Skip to the setup guide

Connect once. Publish from your tools.

Your first post, step by step.

Connect an account, validate a post without sending it, then publish when you are ready. Start in the dashboard to set up your publishing key and connections. Then authorize a hosted OAuth connector, or use the API-key paths for private GPT Actions, local MCP, and REST.

Start for $0 Already signed in? Open your dashboard

Prefer the raw guide? Markdown version

Start here

Start in the dashboard

Your first signed-in Free key gets one seven-day evaluation across every currently available destination, capped at 300 publishes for the whole window. Then the same key remains Free with 2 platform types and 100 publishes/month. No card and no automatic charge.

  1. Start for $0 and sign in

    Choose Start for $0. Create your account or sign in. Complete any email verification your sign-in screen requests.

  2. Keep your key and connections together

    Open Publishing setup. A new account's first Free key is created and selected automatically. Use Copy key to save it in your password manager before choosing I saved it; it is shown only until you dismiss or reload. Never paste the key into chat.

    The Publishing key dropdown shows the selected key and its connection count. Each key owns its connections and receipts. You do not need another key to connect another destination.

  3. Connect one destination

    Under Connect destinations for your selected key, choose an available destination. For OAuth, confirm the selected key in Social Fanout, then complete the provider's login and permission screens. Bluesky uses an App Password; Discord can use a webhook. Check the handle under Connected accounts for that same key when you return.

    For the guided first post, choose Threads, Bluesky, a Facebook Page, X, or Discord. Instagram and other media-specific flows use Quick publish instead. See destination requirements below.

  4. Validate without posting

    In Overview → Guided first publish, choose Open the private validator. Select one connected account, write a short link-free post, and choose Validate privately.

    This checks API authentication, routing, and plan access without sending to a social provider or consuming publish quota. It records a dry-run job; it is not proof of provider acceptance or native delivery.

  5. Approve the real post, then inspect it

    Review the exact account and text. Only when the account owner approves the real post, choose Publish to 1 destination and confirm the public publish. Changing the text or destinations requires validation again.

    Inspect each result in Posts, then open the native post link when available. Check the actual account and content on the destination. A queued, scheduled, or provider-accepted receipt is not verified native delivery.

Never retry successful targets. If a result is unclear, check Posts and the destination before retrying. A second request could otherwise create a duplicate post.

Per-user OAuth

Use the hosted OAuth connector

After dashboard setup, add https://socialfanout.com/mcp as a custom connector in a compatible MCP client and sign in to Social Fanout. Select one active key you own and approve the named OAuth client. The client is limited to that key's connected accounts and plan. It does not receive your API key or social-platform credentials.

Follow the hosted connector guide for the exact dry run, confirmation token, and approval steps before publishing. Review or revoke access in Dashboard → Authorized assistants.

OpenAI and Anthropic control their directories; listing availability remains subject to their review.

Your content, inside ChatGPT

Publish from ChatGPT

This section covers the legacy/private custom GPT with Actions path, not an ordinary ChatGPT chat. Actions must be available in your account and workspace. For the per-user OAuth MCP path intended for the shared ChatGPT/Codex directory, see the hosted connector guide; directory availability remains subject to OpenAI review.

  1. Create a private GPT

    Open the GPT editor, create or edit a GPT, and open Configure. Paste the secret-free GPT instructions into its Instructions field.

  2. Import the Action and set its key

    Under Actions → Create new action → Import from URL, import this Action schema: 

    https://socialfanout.com/downloads/socialfanout-chatgpt-action.openapi.json

    Set Authentication → API Key → Bearer. Enter the saved key from Publishing setup in that authentication field, never in Instructions or chat. Keep this GPT private; anyone allowed to use it can act through that key.

  3. Check the account, then validate

    In the Action editor, test listSocialFanoutPublishingConnections. Confirm the returned handle is the account connected to your selected key. An empty list means you should check the key and connection in Publishing setup.

    In the GPT preview, try:

    List my connected publishing accounts. Help me validate a short post to one account. Do not publish it.

    The GPT should show the account and call publishWithSocialFanout with dryRun: true. Inspect the result. Only then approve the exact final content, destination accounts, and timing for a live request with dryRun: false. Verify its receipt and native post as described above.

This key is not per-user OAuth. Keep the GPT private or restricted to authorized publishers. Rotate or revoke an exposed key in Social Fanout. Switching the dashboard's selected key does not change the key configured in your GPT.

OpenAI controls Action availability and workspace restrictions. Official GPT Actions setup guide.

Local MCP, hosted publishing

Publish from Claude Desktop

Install Social Fanout as a Claude Desktop extension. It runs on your computer and publishes through the accounts connected to your key. There is no configuration file to edit and no separate Node.js install.

Install in Claude Desktop Prefer to edit the configuration yourself?

Social Fanout extension 0.1.6 for Claude Desktop on macOS and Windows. SHA-256 2b32d64f481602683a8fbc206d8b4aa14850d1d03587ec31886975d9508e77b4

  1. Open the downloaded file

    Open socialfanout.mcpb. Claude Desktop shows an install screen for Social Fanout and runs the extension with the Node.js it ships with.

  2. Paste your key into the masked field

    Claude Desktop asks for your Social Fanout API key in a field marked sensitive, so the key never goes into chat or a file you edit. Use the key your accounts are connected to. The extension only connects to https://socialfanout.com, so there is no address to set. No key yet? Start for $0 and connect an account in the dashboard first.

  3. List, dry-run, then approve

    Ask Claude to list your connections, then dry-run the post with dryRun: true. Approve the exact text, account and time before any live publish. A dry-run receipt is not proof of native publication.

To check the download before you open it, compare its SHA-256 with the one above: run shasum -a 256 socialfanout.mcpb on macOS or Get-FileHash socialfanout.mcpb in Windows PowerShell. If you added Social Fanout to claude_desktop_config.json by hand earlier, remove that entry after installing so the tools do not appear twice. The extension works in Claude Desktop only. It does not add a connector to claude.ai on the web or on mobile.

Manual setup for Claude Desktop

This is a local mcpServers configuration, not a remote connector URL for claude.ai or ChatGPT. With Node.js 18 or newer and npm installed on your computer, add this entry to Claude Desktop's local MCP configuration: 

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "socialfanout": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "--package=https://socialfanout.com/downloads/socialfanout-mcp-0.1.6.tgz",
        "socialfanout-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FANOUT_API_KEY": "your-fanout-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

  1. Add your key; preserve your other tools

    Replace your-fanout-api-key with your saved key. Merge only the socialfanout entry into your existing mcpServers; do not overwrite other servers. Keep the key in private configuration, never in chat or source control.

  2. Restart Claude Desktop and list your connections

    Save the configuration and restart Claude Desktop. Ask it to use fanout_list_connections and show your connected accounts. This package connects to https://socialfanout.com by default; no local API server or source checkout is needed.

  3. Validate before approving a publish

    Check that the installed fanout_publish_post tool schema includes a boolean dryRun. Use dryRun: true for a no-send preflight. Omitted or false keeps live-publish behavior, so first obtain explicit approval of the exact content, account, and schedule. A dry-run receipt is not proof of native publication.

Do not use the older npm release (socialfanout-mcp version 0.1.1) for a no-send test: it does not support dryRun. The versioned 0.1.6 download above includes the fix and is also available on npm as socialfanout-mcp@0.1.6. If the field is absent, use only read tools or the REST/GPT Action dry-run flow, not the MCP publish tool.

Download the same MCP 0.1.6 package. Use the --package command on this page, or install the pinned npm version with npx -y socialfanout-mcp@0.1.6. Call fanout_publishing_capabilities before composing to read implemented formats, media limits, selectors and receipt behavior for your owned connections. It makes no provider requests; configuration readiness and stored health do not prove live account permission. Other local MCP clients can use the same command, arguments, and environment settings. A dashboard key switch does not update their configured key.

Claude Code and Cursor

Claude Code adds the same local server with one command. Replace your-fanout-api-key with your saved key before you run it: 

claude mcp add --env FANOUT_API_KEY=your-fanout-api-key --transport stdio socialfanout \
  -- npx -y --package=https://socialfanout.com/downloads/socialfanout-mcp-0.1.6.tgz socialfanout-mcp

In Cursor, add Social Fanout to Cursor, then open Cursor's MCP settings and replace your-fanout-api-key with your saved key. The link carries only that placeholder, never a real key.

Already installed an older version?

Your MCP client keeps running the package version it was first set up with, so an earlier setup (0.1.4, for example) stays on that version until you replace it. To move to 0.1.6:

A direct API request

Use the REST API

Send your API key as x-api-key or Authorization: Bearer. Replace the placeholders below with your private key and the exact connected account's ID. This example validates without posting: 

curl https://socialfanout.com/v1/publish \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: spk_..." \
  -d '{
    "accountId": "conn_...",
    "platform": "bluesky",
    "connectionId": "conn_...",
    "text": "Hello from Social Fanout",
    "mediaUrls": [],
    "dryRun": true
  }'

To fan out, use a targets array with up to 20 destinations. Pin each exact account with an object such as {"platform":"bluesky","accountId":"conn_..."}. Inspect each target's results entry and the summary; top-level ok is true only when every target succeeds.

Private validation records a job without calling a provider or consuming publish quota. Set dryRun to false only after the owner approves the exact content, accounts, and schedule. Never retry successful targets or treat a dry run as native proof. If you send an Idempotency-Key, use a separate key for validation and the approved live attempt. A cached key cannot switch between validation and live mode; the API rejects that conflict. Keep the live key and body unchanged while checking an unclear outcome; do not create a new attempt.

Download the secret-free Postman starter API reference (Markdown)

Destination availability

Connect only accounts you own or are authorized to use. Availability depends on provider approval, OAuth scopes, and account permissions. Check the live capability matrix before choosing a destination.

Limits are scoped to API keys. Paid checkout upgrades the exact customer-owned Free key selected before payment; the signed Stripe webhook completes the upgrade even if the browser never returns.