Pinterest is a search engine that looks like a social network, and its API treats a post accordingly: every pin needs a board, a title, a description and a link, and the image is fetched by Pinterest rather than uploaded. Preflight publishes pins through Pinterest's API v5, lists your boards live, and turns the first line of a post into the title the way Pinterest would show it.
| Pinterest through Preflight | What the API allows |
|---|---|
| Text limit | 800 characters |
| Media | Pictures only, 1 per post |
| Pictures | Up to 20 MB each |
| Video | Not accepted |
| Thread in one go | No |
| First comment | No |
| Alt text | Yes |
| Edit after publishing | No, the API has no edit |
| Delete from Preflight | Yes |
| Comments | Not available through the API |
| Figures reported | impressions, views, saves, likes, comments |
| Retention and traffic sources | No |
What goes out
One pin per post: a JPEG or PNG picture, a title of up to 100 characters, a description of up to 800, alt text, a link, and the board it goes on. The first line of the post's text is the title and the rest is the description, unless a title is set on its own, which keeps the same text usable on a network that has no title field. Video pins are not published through the API as Preflight uses it, so a video on a Pinterest target is refused.
Connecting an account
Connect with Pinterest. Preflight asks to read your account and boards, and to read and write pins; writing a pin also needs write access to boards, which Pinterest counts as a board change. Boards are fetched when you compose rather than cached, because they change often and a pin without a valid board is refused. A business account is not required, though Pinterest reports figures only where the account has them.
What is checked before publishing
A board must be chosen; a Pinterest target without one is refused. The title is measured against 100 characters and you are warned that Pinterest shows the first 100 and cuts the rest. The description, everything after the first line, is measured against 800. The picture must be an image, up to 20 MB, and only one; a second file is warned about as not sent. A video is refused because Pinterest takes none here. The checks are the same for a pin sent through the public API or the MCP server.
What the API will not do
A pin cannot be edited once published; it can be deleted from Preflight. Comments on a pin are not available through the API, and there is no first comment. Figures come back for impressions, pin clicks, saves, reactions and comments, in Pinterest's own words, and nothing is invented for the ones Pinterest does not report, such as shares and reach. Pinterest's test environment, which the API once encouraged, is no longer used; an account connected to it is asked to reconnect.
Why a board per pin
Pinterest files everything under a board and the API refuses a pin without one, which makes a scheduler's calendar a little different: the same picture to three boards is three pins, each its own target. Preflight treats it that way, with the board chosen per target, so a post to Pinterest and Instagram can keep one caption and still land on the right board. Pinterest is included on every plan at pricing.
Questions people ask
- Does Preflight schedule video pins?
- No. Preflight publishes image pins through Pinterest's API, and a video on a Pinterest target is refused before scheduling rather than failing afterwards.
- Where does the pin title come from?
- From the first line of the post, up to 100 characters, with the rest of the text as the description. You can set a separate title in the Pinterest options instead.
- Can I edit a pin after it is published?
- Not through the API. Preflight can delete a published pin; changing its title, description or board happens on Pinterest itself.