xfetch

Fetch public data from X (Twitter) — profiles, tweets, threads, search, followers — using the user's own login cookies instead of the paid developer API. This skill ships a single self-contained CLI, scripts/xfetch.py, that calls X's GraphQL API directly and emits structured data an agent can parse.

How it stays working (the architecture that matters): the hard part of X scraping is that X constantly changes its site — it rotates GraphQL query IDs every few weeks, migrates endpoints between GET and POST, and reshapes response JSON. This CLI splits those concerns so a break in one place doesn't take everything down:

• It reuses the current query IDs and feature flags shipped by the twikit package (kept fresh with pip install -U twikit) — so you don't hand-maintain the fastest-rotating values.
• It does its own HTTP requests and JSON parsing, which sidesteps the two things most likely to be broken in twikit at any moment: (1) its homepage-scraped anti-bot transaction ID — this CLI sends a harmless placeholder x-client-transaction-id, which X accepts for read endpoints; and (2) its response-model layer — this CLI parses the raw JSON itself. It also auto-falls-back GET↔POST on a 404, so an endpoint X migrates keeps working.

Net: if a command suddenly errors for everyone, the first fix is still pip install -U twikit (refreshes query IDs). If that doesn't help, X changed a response shape — check the parser in scripts/xfetch.py.

The agent-native contract

scripts/xfetch.py is built so you can drive it in a loop without surprises. Rely on these three channels rather than scraping prose:

• stdout carries the data payload only (JSON by default). Redirect or pipe it — nothing else is written there.
• stderr carries human status (✓ Saved…) and errors. Read it to diagnose; ignore it when parsing.
• exit code is the truth signal: 0 = success, 1 = error, 2 = not authenticated, 3 = rate limited (stderr carries rate_limit_reset=<epoch>), 64 = usage error (bad flag or argument — fix the command, don't re-auth). Branch on the exit code, not on stderr text.

Setup (once per environment)

1. Confirm Python and install twikit (a virtualenv is cleanest so you don't touch system packages):

   python3 -m pip install -r scripts/requirements.txt   # installs twikit>=2.3.3
   

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2. Verify the CLI loads:

   python3 scripts/xfetch.py --version    # -> xfetch-skill 0.3
   

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Invoke every command as python3 scripts/xfetch.py <command> … using this skill's own copy of the script.

Authenticate first — this is the #1 failure mode

Every data command needs the user's X cookies (auth_token + ct0). Without them the command prints Not authenticated. to stderr and exits 2. Auth is delegated: the human sets it up once, the CLI saves a session to ~/.config/xfetch/cookies.json, and you reuse it — you don't own the credential lifecycle, you just check it's present.

Always run this first and branch on the exit code:

python3 scripts/xfetch.py auth check

If it isn't authenticated, get the human to provide credentials, in order of preference:

• Extract from a logged-in browser (most convenient — reads the x.com cookies straight from the browser's store, no copy/paste):

  python3 scripts/xfetch.py auth extract --browser chrome
  # supported: chrome, chromium, firefox, safari, edge, brave, arc, opera, vivaldi, librewolf
  

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  Requires browser_cookie3 (in requirements.txt). On macOS this may prompt for Keychain access — that's the OS handing over the cookie-decryption key, which is expected.

• Import a cookies file (best for browsers without a reader — e.g. ChatGPT Atlas, Orion, or any Chromium fork): export cookies with a "Get cookies.txt" browser extension (Netscape cookies.txt or JSON both work), then point the CLI at the file — it extracts auth_token + ct0 for you:

  python3 scripts/xfetch.py auth import --file ~/Downloads/x.com_cookies.txt
  

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• Paste cookie tokens (works for any browser): open DevTools → Application → Cookies → https://x.com, copy the auth_token and ct0 values, then:

  python3 scripts/xfetch.py auth set --auth-token <token> --ct0 <token>
  

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• Environment variables (good for CI / one-off, saves nothing to disk):

  XFETCH_AUTH_TOKEN=<token> XFETCH_CT0=<token> python3 scripts/xfetch.py user @handle
  

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• Username/password login (twikit performs a real login; may trip a captcha or 2FA — pass --totp for TOTP-based 2FA):

  python3 scripts/xfetch.py auth login --username <user> --password <pass>
  

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Never invent or guess cookie values. Prefer auth set/env over login so no password passes through the command line. If auth is missing and you can't obtain it, stop and ask the human — you cannot proceed without it. These read a real account, so its login is a shared, rate-limited resource: don't hammer it.

Choose the output format for the consumer

The default json is pretty-printed for a human reading one result. For anything you or a pipeline will parse, pick deliberately with --format:

Add --plain for compact single-line JSON. Save to a file by redirecting stdout, e.g. … --format jsonl > tweets.jsonl.

Commands

# Profile (by @handle or numeric id)
python3 scripts/xfetch.py user @elonmusk

# A user's tweets (--replies for replies, --media for media-only)
python3 scripts/xfetch.py tweets @elonmusk -n 50
python3 scripts/xfetch.py tweets @elonmusk --replies --all --format jsonl > timeline.jsonl

# A user's liked tweets
python3 scripts/xfetch.py likes @handle -n 40

# Single tweet, and a tweet with its replies (thread)
python3 scripts/xfetch.py tweet https://x.com/user/status/1234567890
python3 scripts/xfetch.py thread 1234567890

# Search (--type top|latest|media)
python3 scripts/xfetch.py search "AI agents" -n 100 --type latest
python3 scripts/xfetch.py search "from:openai since:2024-01-01" --all --format csv > openai.csv

# Followers / following, paginated into a SQLite dataset
python3 scripts/xfetch.py followers @handle --all --format sqlite --db network.db
python3 scripts/xfetch.py following @handle -n 100

# Your own timelines (uses the logged-in account)
python3 scripts/xfetch.py home              # "For You"
python3 scripts/xfetch.py home --following  # chronological
python3 scripts/xfetch.py bookmarks -n 50

search supports X's advanced operators (from:, to:, since:, until:, filter:, min_faves:, etc.) — pass them inside the quoted query. For the full flag reference and the exact fields each command returns, read references/commands.md.

DMs, lists, and trends are not exposed as commands (to keep this CLI small), but twikit supports them (get_dm_history, get_list_tweets, get_trends) — add a command following the existing pattern in scripts/xfetch.py if the user needs one.

Pagination and rate limits

Listing commands (tweets, search, followers, following, likes, home, bookmarks) share these flags — single page by default, opt into more:

-n 40            # results per page
--all            # every page until exhausted
--max-pages 10   # cap the pages
--cursor <c>     # start from a specific pagination cursor
--delay 1.5      # seconds between pages (default 1.0 — keep it >0 for --all)

When more pages remain — or a pull is interrupted or rate limited mid-way — the CLI prints next_cursor=<value> to stderr. Capture it and pass it back via --cursor to resume exactly where the pull stopped instead of refetching from the top.

X enforces per-account rate limits (roughly a few hundred requests per 15-minute window per endpoint) and this uses the user's real account. For bulk pulls keep a real --delay, prefer --max-pages over --all when you only need a sample, and remember aggressive scraping can get the account throttled or flagged. Route through a proxy for heavier work with --proxy http://user:pass@host:port.

When something fails

Check the exit code, then read stderr to classify:

• exit 2 / Not authenticated → run the auth flow above.
• exit 64 / usage error → the command line itself is wrong (unknown flag, bad value). Fix the invocation — do not re-run auth.
• exit 3 / rate limited → stderr carries rate_limit_reset=<epoch>; wait until then, raise --delay, and resume from the next_cursor= value printed on stderr.
• exit 1 with a GraphQL / parsing error that started suddenly for everyone → X likely changed its site. Upgrade twikit (pip install -U twikit) and retry.
• Timeout / network errors mid-pull → resume from the next_cursor= line on stderr instead of refetching from the top.
• Empty result → the account may be private (you only see what the logged-in account can), suspended, or the handle is wrong.

Scope and good-citizen notes

This reads public data plus whatever the logged-in account can see (its own home, bookmarks, likes). It does not post, like, follow, or modify anything — it's read-only by design. Because it uses the user's own session, the user is responsible for staying within X's Terms of Service and rate limits. Use it for legitimate purposes — research, personal archiving, monitoring accounts the user is entitled to read — not for harassment, mass surveillance, or evading a block. Session cookies live under ~/.config/xfetch/; clear them with auth clear.