Common Crossposting Issues and Solutions
We break down common crossposting issues and explain how to fix them. Most limitations are related to platform restrictions.
Features
Signature exceeds media caption limit
Telegram limits photo/video captions to 1024 characters — the sum of post text and signature. If the text is long, the signature won't be added. Use short signatures of 100-150 characters.
Signature not added to forwarded posts
Telegram does not allow bots to edit forwarded messages. If a post is forwarded from another channel, the bot cannot add a signature to it.
Post not published to VK
Check if your VK token has expired (valid for 180 days). Go to the 'VK Channels' section and reconnect your account if needed.
Video not publishing to VK
VK limits video size to 256 MB. If the Telegram video exceeds this limit, publishing is not possible. You can set 'Text only' for large videos in content settings.
FAQ
Why doesn't the signature appear on all posts?
Two main reasons: 1) Telegram limits media captions to 1024 characters (text + signature). If the total exceeds this, the signature won't be added. 2) Forwarded messages cannot be edited — the bot cannot add a signature to them. These are Telegram's own limitations.
Can the 1024 character caption limit be bypassed?
No, this is a hard Telegram Bot API limitation. Even Premium bot accounts don't support extended limits (up to 4096 characters for users). We recommend using short signatures.
Why is a post waiting for a decision?
If 'Ask' is selected in content settings for a certain content type (buttons, large video, polls), the bot sends a notification with action options. You have 1 hour to decide. Check your DMs from @crosslybot.
The bot stopped publishing posts, what should I do?
Check: 1) The bot is an admin of the channel. 2) The project is active (not paused). 3) Monthly post limit is not exhausted. 4) VK token hasn't expired (for VK targets). 5) No errors in the project's 'Posts' section.
Text formatting is lost during crossposting?
Crosslybot supports bold, italic, underline, strikethrough text and links. Spoilers and quotes are automatically removed for VK and Max, as these platforms don't support them.
Signature not added to some posts
This is the most common question. The source signature is added by editing the original message in the channel. There are two cases where this is impossible:
Long text + media. Telegram limits captions (text under photos/videos) to 1024 characters. This is the total length of the post text and your signature combined. If the post text is 900 characters and the signature is 200, the total is 1100 — Telegram will return a MEDIA_CAPTION_TOO_LONG error. This is a Bot API limitation that cannot be bypassed — even Premium bot accounts are limited to 1024 characters.
Forwarded messages. If a post in the channel is a forward from another channel, Telegram does not allow bots to edit it. Error: message can’t be edited.
Recommendation: use short signatures (up to 100-150 characters) so they fit in the maximum number of posts.
Post not published to target channel
Check the following:
- Post limit — check if your monthly plan limit has been reached
- Project status — make sure the project is active and not paused
- Bot permissions — the bot must be an admin with message publishing rights
- VK token — for VK targets, check if the token has expired (valid for 180 days)
- AI error — if AI processing is configured with ‘Don’t publish on error’, the post may be skipped
- User decision — the ‘Ask’ mechanism is waiting for your response (1 hour)
You can check the status of each post in the project’s ‘Posts’ section.
Platform limitations
| Limitation | Telegram | VK | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text | 4096 chars | 16384 chars | 4096 chars |
| Media caption | 1024 chars | — | 4096 chars |
| Video | 2 GB | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Photos in album | 10 | 10 | 10 |
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