X/Twitter API Skill

Basic X (Twitter) API access for the @joelclaw account until a proper CLI is built (ADR-0119).

Authentication

Recommended for read-only access: app bearer token

There is no stored x_bot_bearer_token secret right now. Derive the app bearer token from the X app consumer key + secret, then use that bearer token for read-only endpoints like tweet lookup.

python3 <<'PY'
import base64, json, subprocess
from urllib import request, parse


def lease(name: str) -> str:
    raw = subprocess.check_output(['secrets', 'lease', name], text=True)
    data = json.loads(raw)
    return data.get('secret') or data.get('result') or raw.strip()

ck = lease('x_consumer_key')
cs = lease('x_consumer_secret')
cred = base64.b64encode(f'{ck}:{cs}'.encode()).decode()

req = request.Request(
    'https://api.twitter.com/oauth2/token',
    data=parse.urlencode({'grant_type': 'client_credentials'}).encode(),
    headers={
        'Authorization': f'Basic {cred}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=UTF-8',
    },
    method='POST',
)
with request.urlopen(req) as r:
    bearer = json.loads(r.read().decode())['access_token']

req2 = request.Request(
    'https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets/TWEET_ID',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {bearer}'},
)
with request.urlopen(req2) as r:
    print(r.read().decode())
PY

secrets revoke --all

Use this for:

• reading a specific tweet/post
• fetching public user metadata
• other public read-only X v2 endpoints

Alternative: OAuth 1.0a User Context (for posting and account actions)

Tokens do not expire — no refresh dance needed.

Secrets (in agent-secrets)

• x_consumer_key — API Key (OAuth 1.0a consumer key)
• x_consumer_secret — API Key Secret (OAuth 1.0a consumer secret)
• x_access_token — Access Token (OAuth 1.0a, format: numeric-alphanumeric)
• x_access_token_secret — Access Token Secret (OAuth 1.0a)

Signing requests

OAuth 1.0a requires cryptographic signing. Use requests-oauthlib (Python) or equivalent:

export CK=$(secrets lease x_consumer_key)
export CS=$(secrets lease x_consumer_secret)
export AT=$(secrets lease x_access_token)
export ATS=$(secrets lease x_access_token_secret)

uv run --with requests-oauthlib python3 << 'PYEOF'
import os
from requests_oauthlib import OAuth1Session

client = OAuth1Session(
    os.environ['CK'],
    client_secret=os.environ['CS'],
    resource_owner_key=os.environ['AT'],
    resource_owner_secret=os.environ['ATS'],
)

r = client.get("https://api.twitter.com/2/users/me")
print(r.json())
PYEOF

Revoke leases after use

secrets revoke --all

Account Info

• Account: @joelclaw
• User ID: 2022779096049311744
• Scopes: Read and write (OAuth 1.0a app permissions)

Common Operations

Read-only lookups can use the app bearer-token flow above.

Posting, replying, following, deleting, and account-scoped actions require OAuth 1.0a signing. Use the Python pattern from Authentication section above, then:

Common API calls (inside OAuth1Session)

# Check mentions
r = client.get("https://api.twitter.com/2/users/2022779096049311744/mentions",
    params={"max_results": 10, "tweet.fields": "created_at,author_id,text",
            "expansions": "author_id", "user.fields": "username,name"})

# Get my timeline
r = client.get("https://api.twitter.com/2/users/2022779096049311744/tweets",
    params={"max_results": 10, "tweet.fields": "created_at,public_metrics"})

# Post a tweet
r = client.post("https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets", json={"text": "your tweet"})

# Reply to a tweet
r = client.post("https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets",
    json={"text": "@user reply", "reply": {"in_reply_to_tweet_id": "TWEET_ID"}})

# Search recent tweets
r = client.get("https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets/search/recent",
    params={"query": "joelclaw", "max_results": 10, "tweet.fields": "created_at,author_id,text"})

# Get user by username
r = client.get("https://api.twitter.com/2/users/by/username/USERNAME",
    params={"user.fields": "description,public_metrics"})

# Follow a user
my_id = "2022779096049311744"
r = client.post(f"https://api.twitter.com/2/users/{my_id}/following",
    json={"target_user_id": "TARGET_USER_ID"})

# Delete a tweet
r = client.delete("https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets/TWEET_ID")

X Articles (Long-form Posts)

X Articles are NOT accessible via the v2 tweets API — the tweet body is just a t.co link and the article endpoint returns 500. Use agent-browser to read them:

agent-browser open "https://x.com/USERNAME/status/TWEET_ID"
agent-browser snapshot
agent-browser close

The snapshot returns the full article text in the DOM. Use this for any tweet where article.title is present in the API response or the expanded_url points to x.com/i/article/....

For capturing X posts/articles as discoveries, use joelclaw discover URL -c "context" — the discovery pipeline will handle enrichment. If the pipeline can't extract content (auth-gated), fall back to agent-browser + manual vault note.

Rate Limits

• Mentions: 180 requests / 15 min
• Post tweet: 200 tweets / 15 min (app-level)
• Search: 180 requests / 15 min
• User lookup: 300 requests / 15 min

Rules

• Never engage with shitcoin/scam mentions. Ignore them entirely.
• Never post financial advice or token endorsements.
• Joel approves all tweets before posting unless explicitly told otherwise.
• Always revoke leases after use — don't leave secrets in memory.
• OAuth 1.0a tokens don't expire — no refresh needed. If auth fails, tokens were regenerated in the developer portal.