R1D4 Buffer API

February 1, 2018 | programming | python |

For Day 4 I started working with the Buffer API for OldPosts since ultimately I want the script to run once a day and add posts to my buffer.

The docs are great, and getting started with the API was straightforward. Luckily, they provide you with an access token so that you do not have to do an Oauth dance if you are making a “single user application”.

I used Postman to explore the Buffer API since its dead simple to make requests, and inspect results.

I used two API calls to make this happen. First I get a list of all profile ID’s that are connected to my buffer and use a “fancy” list comprehension to extract just the ID values.

def get_buffer_profiles():
    """
    Return list of all connected profile ID's in Buffer Account
    """
    profiles = requests.get("https://api.bufferapp.com/1/profiles.json?access_token={0}".format(os.environ['BUFFER_TOKEN']))
return [s['id'] for s in profiles.json()]

Next I pass in the text that I want to post for the update, create the update via the API, and move it to the top of the queue.

def create_buffer_update(update):
payload = {
    'profile_ids[]': get_buffer_profiles(),
    'text': update,
    'top': 'True'
}

response = requests.post("<a class="vglnk" href="https://api.bufferapp.com/1/updates/create.json?access_token={0}%22.format(os.environ[%27BUFFER_TOKEN%27])" rel="nofollow">https://api.bufferapp.com/1/updates/create.json?access_token={0}".format(os.environ['BUFFER_TOKEN'])</a>, data=payload)

return response.json()

It worked on the first try. I see posts added to the top of my buffer. Buffer Posts

Last step is to set up a CloudWatch event to kick off this Lambda job once a day. :)

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