How to make a thread on X from one long post
By PostPen Team ·
A thread on X is a run of posts, each a reply to the one before. You usually build one post by post. With PostPen you write the whole text once, and anything longer than your X account takes in one post goes out as a numbered thread.
This guide covers how PostPen cuts the text, where images and the first comment go, the limits, and how to ask your agent for a thread.
Start free and connect X. Your agent writes, PostPen schedules and publishes.
When a post becomes a thread
PostPen checks each X post against your account's own limit, which it reads from X when you connect:
- A standard account takes 280 characters per post.
- An account with an X subscription (Basic, Premium or Premium+) takes 25,000, so a long text goes out as one long post instead. See X Premium long posts.
A text within the limit goes out as a single post with no numbers. A longer one becomes a thread. X counts every link as 23 characters and most emoji as 2, and PostPen counts the same way.
How PostPen cuts the text
PostPen cuts the text where a person would: at a paragraph break first, then a line, a sentence, and only then a word. It doesn't cut words in half.
Each part ends with its number, like 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and PostPen keeps room for that number inside X's limit. The parts go out in order, each a reply to the one before, so they read as one thread on your profile.
Images, video and the first comment
- Images or a video go on the first post. X takes up to 4 images or one video per post. A GIF goes on its own.
- Alt text stays with each image. Describe the image once and X gets the description.
- A first comment goes under the last post. Put the link to your article there, so the thread reads cleanly and the link sits at the end.
The limits
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Posts in one thread | Up to 25 |
| Characters per post | Your account's limit, minus room for the number |
| Media | Up to 4 images or one video, on the first post |
| First comment | One, as a reply under the last post |
If the text is too long even for 25 posts, PostPen says so before the post is scheduled: your agent gets the reason in network_problems, and the Composer shows it under the post.
Ask your agent for a thread
Turn this article into an X thread for tomorrow at 9 AM. Put the article link in a reply under the thread.
Your agent finds your X account with list_destinations, saves the draft with the thread's text and the link in first_comment, and schedules it. You don't number anything: PostPen does that when it posts.
The same post can go to LinkedIn and Threads too, with its own text for X through network_text. See the X scheduler for everything PostPen does on X.
See it before it goes out
Writing it yourself? In PostPen's Composer, a text too long for one X post shows in the preview as the thread it becomes: the numbered posts, each under the one before, with the images on the first.
If one part fails
X can refuse a post in the middle of a thread. When that happens, the posts before it stay up, and the post in PostPen says how many of the thread's posts went out, so you know where it stopped.
FAQ
With PostPen, write the whole text as one post and choose your X account. Anything longer than your account takes in one post goes out as a thread of numbered posts, each a reply to the one before.
PostPen sends up to 25 posts as one thread. A text too long even for that is turned away before it's scheduled, with the reason.
On the first post. X takes up to 4 images or one video per post, and PostPen puts them all on the post that starts the thread.
Yes. A first comment goes out as a reply under the last post of the thread, which keeps the link out of the posts themselves.
The posts before it stay up, and the post in PostPen shows a note saying how many of the thread's posts went out.
Schedule your first thread
Connect X, add PostPen to your agent, and hand it something long to turn into a thread.
Start free and connect your agent. Your agent writes, PostPen schedules and publishes.