twitter-scraper

name	twitter-scraper
description	Search and scrape Twitter/X posts using Apify. Use when you need to find tweets, track brand mentions, monitor competitors on Twitter, or analyze Twitter discussions. Uses Twitter native search syntax (since:/until:) for reliable date filtering.

Twitter Scraper

Search Twitter/X posts using the Apify apidojo/tweet-scraper actor.

Quick Start

Requires APIFY_API_TOKEN env var (or --token flag). Install dependency: pip install requests.

# Search with date range (recommended — uses Twitter native since:/until: operators)
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/search_twitter.py \
  --query "YourCompany" --since 2026-02-15 --until 2026-02-23

# Quick summary of recent mentions
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/search_twitter.py \
  --query "@yourhandle" --max-tweets 20 --output summary

# Search without date filtering
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/search_twitter.py \
  --query "AI content marketing" --max-tweets 50

Date Filtering

Important: The apidojo/tweet-scraper actor's built-in date parameters are unreliable. This script embeds since:YYYY-MM-DD and until:YYYY-MM-DD directly into the search query string, using Twitter's native advanced search syntax. This ensures date filtering works correctly server-side.

How the Script Works

1. Builds a search term with the query quoted and date operators appended
2. Calls the Apify apidojo/tweet-scraper actor via REST API
3. Polls until the run completes, then fetches the dataset
4. Deduplicates by tweet ID/URL
5. Applies optional keyword filtering (client-side)
6. Sorts by likes (descending) and outputs JSON or summary

CLI Reference

Flag	Default	Description
--query	required	Search query (quoted in Twitter search)
--since	none	Start date YYYY-MM-DD (inclusive)
--until	none	End date YYYY-MM-DD (exclusive)
--max-tweets	50	Max tweets to scrape
--keywords	none	Additional filter keywords (comma-separated, OR logic)
--output	json	Output format: json or summary
--token	env var	Apify token (prefer APIFY_API_TOKEN env var)
--timeout	300	Max seconds to wait for the Apify run

Direct API Usage

{
  "searchTerms": ["\"YourCompany\" since:2026-02-15 until:2026-02-22"],
  "maxTweets": 50,
  "searchMode": "live"
}

Output Format

Tweets are returned as JSON array sorted by likes. Each tweet has:

{
  "id": "...",
  "text": "Tweet text...",
  "fullText": "Full tweet text...",
  "likeCount": 42,
  "retweetCount": 5,
  "replyCount": 3,
  "viewCount": 1200,
  "createdAt": "2026-02-18T12:00:00.000Z",
  "author": {"userName": "handle", "name": "Display Name", ...},
  "twitterUrl": "https://twitter.com/..."
}

Common Workflows

Competitor Monitoring

python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/search_twitter.py \
  --query "CompetitorName" --since 2026-02-15 --until 2026-02-23 --output summary

Brand Mention Tracking

python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/search_twitter.py \
  --query "@YourHandle OR \"YourBrand\"" --max-tweets 100