twit

Twitter API Client for node

Supports both the REST and Streaming API.

Installing

npm install twit

Usage:

var Twit = require('twit')

var T = new Twit({
  consumer_key:         '...',
  consumer_secret:      '...',
  access_token:         '...',
  access_token_secret:  '...',
  timeout_ms:           60*1000,  // optional HTTP request timeout to apply to all requests.
  strictSSL:            true,     // optional - requires SSL certificates to be valid.
})

//
//  tweet 'hello world!'
//
T.post('statuses/update', { status: 'hello world!' }, function(err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
//  search twitter for all tweets containing the word 'banana' since July 11, 2011
//
T.get('search/tweets', { q: 'banana since:2011-07-11', count: 100 }, function(err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
//  get the list of user id's that follow @tolga_tezel
//
T.get('followers/ids', { screen_name: 'tolga_tezel' },  function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
// Twit has promise support; you can use the callback API,
// promise API, or both at the same time.
//
T.get('account/verify_credentials', { skip_status: true })
  .catch(function (err) {
    console.log('caught error', err.stack)
  })
  .then(function (result) {
    // `result` is an Object with keys "data" and "resp".
    // `data` and `resp` are the same objects as the ones passed
    // to the callback.
    // See https://github.com/ttezel/twit#tgetpath-params-callback
    // for details.

    console.log('data', result.data);
  })

//
//  retweet a tweet with id '343360866131001345'
//
T.post('statuses/retweet/:id', { id: '343360866131001345' }, function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
//  destroy a tweet with id '343360866131001345'
//
T.post('statuses/destroy/:id', { id: '343360866131001345' }, function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
// get `funny` twitter users
//
T.get('users/suggestions/:slug', { slug: 'funny' }, function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
// post a tweet with media
//
var b64content = fs.readFileSync('/path/to/img', { encoding: 'base64' })

// first we must post the media to Twitter
T.post('media/upload', { media_data: b64content }, function (err, data, response) {
  // now we can assign alt text to the media, for use by screen readers and
  // other text-based presentations and interpreters
  var mediaIdStr = data.media_id_string
  var altText = "Small flowers in a planter on a sunny balcony, blossoming."
  var meta_params = { media_id: mediaIdStr, alt_text: { text: altText } }

  T.post('media/metadata/create', meta_params, function (err, data, response) {
    if (!err) {
      // now we can reference the media and post a tweet (media will attach to the tweet)
      var params = { status: 'loving life #nofilter', media_ids: [mediaIdStr] }

      T.post('statuses/update', params, function (err, data, response) {
        console.log(data)
      })
    }
  })
})

//
// post media via the chunked media upload API.
// You can then use POST statuses/update to post a tweet with the media attached as in the example above using `media_id_string`.
// Note: You can also do this yourself manually using T.post() calls if you want more fine-grained
// control over the streaming. Example: https://github.com/ttezel/twit/blob/master/tests/rest_chunked_upload.js#L20
//
var filePath = '/absolute/path/to/file.mp4'
T.postMediaChunked({ file_path: filePath }, function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

//
//  stream a sample of public statuses
//
var stream = T.stream('statuses/sample')

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  console.log(tweet)
})

//
//  filter the twitter public stream by the word 'mango'.
//
var stream = T.stream('statuses/filter', { track: 'mango' })

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  console.log(tweet)
})

//
// filter the public stream by the latitude/longitude bounded box of San Francisco
//
var sanFrancisco = [ '-122.75', '36.8', '-121.75', '37.8' ]

var stream = T.stream('statuses/filter', { locations: sanFrancisco })

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  console.log(tweet)
})

//
// filter the public stream by english tweets containing `#apple`
//
var stream = T.stream('statuses/filter', { track: '#apple', language: 'en' })

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  console.log(tweet)
})

twit API:

var T = new Twit(config)

Create a Twit instance that can be used to make requests to Twitter's APIs.

If authenticating with user context, config should be an object of the form:

{
    consumer_key:         '...'
  , consumer_secret:      '...'
  , access_token:         '...'
  , access_token_secret:  '...'
}

If authenticating with application context, config should be an object of the form:

{
    consumer_key:         '...'
  , consumer_secret:      '...'
  , app_only_auth:        true
}

Note that Application-only auth will not allow you to perform requests to API endpoints requiring a user context, such as posting tweets. However, the endpoints available can have a higher rate limit.

T.get(path, [params], callback)

GET any of the REST API endpoints.

path

The endpoint to hit. When specifying path values, omit the '.json' at the end (i.e. use 'search/tweets' instead of 'search/tweets.json').

params

(Optional) parameters for the request.

callback

function (err, data, response)

• data is the parsed data received from Twitter.
• response is the [http.IncomingMessage](http://nodejs.org/api/http.html# http_http_incomingmessage) received from Twitter.

T.post(path, [params], callback)

POST any of the REST API endpoints. Same usage as T.get().

T.postMediaChunked(params, callback)

Helper function to post media via the POST media/upload (chunked) API. params is an object containing a file_path key. file_path is the absolute path to the file you want to upload.

var filePath = '/absolute/path/to/file.mp4'
T.postMediaChunked({ file_path: filePath }, function (err, data, response) {
  console.log(data)
})

You can also use the POST media/upload API via T.post() calls if you want more fine-grained control over the streaming; [see here for an example](https://github.com/ttezel/twit/blob/master/tests/rest_chunked_upload.js# L20).

T.getAuth()

Get the client's authentication tokens.

T.setAuth(tokens)

Update the client's authentication tokens.

T.stream(path, [params])

Use this with the Streaming API.

path

Streaming endpoint to hit. One of:

• 'statuses/filter'
• 'statuses/sample'
• 'statuses/firehose'
• 'user'
• 'site'

For a description of each Streaming endpoint, see the Twitter API docs.

params

(Optional) parameters for the request. Any Arrays passed in params get converted to comma-separated strings, allowing you to do requests like:

//
// I only want to see tweets about my favorite fruits
//

// same result as doing { track: 'bananas,oranges,strawberries' }
var stream = T.stream('statuses/filter', { track: ['bananas', 'oranges', 'strawberries'] })

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  //...
})

Using the Streaming API

T.stream(path, [params]) keeps the connection alive, and returns an EventEmitter.

The following events are emitted:

event: 'message'

Emitted each time an object is received in the stream. This is a catch-all event that can be used to process any data received in the stream, rather than using the more specific events documented below. New in version 2.1.0.

stream.on('message', function (msg) {
  //...
})

event: 'tweet'

Emitted each time a status (tweet) comes into the stream.

stream.on('tweet', function (tweet) {
  //...
})

event: 'delete'

Emitted each time a status (tweet) deletion message comes into the stream.

stream.on('delete', function (deleteMessage) {
  //...
})

event: 'limit'

Emitted each time a limitation message comes into the stream.

stream.on('limit', function (limitMessage) {
  //...
})

event: 'scrub_geo'

Emitted each time a location deletion message comes into the stream.

stream.on('scrub_geo', function (scrubGeoMessage) {
  //...
})

event: 'disconnect'

Emitted when a disconnect message comes from Twitter. This occurs if you have multiple streams connected to Twitter's API. Upon receiving a disconnect message from Twitter, Twit will close the connection and emit this event with the message details received from twitter.

stream.on('disconnect', function (disconnectMessage) {
  //...
})

event: 'connect'

Emitted when a connection attempt is made to Twitter. The http request object is emitted.

stream.on('connect', function (request) {
  //...
})

event: 'connected'

Emitted when the response is received from Twitter. The http response object is emitted.

stream.on('connected', function (response) {
  //...
})

event: 'reconnect'

Emitted when a reconnection attempt to Twitter is scheduled. If Twitter is having problems or we get rate limited, we schedule a reconnect according to Twitter's reconnection guidelines. The last http request and response objects are emitted, along with the time (in milliseconds) left before the reconnect occurs.

stream.on('reconnect', function (request, response, connectInterval) {
  //...
})

event: 'warning'

This message is appropriate for clients using high-bandwidth connections, like the firehose. If your connection is falling behind, Twitter will queue messages for you, until your queue fills up, at which point they will disconnect you.

stream.on('warning', function (warning) {
  //...
})

event: 'status_withheld'

Emitted when Twitter sends back a status_withheld message in the stream. This means that a tweet was withheld in certain countries.

stream.on('status_withheld', function (withheldMsg) {
  //...
})

event: 'user_withheld'

Emitted when Twitter sends back a user_withheld message in the stream. This means that a Twitter user was withheld in certain countries.

stream.on('user_withheld', function (withheldMsg) {
  //...
})

event: 'friends'

Emitted when Twitter sends the ["friends" preamble](https://dev.twitter.com/streaming/overview/messages-types# user_stream_messsages) when connecting to a user stream. This message contains a list of the user's friends, represented as an array of user ids. If the stringify_friend_ids parameter is set, the friends list preamble will be returned as Strings (instead of Numbers).

var stream = T.stream('user', { stringify_friend_ids: true })
stream.on('friends', function (friendsMsg) {
  //...
})

event: 'direct_message'

Emitted when a direct message is sent to the user. Unfortunately, Twitter has not documented this event for user streams.

stream.on('direct_message', function (directMsg) {
  //...
})

event: 'user_event'

Emitted when Twitter sends back a User stream event. See the Twitter docs for more information on each event's structure.

stream.on('user_event', function (eventMsg) {
  //...
})

In addition, the following user stream events are provided for you to listen on:

• blocked
• unblocked
• favorite
• unfavorite
• follow
• unfollow
• mute
• unmute
• user_update
• list_created
• list_destroyed
• list_updated
• list_member_added
• list_member_removed
• list_user_subscribed
• list_user_unsubscribed
• quoted_tweet
• retweeted_retweet
• favorited_retweet
• unknown_user_event (for an event that doesn't match any of the above)

Example:

stream.on('favorite', function (event) {
  //...
})

event: 'error'

Emitted when an API request or response error occurs. An Error object is emitted, with properties:

{
  message:      '...',  // error message
  statusCode:   '...',  // statusCode from Twitter
  code:         '...',  // error code from Twitter
  twitterReply: '...',  // raw response data from Twitter
  allErrors:    '...'   // array of errors returned from Twitter
}

stream.stop()

Call this function on the stream to stop streaming (closes the connection with Twitter).

stream.start()

Call this function to restart the stream after you called .stop() on it. Note: there is no need to call .start() to begin streaming. Twit.stream calls .start() for you.

What do I have access to?

Anything in the Twitter API:

• REST API Endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/rest/public
• Public stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/streaming/public
• User stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/streaming/userstreams
• Site stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/streaming/sitestreams

Go here to create an app and get OAuth credentials (if you haven't already): https://apps.twitter.com/app/new

Advanced

You may specify an array of trusted certificate fingerprints if you want to only trust a specific set of certificates. When an HTTP response is received, it is verified that the certificate was signed, and the peer certificate's fingerprint must be one of the values you specified. By default, the node.js trusted "root" CAs will be used.

eg.

var twit = new Twit({
  consumer_key:         '...',
  consumer_secret:      '...',
  access_token:         '...',
  access_token_secret:  '...',
  trusted_cert_fingerprints: [
    '66:EA:47:62:D9:B1:4F:1A:AE:89:5F:68:BA:6B:8E:BB:F8:1D:BF:8E',
  ]
})

Contributing

• Make your changes
• Make sure your code matches the style of the code around it
• Add tests that cover your feature/bugfix
• Run tests
• Submit a pull request

How do I run the tests?

Create two files: config1.js and config2.js at the root of the twit folder. They should contain two different sets of oauth credentials for twit to use (two accounts are needed for testing interactions). They should both look something like this:

module.exports = {
    consumer_key: '...'
  , consumer_secret: '...'
  , access_token: '...'
  , access_token_secret: '...'
}

Then run the tests:

npm test

You can also run the example:

node examples/rtd2.js

The example is a twitter bot named RTD2 written using twit. RTD2 tweets about github and curates its social graph.

FAQ

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) by Tolga Tezel [email protected]

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Changelog

2.2.11

• Fix media_category used for media uploads (thanks @BooDoo)

2.2.10

• Update maximum Tweet characters to 280 (thanks @maziyarpanahi)
• For streaming requests, use request body for sending params (thanks @raine)
• Fix getBearerToken endpoint (thanks @williamcoates)
• Shared Parameter Feature For Media Upload (thanks @haroonabbasi)
• Don't include params in path for jsonpayload paths (thanks @egtoney)
• Add support for strictSSL request option (thanks @zdoc01)

2.2.9

• Use JSON payload in request body for new DM endpoints.

2.2.8

• Add support for HTTP DELETE; you can now T.delete(...).

2.2.7

• Don't attempt to reconnect to Twitter API when receiving HTTP status code 413 - request entity too large.

2.2.6

• Fix zlib error when streaming

2.2.4

• Fix 401 Unauthorized error on streaming connection reconnect after not being connected for some time (eg. due to > 1min loss of network).

2.2.2

• Emit parser-error instead of error event if Twitter sends back an uncompressed HTTP response body.

2.2.1

• Add promise support to Twit REST API calls.

2.2.0

• Allow omission of new keyword; var t = Twit(config) works, and var t = new Twit(config) works too.
• Allow setting an array of trusted certificate fingerprints via config.trusted_cert_fingerprints.
• Automatically adjust timestamp for OAuth'ed HTTP requests by recording the timestamp from Twitter HTTP responses, computing our local time offset, and applying the offset in the next HTTP request to Twitter.

2.1.7

• Add mime as a dependency.

2.1.6

• Emit friends event for friends_str message received when a user stream is requested with stringify_friend_ids=true.
• Handle receiving "Exceeded connection limit for user" message from Twitter while streaming. Emit error event for this case.
• Emit retweeted_retweet and favorited_retweet user events.
• Add MIT license to package.json (about time!)

2.1.5

• Support config-based request timeout.

2.1.4

• Support POST media/upload (chunked) and add T.postMediaChunked() to make it easy.

2.1.3

• Fix bug in constructing HTTP requests for account/update_profile_image and account/update_profile_background_image paths.

2.1.2

• Enable gzip on network traffic
• Add quoted_tweet event

2.1.1

• Strict-mode fixes (Twit can now be run with strict mode)
• Fix handling of disconect message from Twitter
• If Twitter returns a non-JSON-parseable fragment during streaming, emit 'parser-error' instead of 'error' (to discard fragments like "Internal Server Error")

2.1.0

• Add message event.

2.0.0

• Implement Application-only auth
• Remove oauth module as a dependency

1.1.20

• Implement support for POST /media/upload
• Reconnect logic fix for streaming; add stall abort/reconnect timeout on first connection attempt.

1.1.14

• Emit connected event upon receiving the response from twitter

1.0.0

• now to stop and start the stream, use stream.stop() and stream.start() instead of emitting the start and stop events
• If twitter sends a disconnect message, closes the stream and emits disconnect with the disconnect message received from twitter

0.2.0

• Updated twit for usage with v1.1 of the Twitter API.

0.1.5

• BREAKING CHANGE to twit.stream(). Does not take a callback anymore. It returns immediately with the EventEmitter that you can listen on. The Usage section in the Readme.md has been updated. Read it.

0.1.4

• twit.stream() has signature function (path, params, callback)