xsh

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Twitter/X CLI without API keys.

xsh is a command-line interface for Twitter/X that works with cookie-based authentication. No developer account, no API keys, no rate limit headaches. Just log in with your browser and go.

Features

• 🔑 Cookie-based auth - Use your existing browser session
• 📊 Rich terminal output - Beautiful formatted tweets and threads
• 🤖 JSON mode - Perfect for scripting and AI agents (--json)
• 🔍 Search, timeline, user profiles - Full read access
• 💬 Post, like, retweet, bookmark - Write operations supported
• 🏷️ Bookmarks management - View and manage your bookmarks

📦 Installation

📥 Download Latest Release

🚀 Quick Install (One-Liner)

🪟 Windows PowerShell (AMD64)

$exe="xsh-windows-amd64.exe"; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri ((Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest").assets | Where-Object name -like "*windows_amd64.exe").browser_download_url -OutFile $exe; Write-Host "Downloaded: .\$exe"

🪟 Windows PowerShell (ARM64)

$exe="xsh-windows-arm64.exe"; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri ((Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest").assets | Where-Object name -like "*windows_arm64.exe").browser_download_url -OutFile $exe; Write-Host "Downloaded: .\$exe"

🐧 Linux AMD64

curl -LO $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest | grep -oP 'https.*linux-amd64.tar.gz' | head -1) && tar -xzf xsh-linux-amd64.tar.gz && chmod +x xsh-linux-amd64 && sudo mv xsh-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/xsh && rm xsh-linux-amd64.tar.gz

🐧 Linux ARM64

curl -LO $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest | grep -oP 'https.*linux-arm64.tar.gz' | head -1) && tar -xzf xsh-linux-arm64.tar.gz && chmod +x xsh-linux-arm64 && sudo mv xsh-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/xsh && rm xsh-linux-arm64.tar.gz

🍎 macOS Intel (AMD64)

curl -LO $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest | grep -oP 'https.*darwin-amd64.tar.gz' | head -1) && tar -xzf xsh-darwin-amd64.tar.gz && chmod +x xsh-darwin-amd64 && sudo mv xsh-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/xsh && rm xsh-darwin-amd64.tar.gz

🍎 macOS Apple Silicon (ARM64)

curl -LO $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/benoitpetit/xsh/releases/latest | grep -oP 'https.*darwin-arm64.tar.gz' | head -1) && tar -xzf xsh-darwin-arm64.tar.gz && chmod +x xsh-darwin-arm64 && sudo mv xsh-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/xsh && rm xsh-darwin-arm64.tar.gz

📋 Via Go

go install github.com/benoitpetit/xsh@latest

🔨 Build from source

git clone https://github.com/benoitpetit/xsh
cd xsh
go build -o xsh
./xsh --help

Quick Start

1. Login

Extract cookies from your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge supported):

xsh auth login --browser chrome

Or manually set credentials:

xsh auth set --auth-token "your_auth_token" --ct0 "your_ct0"

2. Use it

# View your timeline
xsh feed

# Search tweets
xsh search "golang"

# View a tweet thread
xsh tweet view 1234567890 --thread

# Post a tweet
xsh tweet post "Hello from xsh!"

# Like/Retweet
xsh like 1234567890
xsh retweet 1234567890

# User profile
xsh user elonmusk

# Your bookmarks
xsh bookmarks

Commands

Command	Description
auth login	Authenticate with browser cookies
feed	View home timeline
search <query>	Search tweets
tweet view <id>	View a tweet
tweet post <text>	Post a tweet
tweet delete <id>	Delete your tweet
like <id>	Like a tweet
unlike <id>	Unlike a tweet
retweet <id>	Retweet
unretweet <id>	Undo retweet
bookmark <id>	Bookmark a tweet
unbookmark <id>	Remove bookmark
bookmarks	View your bookmarks
user <handle>	View user profile
user tweets <handle>	View user's tweets
user following <handle>	View following list
user followers <handle>	View followers list
trends	View trending topics
count <text>	Count characters in a tweet

Global Flags

• --json - Output as JSON for scripting
• -v, --verbose - Show HTTP requests
• --account <name> - Use specific account (for multi-account)

Authentication

xsh uses your browser's Twitter/X cookies to authenticate. The login command extracts:

• auth_token - Session token
• ct0 - CSRF token

Cookies are stored securely in ~/.config/xsh/auth.json.

Manual Auth

If browser extraction fails, you can manually set credentials:

1. Open your browser's DevTools (F12)
2. Go to Application/Storage → Cookies → x.com
3. Copy auth_token and ct0 values
4. Set credentials with:

xsh auth set --auth-token "..." --ct0 "..."

JSON Mode

All commands support --json for machine-readable output:

xsh search "python" --json | jq '.[].text'
xsh user elonmusk --json | jq '.followers_count'
xsh feed --json | jq '.[].id'

Auto-detected when piping output.

Configuration

Config file: ~/.config/xsh/config.toml

[general]
default_count = 20
show_engagement = true
theme = "dark"

[request]
delay = 1.5
timeout = 30
max_retries = 3

Development

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Build
go build -o xsh

# Run with verbose output
./xsh -v feed

404 Errors Endpoints

Occasional 404 responses can happen. x.com regularly changes the format and structure of its API to discourage automation, so endpoints may change or disappear unexpectedly. xsh provides an internal command, xsh endpoints, which tries to detect the current endpoints on x.com, but 404s can still occur.

If you run into a 404, please open an issue — I will investigate and update the retry logic and the dynamic endpoint discovery/recovery as needed.

Disclaimer

This tool is for educational purposes. Use at your own risk. Respect Twitter/X's Terms of Service.

License

MIT