How to post to Facebook from Gemini CLI
Gemini CLI handles the repetitive Page schedule: the same weekly slots, filled from a file, with links that turn into preview cards.
How do I post to Facebook from Gemini CLI?
Add the planpo.st MCP server to Gemini CLI, connect Facebook once in the dashboard, then ask. The first three steps are one-time.
- 1
Create an API key and add planpo.st to Gemini CLI
Make a scoped key in planpo.st under Settings. Add a planpost entry under mcpServers in settings.json, in ~/.gemini globally or .gemini in a project. For the hosted server the key is httpUrl, not url. The local entry runs npx -y planpost-mcp with the key in env.
- 2
Confirm the server is connected
Run /mcp inside Gemini CLI and check that planpost is listed with its tools.
- 3
Connect Facebook
Connect a Facebook Page in the dashboard under Connections. planpo.st publishes to Pages; each Page is one connection, and the agent can produce the connect URL with get_connection_link.
- 4
Know what the post needs
A Facebook post needs text and nothing else. The limit is 63,206 characters, media is optional and no platformSettings are required.
- 5
Ask in your terminal
Say what to post and when. Gemini CLI finds the Facebook connection, creates the post, and tells you whether it was scheduled or kept as a draft, with the reason.
{
"mcpServers": {
"planpost": {
"httpUrl": "https://mcp.planpo.st/mcp",
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer pk_live_xxx" },
"timeout": 10000
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"planpost": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "planpost-mcp"],
"env": { "PLANPOST_API_KEY": "pk_live_xxx" }
}
}
}Config location: Global: ~/.gemini/settings.json · Per project: .gemini/settings.json. Replace pk_live_xxx with your own key.
Hosted or local for Gemini CLI?
For Gemini CLI either works, and local removes the one trap. The hosted entry must use httpUrl, and a url key is ignored without a word. The local npx entry has no such key to get wrong and needs Node 18 or newer.
- Gemini CLI uses httpUrl for streamable HTTP, not url. The wrong key is a silent no-op.
The full walkthrough is on the Gemini CLI setup page.
What can Gemini CLI do on Facebook?
It can publish text posts with a link preview, single photos, multi-photo posts, videos and Reels to a Page, and it can leave a post unpublished as a draft on the Page. It cannot post to a personal profile or publish Facebook Stories.
Text and link
A text post. The first URL in it is attached as the link, which is what makes Facebook draw the preview card.
Photos
One image is a photo post, several are a multi-photo post.
Video or Reel
postType "reel" publishes a Reel. A portrait video of 180 seconds or less is routed to Reels as well.
Draft on the Page
optionalpublishAsDraft creates the post unpublished, for someone to review and publish inside Facebook.
Attachments are optional on Facebook. When a post should carry one, Gemini CLI can take it from disk: it calls upload_media for a presigned URL, PUTs the file there with a shell command, and passes the returned asset into create_post. Files already uploaded come back from list_media, ready to reuse.
Which settings does a Facebook post take?
Facebook reads two settings, both optional. Which Page receives the post is decided by the connection, not by a setting.
| Field | Allowed values | If you leave it out | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| platformSettings.facebook.publishAsDraft | true or false | false, published live | true creates the post unpublished on the Page. It stays there until someone publishes it in Facebook. |
| platformSettings.facebook.isReel | true or false | Set from postType | postType "reel" or "short" sets it. A portrait video up to 180 seconds becomes a Reel without it. |
| postType | "post" or "reel" | "post" | "story" is accepted with a Facebook connection and has no Story publisher behind it, so do not use it for Facebook. |
| platformSettings.facebook.pageId | Not read | The connection's Page | Pick the Page with connectionIds. One connection is one Page. |
| platformContent.facebook | Text, 63,206 characters or fewer | The shared content | In practice the limit is never the problem. |
| media, platformMedia.facebook | Images, or one video | Text post | The first attachment decides the kind of post. With a video first, only that video is used. |
What do I type to post to Facebook from Gemini CLI?
Plain requests work. Each example lists the tool calls Gemini CLI makes in response.
1. Page post with a preview card
You say
Read content-plan.md. Write a short Facebook Page post about it with the link to the full write-up, and schedule it for tomorrow 08:30.
Tool calls
create_post({ content: "<two or three sentences> https://...", connectionIds: ["<page id>"], schedule: "tomorrow 08:30" })A scheduled text post. At publish the first URL is attached as the link, so the Page shows the preview card and the link is tracked.
2. Leave it as a draft on the Page
You say
Go through ideas.csv. Prepare a Facebook post from it for the client's Page, but as an unpublished draft there. They want to press publish themselves.
Tool calls
create_post({ content: "<post text>", platformSettings: { facebook: { publishAsDraft: true } }, connectionIds: ["<client page id>"], schedule: "today 15:00" })At 15:00 the post is created on the Page as a draft, not shown to followers. The client finds it in the Page's own tools.
3. A photo set
You say
The file is ~/Pictures/cover.jpg. Add the three other photos from the same shoot in my library and publish them together on the Page on Saturday 10:00.
Tool calls
upload_media({ filename: "cover.jpg", contentType: "image/jpeg", size: <bytes> })
PUT <file> to the returned URL (shell)
list_media({ type: "image" })
create_post({ content: "<caption>", media: [<4 images>], connectionIds: ["<page id>"], schedule: "saturday 10:00" })One multi-photo post. list_media returns items already shaped for the media array, so they pass straight through.
What stops a Facebook post from Gemini CLI?
The tag on a card is the code that comes back in the tool result.
Pages only
The publisher posts to the Page behind the connection. Personal profiles and groups are not targets.
No Facebook Stories
Stories are published for Instagram. A Facebook connection has no Story path, so a "story" post would go out as an ordinary photo or video.
The first URL becomes the card
In a text post the first link is the one Facebook previews. Put the link you care about first, or keep it to one.
Vertical video goes to Reels
Portrait video of 180 seconds or less is sent as a Reel even with post type "post". Landscape video stays a regular video post.
One video per post
When the first attachment is a video, the rest are ignored. Photos and video do not mix in one post.
63,206 characters
char_limitThe check exists and you will not hit it by accident.
httpUrl, not url
Gemini CLIGemini CLI uses httpUrl for streamable HTTP servers and ignores a url key without an error. If the tools never show up, look at that one word first. I lost twenty minutes to it.
Can Gemini CLI tell me what a Facebook post earned?
Yes. Links in Facebook posts are clickable and the first one becomes the preview card, so a tracked link gets clicks that payments can be matched to. get_revenue_overview returns the totals and recent transactions. Pages that sell physical products tend to have Shopify behind them, and that is the integration I would connect first.
Gemini CLI and Facebook: questions people ask
- Can it post to my personal Facebook profile?
- No. It publishes to Facebook Pages. Each connected Page has its own connection ID.
- What does publishAsDraft do?
- It creates the post on the Page unpublished. Nobody sees it until someone publishes it from Facebook's own tools, which suits a client who wants the last click.
- What happens when Gemini CLI sends a Facebook post that breaks a rule?
- It is told at once. The usual case on Facebook is a Page whose connection has lapsed: the post is kept as a draft and the tool result carries connection_inactive plus the fix, which Gemini CLI applies with update_post.
- Why does Gemini CLI not see the planpo.st tools?
- Most often the hosted entry says url where Gemini CLI expects httpUrl, and the wrong key is ignored silently. Fix the key, restart, and the Facebook tools appear. The local npx entry avoids the question.
- Can I rerun the same prompt every week?
- Yes, and it is what this pairing is good at. Keep the prompt in a file next to the plan it reads, and run it on Monday to fill the Facebook schedule.
Keep going
Facebook from other agents
Other networks from Gemini CLI