Posting¶

Basic post¶

taibai post "Hello, fediverse!"

The URL of the new status is printed on success:

Posted: https://mastodon.social/@youruser/109031952222346765

Reading from a file¶

Use --file to read the status text from a file instead of passing it on the command line. This is useful for longer posts composed in an editor.

taibai post --file draft.txt

--file is mutually exclusive with a positional text argument.

Reading from stdin¶

Pass - as the text argument to read from standard input:

echo "Hello from a script." | taibai post -

Multi-line posts using a here-document:

taibai post - <<'EOF'
Line one.
Line two.
Line three.
EOF

Visibility¶

Control who can see the post with --visibility / -v.

Value	Meaning
`public`	Visible to everyone; appears in public timelines (default)
`unlisted`	Visible to everyone; does not appear in public timelines
`private`	Visible to followers only
`direct`	Visible only to mentioned accounts

taibai post "A quiet thought." --visibility unlisted
taibai post "Just for followers." -v private
taibai post "@friend@example.com Hey, DM!" -v direct

Content warnings¶

Add a subject line / content warning with --cw. Followers see the warning and can choose whether to expand the post.

taibai post "The twist is revealed in chapter 12." --cw "Spoilers for The Book"

Media attachments¶

Attach images, videos, or audio files with --attach. The flag is repeatable; servers typically enforce a maximum of four attachments per post.

taibai post "Look at this!" --attach photo.jpg

Attach multiple files:

taibai post "A trip in photos." \
  --attach monday.jpg \
  --attach tuesday.jpg \
  --attach wednesday.jpg

Alt text¶

Pair each --attach with --alt-text in the same positional order to provide accessibility descriptions:

taibai post "Sunset over the sea." \
  --attach sunset.jpg \
  --alt-text "Orange and pink sky reflected in calm water at dusk."

When attaching multiple files, each --alt-text corresponds to the --attach at the same position:

taibai post "Before and after." \
  --attach before.png --alt-text "Empty room with bare walls." \
  --attach after.png  --alt-text "Same room, now furnished and painted."

Sensitive media¶

Mark all attached media as sensitive with --sensitive. Viewers must opt in to see the content:

taibai post "CW: flashing lights." \
  --attach video.mp4 \
  --sensitive

Note — polls and attachments are mutually exclusive

The Mastodon API does not allow a post to contain both a poll and media attachments. If both --poll-option and --attach are supplied, taibai exits with an error before contacting the server.

Polls¶

Add a poll with one or more --poll-option flags (minimum 2, maximum 4 options):

taibai post "Favourite season?" \
  --poll-option "Spring" \
  --poll-option "Summer" \
  --poll-option "Autumn" \
  --poll-option "Winter"

Poll duration¶

--poll-expires sets the poll duration in seconds. The default is 86 400 seconds (24 hours). The minimum is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

taibai post "Quick vote — tabs or spaces?" \
  --poll-option "Tabs" \
  --poll-option "Spaces" \
  --poll-expires 3600

Multiple-choice polls¶

Allow voters to select more than one option with --poll-multiple:

taibai post "Which do you use?" \
  --poll-option "Mastodon" \
  --poll-option "Pleroma" \
  --poll-option "GotoSocial" \
  --poll-multiple

Hidden totals¶

Hide vote counts until the poll closes with --poll-hide-totals:

taibai post "Blind taste test — A or B?" \
  --poll-option "A" \
  --poll-option "B" \
  --poll-hide-totals

Replies¶

Use --reply-to to make a post a reply to an existing status. Pass the status URL or bare ID:

taibai post "Great point!" --reply-to 109031952222346765
taibai post "Great point!" --reply-to https://mastodon.social/@user/109031952222346765

Building a thread manually¶

Combine --reply-to with --json | jq to chain posts into a thread. Each reply captures the ID of the previous post and uses it as the parent:

# Post the opening toot and capture its ID
ID=$(taibai post "1/3 — Starting a thread." --json | jq -r '.id')

# Reply to it
ID=$(taibai post "2/3 — Continuing the thread." --reply-to "$ID" --json | jq -r '.id')

# Continue the chain
taibai post "3/3 — Wrapping up." --reply-to "$ID"

Each --json | jq -r '.id' captures the ID of the post just made, so the next post becomes a reply in the same thread. Extend the pattern for as many posts as you need.

Posting a thread from a file¶

For longer threads composed in an editor, use the thread command to post an entire thread from a single formatted file:

taibai thread my-announcement.thread

See the Posting Threads page for the file format and all options.

JSON output¶

Pass --json to dump the posted status as JSON instead of printing its URL. Only fields that have a value are included. Useful for scripting or capturing the new status ID:

taibai post "Hello" --json
taibai post "Hello" --json | jq '.id'

Complete options reference¶

Option	Short	Default	Description
`TEXT`	—	—	Status text; use `-` to read from stdin
`--file`	—	—	Read status text from a file (exclusive with `TEXT`)
`--visibility`	`-v`	`public`	Visibility: `public`, `unlisted`, `private`, or `direct`
`--cw`	—	—	Content warning / subject line
`--attach`	—	—	Media file to attach (repeatable)
`--alt-text`	—	—	Alt text paired positionally with `--attach` (repeatable)
`--sensitive`	—	off	Mark attached media as sensitive
`--poll-option`	—	—	Poll option (repeatable; min 2, max 4)
`--poll-expires`	—	`86400`	Poll duration in seconds (min 300)
`--poll-multiple`	—	off	Allow multiple selections in a poll
`--poll-hide-totals`	—	off	Hide vote totals until poll closes
`--reply-to`	—	—	Reply to this status URL or ID
`--json`	—	off	Dump the posted status as JSON instead of printing its URL
`--profile`	`-p`	`default`	Profile name (`TAIBAI_PROFILE` env var)