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Many bot accounts using 1 Twitter Developer account

random on December 21, 2020

Hey everyone! Did you know that there's a way to read/write/send messages to other twitter accounts with your Twitter Developer Account? (All discu...
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andypiper profile image
Andy Piper

This is super useful, thanks for sharing!

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vigneshkraj profile image
vigneshkraj

Hello,
I got the access token by the way followed like above. But how can I create BOT's ? and whats the use of getting those access token.
Say for eg., I have a parent acct called "A" which i'm holding all the keys(API,Access) for A, now i jus enabling 3-legged Oauth for other account "B". Am I right?

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randomjkbn profile image
random

Well..yes. Suppose u have ur own twitter handle and used it to apply for a Twitter Developer Account. You want ur Twitter bot to have it's own twitter handle(a different account). You have 2 options:

  1. Apply for a Developer Account for ur Twitter Bot.(getting ur application accepted will take time)
  2. Use your Twitter Developer Account to get access tokens and u can use them your bot accounts.(a maximum of 10 bots/apps can be supported as if now)
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vigneshkraj profile image
vigneshkraj

Thanks for your timely reply.
Still having a doubt, I have to use tweepy library.. for that it require
consumer_key
consumer_secret

access_token
access_token_secret
But in our case, by using above method i can get only access_token & access_token_secret... I require Consumer Key and secret also to generate.

Could you please look and share your thoughts. It will be useful for me. Actually I need around 50+ twitter account API key along with all 4 Consumer & access keys.
Thanks in advance

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randomjkbn profile image
random

In developer portal -> Projects & Apps -> Standalone Apps -> {Your App name} -> keys & tokens -> Consumer keys(API Key & Secret)

If u head over there, u will get consumer_key and consumer_secret. Check the first diagram in this blog post for reference.

res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/im...

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vigneshkraj profile image
vigneshkraj

Thanks again for your reply. But here I'm having an issue, let me explain.
I have an account called "A", which I got approved for Twitter API access keys(all 4). Above method is done(oAuth enabled,callback URL given all fine) for account "A".

Now as per your prev comment guidance, I went to dev portal -> creating std alone apps for my another account "B"(given same in Website URL in account A dev account). Hence I got consumer keys & bearer key & access keys were generated as per this forum. So finally i got all the 4 keys.
Now while I use it in program, it calls always account A only, not account B.

That's my prblem. Thanks again.

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randomjkbn profile image
random

In the python program, access_token and access_token_secret should be what you obtain after running the nodejs program and visiting localhost:3456 (while logged into account B).

consumer_key and consumer_secret should be the keys from the standalone app from developer account A. Did u do it like this?

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vigneshkraj profile image
vigneshkraj • Edited

Wow.. Lovely.. superb... Thanks a ton your immediate response as always.
And yes, I missed this point "visiting localhost:3456 (while logged into account B)." meaning, I was logged in from Acct A.

So , by using one proper API dev Approved account, can enable oAuth for one more account B like the above steps.
Hope can tag only one account called B or more than 1 like C, D also ? Thanks again.

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randomjkbn profile image
random

Nice! Theoretically speaking it should work as long as u have the access_token and access_token_secret of whichever account B,C or D.

It's an interesting question. I haven't tried it out for more than 1 bot account though in a single standalone app since I've never worked on such a use case.

You could try it out and if u do find something interesting, do let us know!

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vigneshkraj profile image
vigneshkraj

Yes...... !! It's working actually. As per our case, Account A is our primary.. on that i have created standalone account B, API keys will be provided in this app itself and have generated the tokens by using above forum(autorize.js). Like the same way, i have created one more account called C. Have tried the same way. It is got generated & tried the sample in my code. It works !!!

Let me check further and I will update u if i find anything unusual... Thanks a ton.....!! Good day

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randomjkbn profile image
random

Nice!

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randomjkbn profile image
random

This is just the first step. To build a bot, you'll have to program your Twitter bot in any programming language of your choice.

There's a fantastic collection of resources in the Botwiki community. You could check it out to see how some seriously cool bots were built!

botwiki.org/resources/twitterbots/...

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a7mdeno profile image
a7mdeno

Hello, I received the Access Token and Secret Token of my bot account, but in order to link my bot with my dev account, I still can't figure out where should I put them in? I tried to edit the ones in my dev account, but it can only be generated automatically. Sorry I'm a total beginner.

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randomjkbn profile image
random • Edited

On a side note, I made my first twitter bot with the help of this video.
youtube.com/watch?v=W0wWwglE1Vc

However, this will tweet directly into your Twitter handle which is a developer account. If u want another Bot account that is different from your Developer account, u have to obtain access_token and access_token_secret keys in the method mentioned in the blog post and change these 2 lines of code.

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randomjkbn profile image
random

To use the Twitter API, u will need to use 4 variables - consumer_key, consumer_secret, access_token, access_token_secret in your bot program(which could be in Python(tweepy library is pretty famous), JavaScript or any language of ur choice).

  • consumer_key and consumer_secret should be the keys from the standalone app which is created from Twitter developer account.
  • access_token and access_token_secret should be the keys you obtain after running the nodejs program and visiting localhost:3456 (while logged into the bot account).

This blog only explains about how to get these 4 keys not about how to create a Twitter bot. (There are plenty of resources available online for creating a Twitter Bot)

Hope this helps!