X / Twitter Video Downloader (twmd)

Download videos from individual X (Twitter) posts using twmd, an API-less Go-based downloader.

When to Use

Use this skill when users:

• Provide an X/Twitter post URL and want to download its video
• Mention "下载推文视频", "download Twitter video", "save X video", "下载 X 视频"
• Share a link like https://x.com/username/status/123456 or https://twitter.com/username/status/123456

Usage

Basic Syntax

python scripts/download_tweet.py "TWEET_URL" [OPTIONS]

Common Scenarios

Download video from a tweet:

python scripts/download_tweet.py "https://x.com/username/status/1234567890"

Specify output directory:

python scripts/download_tweet.py "https://x.com/username/status/1234567890" -o ~/Downloads/twitter

Download in specific quality:

python scripts/download_tweet.py "https://x.com/username/status/1234567890" -q 720

Print video URL without downloading:

python scripts/download_tweet.py "https://x.com/username/status/1234567890" --url-only

Arguments

Argument	Description	Default
url	X/Twitter post URL (required)	-
-o, --output	Output directory	Current directory
-q, --quality	Video quality: best, 1080, 720, 480	best
--url-only	Print video direct URL without downloading	False
--cookies	Path to cookies file (for private/restricted content)	None

Dependencies

pip install yt-dlp

No additional setup needed. yt-dlp handles public X/Twitter posts without cookies or API keys.

Output Structure

OutputDir/
└── <tweet_id>.mp4     # Downloaded video file

twmd names files by tweet ID. The script reports the file path after download.

Authentication (Optional)

For private accounts or login-gated content, export cookies from your browser:

1. Install a browser extension like "Get cookies.txt LOCALLY"
2. Log in to X, then export cookies for x.com as a Netscape-format .txt file
3. Pass the file with --cookies:

python scripts/download_tweet.py "URL" --cookies ~/x-cookies.txt

Claude Integration

When user provides an X/Twitter post URL and wants to download its video:

1. Check if yt-dlp is installed:

   yt-dlp --version
   

2. Install if missing:

   pip install yt-dlp
   

3. Execute download:

   python twitter-downloader/scripts/download_tweet.py "TWEET_URL" -o ./output
   

4. Report the downloaded file to the user with its path and size.

Common Issues

Q: Download fails with "Unable to extract" error? A: Update yt-dlp first: pip install -U yt-dlp — X/Twitter frequently changes its API.

Q: The tweet has no video? A: Try --url-only to check what media yt-dlp can find. Image-only tweets will not yield a video URL.

Q: Need to download from a private account? A: Export browser cookies (see Authentication section above) and pass with --cookies.

Q: Why not just use youtube-downloader for Twitter URLs? A: You can — yt-dlp handles Twitter URLs too. This skill provides a Twitter-focused interface with cleaner prompts and no unneeded options (playlists, subtitles, etc.).

References

• yt-dlp GitHub
• yt-dlp supported sites (includes Twitter/X)