LinkedIn Connection Request API: Send & Manage Invitations (2026)
How to send and manage LinkedIn connection requests via API — there's no official invitation API, so here's the third-party path, with safe weekly limits.
There's no official LinkedIn invitation API — LinkedIn's public API can't send connection requests. To send and manage invitations programmatically you use a third-party LinkedIn API that acts on a seat you connect: one REST call sends a connection request (with or without a note), and other calls accept or withdraw pending invitations — all paced to stay under LinkedIn's weekly cap.
Is there an official LinkedIn invitation API?
No. LinkedIn's official API has no endpoint to send or manage connection requests, and automated invitations aren't part of the partner program. Every programmatic invitation flow runs through a third-party API on a connected seat — see the LinkedIn API landscape for the full picture.
How to send a connection request via API
Call a connect action with the recipient's profile URL or ID and an optional note — e.g. Connect LinkedIn Profile. The request is sent from your connected seat, and the API paces sends so you stay under the account's weekly invite limit. Notes are optional but lift acceptance when personalized.
Managing pending invitations
Pending invites pile up and count against you. Use the API to bulk-accept incoming invitations and to withdraw stale outgoing ones — withdrawing old requests keeps your pending queue healthy, which matters because LinkedIn weighs unanswered invites.
Safe connection-request limits
LinkedIn caps invitations at roughly 100–200 per week (a rolling account-level limit), and a safe daily pace is ~10–25 to start, ramped up gradually on a warm account. Sending in bursts or maxing the cap from day one is what triggers restrictions — a good API enforces per-identity pacing and ramp-up automatically. See LinkedIn messaging limits for the full benchmarks (community-observed, not official).
Common questions
Can I send connection requests with a note via API?
Yes — the connect action takes an optional note. Personalized notes generally improve acceptance, though LinkedIn limits how many note-bearing invites free accounts can send.
How many connection requests can I send per week?
Around 100–200/week as a rolling account limit, and fewer while an account is warming up. Stay well under it and ramp gradually; see the limits guide.
Should I withdraw old pending requests?
Yes. A large backlog of unanswered outgoing invites can hurt your standing and hit the pending cap. Withdrawing invites older than 2–4 weeks via API keeps the queue clean and frees capacity.
Want to send connection requests, DMs, and InMails from one REST API with per-identity pacing and ramp-up? See the Edges LinkedIn messaging API.