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config/_default/menus.yaml

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 main:
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-    name: Blog
+    name: Tech Blog
     url: /blog/
     title: 'Blog Posts'
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content/blog/post015-linkedin-automated-bot/index.md

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+---
+title: 'Build a simple LinkedIn bot for random post ideas'
+description: 'Create a lightweight LinkedIn posting bot using Python and the official API, with Copilot CLI generated content examples.'
+date: 2026-06-18
+draft: false
+author: 'Mati'
+tags:
+  - LinkedIn
+  - Python
+  - Automation
+  - Copilot CLI
+categories:
+  - DevOps
+lightgallery: true
+---
+
+## Preface
+
+---
+In modern social media, consistency is key. But posting regularly can be a chore.
+Many people posting on social media failing to deliver anything but noise. So let me show you how to do it right.
+
+You can automate LinkedIn posting, but do it the smart way: use the official API,
+keep a small posting schedule, and review content before publishing to have at least some quality control.
+
+In this post we build a minimal bot that:
+
+1. picks a random message from a local list,
+2. can generate new post ideas with Copilot CLI (GPT-5.4-Mini),
+3. publishes to LinkedIn through the official UGC API.
+
+---
+
+## Step-by-step: LinkedIn random post bot
+
+### 1. Create a LinkedIn app and get credentials
+
+1. Go to [LinkedIn Developers](https://www.linkedin.com/developers/) and create an app.
+2. In your app, enable products/scopes needed for posting (`w_member_social`).
+3. Generate an access token (OAuth flow).
+4. Get your person URN (`urn:li:person:...`).
+
+You will use these two values in code:
+
+- `LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN`
+- `LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN`
+
+### 2. Create project files
+
+Create a new folder anywhere and add:
+
+```bash
+mkdir linkedin-bot && cd linkedin-bot
+python3 -m venv .venv
+source .venv/bin/activate
+pip3 install requests python-dotenv
+```
+
+Create `.env`:
+
+```env
+LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_linkedin_access_token
+LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN=urn:li:person:your_person_urn
+```
+
+Create `posts.txt` (one post per line):
+It should act like a small queue of pre-approved posts you can add to over time.
+
+```text
+Small systems beat big plans. Ship one useful thing today.
+Automate boring tasks first. Your future self will thank you.
+If your deploy takes 30 minutes, your feedback loop is broken.
+Write docs like the next on-call person is you at 3 AM.
+Watever you think about funny about AI slop to engage people attention. # (just don't do it. It's not worth it).
+```
+
+This can be also automated with Copilot CLI, see next section.
+
+```bash
+NEW_POST="$(copilot --model gpt-5.4-mini --allow-all-tools --prompt 'Generate 10 short LinkedIn posts for DevOps engineers. Tone: practical, no buzzwords, max 220 chars each.')"
+
+printf "%s\n" "$NEW_POST" >> posts.txt
+```
+
+### 3. Add the bot script
+
+Create `linkedinbot.py`:
+
+```python
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import os
+import random
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import requests
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+LINKEDIN_API_URL = "https://api.linkedin.com/v2/ugcPosts"
+
+
+def load_posts(file_path: str) -> list[str]:
+  path = Path(file_path)
+  if not path.exists():
+    raise FileNotFoundError(f"Missing posts file: {file_path}")
+
+  posts = [line.strip() for line in path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines() if line.strip()]
+  if not posts:
+    raise ValueError("posts.txt is empty")
+  return posts
+
+
+def post_to_linkedin(token: str, person_urn: str, text: str) -> None:
+  headers = {
+    "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}",
+    "X-Restli-Protocol-Version": "2.0.0",
+    "Content-Type": "application/json",
+  }
+
+  payload = {
+    "author": person_urn,
+    "lifecycleState": "PUBLISHED",
+    "specificContent": {
+      "com.linkedin.ugc.ShareContent": {
+        "shareCommentary": {"text": text},
+        "shareMediaCategory": "NONE",
+      }
+    },
+    "visibility": {
+      "com.linkedin.ugc.MemberNetworkVisibility": "PUBLIC",
+    },
+  }
+
+  response = requests.post(LINKEDIN_API_URL, headers=headers, json=payload, timeout=20)
+  if response.status_code not in (200, 201):
+    raise RuntimeError(f"LinkedIn API error {response.status_code}: {response.text}")
+
+  print("Post published successfully")
+  print(response.text)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+  load_dotenv()
+
+  token = os.getenv("LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN")
+  person_urn = os.getenv("LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN")
+
+  if not token or not person_urn:
+    raise EnvironmentError("Missing LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN or LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN")
+
+  posts = load_posts("posts.txt")
+  selected = random.choice(posts)
+
+  print("Selected post:")
+  print(selected)
+  post_to_linkedin(token, person_urn, selected)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+  main()
+```
+
+Run it:
+
+```bash
+python linkedinbot.py
+```
+
+### 4. Optional: schedule it
+
+Use cron if you want automatic posting at fixed times.
+
+```bash
+crontab -e
+```
+
+Example (Mon/Wed/Fri at 20:30):
+
+```cron
+30 20 * * 1,3,5 cd /path/to/linkedin-bot && /path/to/linkedin-bot/.venv/bin/python linkedinbot.py >> linkedinbot.log 2>&1
+```
+
+Keep frequency low and content useful.
+
+---
+
+## Generate post ideas with Copilot CLI (GPT-5.4-Mini)
+
+I use Copilot CLI to generate a batch of short drafts, then I keep only the best ones.
+
+Example prompt in Copilot CLI:
+
+```bash
+copilot --model gpt-5.4-mini --prompt \
+  "Write one LinkedIn post for DevOps engineers, practical tone, max 220 chars, no hashtags"
+```
+
+Quick workflow:
+
+1. Generate 20 candidates with Copilot CLI.
+2. Pick 5 that sound like you.
+3. Save them to `posts.txt`.
+4. Let the bot pick one randomly.
+
+---
+
+## Small hardening tips
+
+Before you fully trust automation, add these:
+
+1. **Dry run mode**: print post text without publishing.
+2. **Minimum interval**: prevent posting too often.
+3. **Content filter**: skip too-short or duplicate posts.
+4. **Manual approval mode**: require Enter before publish.
+
+Simple dry run toggle:
+
+```python
+DRY_RUN = True
+
+if DRY_RUN:
+  print("DRY RUN - not publishing")
+  print(selected)
+else:
+  post_to_linkedin(token, person_urn, selected)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Summary
+
+This setup gives you a clean, minimal LinkedIn bot:
+
+- official API,
+- random post selection,
+- optional Copilot CLI draft generation,
+- easy scheduling.
+
+Start small, keep quality high, and automate only what you would be happy to post manually.