Pinterest API Standard Access Approval
What Pinterest requires to approve an app for Standard API access.
By André LugPinterest apps start on Trial access, where created Pins are visible only to the creating account. To upgrade to Standard, you submit a screen recording of the app completing an API action through Pinterest's own OAuth flow — Postman or a terminal is accepted. PostGate's hosted app already holds Standard access, so connecting through it skips the review.
Every Pinterest developer app starts on Trial access, where Pins and boards it creates are visible only to the account that created them — sandbox content, not a live posting integration. Standard access is what unlocks publicly visible Pins and production-grade rate limits, and Pinterest gates it behind an approval step. This applies if you’re registering your own Pinterest developer app; connecting through PostGate’s hosted app skips this step entirely, since it already holds Standard access.
Do you need Trial approval before applying for Standard?
What does the Standard access review require?
What actually changes once you’re approved?
Do PostGate customers need to do this?
Frequently asked questions
Why do Pinterest Trial access applications get denied?
According to Pinterest's own guidance, vague app descriptions and broken privacy policy links are the most common reasons a Trial application gets denied. Pinterest checks for an accessible privacy policy and a specific enough app description — and only an app already approved for Trial can apply for Standard.
What does the Pinterest Standard access video need to show?
A screen recording of the app actually completing an action through the API — Postman or a terminal session is explicitly accepted, so it does not need to be your finished product UI. The review checks two things: that users are sent through Pinterest's own OAuth flow correctly, and that the app is not storing sensitive user information. A recording that skips the OAuth step is a common denial reason.
What changes after Pinterest Standard access approval?
Two things: visibility and rate limits. Pins and boards created through a Trial-access app stay sandboxed to the creating account; only Standard access makes them behave like normal, publicly visible Pinterest posts. Rate limiting also switches model. Read/write feature coverage — Pins, boards, ads, analytics — does not change between tiers.
Do PostGate customers need Pinterest Standard access approval?
No. Connecting a Pinterest account through PostGate's hosted connection flow uses PostGate's own developer app, which already holds Standard access — Pins publish and show up publicly from the first request. The approval process only becomes relevant if you configure your own Pinterest client credentials for a workspace, in which case your app carries its own access tier.
