Twitter is moving quickly to prepare developers for its upcoming Direct Messages character count increase, Digital Spy reports.

Although the rollout of the new 10,000 character cap won't be until some time in July, Twitter has issued guidelines on how developers should get ready.

"In order to make this change as seamless as possible for you we've included some recommendations below to ensure all your applications and services can handle these longer format messages before we flip the switch," the company said in a blog post.

Although Twitter has introduced some new API additions for developers, it warns that they won't be able to actually send longer DMs until the actual launch.

"In the coming weeks though, we will update this post to include directions on how to test these changes, as well as a more specific launch date," Twitter added, while also stressing again that the limit increase will only apply to Direct Messages and not tweets.

The networking site has undergone several changes recently, including the introduction of landscape video recording on iOS and Android and making it possible for users to share blocked lists.

It was also announced last week that Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is stepping down from the role after five years in a major company shake-up.