |
| Polling for sent updates | Webhooks: `post.published`, `post.failed` |

```bash
# Before: legacy Buffer
curl -X POST https://api.bufferapp.com/1/updates/create.json \
  -d access_token=$BUFFER_TOKEN \
  -d "profile_ids[]=PROFILE_ID" -d text="We just shipped dark mode"

# After: Tesselith (create, then queue)
curl -X POST https://api.tesselith.com/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TESSELITH_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: dark-mode-launch" \
  -d '{"body":"We just shipped dark mode","channel_ids":["CHANNEL_ID"]}'
curl -X POST https://api.tesselith.com/v1/posts/POST_ID/queue \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TESSELITH_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}'
```

There's no separate publish-now call; schedule the post a minute ahead instead. Errors follow RFC 9457 (`application/problem+json`) with a stable `code`, documented in the [error reference](https://tesselith.com/docs/api/errors).

## Be clear about the trade-offs

- **Networks:** Tesselith publishes to 7 networks today: Instagram, Facebook Pages, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and Telegram. X and LinkedIn are coming soon but not available yet. If your integration posts to X or LinkedIn, check that before you switch.
- **Plan:** the API, webhooks and MCP are on the Pro plan ($35 a month) and above.
- **Rate limits:** 120 to 600 requests a minute per key, depending on the plan.

If you're planning the move now, test against the November 11 brownout: anything still calling the legacy endpoints will fail that day, which shows you exactly what's left to migrate.

## Questions people ask

### Did Buffer shut down its API?

No. Buffer is retiring its legacy REST API on February 1, 2027, and replacing it with a GraphQL API that launched in May 2026. Code that uses the old REST endpoints has to be migrated before then.

### When does the Buffer legacy API stop working?

February 1, 2027. There are brownouts before that, on November 11, 2026 and December 9, 2026, when legacy requests will temporarily fail.

### Does Buffer's new API have an MCP server?

Yes. Buffer's new API ships with an MCP server, a CLI and managed OAuth.

### What's the best Buffer API alternative?

It depends on your networks and stack. If your users are on Buffer, migrate to Buffer's new API. For your own automation, compare REST vs GraphQL, multi-channel posts, idempotency, webhooks and which networks are live today. Tesselith offers a REST API with OpenAPI, multi-channel posts, idempotency keys and webhooks on the Pro plan.

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