Does the post automation rules engine expose a public REST API for integration?

Yes on Business and Teams. The REST API creates, updates, pauses, and triggers rules, plus queries run history and next-run timestamps. Useful for piping rule activity into a central operations dashboard. Outbound webhooks fire on rule start, completion, failure, and trigger events. Premium covers UI rules only here.

Which plan tier unlocks rule-based post automation and auto-republishing?

Premium at 11 EUR a month includes basic rules: scheduled triggers and simple post actions. Business at 39 EUR adds event triggers (engagement thresholds, tag added), auto-republishing, and cross-posting rules. Teams adds workspace-wide rule sharing, approval gates, and audit logs. Free has no rules engine but Smart Schedule works.

Can I bulk-import automation rules from a Zapier or Make.com export file?

Partially. Zapier and Make do not export to a standard format, but you can recreate each scenario in PostNext's visual rule builder one step at a time. Simple Zaps (trigger to action) translate in 5 to 10 minutes per rule. For complex multi-step Zaps with branching, AI agents may be a better fit than rules.

How does the rules engine handle GDPR-sensitive triggers and platform data?

Rules only access data the connected channels expose during OAuth: post engagement, schedule, and metadata. No DM read, no audience export, no email harvesting. Brand profile banned words apply to rule actions so an auto-reply never sends a banned phrase. Audit logs record every rule trigger, action, and outcome with timestamps.

Can I A/B test two automation rule variants on the same trigger condition?

Yes. Clone a rule, change the action (different caption template, target channel set, time delay), and route both variants at the same trigger. Tag outputs with the variant label and analytics groups them side by side. Promote the higher-engagement variant as default and archive the loser any time from the rule library.

Can automation rules run across multiple brand profiles in one workspace?

Yes on Business and Teams. A rule can target one brand profile or span several in the workspace. Useful for agencies running the same auto-republishing logic across multiple clients. Each brand profile's banned words and voice rules apply inside that profile. Audit logs track which brand profile each rule run touched.

How does the rules engine handle platform rate limits and posting throttling?

Rules respect each platform's posting rate limit: X 300 per 3 hours, Instagram 25 per day per account, TikTok 30 per day. When a rule exceeds the limit, the scheduler queues actions and spreads them across the next available windows. Smart Schedule picks the highest-engagement slot inside the queued window for throttled posts.

How do I migrate automation from IFTTT, Zapier, or Make.com into PostNext?

Map each Zap or scenario to a PostNext rule: trigger (schedule, event, webhook), action (post, cross-post, tag, republish), and conditions (engagement threshold, brand profile filter). The visual builder mirrors most no-code automation tools. Keep external-only triggers in Zapier or Make and call PostNext's webhook as the final step.

Recurring schedule triggers

Workflow Automation for Social - Triggers and Actions

Define triggers and actions: recurring posts, auto-tagging by category, cross-posting and republishing top performers.

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Operators using rule-based automation

Marcus Mitchell

"Recurring rules cover the Monday tip, the Friday round-up and the first-of-month product spotlight. The auto-republish rule on Instagram pushed a post that crossed 6,000 likes back out 30 days later and it cleared 3,000 again. About six hours a week back."

Emily Brooks

"Auto-tagging by caption keywords keeps the approval queue sorted by category, so the brand reviewer sees commercial drafts and the recruiter sees careers drafts. Cross-posting one source to six platforms with per-channel format rules is the part I rely on most."

Robert Turner

"Bulk CSV import plus recurring rules let us queue a 12-week retail campaign in one afternoon. Conditional cross-posting fires on the high-engagement posts so they get a second push on LinkedIn without anyone re-uploading."

Recurring schedule triggers

Schedule recurring posts on weekly or monthly intervals

Define the rule once and the queue refills itself: a Monday 08:00 industry tip, a first-of-month product round-up, a Tuesday-Thursday quote at 12:30. Rotate a pool of 12 captions.

Schedule weekly, monthly or custom-interval recurring posts at fixed times

Rotate through a pool of 12 caption variations in order or at random

Pause, edit cadence or swap variations without rebuilding the rule

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Schedule recurring posts on weekly or monthly intervals

Event-triggered actions

Auto-tag drafts by category and republish high performers

Auto-tag drafts by matching caption keywords (pricing tags commercial, hiring tags careers). Auto-republish: when a post passes 5,000 likes in 48h, queue a republish 30 days later.

Auto-tag drafts by matching caption keywords against category rules

Auto-republish posts that exceed engagement thresholds 30 days later

Audit log records each rule run, trigger condition and action result

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Auto-tag drafts by category and republish high performers

Cross-posting and repurposing

Cross-post to six platforms and repurpose blogs into posts

Distribute one source with format rules per channel: 1:1 Instagram, 9:16 TikTok and Reels, link-card LinkedIn, 280-char X. Repurpose a blog into five drafts: hook, key points, CTA.

Cross-post to six platforms with per-channel format and length rules

Repurpose one blog post into five social drafts ready for review

Bulk CSV import for scheduling 60+ posts across a campaign in one upload

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How rule-based automation works in four steps

Pick a trigger

Choose a schedule, an event (engagement threshold, draft saved) or a publish-completion hook.

Define the action

Set what runs: post, tag a draft, republish, repurpose a blog, cross-post or notify Slack.

Preview and activate

Dry-run the rule across the next seven days, inspect what it would create, then activate.

Review the audit log

Each run is logged with trigger, action and result. Pause, edit or duplicate from the dashboard.

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Workflow automation questions

How rule-based automation differs from AI Agents and what triggers and actions are supported.

How is rule-based automation different from AI Agents?

Rule-based automation runs deterministic trigger-to-action workflows: when X happens, do Y. AI Agents are LLM-generative — they draft captions. Rules decide when to post, tag or republish.

What triggers can I use?

Three families: schedule (every Monday 09:00, first of month, custom cron), event (engagement threshold, draft saved, tag added) and publish-completion (a blog post goes live).

What actions can a rule run?

Post to one of six platforms, cross-post with per-channel format rules, tag a draft, republish a high performer 30 days later, repurpose a blog into five drafts or send a Slack notification.

How does auto-tagging by category work?

Define a category and its keywords (commercial: pricing, plan, discount; careers: hiring, role, team). New drafts are scanned and tagged, then routed by tag to the right reviewer.

How does auto-republishing of high performers work?

Set a metric (likes, views, engagement rate), a threshold and a window (24h, 48h, 7 days). When a post crosses it, a republish is queued for a configurable delay (default 30 days).

How does cross-posting handle platform differences?

Per-platform format rules adjust caption length (280 on X), aspect ratio (1:1 Instagram, 9:16 Reels and TikTok), hashtag count and link handling. Define once, applied per channel.

How does repurposing a blog into five posts work?

Point a rule at a blog URL or publish-completion event. The action extracts headline, three key sentences and a CTA, then creates five drafts: hook, two key-points, quote pull, CTA.

Can I pause, edit or audit rules?

Yes. Each rule shows trigger, action, last run, next run and total runs. Pause keeps queued posts. Edit applies to future runs only. The audit log records each trigger and action result.

Replace repetitive clicks with deterministic rules

Free plan to test recurring rules, Premium at 11 EUR per month, Business at 39 EUR per month, Teams at 4 EUR per user per month. Seven-day trial on paid tiers.

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