❓FAQs

Common Questions

How do I make a high-quality AI avatar?

My AI automation is repeating videos on the same topics, but I want more variety?

You may want to tweak the prompt so there's more variety in the video topics.

I generally don't want to make templates too complicated; however, most advanced automation builders will have a separate google sheet/airtable to track lists of topics/ideas that have already been covered, so that AI can analyze it and come up with different ideas.

Another approach is to have a long list of topics/ideas, stored in a google sheet/airtable, then randomly select one idea from the list, then AI writes a script about it.

How do I manually control the content in slideshows and carousels?

You have 2 options:

1. You can override the text and textToImagePrompt

  1. You can skip the AI creation step altogether. As long as you post to Tiktok/Instagram withmediaUrls as an array of JPG images, it will post as a carousel/slideshow.

How do I post to Instagram stories via Blotato API?

To publish Instagram stories through the Blotato API, simply pass the parameter mediaType in your HTTP request that publishes to Instagram, and set the value to story

Refer to the API documentation here, and scroll down to Instagram: https://help.blotato.com/api-reference/publish-post-v2-posts

After publishing via API, how do you retrieve the post URL?

It's on my roadmap to add an API endpoint that returns a post's status. If the post was published successfully, then it will return the post's URL. If a post failed publishing, then you would also see this error by retrieving the post's status. Many folks have requested this feature, so I plan to add it soon.

How do you get social analytics (views, likes, etc.) via API?

I'm not planning to add social analytics anytime soon, but many people have asked for this so it is on my roadmap. Personally, I don't heavily use analytics as a creator and have grown my following massively without it. But I understand this is particularly important if you're managing clients who need reporting.

How do I post to a LinkedIn page instead of personal LinkedIn?

If you're using a workflow automation tool, there's an additional option to post to your LinkedIn pages. Click "Add Option" and select "LinkedIn Page" from the dropdown. This allows you to specify which LinkedIn company page to post to, instead of your personal profile.

How do I post an Instagram 'story' instead of a 'reel'?

Open the Instagram publish node and add the option 'Media Type' and set it to 'Story'. Click "Add Option" in the Options section and select "Media Type" from the dropdown, then set the value to "Story".

Errors & Issues

How to troubleshoot API errors?

To troubleshoot Blotato API errors, check your "Failed" dashboard: https://my.blotato.com/failed

UPLOAD Step - Most Common Errors

Here are the most common reasons the UPLOAD step fails 👇

1) Wrong Blotato API Key:

  • check you've copied it correctly without whitespaces

  • check the blotato-api-key variable is populated correctly in the UPLOAD step

2) URL is empty:

  • check that the url you're passing in is NOT empty

  • if the url is empty, this is because your previous step did not finish creating your video/carousel, so you need to increase WAIT time and check you didn't run out of credits

PUBLISH Step - Most Common Errors

Here are the most common reasons the PUBLISH step fails 👇

1) Wrong Account ID

  • check you've copied the social account ID correctly

  • check that accountId variable in PUBLISH step is correctly populated with the value

2) Wrong Page ID

  • Facebook requires passing in Page ID, along with Account ID

  • Check you've copied Page ID correctly. There are 2 buttons "Copy Account ID" and "Copy Page ID.

3) Escape Multi-Line Paragraphs

  • if you have a long text with linebreaks, make sure it is escaped

  • in n8n, use the function toJsonString() like this:

"text": $("Prepare for Publish").item.json.final_text_long.toJsonString()

4) Invalid File Format

5) Invalid Video Dimensions

6) Brand New Account

  • Follow this playbook to warm up your social media accounts properly, it makes a huge difference: ​https://help.blotato.com/platforms/tiktok/brand-new-accounts

  • Don't connect 3rd party apps like Blotato until your account is warmed up. Otherwise, you'll be flagged as a bot.

  • Error messages like reached_active_user_cap are due to new accounts, not properly warmed up.

CREATE FACELESS VIDEO Step - Most Common Errors

Here are the most common reasons the CREATE FACELESS VIDEO step fails 👇

1) Wrong Blotato API Key:

  • check you've copied it correctly without whitespaces

  • check the blotato-api-key variable is populated correctly in the UPLOAD step

2) You Ran Out Of AI Credits:

  • go to Settings to check if you have enough credits

3) Wrong Template Parameters:

  • Blotato API offers multiple video templates.

  • Each template has a different set of parameters, so check what you're passing in.

4) Missing AI Voice

  • "POV" template doesn't include AI voice because that's not the style of viral POV videos

  • To get AI voiceover, use the template ID empty

CREATE CAROUSEL/SLIDESHOW Step - Most Common Errors

Here are the most common reasons the CREATE CAROUSEL/SLIDESHOW step fails 👇

1) Wrong Blotato API Key:

  • check you've copied it correctly without whitespaces

  • check the blotato-api-key variable is populated correctly in the UPLOAD step

2) You Ran Out Of AI Credits:

  • go to Settings to check if you have enough credits

3) Wrong Template Parameters:

  • Blotato API offers multiple video templates.

  • Each template has a different set of parameters, so check what you're passing in.

4) Missing Music

  • You can now add music to Tiktok slideshows. In the PUBLISH TO TIKTOK step, add the parameter autoAddMusic: true (Blotato API docs here)

CREATE HEYGEN AVATAR VIDEO Step - Most Common Errors

Here are the most common reasons the CREATE HEYGEN AVATAR VIDEO step fails 👇

1) Wrong Heygen API Key and IDs:

  • check you've copied it correctly without whitespaces

  • check you've copied the HEYGEN AVATAR ID, not the Heygen Avatar GROUP ID

2) You're On Heygen Free Plan

  • HeyGen API requires you to pay for its $99/mo API plan. The Free API plan won't work.

3) Your Avatar Has a Background

  • if you want to use your avatar's default background, NOT a green screen, you'll need to update CREATE AVATAR VIDEO step

  • set matting to false

  • remove the section background

4) Increase Wait Time

  • Avatar videos take awhile to make, so I recommend testing with a short script (1 sentence)

  • When you increase the length of the script, increase the WAIT time accordingly

How Do I Fix Invalid JSON Error?

How to fix invalid JSON:

1) Check your JSON is valid with this free tool: https://jsonlint.com

2) Copy and paste the following prompt into ChatGPT to compare your JSON with Blotato's API docs: ​

I need help fixing my JSON request to Blotato API.

Here's Blotato API docs: https://help.blotato.com/api-reference ​ Here's my JSON request:

<insert_your_json>

API Error: "The service is receiving too many requests from you"

This API error means you are calling the Blotato API too fast.

The Blotato API has a rate limit to prevent spamming and abusing social media endpoints, which helps keep Blotato's integration in good standing with the social platforms.

The Upload Media endpoint has a user-level rate limit of 10 requests per minute.

The Publish Post endpoint has a user-level rate limit of 30 requests per minute.

API Error: "The aspect ratio is not supported"

This API error means the video you're trying to upload is not an aspect ratio supported by the platform.

For example, a video with dimensions 2160x2880 is 3:4. But the only supported Instagram formats are 1:1, 4:5, 1.91:1, 9:16 (as an example).

Seeing error 400 "body/template/id must be equal to constant"?

This error means you need to pass in a template object and id. For example, when generating a video through Blotato API, try this from the examples:

{
    "script": "you wake up as a pharaoh",
    "style": "cinematic",
    "template": {
        "id": "base/pov/wake-up"
    }
}

I'm making faceless videos via API but GET VIDEO node returns an empty/null mediaURL?

If your GET VIDEO node returns a null or empty mediaUrl, typically the issue is: 1. Your video is not yet done being created. Increase wait time. 2. You ran out of Blotato AI credits, so the video could not finish.

Seeing error "Error uploading video to Tiktok: Please review our URL ownership verification rules"?

This error means you're trying to post to Tiktok with a URL that Tiktok rejects.

First, upload your media, then use the Blotato URL to post to Tiktok.

Here's a sample Blotato video URL to test it out:

https://database.blotato.io/storage/v1/object/public/public_media/4ddd33eb-e811-4ab5-93e1-2cd0b7e8fb3f/videogen-4c61a730-7eb2-47e9-a3a3-524740a1b877.mp4

API posting succeeded, but you don't see the uploaded video?

When posting via Blotato API, if it returns postSubmissionId, that means your post successfully joined the publishing queue. However, your post may still be rejected by the social platform (e.g. incorrect format or too many posts from you), in which case you'll see it in your Failed Posts dashboard.

​Seeing error "Tiktok post failed to publish: Tiktok's servers may be experiencing issues. This is a retryable error"?

This error is directly from Tiktok. It happens occasionally when Tiktok servers have an issue, failed to process your post, or you are posting too much.

Seeing error "Threads API Feature Not Available: This user does not have access to this Threads API feature"?

This error occurs when trying to connect Threads to Blotato. To fix this:

  1. Link Instagram Account: You need to have a linked Instagram account to connect Threads to Blotato.

  2. Warm Up Your Account: Ensure your Threads account is warmed up for a few days with posts before connecting to Blotato.

422 Invalid URL

Go to your API Dashboard and click on the failed /media request: https://my.blotato.com/api-dashboard

Copy/paste the URL you sent and make sure it's publicly accessible in an incognito browser.

If you're generating video and the URL is empty:

  • The video is not done yet, so either:

    1. Increase the WAIT time so the video has enough time to finish

    2. Check that you didn't run out of credits

If you're uploading from Google Drive:

  • Make sure you're using the correct format: https://help.blotato.com/api/api-reference/upload-media-v2-media#upload-google-drive

"A media upload for this URL is already in progress, please wait 20000 seconds and try again"

This means you tried to upload the same media within 20 seconds, but Blotato is still processing your first request. Please wait a few moments to try uploading the same media again.

"Could not upload video to Facebook: (#100) The global id xxxxxxx is not allowed for this call"

Your Facebook Page ID is incorrect. I recommend using the n8n/Make official Blotato nodes. 10x easier because you no longer need to copy/paste keys, IDs, or code around.

Check out this tutorial and template: https://help.blotato.com/api/n8n/n8n-basics

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