X/Twitter in Your Terminal
bird is a powerful command-line tool for interacting with X/Twitter. Read tweets, search content, access your timeline, and view bookmarks - all from your terminal. Uses cookie authentication instead of API keys, making it accessible to everyone. Best used for reading, not posting.
bird uses Twitter's unofficial GraphQL API with cookie authentication. While reading tweets is generally safe, posting tweets carries risk of account suspension. The developer strongly recommends using bird primarily for read-only operations. The API may change at any time without notice.
Twitter from the command line
View individual tweets and complete thread conversations. See replies, quote tweets, and engagement metrics from your terminal.
Search Twitter for tweets, users, and topics. Use advanced search operators just like on the web interface.
Access your home timeline, view bookmarks, and see your likes. Keep up with your feed without opening a browser.
Get trending topics and news from Twitter. Stay informed about what's happening right from the command line.
Uses your browser's authentication cookies instead of Twitter API keys. No need to apply for developer access or pay for API tiers.
Also available as a TypeScript library for integration into your own projects and automation tools.
Get bird running on your system
Install bird globally using your preferred package manager:
macOS users can also install via Homebrew:
Log into Twitter/X in your browser, then extract the auth_token cookie from your browser's developer tools.
Set your auth token as an environment variable:
Verify the setup by checking who you're logged in as:
What you can do with bird (safely)
Search and collect tweets on topics for research, journalism, or market analysis.
Export and manage your Twitter bookmarks for archiving or knowledge management.
Read long threads in a clean format without the distractions of the web interface.
Set up scripts to monitor specific accounts or keywords for alerts.
Collect tweet data for analysis, with JSON output for easy processing.
Automatically save interesting tweets and threads to your knowledge management system.
Balanced assessment of bird
Specifications
Other social & communication tools
Read your feed from the command line