Post to Bluesky from Claude Code

From the terminal, a Bluesky post is one call with its text checked in two units, and an AT-URI comes back to write to a file.

Hermoso is a marketing MCP server: 850+ tools over one OAuth’d endpoint that let an agent research the ads already running in a market, generate finished image and video ads, publish them, and build the paid campaigns behind them. Claude Code reaches all of it through one connection. This page is about one slice of that — what Claude Code can actually do on Bluesky, and what Bluesky will not let it do.

Connect Hermoso to Claude Code

  1. One command, and no key.
    claude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso
    Already inside a session? Type /plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso, then /plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs four Hermoso skills (research, ad-from-brand, generate, product-photoshoot) that run the hermoso command through npx, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions and nothing costs context until it runs.
  2. Sign in once.
    npx -y hermoso auth login
    It opens a browser sign-in on loopback, the way gh does, and stores an owner-only credential in ~/.hermoso/config.json. Claude Code runs it for you the first time it needs Hermoso. No browser on that machine, say CI, a remote box or a container? Create a key under MCP & CLI → Terminal & API keys and run npx -y hermoso auth login --token hmk_…. A key carries real spend authority, so treat it like a password.
  3. Optional: the MCP server as well. If you also want Hermoso’s tools in Claude Code’s own tool list, run claude mcp add hermoso -- npx -y hermoso mcp after signing in. It reads the same stored credential, so no key goes into .claude.json. The skills reach every tool without it.
  4. Ask Claude Code for something. “Pull my three closest competitors’ longest-running ads and remix the best hook into a 9:16 video,” or “post this render to the channel.” The agent picks the tools; you approve the spend.

The plugin and the optional MCP server reach the same tools and the same account. The difference is context: a tool list is loaded into every session before you type anything, while the skills cost nothing until a command runs.

Then connect Bluesky itself, once, under Settings → Connectors in Hermoso, with your handle and a Bluesky app password. There is no consent screen: the app password is made in Bluesky’s own settings, and it can be revoked there without touching your real password.

The Bluesky tools Claude Code gets

  • post_to_bluesky — publishes a post as the connected account: up to 300 characters, with up to four images and alt text, or one MP4 video with optional caption tracks. A link with no media gets a preview card, which Hermoso builds because Bluesky does not fetch one.
  • schedule_post — queues it on the calendar every other channel shares, with the 300-character cap checked when it is queued rather than when it fires.
  • list_bluesky_posts — the account’s own recent posts with their AT-URIs and live counts, marking reposts so someone else’s post is never read as yours.
  • bluesky_post_metrics / bluesky_account — likes, reposts, replies, quotes and bookmarks per post, and followers, following and post count for your account or any public one.
  • list_bluesky_convos / read_bluesky_dm / send_bluesky_dm — read and answer direct messages, including message requests from people the account does not follow.
  • manage_bluesky_convo / react_to_bluesky_dm / mark_bluesky_convo_read — accept a request, mute, lock or leave a conversation, react with one emoji, and clear unread counts.
  • delete_bluesky_post — removes a post, after a first call that deletes nothing and reads back what would go.

Bluesky connects with an app password rather than a sign-in screen: create one in Bluesky’s settings and paste it with the handle under Settings → Connectors. Tick direct-message access when you create it, or the DM tools will tell you the password cannot chat, which is a property of the password and not a broken connection. Two more Bluesky rules Hermoso checks before sending: a video needs a confirmed email on the Bluesky account, and a link card and an image cannot share a post. Publishing costs no credits, because Bluesky charges nothing per call.

Bluesky limits worth knowing before you automate anything

TextA Bluesky post is capped at 300 characters and, separately, at 3,000 bytes, so an emoji-heavy post can be under 300 characters and still too long. It is enforced when the post is created or queued — refused while you are still there to fix it, rather than silently cut on the way out.
VisibilityPublic only. A Bluesky post is a public record on the AT Protocol, and there is no unlisted, private or draft form of one. The review happens before the call, never after it.
Carousel2 to 4 images, images only. Four is Bluesky’s own number, from the AT Protocol lexicon for an image embed, and a fifth is refused rather than dropped. A video is a different embed that carries exactly one clip, and a post has a single embed, so a Bluesky post is images, one video or a link card: one of the three.
Which accountNone, unless the brand has connected more than one Bluesky account. Then account names which, and several with none named is refused by name rather than guessed.

Try it in Claude Code

Ask for it in ordinary language — these are sentences, not a DSL:

“Post the release note in ./notes/bluesky.txt to Bluesky with the two screenshots in ./assets as images with alt text, and append the post’s AT-URI to ./out/posts.log.”

That walks get_brandgenerate_imagepost_to_blueskybluesky_post_metrics. Claude Code asks before it runs a tool, and the transcript is right there in the terminal — so a publish step is a line you can read before you press y.

Claude Code on Bluesky: the part that bites

Keep the AT-URI. bluesky_post_metrics and delete_bluesky_post both address a post by its at:// URI, not its bsky.app link, and a script that kept only the web URL has to go back through list_bluesky_posts to find it. The numbers you read later are counts only: likes, reposts, replies, quotes and bookmarks. Bluesky publishes no impressions anywhere in its protocol, so there is no engagement rate to compute, and a report that shows one invented it.

The plugin carries no tool manifest, which matters most on a long unattended run: the agent shells out to the hermoso command per step, and --json on any command gives it machine output to assert on.

Research Bluesky before you post

There is no Bluesky ad library and no Bluesky search in Hermoso, so competitor research there comes down to one honest thing: bluesky_account reads any public account’s followers, following and post count, which is enough to size a competitor and chart it week by week. Everything else in the research surface (the Meta, Google and LinkedIn ad libraries, organic TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit and Threads) is unaffected.

The paid half

There is no Bluesky ads product in Hermoso, and we do not imply one. Bluesky here is organic: publish, schedule, read, reply and measure. The paid tools cover Meta, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Reddit Ads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X Ads, TikTok Ads, Snapchat Ads, ChatGPT Ads and Apple Search Ads.

What Claude Code cannot do on its own

An agent with a budget is only useful if the blast radius is bounded, so the fence is in the server rather than in a prompt. Every ad campaign, ad set, ad group and ad is created paused, and the status switches that arm real money refuse to run without an explicit confirmation flag. Every render is quoted first — hermoso_capabilities publishes each model’s exact credit cost before anything spends — and credits are reserved before the first provider call and settled at the exact cost afterwards, so a failed dispatch refunds rather than leaving you billed for nothing. Deletes are confirm-gated too, and every campaign tree is read back from the ad platform before your agent tells you what it built.

One step is deliberately yours: creating the Bluesky app password and connecting it once. Everything after that is a tool call.

The rest of the matrix

From Claude Code, post to: Facebook · Instagram · Threads · TikTok · YouTube · X · LinkedIn · Pinterest · Telegram — or see everything Claude Code can publish to.

Post to Bluesky from: Claude · ChatGPT · Cursor · Codex · Cline · OpenClaw · Grok Bot · Hermes · Gemini CLI · Perplexity · Le Chat · Claude Code marketing

Frequently asked questions

Can Claude Code post to Bluesky?

Yes, with Hermoso's Claude Code plugin. One command: claude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso, or inside a session /plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso then /plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs four Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso CLI, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions. Sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login, which opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. Claude Code then has 850+ tools, including the ones that publish to Bluesky — and the ones that research the ads already running in your market and render the creative in the first place.

How do I connect Bluesky to Claude Code?

Two steps, once each. One command: claude plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso && claude plugin install hermoso@hermoso, or inside a session /plugin marketplace add hermoso-ai/hermoso then /plugin install hermoso@hermoso. It installs four Hermoso skills that drive the hermoso CLI, so no tool list is loaded into your sessions. Sign in once with npx -y hermoso auth login, which opens a browser and stores the credential itself, so there is no key to create and none to paste. Then create an app password in Bluesky's settings (tick direct-message access if you want the DM tools) and paste it with your handle under Settings → Connectors in Hermoso. After that Claude Code publishes to Bluesky as an ordinary tool call.

Can Claude Code post privately or as a draft to Bluesky?

No. A Bluesky post is a public record on the AT Protocol, with no unlisted, private or draft form, so the review belongs before the call. Hermoso refuses a visibility Bluesky cannot honour at the moment you ask for it, rather than quietly publishing something weaker.

What does it cost to post to Bluesky from Claude Code?

Publishing to Bluesky costs no credits; Bluesky charges nothing per call. Credits are spent on generating the creative. Plans are $19, $49 and $149 a month for 1,000, 3,000 and 10,000 credits, and every feature is on every plan including Free — the only exception is enterprise SSO.

Start free — 30 credits at signup and 250+ more to earn, and every feature on every plan. Credits are spent only on AI models and Ad Spy research; posting, scheduling, ads management and analytics are free.

Start free   See pricing