Documentation version: 2026-09-21.1
Canonical: https://docs.creator.gg/guides/social-media.md

# Prepare images and videos for social posts

## Files, URLs and metadata
media_list discovers existing workspace files; follow offset pagination (limit at most 100). media_import imports a public HTTPS file URL into the library; it neither uploads a local file nor publishes a post. A URL must resolve to the actual authorized asset and remain available through publication. Local/private hosts and IP-literal URLs are rejected. Local files need upload through the Media screen in the connected Creators account, then another media_list read. Do not send local paths, data URLs, sharing-page HTML or private download URLs as media.

Supply the actual MIME type: image/jpeg, image/png, image/gif, video/mp4, video/quicktime or video/webm. MOV uses video/quicktime; the adapter translates it for storage. Renaming a file or changing its MIME string does not convert it. Destination rules narrow these accepted types; JPEG and MP4 are useful preparation defaults, not proof that a file is valid. Optional altText should describe the actual image; never fabricate visual details.

Inspect the real asset's byte size, width/height, aspect ratio and (for video) duration, encoding and frame rate before publication, using available local/media inspection tools or the account editor. No Creators tool currently probes those file properties or transcodes media. Preserve originals and create a separate derivative when resizing or transcoding is part of the user's request. If properties cannot be established, keep the draft and use the account editor's validation rather than claiming compatibility.

## Practical preparation profiles
Reviewed 20 September 2026. These deliberately conservative working profiles help prepare files; they are not universal platform maxima or extra fields in the tool schema. Creators does not inspect file bytes at draft creation. Destination/account validation remains authoritative. Use [Social workflow](https://docs.creator.gg/guides/social.md) for item counts and allowed post types.

| Destination | Image preparation | Video preparation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Facebook feed | JPEG/PNG, below 10 MB | MP4, below 1 GB, 1 second–240 minutes |
| Facebook Reel / Story | Story: JPEG below 4 MB; Reel needs video | MP4, 1080×1920; Reel 3–90 seconds, Story 3–60 seconds; below 1 GB |
| Instagram feed | JPEG/PNG below 8 MB, width:height 4:5–1.91:1 | MP4 below 100 MB, 3–60 seconds |
| Instagram Reel / Story | Story: JPEG below 8 MB; Reel needs video | MP4, 1080×1920, 3–60 seconds, below 100 MB |
| LinkedIn | JPEG/PNG below 8 MB, dimensions at most 6012×6012 | MP4 below 500 MB, 3 seconds–30 minutes |
| Google Business | JPEG/PNG below 5 MB, square 720×720–3000×3000 | Unsupported here |
| Pinterest | JPEG/PNG below 10 MB | MP4 below 1 GB, 4 seconds–5 minutes, portrait or square |
| TikTok | Unsupported here | MP4 below 1 GB, 1080×1920, 23–60 fps; 3–180 seconds personal, 3–600 seconds business |
| YouTube | Unsupported as a standalone post | MP4; 1080×1920 and at most 60 seconds is a conservative Short recipe, not YouTube's maximum |
| Threads | JPEG/PNG below 8 MB, width 320–1440px | MP4/MOV below 1 GB, up to 5 minutes; at most 20 images/videos combined |
| X | Prepare a small JPEG/PNG and confirm in Social Planner | Confirm current account/video eligibility in Social Planner |

For a first cross-network image, a 1080×1080 JPEG below 4 MB fits the image profiles above except video-only destinations. For a short vertical video, a 1080×1920 MP4 with H.264 video/AAC audio, 30 fps, 4–60 seconds and below 100 MB is a conservative preparation target for the supported vertical-video workflows. It still needs the correct per-network type, title/privacy settings, and account permissions. Avoid stretching or silently cropping important content; inspect the derivative.

The X integration's current media limits and YouTube long-form upload/account ceilings are not established by this agent contract. Use Social Planner's current validation for those cases. The existence of an old connected X profile does not prove new connections or publishing are currently available. Longer Shorts and larger Instagram Reels can have different destination limits; this guide's smaller recipe deliberately avoids treating inconsistent limits as supported maxima.

## Preview links and scheduled assets
Supported stored files can be returned as opaque https://mcp.creator.gg/assets/ links. They are access capabilities, expire after 24 hours and have an 8 MiB preview limit. That preview limit is not the social-upload limit. Large videos may be unavailable through the preview even when the stored asset is usable in Social Planner.

Reuse a current link as a Creators tool argument: the service resolves it to the durable stored object before saving/scheduling, so the preview expiry does not expire the saved post. Read the source record again to refresh expired links. Do not expose or try to decode their underlying storage location. External asset URLs must remain publicly fetchable at publication time; verify any expiry before scheduling. For durable sharing outside Creators tools, use your own published asset URL.

## Failure and recovery
A successful import or draft does not prove media acceptance. A URL returning HTML, unsupported codec, wrong dimensions, oversized file, expired link or unavailable account can fail later. Read the post's per-account errors, correct a separate media derivative or draft, and retain the original post/request IDs. Never reissue an uncertain publication under a new requestId. The [Recovery guide](https://docs.creator.gg/guides/recovery.md) explains reconciliation and branded error codes. Native editor optimization, thumbnail editing and local uploading are account UI capabilities, not implied MCP operations.