How to use the Thread Unroller: Turn a Thread Into an Article
- Paste the thread. Copy the posts in order from X, Threads or Bluesky, or paste the output of the Thread Composer. Numbers like 1/7, 1/ and (1), blank lines between posts, and a JSON list of posts are all recognised.
- Check the rebuilt paragraphs. The tool removes numbers and the thread emoji, joins a sentence that was cut between two posts, and replaces "link in the next post" with the link itself.
- Edit the title. A title is taken from the first sentence. Change it to whatever you want the article to be called.
- Pick a format and copy. Markdown keeps a heading and a footer of links and tags. Plain text is the same without markup. The LinkedIn version starts with a hook line, stays under 3,000 characters and keeps at most three hashtags.
How the thread unroller works
What it changes and what it leaves alone
It removes number markers (1/, 1/7, (1), 1) and a trailing 3/7), the thread emoji, and trailing arrows that point at the next post. Dates and fractions inside a sentence, such as 12/05 or 3/4 of the way, are not touched. Paragraph breaks inside one post are kept, and numbered lists inside a post are not split into separate posts.
Links stay where you put them and are also listed in a footer. A line made only of hashtags at the end of a post is moved to the footer. Hashtags inside a sentence stay in the sentence.
Rules and sources
Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the silent non-fiction average reported in Brysbaert, 2019, "How many words do we read per minute?", Journal of Memory and Language. The LinkedIn limit of 3,000 characters is a widely cited approximation. Characters are counted as people see them, so an emoji counts as one.
Limitations
The tool works on text you paste. It cannot fetch a thread from a link, and it cannot see images, polls or quoted posts. Replies from other people mixed into the paste will be treated as part of the thread, so delete them first. The hook line is the first sentence of the article, capped at 140 characters, and you may want to rewrite it by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Which thread layouts does it understand?
Posts that start with a number such as 1/7, 1/ or (1), posts with the number on its own line above or below, posts separated by extra blank lines (what the Thread Composer produces), plain posts separated by one blank line, and a JSON list of posts. If nothing matches it treats your paste as one block of text.
How does it decide a sentence was split across two posts?
When a post stops without a full stop, question mark or similar ending and the next post begins in lower case, or when a post ends or begins with an ellipsis. Those two are joined with a space. A post that ends a sentence always starts a new paragraph, and a post that ends on a link is never joined to the next one.
What happens to "link in the next post"?
When a post says the link, source or article is in the next post and the next post contains a web address, the phrase is replaced by that address in the article. If the next post was only the link, it is removed so the address does not appear twice.
How is reading time worked out?
Words divided by 238 words per minute, rounded up, never less than one minute. 238 is the average silent reading speed for adults reading non-fiction in a large review of reading studies, so treat it as a typical figure, not a promise.
Why does the LinkedIn version leave paragraphs out sometimes?
A LinkedIn post is widely quoted as having a 3,000 character limit. LinkedIn does not state that number on a page we could fetch, so it is approximate. If your article is longer, the tool drops whole paragraphs from the end rather than cutting a sentence, and tells you how many it dropped.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The thread is processed in your browser while you type, and nothing is sent anywhere.