bird

name	bird
description	X/Twitter CLI for reading, searching, and posting via cookies or Sweetistics.
homepage	https://bird.fast
metadata	{"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🐦","requires":{"bins":["bird"]},"install":[{"id":"brew","kind":"brew","formula":"steipete/tap/bird","bins":["bird"],"label":"Install bird (brew)"}]}}

bird

Reading vs Writing - Different Tools

For READING tweets (works great):

• Use the bird CLI - it's fast and reliable
• bird read <url-or-id> - grab a specific tweet
• bird search "query" -n 5 - search tweets
• bird mentions - check notifications

For WRITING tweets (here's where it gets spicy):

• Don't use the CLI for posting - Twitter flags it as automated and you'll get rate limited or soft-banned fast
• Use the browser tool instead - mimics real human behavior

Quick Reference (Reading Only)

bird whoami           # Check auth status
bird read <url-or-id> # Read a specific tweet
bird thread <url-or-id> # Read full thread
bird search "query" -n 5 # Search tweets
bird mentions         # Check notifications

The React Input Problem

Twitter's compose box is a React controlled input. You can't just set .value like a normal input - React ignores it. The workaround:

Simulate a paste event:

// 1. Focus the editor
var editor = document.querySelector('[data-testid="tweetTextarea_0"]');
editor.focus();

// 2. Create a fake paste event (this triggers React's state update)
var dataTransfer = new DataTransfer();
dataTransfer.setData('text/plain', 'your tweet text here');
var pasteEvent = new ClipboardEvent('paste', {
  clipboardData: dataTransfer,
  bubbles: true,
  cancelable: true
});
editor.dispatchEvent(pasteEvent);

// 3. Click the post button
document.querySelector('[data-testid="tweetButtonInline"]').click();

Browser Setup Notes

• Use a dedicated browser profile (e.g. "clawd") so you're logged in persistently
• The cookie config lives at ~/.config/bird/config.json5 for the CLI
• If CDP fails, kill Chrome completely (pkill -9 "Google Chrome") and restart with browser action=start

Rate Limiting & Detection

• Space out your posts - don't rapid-fire
• Vary your timing slightly (don't post at exactly :00 every hour)
• If you get flagged, the account might need a CAPTCHA solve manually
• Reading is basically unlimited, posting is where they watch you

Selectors That Work (as of late 2025)

• Tweet compose box: [data-testid="tweetTextarea_0"]
• Post button: [data-testid="tweetButtonInline"]
• These change occasionally so if stuff breaks, inspect the page

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TL;DR: read with CLI, write with browser + paste hack. 🐦