X API

Programmatic interaction with X (Twitter) for posting, reading, searching, and analytics.

When to Activate

• User wants to post tweets or threads programmatically
• Reading timeline, mentions, or user data from X
• Searching X for content, trends, or conversations
• Building X integrations or bots
• Analytics and engagement tracking
• User says "post to X", "tweet", "X API", or "Twitter API"

Authentication

OAuth 2.0 Bearer Token (App-Only)

Best for: read-heavy operations, search, public data.

# Environment setup
export X_BEARER_TOKEN="your-bearer-token"

import os
import requests

bearer = os.environ["X_BEARER_TOKEN"]
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {bearer}"}

# Search recent tweets
resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/search/recent",
    headers=headers,
    params={"query": "claude code", "max_results": 10}
)
tweets = resp.json()

OAuth 1.0a (User Context)

Required for: posting tweets, managing account, DMs, and any write flow.

# Environment setup — source before use
export X_CONSUMER_KEY="your-consumer-key"
export X_CONSUMER_SECRET="your-consumer-secret"
export X_ACCESS_TOKEN="your-access-token"
export X_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET="your-access-token-secret"

Legacy aliases such as X_API_KEY, X_API_SECRET, and X_ACCESS_SECRET may exist in older setups. Prefer the X_CONSUMER_* and X_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET names when documenting or wiring new flows.

import os
from requests_oauthlib import OAuth1Session

oauth = OAuth1Session(
    os.environ["X_CONSUMER_KEY"],
    client_secret=os.environ["X_CONSUMER_SECRET"],
    resource_owner_key=os.environ["X_ACCESS_TOKEN"],
    resource_owner_secret=os.environ["X_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET"],
)

Core Operations

Post a Tweet

resp = oauth.post(
    "https://api.x.com/2/tweets",
    json={"text": "Hello from Claude Code"}
)
resp.raise_for_status()
tweet_id = resp.json()["data"]["id"]

Post a Thread

def post_thread(oauth, tweets: list[str]) -> list[str]:
    ids = []
    reply_to = None
    for text in tweets:
        payload = {"text": text}
        if reply_to:
            payload["reply"] = {"in_reply_to_tweet_id": reply_to}
        resp = oauth.post("https://api.x.com/2/tweets", json=payload)
        tweet_id = resp.json()["data"]["id"]
        ids.append(tweet_id)
        reply_to = tweet_id
    return ids

Read User Timeline

resp = requests.get(
    f"https://api.x.com/2/users/{user_id}/tweets",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "max_results": 10,
        "tweet.fields": "created_at,public_metrics",
    }
)

Search Tweets

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/search/recent",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "query": "from:affaanmustafa -is:retweet",
        "max_results": 10,
        "tweet.fields": "public_metrics,created_at",
    }
)

Pull Recent Original Posts for Voice Modeling

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/search/recent",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "query": "from:affaanmustafa -is:retweet -is:reply",
        "max_results": 25,
        "tweet.fields": "created_at,public_metrics",
    }
)
voice_samples = resp.json()

Get User by Username

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.x.com/2/users/by/username/affaanmustafa",
    headers=headers,
    params={"user.fields": "public_metrics,description,created_at"}
)

Upload Media and Post

# Media upload uses v1.1 endpoint

# Step 1: Upload media
media_resp = oauth.post(
    "https://upload.twitter.com/1.1/media/upload.json",
    files={"media": open("image.png", "rb")}
)
media_id = media_resp.json()["media_id_string"]

# Step 2: Post with media
resp = oauth.post(
    "https://api.x.com/2/tweets",
    json={"text": "Check this out", "media": {"media_ids": [media_id]}}
)

Rate Limits

X API rate limits vary by endpoint, auth method, and account tier, and they change over time. Always:

• Check the current X developer docs before hardcoding assumptions
• Read x-rate-limit-remaining and x-rate-limit-reset headers at runtime
• Back off automatically instead of relying on static tables in code

import time

remaining = int(resp.headers.get("x-rate-limit-remaining", 0))
if remaining < 5:
    reset = int(resp.headers.get("x-rate-limit-reset", 0))
    wait = max(0, reset - int(time.time()))
    print(f"Rate limit approaching. Resets in {wait}s")

Error Handling

resp = oauth.post("https://api.x.com/2/tweets", json={"text": content})
if resp.status_code == 201:
    return resp.json()["data"]["id"]
elif resp.status_code == 429:
how to use x-api
CursorClaude CodeClineCodexWindsurfGooseGitHub CopilotVS CodeGemini CLIKiloOpencodeKimi CLIRoo ClineAiderContinueZedBolt.newLovablev0Replit AgentSweepSmol DeveloperDevinCavemanAmpAntigravity
How to use x-api on Cursor
AI-first code editor with Composer
1
Prerequisites
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
›Cursor installed and configured on your development machine
›Node.js version 16.0+ with npm package manager (verify with node --version)
›Active project directory or workspace where you want to add x-api
2
Execute installation command
Execute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
$npx skills add https://github.com/affaan-m/everything-claude-code --skill x-apicopy
The skills CLI fetches x-api from GitHub repository affaan-m/everything-claude-code and configures it for Cursor.
3
Select Cursor when prompted
The CLI will show a list of available agents. Use arrow keys to navigate and space to select Cursor:
◆ Which agents do you want to install to?
│
│ ── Universal (.agents/skills) ── always included ────
│   • Amp
│   • Antigravity
│   • Cline
│   • Codex
│ ●Cursor(selected)
│   • Cursor
│   • Windsurf
4
Verify installation
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
.cursor/skills/x-api
Reload or restart Cursor to activate x-api. Access the skill through slash commands (e.g., /x-api) or your agent's skill management interface.
⚠
Security & Verification Notice
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your development environment. Always verify the publisher's identity, review recent commits, and test in isolated environments before production deployment.
Additional Resources
›View source code on GitHub›Skills CLI documentation›Learn more about Cursor›What are agent skills?