| name | x-article-reader |
| description | Use when the user shares an X status or X article URL and wants the article text, a clean Markdown export, or a low-token way to read or summarize a public X Article. Also supports --thread mode to capture the author's full self-reply chain under a status. This is especially important when a status is only a wrapper around a long article. |
X Article Reader
Use this skill when the user gives you:
- an
x.com/.../status/... link that is really pointing at an X Article
- an
x.com/<handle>/article/<id> link
- a status URL where the author has a self-reply thread underneath (use
--thread)
- a request to read, export, or summarize a public X Article without relying on the official X API
This skill is designed for public X content on this machine. It does not require an official X API key. --thread mode requires a logged-in cookie jar (see below).
What the bundled script does
The script in scripts/x_article_reader.py uses a 3-step strategy:
- Read public metadata from the syndication endpoint to get the article title and preview.
- If the input is a status URL and the user wants full text, open the status page in a browser session and extract the visible article text.
- If full text still cannot be extracted, fall back to the preview instead of failing hard.
For direct article URLs, the script uses a Playwright-based browser pass.
Preferred commands
On Windows:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/x_article_reader.ps1 "<x-url>" --json
On macOS or Linux:
bash scripts/x_article_reader.sh "<x-url>" --json
If you only need the cheap preview fallback:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/x_article_reader.ps1 "<status-url>" --json --no-browser
Output modes
- Default output: Markdown, suitable for direct reading or summarization.
--json: structured output with metadata, warnings, extraction method, and article body when available.--out <file>: write the result to a file.
Fallback rules
- If the input is a status URL, prefer the status-page extraction path.
- If browser extraction fails, keep the article title and preview from the public metadata endpoint.
- If the user only provided an
x.com/i/article/... link and extraction fails, report that the link is not directly supported and ask for the original status URL when possible.
Thread mode (--thread)
Captures the original tweet plus every self-reply from the same author under the same status, with long-tweet "Show more" auto-expanded.
python scripts/x_article_reader.py "<status-url>" --thread
Behavior:
- Output Markdown is auto-saved to
~/ai-outputs/01-內容生產/00-靈感收集/x-captures/<handle>-<statusid>.md when --out is not supplied.
- Frontmatter includes
title, domain: research (fallback; user may reclassify to ai-agent / claude-code by topic), source, author, handle, posted_at, captured, tweet_count.
- Replies from other users are filtered out; only the original author's posts are kept.
Cookie jar setup (required once)
X serves only the root tweet to anonymous visitors. To read self-replies the script injects cookies from an already-logged-in browser session.
- In your daily Chrome (where x.com is logged in), install a cookie export extension such as Cookie-Editor.
- Open
https://x.com, click the extension, export cookies as JSON.
- Save the JSON to
~/.x-article-reader/cookies.json (create the folder if missing).
The file is read every run. Rotate when the session expires (symptom: --thread returns only the root tweet).
Harness
This skill includes a live harness:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/run_harness.ps1
The harness writes reports under:
~/ai-outputs/04-技能驗證/x-article-reader
Use it after changing the script. The harness checks:
- full extraction from a real status-wrapped article
- preview-only fallback
- direct article extraction on a real author/article URL
Validation checklist
Before reporting success:
- run the harness at least once
- confirm the status test returns real article body text
- confirm the preview fallback test returns preview text without crashing
- confirm the direct article test returns article body text
