🤖 LinkedIn AI Auto-Poster

Fully automated LinkedIn posting — Research, Write, Generate Image & Post — 100% Free

This Python script automatically posts to your LinkedIn profile every day. It researches trending Tech & AI topics, writes an engaging post using Groq AI, generates a matching image using Google Gemini, and publishes it to LinkedIn — all with zero manual effort.

This very concept was built and tested live. The first post was written, illustrated and published entirely by this script.

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✨ What It Does

🔍 Research         →     ✍️ Write Post      →     🎨 Generate Image     →     🚀 Post to LinkedIn
RSS + Google News        Groq (Llama 3.3)         Google Gemini Free           LinkedIn API
    (Free)                   (Free)                     (Free)                    (Free)

1. Researches trending Tech & AI headlines from 6 major RSS feeds
2. Writes an engaging LinkedIn post using Groq AI (Llama 3.3 70B)
3. Generates a professional matching image using Google Gemini
4. Posts everything automatically to your LinkedIn profile
5. Logs every post to a local file for your records

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💰 Cost

Tool	Cost
Groq API (Llama 3.3 70B)	✅ Free
Google Gemini API	✅ Free tier
LinkedIn API	✅ Free
RSS Research	✅ Free
Serper News Search	✅ Free (2500/month)
Total per day	$0

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📁 Project Structure

linkedin-ai-autoposter/
│
├── linkedin_auto_post.py      # Daily automation script (run this every day)
├── first_post.py              # Special first post script (run once)
├── requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
├── .env                       # Your API keys (never commit this!)
├── .env.example               # Example env file (safe to commit)
├── .gitignore                 # Ignores .env and outputs/
└── outputs/                   # Generated images + post logs (auto-created)
    ├── post_log.jsonl
    └── linkedin_YYYYMMDD_topic.png

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🚀 Complete Setup Guide (Start to Finish)

Follow every step carefully. Takes about 15 minutes total.

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STEP 1 — Clone the Repository

Open Terminal on your Mac/Linux or Command Prompt on Windows:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/linkedin-ai-autoposter.git
cd linkedin-ai-autoposter

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STEP 2 — Install Python

Make sure you have Python 3.10 or higher installed.

Check your version:

python --version
# or
python3 --version

If not installed:

• Download from python.org/downloads
• Install and restart your terminal

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STEP 3 — Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

This installs: groq, google-generativeai, requests, python-dotenv, feedparser, Pillow

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STEP 4 — Get Your API Keys (All Free)

You need 4 API keys total. Follow each sub-step below:

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4A — Groq API Key (Free — for AI post writing)

1. Go to console.groq.com
2. Sign up with Google or email (free)
3. Click "API Keys" in the left sidebar
4. Click "Create API Key" → give it a name → Copy the key
5. It starts with gsk_...

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4B — Google Gemini API Key (Free — for image generation)

1. Go to aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
2. Sign in with your Google account
3. Click "Create API Key"
4. Select any project → Click "Create API key in existing project"
5. Copy the key — it starts with AIza...

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4C — LinkedIn Access Token (Free — for posting)

This is the most involved step. Follow carefully:

Part 1 — Create a LinkedIn Developer App:

1. Go to linkedin.com/developers/apps/new
2. Sign in with your LinkedIn account
3. Fill in:
   • App name: My LinkedIn Poster (anything works)
   • LinkedIn Page: Type Default Company Page for Individual Developer and select it
   • Privacy policy URL: Your LinkedIn profile URL (e.g. https://linkedin.com/in/yourname)
   • Logo: Upload any square image
4. Check the terms box → Click "Create app"

Part 2 — Enable Required Products:

1. Inside your app, click the "Products" tab
2. Find "Share on LinkedIn" → Click "Request access" (activates instantly)
3. Find "Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect" → Click "Request access" (activates instantly)

Part 3 — Get Your Client ID and Add Redirect URL:

1. Click the "Auth" tab
2. Copy your Client ID (e.g. 861jixqv7ljy1b)
3. Copy your Client Secret (e.g. WPL_AP1.xxxxx)
4. Scroll down to "OAuth 2.0 settings"
5. Add this redirect URL exactly:

https://oauth.pstmn.io/v1/callback

6. Click Save

Part 4 — Get Your Access Token:

1. Paste this URL in your browser (replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID):

https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/authorization?response_type=code&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&redirect_uri=https://oauth.pstmn.io/v1/callback&scope=openid%20profile%20w_member_social

2. Click "Allow" on the LinkedIn permissions screen

3. You'll be redirected — copy the code=XXXXX value from the URL

4. Run this in Terminal immediately (code expires in ~60 seconds):

curl -X POST "https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
--data-urlencode "grant_type=authorization_code" \
--data-urlencode "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
--data-urlencode "client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
--data-urlencode "redirect_uri=https://oauth.pstmn.io/v1/callback" \
--data-urlencode "code=YOUR_CODE_HERE"

5. You'll get a response like:

{"access_token":"AQV...long token...","expires_in":5184000,"scope":"openid,profile,w_member_social"}

6. Copy the access_token value

⚠️ Token expires in ~60 days. Just repeat Part 4 to get a new one when it expires.

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4D — Get Your LinkedIn Person URN

Run this in Terminal (replace with your actual access token):

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" https://api.linkedin.com/v2/userinfo

You'll get:

{"sub":"abc123XYZ","name":"Your Name",...}

Your Person URN is: urn:li:person:abc123XYZ (use the sub value)

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STEP 5 — Configure Your .env File

Create a file called .env in the project root folder:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and fill in all your keys:

GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your_groq_key_here
GEMINI_API_KEY=AIza_your_gemini_key_here
LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN=AQV_your_linkedin_token_here
LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN=urn:li:person:your_id_here
SERPER_API_KEY=your_serper_key_here_or_leave_empty

🔒 Never commit your .env file to GitHub. It's already in .gitignore.

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STEP 6 — Run Your First Post (Special Intro Post)

This script posts a special first post explaining your automation to your audience:

python first_post.py

What it posts:

• Explains you built a fully automated LinkedIn AI posting system
• Lists the tools used (Groq, Gemini, LinkedIn API)
• Asks people to comment "AI" if they want the repo link
• Drives massive engagement and authenticity

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STEP 7 — Run Daily Automation

From now on, run this every day for a fresh AI-researched post:

python linkedin_auto_post.py

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STEP 8 — Schedule It (Optional — Runs Automatically)

Mac / Linux (cron):

# Open crontab
crontab -e

# Add this line to run every day at 9:00 AM
0 9 * * * cd /full/path/to/linkedin-ai-autoposter && python linkedin_auto_post.py >> outputs/cron.log 2>&1

Windows (Task Scheduler):

1. Open Task Scheduler → Create Basic Task
2. Trigger: Daily at 9:00 AM
3. Action: Start a program → python
4. Arguments: C:\path\to\linkedin_auto_post.py
5. Start in: C:\path\to\linkedin-ai-autoposter

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🔧 Customisation

What to change	Where to change it
Post topic / niche	Edit the system prompt in generate_linkedin_post()
Add more RSS feeds	Add URLs to the RSS_FEEDS list
Post length	Edit word count in the system prompt
Image style	Edit image_prompt instructions in the system prompt
Posting time	Change the cron schedule
Post to Company Page	Change LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN to urn:li:organization:XXXXX

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

ModuleNotFoundError

pip install -r requirements.txt

Missing env vars error Make sure your .env file exists and all 4 keys are filled in.

LinkedIn 401 Unauthorized Your access token expired (lasts ~60 days). Repeat Step 4C Part 4 to get a new one.

LinkedIn 422 Unprocessable Scope issue — make sure both Products are enabled in your LinkedIn app (Step 4C Part 2).

Gemini image fails The script automatically falls back to Pollinations AI (100% free, no key needed). Post will still go through with an image.

invalid_client on curl Use --data-urlencode instead of -d for the curl command — special characters in the client secret can cause this.

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📊 How the Daily Script Works

1. fetch_rss_headlines()     → Pull latest headlines from 6 RSS feeds
2. search_trending_topics()  → Optional Google News via Serper API
3. gather_research()         → Combine into a research brief
4. generate_linkedin_post()  → Groq AI writes post + image prompt + hashtags
5. generate_image_gemini()   → Gemini generates matching image
6. upload_image_to_linkedin()→ Upload image asset to LinkedIn
7. post_to_linkedin()        → Publish post via LinkedIn UGC API
8. save_log()                → Record to outputs/post_log.jsonl

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🔑 API Keys Summary

Key	Where to get	Free?
GROQ_API_KEY	console.groq.com	✅ Yes
GEMINI_API_KEY	aistudio.google.com	✅ Yes
LINKEDIN_ACCESS_TOKEN	Via OAuth (see Step 4C)	✅ Yes
LINKEDIN_PERSON_URN	Via /v2/userinfo API call	✅ Yes
SERPER_API_KEY	serper.dev	✅ 2500/month free

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⭐ If This Helped You

• Give this repo a star ⭐
• Share your first automated post and tag me!
• Open an issue if you hit any problems

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📄 License

MIT License — free to use, modify and share.

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Built with ❤️ using Groq, Google Gemini and LinkedIn API