Social Media API Rate Limits: Complete 2026 Developer Reference for 9 Platforms

## Understanding Social Media API Rate Limits & Token Lifecycles Building resilient social publishing workflows requires understanding how official platform APIs enforce rate limits, handle authentication tokens, and validate media payloads. --- ### Core Engineering Principles for Multi-Platform APIs 1. **Token Refresh Lifecycles**: OAuth 2.0 access tokens expire at varying intervals (typically 1 hour to 60 days). Maintain an automated background worker to exchange refresh tokens before expiration. 2. **Backoff and Retry (HTTP 429)**: When receiving HTTP 429 Too Many Requests, parse the `Retry-After` header and apply exponential backoff with random jitter. 3. **Staggered Queue Scheduling**: Avoid bursting multiple posts simultaneously across platforms. ESER AI queues content into discrete calendar slots with platform-specific buffer delays. 4. **Media Pre-Validation**: Validate aspect ratios (9:16 for Reels/Shorts/TikTok, 1:1 or 4:5 for feed posts) and file size constraints locally before initiating provider upload requests.