Python Twitter Tools

The Minimalist Twitter API for Python is a Python port for Twitter's API.

Compatible across python 2.7 and 3.6+.

For more information:

• install the package:

  pip install twitter
  

• import the twitter package and run help() on it

Summary

• Authenticating with OAuth/OAuth2
• Instantiating the
• Querying the different API routes with different kinds of arguments
• Examples with Twitter Standard API v1.1
• Examples with Twitter API v2
• Working with the live streams of tweets (v1.1 & v2)
• Advanced features

Programming with the Twitter API classes

The minimalist yet fully featured Twitter API class.

Get RESTful data by accessing members of this class. The result is decoded python objects (lists and dicts).

The Twitter API is documented at: https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs

The list of most accessible functions is listed at: https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/api-reference-index

The Twitter and TwitterStream classes are the key to building your own Twitter-enabled applications.

The Twitter2 and TwitterStream2 classes are helpers preconfigured to handle the specificities of Twitter API v2.

from twitter import Twitter, Twitter2, TwitterStream, TwitterStream2

- Authenticating

Querying the Twitter API requires you to authenticate using individual credentials.

In order to obtain these, visit first the Twitter developer page and apply for a developer acount (which now requires you to provide a cellphone number in your account settings and to fill a form describing your intentions in using the Twitter API), then create an app.

Once your app is configured, you can generate your API keys set:

• API KEY and SECRET
• Access OAUTH_TOKEN and OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET
• OAuth2 BEARER_TOKEN

You can authenticate with Twitter in two different ways: OAuth or OAuth2 (for app-only routes and API v2). Get help() on these classes to learn how to use them.

• OAuth requires a complete set of KEY, SECRET, OAUTH_TOKEN and OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET:

from twitter import OAuth
auth = OAuth(OAUTH_TOKEN, OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, KEY, SECRET)

• OAuth2 can be used directly with just the BEARER_TOKEN:

from twitter import OAuth2
auth2 = OAuth2(bearer_token=BEARER_TOKEN)

Note that you can also configure your app to enable "3-legged OAuth" if you want to allow other users to interact with Twitter through your app. In this case, only your KEY and SECRET will be required and your application will need to be authorized by the user by performing the "OAuth Dance" (see dedicated documentation below).

- Instantiating

Now that you have credentials allowing to use either OAuth or OAuth2 authentification, you can instantiate the Twitter classes like this:

# For the API v1.1:
tw = Twitter(auth=auth)
# and
tw_app = Twitter(auth=auth2)

# And for the v2:
tw2 = Twitter2(auth=auth)
tw2_app = Twitter2(auth=auth2)
# (which are actually the same as:)
tw2 = Twitter(auth=auth, api_version="2", format="")
tw2_app = Twitter(auth=auth2, api_version="2", format="")

Note that some API routes proposed by Twitter only work with OAuth, while others will only work with OAuth2 and some others will accept both (but potentially with different rate limits). Please read the official documentation to know which authentication to use for which routes.

- Querying the API

The philosophy of this wrapper is to be as flexible as possible and allow users to call any new routes added by Twitter without requiring to add specific code for each route within the library first. One only needs to know the url of an API route to call it as if it were an attribute of the Twitter classes.

Hence, for instance, to use Twitter API v2's search tweets route https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets/search/recent, you can call it as such:

tw2_app.tweets.search.recent(query="python", max_results=50)

Identically, with API v1.1's search route https://api.twitter.com/1.1/search/tweets.json:

tw.search.tweets(q="python", result_type="recent", count=50)

API routes sometimes include an argument within them. In such cases the positionnal argument should be prefixed with an underscore and reused as such in the function's arguments. For instance, to get a user's id when knowing only its screen_name, one can use https://api.twitter.com/2/users/by/username/:username:

user = tw2.users.by.username._username(_username="PythonTwitTools")
user_id = user["data"]["id"]

Similarly, to collect all recent tweets of this account (his "timeline"), using https://api.twitter.com/2/users/:id/tweets;

timeline = tw2.users._id.tweets(_id=user_id, exclude="retweets")

Some routes also require an id to be given at the end of the route url. In those cases, one can directly use the 'id argument without prefixing it with an underscore and it will magically be added at the end of the route. For instance to get more metadata on the previous user, thanks to the route [https://api.twitter.com/2/users/:id`](https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/users/lookup/api-reference/get-users-id)

tw2.users(id=user_id)
# which is identical to
tw2.users._id(_id=user_id)

Consequently, when calling one of the rare routes taking an argument named id that is not supposed to appear within the route url, it needs to be renamed as _id within the function's argument. For instance, to call https://api.twitter.com/1.1/collections/show.json:

tw.collections.show(_id="custom-388061495298244609")
# instead of the following which will return a 404 error:
tw.collections.show(id="custom-388061495298244609")

Finally, some routes require to force the HTTP method used to call them (GET, POST, DELETE, etc.). The library uses GET by default and tries to guess most other cases, but it requires sometimes to be forced, which can be done by using the extra _method argument. For instance, the route https://api.twitter.com/2/users/:id/muting can be called with GET to collect a list of muted users, and with POST to add a user to this list:

# To see the list of all users muted by our previous user:
tw2.users._id.muting(_id=user_id)
# And instead to mute this specific user:
tw2.users._id.muting(_id=user_id, _method="POST")

Most routes arguments can be called directly as keyword arguments as in the previous example, but Twitter API v2 sometimes uses more complex nested arguments (such as tweet.fields, add.value, etc.) which are not "legal" python kwargs. For all of these, another special argument is available named params which accepts these. For instance to list desired fields when requesting a specific tweet with https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets:

tw2.tweets(
    id=1293595870563381249,
    params={
        "tweet.fields": "attachments,author_id,context_annotations,conversation_id,created_at,entities,geo,id,in_reply_to_user_id,lang,public_metrics,possibly_sensitive,referenced_tweets,reply_settings,source,text,withheld",
        "user.fields":  "created_at,description,entities,id,location,name,pinned_tweet_id,profile_image_url,protected,public_metrics,url,username,verified,withheld",
        "media.fields": "duration_ms,height,media_key,preview_image_url,type,url,width,public_metrics"
    }
)

Finally, some rare routes using POST explicitly require arguments to be formatted as JSON body. These can be used with the special _json argument (which automatically handles setting _method to POST). For instance to send a Direct Message with API v1's https://api.twitter.com/1.1/direct_messages/events/new.json to our previous user_id:

tw.direct_messages.events.new(
    _json={
        "event": {
            "type": "message_create",
            "message_create": {
                "target": {
                    "recipient_id": user_id
                },
                "message_data": {
                    "text": "Hello there!"
                }
            }
        }
    }
)

- Examples with Twitter Standard API v1.1:

from twitter import *

# First instantiate the class by authenticating with OAuth:
oauth = OAuth(OAUTH_TOKEN, OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET)
tw = Twitter(auth=oauth)

# Or with OAuth2 using a bearer token:
oauth2 = OAuth2(bearer_token=BEARER_TOKEN)
tw_app = Twitter(auth=oauth2)

# Note the BEARER_TOKEN can be regenerated directly through a combination of calls to Twitter API v1 as such:
import json
token = Twitter(api_version=None, format="", secure=True, auth=OAuth2(CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET)).oauth2.token(grant_type="client_credentials")
BEARER_TOKEN = json.loads(token)['access_token']

# Get your "home" timeline
tw.statuses.home_timeline()

# Add specific parameters such as "count" as simple keyword arguments
tw.statuses.home_timeline(count=5)

# Get a specific user's timeline
tw.statuses.user_timeline(screen_name="boogheta")

# Get a specific tweet
tw.statuses.show(id=1564290764359753730)

# Post a new tweet:
tw.statuses.update(status="Using @boogheta's sweet Python Twitter Tools.")

# Send a direct message
t.direct_messages.events.new(
  _json={
    "event": {
      "type": "message_create",
      "message_create": {
        "target": {"recipient_id": t.users.show(screen_name="boogheta")["id"]},
        "message_data": {"text": "I think yer swell!"}
      }
    }
  }
)

# Get the members of maxmunnecke's list "network analysis tools" (grab the list_id within the url) https://twitter.com/i/lists/1130857490764091392
tw.lists.members(owner_screen_name="maxmunnecke", list_id="1130857490764091392")

# Like/Favorite a status
status = tw.statuses.home_timeline()[0]
if not status['favorited']:
    tw.favorites.create(_id=status['id'])

# An *optional* `_timeout` parameter can also be used for API
# calls which take much more time than normal or when Twitter stops
# responding for some reason:
t.users.lookup(
  screen_name=','.join(A_LIST_OF_100_SCREEN_NAMES),
  _timeout=1
)

# Overriding method: GET/POST
# you should not need to use this method as this library properly
# detects whether GET or POST should be used for all V1 routes.
# Nevertheless to force a particular method, use `_method`:
tw.statuses.oembed(_id=1564290764359753730, _method='GET')

# Send images along with your tweets:
# - first just read images from the web or from files the regular way:
with open("example.png", "rb") as imagefile:
    imagedata = imagefile.read()
# - then upload medias one by one on Twitter's dedicated server
#   and collect each one's id:
tw_upload = Twitter(domain='upload.twitter.com', auth=oauth)
id_img1 = tw_upload.media.upload(media=imagedata)["media_id_string"]
id_img2 = tw_upload.media.upload(media=imagedata)["media_id_string"]
# - finally send your tweet with the list of media ids:
tw.statuses.update(status="PTT rocks! ★", media_ids=",".join([id_img1, id_img2]))

# Or send a tweet with an image (or set a logo/banner similarly)
# using the old deprecated method that will probably disappear some day
params = {"media[]": imagedata, "status": "PTT ★"}
# Or for an image encoded as base64:
params = {"media[]": base64_image, "status": "PTT ★", "_base64": True}
tw.statuses.update_with_media(**params)

# Attach text metadata to medias sent, using the upload.twitter.com route
# and the "_json" workaround to send json arguments as POST body
# (warning: to be done before attaching the media to a tweet)
tw_upload.media.metadata.create(
  _json={
    "media_id": id_img1,
    "alt_text": {
      "text": "metadata generated via PTT!"
    }
  }
)
# or with the shortcut arguments ("alt_text" and "text" work):
tw_upload.media.metadata.create(media_id=id_img1, text="metadata generated via PTT!")

# Search tweets matching a word or a hashtag such as #pycon:
tw.search.tweets(q="#pycon")

# Search for the latest tweets about #pycon, using [extended mode](https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/tweet-updates)
tw.search.tweets(q="#pycon", tweet_mode='extended')

- Examples with Twitter API v2:

from twitter import *

# First instantiate the class by authenticating with OAuth:
oauth = OAuth(OAUTH_TOKEN, OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET)
tw = Twitter2(auth=oauth)

# Or with OAuth2 using a bearer token:
oauth2 = OAuth2(bearer_token=BEARER_TOKEN)
tw_app = Twitter2(auth=oauth2)

# Note that Twitter2 is only a wrapper for the regular Twitter class with presets,
# so the above are equivalent to the following:
tw = Twitter(auth=oauth, api_version="2", format="")
tw_app = Twitter(auth=oauth2, api_version="2", format="")

# Then use it to query the API. For instance, get metadata on the authenticated user:
tw.users.me()

# Add specific parameters, for instance the "id" of a specific tweet to gran:
tw.tweets(id=1293595870563381249)

# Twitter v2 API does not return automatically all fields like v1.1 was.
# One needs to specify which expansions and fields are desired as listed in
# the [official documentation](https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/tweets/lookup/api-reference/get-tweets-id).
# For instance, to get everything available on the previous tweet:
tw.tweets(
    id=1293595870563381249,
    expansions="author_id,referenced_tweets.id,referenced_tweets.id.author_id,entities.mentions.username,attachments.poll_ids,attachments.media_keys,in_reply_to_user_id,geo.place_id",
    params={
        "tweet.fields": "attachments,author_id,context_annotations,conversation_id,created_at,entities,geo,id,in_reply_to_user_id,lang,public_metrics,possibly_sensitive,referenced_tweets,reply_settings,source,text,withheld",
        "user.fields":  "created_at,description,entities,id,location,name,pinned_tweet_id,profile_image_url,protected,public_metrics,url,username,verified,withheld",
        "media.fields": "duration_ms,height,media_key,preview_image_url,type,url,width,public_metrics",
        "place.fields": "contained_within,country,country_code,full_name,geo,id,name,place_type",
        "poll.fields":  "duration_minutes,end_datetime,id,options,voting_status"
    }
)

# Post a new tweet, using JSON body parameters:
tw.tweets(_json={"text": "Using @boogheta's sweet Python Twitter Tools."})

# Search tweets matching a word or a hashtag such as #pycon:
tw.tweets.search.recent(query="#pycon")

- Working with the Streaming APIs

The TwitterStream and TwitterStream2 classes are interfaces to the Twitter Stream APIs. These can be used pretty much the same as the Twitter and Twitter2 classes, except the result of calling a method will be an iterator that yields objects decoded from the stream.

Per default the TwitterStream object uses public streams. If you want to use one of the other streaming APIs, you should specify the domain URL manually to the TwitterStream class.

The iterator will yield until the TCP connection breaks. When the connection breaks, the iterator yields {'hangup': True} (and raises StopIteration if iterated again).

Similarly, if the stream does not produce heartbeats for more than 90 seconds, the iterator yields {'hangup': True, 'heartbeat_timeout': True} (and raises StopIteration if iterated again).

The timeout parameter controls the maximum time between yields. If it is nonzero, then the iterator will yield either stream data or {'timeout': True} within the timeout period. This is useful if you want your program to do other stuff in between waiting for tweets.

The block parameter sets the stream to be fully non-blocking. In this mode, the iterator always yields immediately. It returns stream data, or None.

Note that timeout supercedes this argument, so it should also be set as None to use this mode, and non-blocking can potentially lead to 100% CPU usage.

+ Examples with the v1.1 streaming APIs:

# Use the Twitter API v1.1 dedicated wrapper for streaming:
tw_stream = TwitterStream(auth=oauth)

# Then calling it behaves like python generators. For instance with the sample stream:
for tweet in tw_stream.statuses.sample():
    print(tweet)

# The same applies to the regular search filter stream:
for tweet in tw_stream.statuses.filter(track="python,programming"):
    print(tweet)

# Streams will return objects which can be either None, tweet dictionary objects
# or service messages such as "disconnect", "hangup", "timeout" or "delete",
# so testing whether the collected objet exists and has an "id_str"
# for instance can be a good practice:
for tweet in tw_stream.statuses.filter(track="python,programming"):
    if tweet.get("id_str"):
        process_tweet(tweet)

+ Examples with the v2 streaming APIs:

# To use the live Stream with API v2, a specific wrapper is also there:
tw2_stream = TwitterStream2(auth=oauth2)

# Then calling it behaves like python generators. For instance with the sample stream:
for tweet in tw2_stream.tweets.sample.stream():
    print(tweet)

# The same applies to the regular search filter stream:
for tweet in tw2_stream.tweets.search.stream():
    print(tweet)

# Although it does not anymore take any filter argument and first needs to be
# controlled separately using the regular Twitter class.
tw2_app = Twitter2(auth=oauth2)
# To know which rules apply, just call:
tw2_app.tweets.search.stream.rules()
# And to add new rules, send POST json queries to the same route:
tw2_app.tweets.search.stream.rules(_json={"add": [{"value": "python"}, {"value": "programming"}]})

# Then call the stream as described above:
for tweet in tw2_stream.tweets.search.stream():
    print(tweet)

# Get more details on rules options and syntax in the officiel documentation:
# https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/tweets/filtered-stream/api-reference/post-tweets-search-stream-rules

- Advanced features:

+ Retrying after reaching the API rate limit:

Simply create the Twitter instance with the argument retry=True, then the HTTP error codes 429, 502, 503, and 504 will cause a retry of the last request.

If retry is an integer, it defines the maximum number of retry attempts.

+ Twitter Response Objects:

Response from a Twitter request. Behaves like a list or a string (depending on requested format), but it has a few other interesting attributes.

headers gives you access to the response headers as an httplib.HTTPHeaders instance. Use response.headers.get('h') to retrieve a header.

+ OAuth Danse

When users run your application they have to authenticate your app with their Twitter account. A few HTTP calls to Twitter are required to do this. Please see the twitter.oauth_dance module to see how this is done. If you are making a command-line app, you can use the oauth_dance() function directly.

Performing the "oauth dance" gets you an oauth token and oauth secret that authenticate the user with Twitter. You should save these for later, so that the user doesn't have to do the oauth dance again.

read_token_file and write_token_file are utility methods to read and write OAuth token and secret key values. The values are stored as strings in the file. Not terribly exciting.

Finally, you can use the OAuth authenticator to connect to Twitter. In code it all goes like this:

import os
from twitter import oauth_dance, read_token_file, Twitter, OAuth
KEY = "xxxxxxxx"
SECRET = "xxxxxxxx"

MY_TWITTER_CREDS = os.path.expanduser('~/.my_app_credentials')
if not os.path.exists(MY_TWITTER_CREDS):
    oauth_dance("My App Name", KEY, SECRET, MY_TWITTER_CREDS)

oauth_token, oauth_secret = read_token_file(MY_TWITTER_CREDS)

twitter = Twitter(auth=OAuth(oauth_token, oauth_secret, KEY, SECRET))

# Now work with Twitter
twitter.statuses.update(status='Hello, world!')

License

Python Twitter Tools and the Twitter API Python wrapper are released under an MIT License.