X API

# 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.

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

```python
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.

```bash
# 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.