twitter

name	twitter
description	Search, post, monitor, and archive on Twitter/X via three modes: official API v2 search via x-search (pay-per-use, $0.005/read), session-based posting/reading via bird CLI (free, browser cookies), and bookmark archival via Smaug. Triggers on 'search tweets', 'post to X', 'monitor account', 'archive bookmarks', 'research topic on Twitter'.

Twitter/X — Dual-Mode Integration

Three tools for different operations. Choose by task:

Mode	Tool	Auth	Cost	Use For
Official API	x-search	Bearer token	$0.005/read, $0.01/user	Search, research, profiles, threads, monitoring
Official API	x-search post/reply	OAuth 1.0a	$0.01/post	Posting, replying via official API
Session	bird	Browser cookies	Free	Posting, replying, bookmarks, mentions, media
Archival	smaug	Via bird	Free	Bookmark/likes processing, AI-powered filing

Alternative: opencli twitter provides 25 free session-based commands (post, reply, search, bookmarks, follow, block, etc.) via Chrome session reuse. Prefer opencli for routine Twitter operations. Use x-search for deep research with cost tracking. bird CLI remains available as fallback.

Setup

x-search (Official API v2)

Requires an X API Bearer token from console.x.com. Pay-per-use — no monthly commitment.

# Store token (pick one)
echo 'X_BEARER_TOKEN=your_token_here' >> ~/.claude/skills/twitter/.env
# OR
export X_BEARER_TOKEN=your_token_here
# OR
mkdir -p ~/.config/env && echo 'X_BEARER_TOKEN=your_token_here' >> ~/.config/env/global.env

OAuth 1.0a (for posting)

Posting requires OAuth 1.0a credentials in addition to the Bearer token.

1. Go to console.x.com → your project → Keys and tokens
2. Under "Consumer Keys", copy API Key and API Key Secret
3. Under "Authentication Tokens", generate Access Token and Access Token Secret (with Read and Write permissions)
4. Add all four to ~/.claude/skills/twitter/.env:

X_API_KEY=your_api_key
X_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
X_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token
X_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_access_token_secret

bird CLI

brew install steipete/tap/bird   # or: npm install -g @steipete/bird
bird whoami                       # verify auth (uses browser cookies)

Smaug (archival)

cd ~/tools/smaug && npx smaug setup

---

x-search — Official API Research

Run via: bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts <command>

Quick Search (cost-conscious default)

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts search "AI agents" --quick
# 1 page, max 10 results, auto noise filter, 1hr cache, cost summary
# Est. cost: ~$0.50

Full Search

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts search "Claude Code" --pages 3 --sort likes --since 1d
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts search "BG3 mods" --from LarianStudios --quality
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts search "Minoan archaeology" --markdown --save

Search Options

Flag	Default	Description
--quick	off	1 page, max 10, noise filter, 1hr cache
--sort	likes	likes|impressions|retweets|recent
--since	7d	1h|3h|12h|1d|7d or ISO timestamp
--pages	1	1-5 pages (100 tweets/page)
--limit	15	Max results displayed
--from	—	Shorthand for from:username
--quality	off	Filter tweets with < 10 likes
--min-likes	0	Minimum like threshold
--no-replies	off	Exclude replies
--save	off	Save markdown to ~/tools/smaug/knowledge/research/
--json	off	Raw JSON output
--markdown	off	Markdown research document

Profiles, Threads, Single Tweets

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts profile AnthropicAI --count 10
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts thread 1234567890 --pages 3
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts tweet 1234567890

Feed -- Daily Reading from Followed Accounts

Pull the latest tweets from named account groups, filtered by time window. Uses batched OR-query search (cheap, ~$0.005/tweet).

# Read today's tweets from a feed group
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feed geopolitics --since 1d

# Last week from all groups
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feed all-feeds --since 7d

# Custom accounts (comma-separated)
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feed imetatronink,Megatron_ron --since 1d

# Free via bird CLI (no API cost)
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feed geopolitics --since 1d --bird

# Save as markdown research doc
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feed all-feeds --since 7d --markdown --save

Feed options: --since 1d|7d|1h|3h|12h, --limit N (tweets per account, default 4), --bird (free), --markdown, --save, --json, --no-cache.

Feed Groups -- Named Account Collections

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup                              # list all
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup show geopolitics              # show group
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup create tech "Tech follows"
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup add tech kaboreas "K8s/infra"
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup remove tech kaboreas
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup delete tech
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts feedgroup alias daily geopolitics,palestine

Pre-configured groups: geopolitics (18 accounts), palestine (3 accounts), alias all-feeds (all 21). Stored at ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/data/feedgroups.json.

Watchlist

Monitor accounts with batch checking (uses profile API, more expensive).

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts watchlist                    # show list
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts watchlist add kikismith "Ancient art"
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts watchlist remove kikismith
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts watchlist check              # check all accounts

Watchlist stored at ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/data/watchlist.json.

Posting and Replying (OAuth 1.0a)

Post tweets and replies via the official API. Requires OAuth 1.0a credentials (see setup above).

# Post a tweet
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts post "Hello from x-search!"

# Reply to a tweet
bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts reply 1234567890 "Great thread!"

• 280-character limit enforced
• Cost: $0.01 per post
• Returns the posted tweet URL
• Errors: descriptive messages for missing credentials, permission issues, rate limits

Cache

15-minute TTL (1hr in quick mode). File-based, auto-managed.

bun run ~/.claude/skills/twitter/x-search/x-search.ts cache clear

Cost Reference

Resource	Cost
Post read	$0.005
User lookup	$0.010
Post create	$0.010
Quick search (~100 tweets)	~$0.50
3-page deep search (~300 tweets)	~$1.50
Profile check	~$0.51
Cached repeat	FREE

X API deduplicates reads within 24h. Cache prevents redundant queries within 15min.

---

bird CLI — Session-Based Operations

Uses undocumented Twitter GraphQL APIs via browser cookies. Free but may break when Twitter rotates internals.

Posting

bird tweet "Hello world"
bird reply 123456789 "Great thread!"
bird tweet "With image" --media photo.png --alt "Description"

Reading

bird read 123456789
bird thread https://x.com/user/status/123456789
bird replies 123456789 --json

Search (free, via GraphQL)

bird search "query" -n 10
bird search "from:anthropic" -n 20 --json

Monitoring

bird mentions -n 10
bird bookmarks -n 20
bird likes -n 20
bird following -n 50
bird followers -n 50

Maintenance

bird whoami          # verify auth
bird check           # credential sources
bird query-ids --fresh  # refresh when Twitter rotates IDs

---

Smaug — Bookmark Archival

Archives bookmarks/likes to organized markdown with AI categorization.

cd ~/tools/smaug
npx smaug run                    # fetch + process with Claude
npx smaug fetch 20               # fetch only
npx smaug fetch --source likes   # likes instead of bookmarks
npx smaug run -t                 # track token costs
npx smaug status                 # check state

Output: bookmarks.md, knowledge/tools/, knowledge/articles/

---

Research Methodology

For deep X research, follow this agentic loop:

1. Decompose — Break topic into 2-3 search queries targeting different angles
2. Search — Run each query with --quick first to assess signal quality
3. Refine — Narrow queries based on initial results (add --from, --quality, --since)
4. Thread — Follow high-value conversation threads for deeper context
5. Deep-Dive — Re-run best queries with --pages 3 --markdown --save
6. Synthesize — Compile findings from saved markdown into analysis

Default to --quick for exploratory queries. Use full mode only for confirmed-valuable searches.

---

Troubleshooting

x-search: "X_BEARER_TOKEN not found"

Set token via env, ~/.config/env/global.env, or ~/.claude/skills/twitter/.env. Get one at console.x.com.

bird: 403 Errors

Browser cookies expired. Log into Twitter in browser, then bird check.

bird: Query ID Errors

Twitter rotated internals. Run bird query-ids --fresh.

Rate Limiting (429)

Wait for reset. x-search shows reset time. bird: wait a few minutes.

---

When to Use Which

Task	Tool	Why
Search tweets by topic	x-search	Official API, cost-tracked, cached
Research a topic deeply	x-search	Multi-page, markdown output, save
Monitor specific accounts	x-search watchlist	Batch check with cost tracking
Post a tweet or reply	x-search post/reply	Official API, reliable, $0.01/post
Post with media	bird	Free, media upload support
Read a specific tweet/thread	bird (free) or x-search (tracked)	bird for quick reads, x-search for research
Check mentions	bird	Free, real-time
Archive bookmarks	smaug	AI categorization, markdown output
Fetch bookmarks/likes	bird + smaug	Session-based access