This module is a set of PowerShell functions designed to let you interact with Bluesky API from PowerShell. Technically, the module commands are wrappers around the AT protocol. The module is written for PowerShell 7, although it might work as written in Windows PowerShell with minimal changes if you wish to fork the GitHub repository. Commands have not been thoroughly tested for cross-platform compatibility, so please post an Issue if you encounter a problem.
The commands in this module are not intended to provide complete coverage of the Bluesky API or user experience. Instead, the module focuses on the most common tasks you might want to do with Bluesky from a PowerShell prompt.
For best results, you should run this module in a PowerShell console that supports emojis and ANSI formatting like Windows Terminal.
You can install the module from the PowerShell Gallery.
Install-Module -Name PSBlueskyOr using Install-PSResource from the Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet module.
Install-PSResource -Name PSBluesky -Repository PSGallery -TrustRepositoryYou might want to also install the following modules or related modules to securely store your Bluesky credentials:
After installing this module, you should end up with these PSBluesky commands:
- Add-BskyImage
- Find-BskyUser
- Get-BskyAccountDID
- Get-BskyFeed
- Get-BskyFollowers
- Get-BskyFollowing
- Get-BskyModuleInfo
- Get-BskyNotification
- Get-BskyProfile
- Get-BskySession
- Get-BskyTimeline
- New-BskyPost
- Open-BskyHelp
- Start-BskySession
- Update-BskySession
After importing the module you can run Open-BskyHelp which will open a PDF version of this document in the default application associated with PDF files. Or you can use the -AsMarkdown parameter to read this file using markdown formatting. Not all markdown features may properly render in the console.
You can use Get-BskyModuleInfo to get a summary of the module. The default output includes clickable links to online command help and the module's GitHub repository.
PS C:\> Get-BskyModuleInfo
Module: PSBlueSky [v2.1.0]
Name Alias Synopsis
---- ----- --------
Add-BskyImage Upload an image to Bluesky
Find-BskyUser bsu Search for Bluesky user accounts
Get-BskyAccountDID Resolve a Bluesky account name to its DID
Get-BskyFeed bsfeed Get your Bluesky feed
Get-BskyFollowers bsfollower Get your Bluesky followers
Get-BskyFollowing bsfollow Get a list of Bluesky accounts that you follow
Get-BskyModuleInfo Get a summary of the PSBlueSky module.
Get-BskyNotification bsn Get Bluesky notifications.
Get-BskyProfile bsp Get a Bluesky profile
Get-BskySession bss Show your current Bluesky session.
Get-BskyTimeline bst Get your Bluesky timeline
New-BskyPost skeet Create a Bluesky post
Open-BskyHelp bshelp Open the PSBluesky help document
Start-BSkySession Start a new Bluesky session
Update-BskySession Refresh-BskySession Refresh the Bluesky session token🪙 In order to send data, you must authenticate. Version 2.0.0 of this module introduces a new session model. After you import the module, you must run Start-BskySession to initialize the module and setup module-scoped variables.
Start-BskySession -credential $credThe credential should be a PSCredential object representing your Bluesky username (handle) and password. (See below)
This command will create a hidden session object that will be called from other module commands to get the necessary authentication token for the Invoke-ResetMethod header. The access token has a limited lifetime unless it is refreshed. Beginning with version 1.2.0, the module will refresh the token every 15 minutes through a background runspace using a synchronized hashtable. If you remove the module, the runspace will be removed as well.
Run Get-BskySession to see your current session information.
PS C:\> Get-BskySession
User: jdhitsolutions.com
Active AccessToken RefreshToken Age
------ ----------- ------------ ---
True eyJ0eXAiOiJhdCtqd3Qi... eyJ0eXAiOiJyZWZyZXNo... 00:05:41.5115796If you want to manually test the Bluesky API in your own code, you can use the access and refresh token properties from this object.
PS C:\> $bskySession = Get-BskySession
PS C:\> $access = $bskySession.AccessToken
PS C:\> $refresh = $bskySession.RefreshTokenHowever, it is still possible you will encounter an expired token error message. If you do, you can run Update-BskySession to refresh the token.
Get-BSkySession | Update-BskySessionIf this also fails, remove the module, re-import and start a new Bluesky session, including re-running Start-BskySession.
You will need to create a PSCredential object with your Bluesky username and password. The username is case-sensitive. For automation purposes, you can use the Secrets management module to store your credential. Write your own code to retrieve the credential and pass it to the module commands.
You might want to use PSDefaultParameterValues to set the credential for all commands.
$PSDefaultParameterValues['*-Bsky*:Credential'] = $BlueskyCredentialYou should only need this credential for Start-BskySession.
This module does not use 2FA at this time. You must use an app password.
While this module does not use your credential object for anything other than establishing a Bluesky session, you may elect to take a more secure approach and use an app password. This password can be revoked at any time without affecting your main account password. Follow these steps if you want to use an app password with this module.
In the Bluesky app, go to your profile and select Settings. Then select App Passwords.
You will need to create a new app password. Give it a meaningful name.
Click the button to create the app password.
You will only see the password once. Copy the password and save it in a secure location such as a secrets management vault.
Next, you need to create a credential object in PowerShell. The user name will be the DID (decentralized identifier) for your account. The password will be the app password you just created. You can run Get-BskyAccountDID to get your DID. This command does not require authentication.
$did = Get-BskyAccountDID jdhitsolutions.comNow you can create a credential object.
PS C:\> $cred = Get-Credential $did
PowerShell credential request
Enter your credentials.
Password for user did:plc:ohgsqpfsbocaaxusxqlgfvd7:Enter the app password. You will use this credential object with Start-BskySession. I recommend you save the credential in a secrets management vault and retrieve it when you need to start a Bluesky session.
$cred = Get-Secret -Name PSBlueskyCredential
$PSDefaultParameterValues['*-*Sky*:Credential'] = $credYou can revoke an app password at any time. If you do, you will need to create a new app password and update your credential object.
❇️ I recommend you use an app password with this module and protect your primary account password. If your Bluesky account is protected with 2FA, you must use an app password with this module.
The commands in this module use the public Bluesky API which means there are rate limits. If you exceed the rate limit, you will get an error message. You will need to wait until the rate limit resets.
📧 Use New-BskyPost, or its alias skeet, to post a message to Bluesky. There are parameters to include an image. If you include an image, the New-BskyPost command will call Add-BskyImage to upload the image. It is strongly recommended that you included ALT text for the image.
$param = @{
Message = "Getting close to sharing my #PowerShell Bluesky code."
ImagePath = "C:\work\MsPowerShell.jpg"
ImageAlt = "Ms. PowerShell"
Verbose = $true
}
New-BskyPost @paramThe output is a URL to the post.
If your message contains a URL, it will be converted to a clickable link. Make sure your link is surrounded by white space. Beginning with v1.0.0, you can post Markdown style links.
PS C:\> $m = "Testing multiple Markdown style links from my [#PowerShell PSBluesky
module](https://github.com/jdhitsolutions/PSBluesky) which you can find on the
[PowerShell Gallery](https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/PSBlueSky/0.6.0)"
PS C:\> skeet $m
This example is using the skeet alias for New-BskyPost.
The module has a command to retrieve a Bluesky profile.
Get-BskyProfile jdhitsolutions.comThe module uses a custom format file.
The user's profile name should be a clickable link.
The object has been customized with aliases and script properties.
PS C:\> $jeff = Get-BskyProfile
PS C:\> $jeff | Select-Object *
Username : jdhitsolutions.com
Display : Jeff Hicks
Created : 5/21/2023 10:44:48 AM
Description : PowerShell Author/Teacher/MVP/Guide ✍️
Prof. PowerShell Emeritus 🎓
Grizzled and grumpy IT Pro - https://jdhitsolutions.github.io/
🎼Amateur composer - https://musescore.com/user/26698536
Wine drinker 🍷🐶 and dog lover
Avatar : https://cdn.bsky.app/img/avatar/plain/did:plc:ohgsqpfsbocaaxusxqlgfvd7/
bafkreifdfahcjmytu3iw2aj2d3howu6q7twkta3h23qmlve2d2mvo5sily@jpeg
Posts : 734
Followers : 1267
Following : 319
Lists : 1
URL : https://bsky.app/profile/jdhitsolutions.com
DID : did:plc:ohgsqpfsbocaaxusxqlgfvd7
Name : jdhitsolutions.com
Age : 547.02:06:27.3639712You can retrieve a list of your followers. You can specify a number of followers between 1 and 100. The default is 50.
Get-BskyFollowers -Limit 2
The custom formatting includes a clickable link to the follower's profile if running in Windows Terminal or a console that supports hyperlinks.
You can pipe the follower object to Get-BskyProfile to retrieve more information.
PS C:\>$f= Get-BskyFollowers
PS C:\> $f[12] | Get-BskyProfile
Jess Pomfret [jpomfret.bsky.social]
Database Engineer with a passion for automation, proper football
and fitness. She/Her.
Created Posts Followers Following Lists
------- ----- --------- --------- -----
8/14/2023 3:58:44 PM 125 236 157 1The default behavior is to retrieve between 1 and 100 followers. Or you can use the -All parameter to retrieve all followers.
You can search for Bluesky users with Find-BskyUser. The default behavior is to search for a user by name. The search is case-insensitive
Find-BskyUser -UserName "jeff h" -Limit 3
The default output includes clickable links to the user's profile. This object too has been customized with aliases and script properties.
PS C:\> Find-BskyUser -UserName "jeff h" -Limit 2 |
Select-Object *Name,Description,Created,Age
DisplayName : F-O Loignon
UserName : foloignon.bsky.social
Description : « Un p’tit gosseux » - MBC
« Une caricature » - H. Buzetti
« L’osti de tapette communiste woke » - Un pirate
Je suis pas mal l’amalgame de tout ce que Jeff Fillion haït :
prof, artiste, écolo,socialiste, LGBT, féministe, antiraciste,
intello, etc.
Created : 10/5/2023 8:09:28 PM
Age : 409.16:46:04.9286865
DisplayName : Jeff H
UserName : jeffhechtaz.bsky.social
Description : Phoenix, AZ ~ Copywriter by day ~ Musician by night ~ Bass
(the instrument, not the fish) ~
Proud Liberal ~ Commanders football ~ F1 ~ #BassGuitar 🎸~
#RaiseHail 🏈 ~ #ScuderiaFerrari
🏎️ ~ #VoteBlue 🌊
Created : 11/11/2024 1:05:34 PM
Age : 6.23:49:58.3306295The value you specify for the user name will also search the user's description property. This is a handy way of finding users with similar interests.
Find-BskyUser powershell
You can pipe the search results to Get-BskyProfile to retrieve more information.
PS C:\> $p = Find-BskyUser powershell -Limit 10
PS C:\> $p | Get-BskyProfile
Chrissy LeMaire [funbucket.dev]
Dual Microsoft MVP, GitHub Star, creator of dbatools, author
http://dbatools.io/book 🏳️🌈
Totally into PowerShell, SQL Server and AI.
📍 North of France
Created Posts Followers Following Lists
------- ----- --------- --------- -----
4/24/2023 12:12:00 PM 688 1435 614 0
...Likewise, you can get a list of all the accounts you are following.
Get-BskyFollowing -limit 3
As with followers, the default behavior is to retrieve between 1 and 100 accounts you are following. Or you can use the -All parameter to retrieve all accounts you are following.
Use Get-BskyFeed to retrieve the latest posts from your feed. You can query for 1 to 100.
Get-BskyFeed -Limit 3The default output uses a custom format file. The current behavior is to get posts and replies.
The formatted output includes clickable links to the the author, which might be different than you if reposting, and the post. For best results, run PowerShell 7 in Windows Terminal.
If you want to view items from your timeline, use the Get-BskyTimeline command. You can specify a limit of 1 to 100.The default is 50.
Get-BskyTimeline -Limit 25The command uses a custom format file.
The default formatted output includes clickable links to the author and the post.
You can retrieve your notifications with Get-BskyNotification. You can specify a limit of 1 to 100. The default is 50.
Get-BskyNotification -limit 10The default formatted output includes clickable links to the author and the liked or reposted skeet. Long account names will be truncated in the formatted output.
- 👍 Like
- ➡️ Follow
- 🔄 Repost
- ↩️ Reply
The commands in this module should write the raw response from the API request to the Information stream. Some commands might include additional information.
The output will be an object.
```powershell
PS C:\> $v.MessageData | Select-Object did,handle,*count
did : did:plc:ohgsqpfsbocaaxusxqlgfvd7
handle : jdhitsolutions.com
followersCount : 322
followsCount : 177
postsCount : 543You might want to set a default parameter value.
$PSDefaultParameterValues['*-*Sky*:InformationVariable'] = "iv"You are encourage to pipe command results to Get-Member to discover additional properties you might find useful.
PS C:\> Get-BskyProfile thedavecarroll.com |
Format-List Name,Description,Created,Age
Name : thedavecarroll.com
Description : #PowerShell #Developer and enthusiast with a side of #DevOps,
#Python, infrastructure, and
#RetroComputing. Lifelong #cinephile and #punster.
#Aspie #INTJ #9w1
He/Him
https://thedavecarroll.com
Created : 4/29/2023 6:52:59 AM
Age : 569.04:06:51.6915207This module uses ANSI formatting with localized string data and customized verbose messaging.
I have a short list of items on my wish list:
- Add support for posting multiple images
- Add support for posting video
- Add commands to work with direct messages, aka chat
- Maybe create a TUI-base reader for your timeline
If you are testing the module and think you've found a bug, please post an Issue. For all other topics and questions, including feature requests, please use the repository's Discussions section. I am open to pull requests if you have a feature you'd like to add. I especially would love to see the Pester tests expanded and the pending tests completed.
You can find me on Bluesky as jdhitsolutions.com.