How to automate post on linkedin with javascript (without using any tools)

1. Introduction
2.  Create a LinkedIn Developer account and create an app
3. Authenticate and get an access token
4. Use the access token to make API requests to post updates
5. Use JavaScript to automate the process
6. Schedule the script to run at regular intervals
7. Conclusion

Introduction:

LinkedIn is a professional social network that allows users to connect with other professionals and businesses, share updates and content, and find job opportunities.

Many businesses and individuals use LinkedIn to promote their brand, share updates and content, and engage with their audience. If you want to automate the process of posting updates on LinkedIn, you can use the LinkedIn API and a programming language such as JavaScript. In this tutorial, we will show you how to automate posting on LinkedIn using the LinkedIn API and JavaScript.

We will cover the steps involved in creating a LinkedIn Developer account, authenticating and getting an access token, using the access token to make API requests to post updates, using JavaScript to automate the process, and scheduling the script to run at regular intervals.

By following these steps, you can automate the process of posting updates on LinkedIn using your own custom solution without relying on any third-party tools.

1. Create a LinkedIn Developer account and create an app to get the API key and secret.

2. Use the API key and secret to authenticate and get an access token. You will need to use the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework to get the access token.

To use the LinkedIn API to automate posting on LinkedIn, you need to authenticate and get an access token using the API key and secret. The access token is a temporary token that grants your app access to the LinkedIn API.

To authenticate and get an access token, you need to use the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework. OAuth 2.0 is an open standard for authorization that allows your app to obtain access to the LinkedIn API on behalf of a user.

To get an access token using OAuth 2.0, you need to follow these steps:

• Send the user to the LinkedIn login page to grant your app access to their LinkedIn account. You can do this by redirecting the user to the LinkedIn authorization URL with the API key and a redirect URI. The redirect URI is the URL where LinkedIn will redirect the user after they grant or deny access to your app.

• LinkedIn will display a login page to the user and ask them to grant access to your app. If the user grants access, LinkedIn will redirect them to the redirect URI with an authorization code.

• Your app can then exchange the authorization code for an access token by making a POST request to the LinkedIn token URL with the authorization code, API key, secret, and redirect URI.

• LinkedIn will return an access token in the response to the POST request. You can then use the access token to make API requests to the LinkedIn API on behalf of the user.

By using the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework to authenticate and get an access token, you can ensure that your app has the necessary permissions to access the LinkedIn API on behalf of the user.

3. Use the access token to make API requests to post updates on LinkedIn. You can use the “share” API to post updates, including text, links, and media.

Once you have authenticated and obtained an access token, you can use the access token to make API requests to the LinkedIn API. To automate posting on LinkedIn, you can use the “share” API to post updates, including text, links, and media.

The “share” API allows you to publish updates, including text, links, and media, to the LinkedIn feed on behalf of the user. You can use the “share” API to post updates, share articles and blog posts, and share multimedia content such as images and videos.

To use the “share” API to post updates, you need to make a POST request to the “ugcPosts” API endpoint with the access token in the Authorization header and the update text, links, and media in the request body. The request body should contain the update text, links, and media in the appropriate format, as specified in the LinkedIn API documentation.

For example, to post a text update on LinkedIn, you can make a POST request to the “ugcPosts” API endpoint with the access token in the Authorization header and the update text in the request body, like this:

async function postUpdate(accessToken, update) {
  const response = await fetch(
    "https://api.linkedin.com/v2/ugcPosts",
    {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        author: "urn:li:person:XXXXXXXXXX",
        lifecycleState: "PUBLISHED",
        specificContent: {
          "com.linkedin.ugc.ShareContent": {
            shareCommentary: {
              text: update.text,
            },
            shareMediaCategory: "NONE",
          },
        },
        visibility: {
          "com.linkedin.ugc.MemberNetworkVisibility": "PUBLIC",
        },
      }),
    }
  );

  return response.json();
}

This function makes a POST request to the “ugcPosts” API endpoint with the access token in the Authorization header and the update text in the request body.

You can then call this function whenever you want to post an update on LinkedIn.

const update = { text: "This is an automated update" };
const accessToken = "your_access_token";

postUpdate(accessToken, update)
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(error);
  });

4. Use JavaScript to automate the process of getting the access token and making API requests. You can use the fetch API in JavaScript to make HTTP requests to the LinkedIn API.

To get an access token, you’ll need to follow the OAuth 2.0 authorization flow provided by LinkedIn. This typically involves redirecting the user to LinkedIn’s authorization server, where they can grant your application permission to access their LinkedIn data. Once the user grants permission, LinkedIn will redirect the user back to your application with an authorization code. You can then exchange this authorization code for an access token by making a POST request to LinkedIn’s token endpoint.

Once you have an access token, you can use it to make API requests to LinkedIn’s APIs. One way to do this is by using the fetch API in JavaScript. The fetch API is a modern way to make HTTP requests and is supported by most modern browsers.

Here’s an example of how you might use the fetch API to make a GET request to the LinkedIn API to retrieve the user’s profile information:

fetch('https://api.linkedin.com/v2/me', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + access_token,
  },
})
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log(data);
  });

This example makes a GET request to the /me endpoint, which returns the authenticated user’s profile information. The Authorization header is used to pass the access token, which is required for all authenticated requests to the LinkedIn API.

5. Schedule the script to run at regular intervals using a task scheduler such as cron on Linux or the Task Scheduler on Windows.

A task scheduler is a tool that allows you to automate the execution of scripts or other tasks on your computer. With a task scheduler, you can specify a schedule for a task to run at regular intervals, such as daily, weekly, or monthly. This can be useful if you want to automate certain tasks, such as fetching data from an API or performing maintenance on your computer.

One common task scheduler is cron, which is available on many Linux and Unix-based systems. To schedule a task with cron, you can create a crontab file that specifies the schedule and the command to be executed. For example, to run a script called my_script.sh every day at midnight, you could add the following line to your crontab file:

0 0 * * * /path/to/my_script.sh

On Windows, you can use the Task Scheduler to schedule tasks. To create a new task, you can open the Task Scheduler, click on the “Create Basic Task” option in the Actions pane, and follow the prompts to specify the schedule and the action to be performed.

It’s important to note that LinkedIn has strict rules around automation and the use of third-party tools. Make sure to read and follow their developer guidelines to avoid any issues.

Here is an example of how you can use the fetch API in JavaScript to make a POST request to the LinkedIn “share” API:

async function postUpdate(accessToken, update) {
  const response = await fetch(
    "https://api.linkedin.com/v2/ugcPosts",
    {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        author: "urn:li:person:XXXXXXXXXX",
        lifecycleState: "PUBLISHED",
        specificContent: {
          "com.linkedin.ugc.ShareContent": {
            shareCommentary: {
              text: update.text,
            },
            shareMediaCategory: "NONE",
          },
        },
        visibility: {
          "com.linkedin.ugc.MemberNetworkVisibility": "PUBLIC",
        },
      }),
    }
  );

  return response.json();
}

This function makes a POST request to the “ugcPosts” API endpoint with the access token in the Authorization header and the update text in the request body.

You can then call this function whenever you want to post an update on LinkedIn.

const update = { text: "This is an automated update" };
const accessToken = "your_access_token";

postUpdate(accessToken, update)
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(response);
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(error);
  });

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Conclusion:

In this tutorial, we learned how to automate posting on LinkedIn using the LinkedIn API and JavaScript. We covered the steps involved in creating a LinkedIn Developer account, authenticating and getting an access token, using the access token to make API requests to post updates, using JavaScript to automate the process, and scheduling the script to run at regular intervals. By following these steps, you can automate the process of posting updates on LinkedIn using your own custom solution without relying on any third-party tools. However, it’s important to note that LinkedIn has strict rules around automation and the use of third-party tools, so make sure to read and follow their developer guidelines to avoid any issues.

If you have any questions related to this article, please consider connecting on LinkedIn – HighNitin