Random Twitter feed

0.md

I wrote this script to wrest some control over the content I see from the Twitter algorithm.

It mutes everyone I follow and un-mutes 30 random people.

You can run it as a scheduled Firebase Cloud Function so you have a new feed every day.

@maxhawkins

1_get_token.js

// First you need to generate a pair of OAuth client tokens that give
// you access to your Twitter account.
//
// 1. Create a Twitter developer application
// 2. Get the oauth key pair
// 3. Enter it in the OAuth constructor below
// 4. Run the script
//
// Read more here: https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/basics/authentication/oauth-1-0a/obtaining-user-access-tokens

const { OAuth } = require("oauth");
const { createInterface } = require("readline");

const client = new OAuth(
  "https://api.twitter.com/oauth/request_token",
  "https://api.twitter.com/oauth/access_token",
  "<oauth_consumer_key>",
  "<oauth_consumer_secret>",
  "1.0A",
  null,
  "HMAC-SHA1"
);

const fetchToken = () => {
  const stdin = createInterface(process.stdin);

  client.getOAuthRequestToken(
    { oauth_callback: "oob" },
    (error, token, secret) => {
      if (error) {
        console.error(error);
        stdin.close();
        return;
      }

      const url = "https://twitter.com/oauth/authenticate?oauth_token=" + token;
      console.log("Go to " + url + " and enter the code here:");

      stdin.question("> ", verifier => {
        client.getOAuthAccessToken(
          token,
          secret,
          verifier,
          (err, userToken, userSecret) => {
            if (err) {
              console.error(err);
              stdin.close();
              return;
            }

            console.log(`userToken = "${userToken}"`);
            console.log(`userSecret = "${userSecret}"`);
            stdin.close();
          }
        );
      });
    }
  );
};

fetchToken();

2_mute.js

// Run this script with the user credentials generated in the previous step.
// It will unmute 30 random people you follow and mute everyone else.

const { OAuth } = require("oauth");

const client = new OAuth(
  "https://api.twitter.com/oauth/request_token",
  "https://api.twitter.com/oauth/access_token",
  "<twitter oauth token>",
  "<twitter oauth secret>",
  "1.0A",
  null,
  "HMAC-SHA1"
);

const yourTwitterHandle = "<your twitter handle without the @>";
const numToUnmute = 30;

const userToken = "<client token from previous step>";
const userSecret = "<client secret from previous step>";

// Twitter API methods

const send = (method, url) => {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    client.getProtectedResource(
      "https://api.twitter.com/1.1" + url,
      method,
      userToken,
      userSecret,
      (err, data) => {
        if (err) {
          reject(err);
        } else {
          resolve(JSON.parse(data.toString()));
        }
      }
    );
  });
};

const getMuted = () => send("GET", "/mutes/users/ids.json");

const getFollowing = screenName =>
  send("GET", "/friends/ids.json?screen_name=" + screenName);

const mute = id => send("POST", "/mutes/users/create.json?user_id=" + id);

const unmute = id => send("POST", "/mutes/users/destroy.json?user_id=" + id);

// Back-off / retry logic

const sleep = duration => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, duration));

const withRetry = async (func, maxRetries = 25) => {
  let retries = 0;
  while (retries < maxRetries) {
    try {
      await func();
      return;
    } catch (error) {
      if (error.statusCode !== 429) {
        throw error;
      }
      retries++;
    }

    const backoff = Math.min(Math.pow(2, retries), 30) + Math.random();
    await sleep(backoff * 1000);
  }
  throw new Error('timed out');
};

// This is the main function

const switchTwitterMutes = async () => {
  console.log("fetching followers for", yourTwitterHandle);
  let { ids: following } = await getFollowing(yourTwitterHandle);
  const { ids: muted } = await getMuted();

  // Shuffle list of people you follow
  following = following.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);

  // Choose 30 random people to un-mute
  const unmuted = [];
  while (unmuted.length < numToUnmute) {
    const id = following.pop();

    try {
      await withRetry(() => unmute(id));
      unmuted.push(id);
      console.log("unmuted userid", id);
    } catch (err) {
      console.warn("error unmuting userid", id, ":", err.statusCode);
    }

    await sleep(1000);
  }

  // Mute everyone else
  const toMute = following.filter(
    id => !muted.includes(id) && !unmuted.includes(id)
  );

  for (const id of toMute) {
    try {
      await withRetry(() => mute(id));
      console.log("muted userid", id);
    } catch (error) {
      console.warn("error: muting userid", id, ":", error.statusCode);
    }

    await sleep(1000);
  }

  console.log("Done!");
};

switchTwitterMutes().catch(error => console.error(error));

// To run the script every day, add this code to a Firebase Cloud Function
// then comment the previous line and uncomment the following lines:
//
// const functions = require("firebase-functions");
//
// export const onCheckTwitter = functions.pubsub
//   .schedule("2 20 * * *") // run every day at 2:20am
//   .onRun(() => switchTwitterMutes());