Can you send Bluesky DMs with an API?
Yes. Bluesky's chat API lets apps send and read DMs, if the account owner grants message access. Whether a message arrives depends on the recipient's settings, which can limit DMs to people they follow.
Bluesky DMs run through its chat service (the chat.bsky.convo methods). An app needs the account owner to allow message access, either with an app password that has "allow access to your direct messages" ticked, or through Bluesky's sign-in with the chat permission.
Each person controls who can message them: everyone, people they follow, or no one. So a message to someone who only accepts DMs from people they follow won't go through.
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Checked October 14, 2026. Platforms change their rules; tell us at contact if something here is out of date.