#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:  '...'
})

//
//  tweet 'hello world!'
//
T.post('statuses/update', { status: 'hello world!' }, function(err, reply) {
  //  ...
})
      
//
//  search twitter for all tweets containing the word 'banana' since Nov. 11, 2011
//
T.get('search/tweets', { q: 'banana since:2011-11-11' }, function(err, reply) {
  //  ...
})

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

//
//  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)
})

twit API:

Just 3 methods. They cover the full twitter API.

##T.get(path, [params], callback)
GET any of the REST API Endpoints.

##T.post(path, [params], callback)
POST any of the REST API Endpoints.

##T.stream(path, [params])
Use this with the Streaming API.

Note: Omit the .json from path (i.e. use 'statuses/sample' instead of 'statuses/sample.json').

###params

Params is an optional object, allowing you to pass in parameters to Twitter when making a request. Any Arrays passed into 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.

###path

• If path is 'user', the User stream of the authenticated user will be streamed.
• If path is 'site', the Site stream of the authenticated application will be streamed.
• If path is anything other than 'user' or 'site', the Public stream will be streamed.

The following events are emitted:

##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: 'reconnect'

Emitted when a reconnection attempt is made to Twitter. The http request and response objects are emitted, along with the time (in milliseconds) left before the reconnect occurs. Twit follows Twitter's guidelines on reconnecting to the Streaming API.

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) {
  //...
})

##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/docs/api
• Public stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/streaming-api/methods
• User stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/streaming-api/user-streams
• Site stream endpoints: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/streaming-api/site-streams

---

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

#How do I run the tests?

Clone the repo

git clone [email protected]:ttezel/twit.git

Install mocha

npm install mocha -g

Note: When the -g flag is invoked, the package will be installed globally. In order to use mocha from the command line, you must use the -g flag. This is necessary to run the tests with npm test.

Create a config.js file in the root of the cloned repo. It should export the oauth credentials. It should 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.

---

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

###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)