How to set up new Little Cases bots

To make a new Little Cases bot:

1. Create a new avatar using the template. Try to use a unique but representative color.

2. Set things up on bots.law:

   • Make a new group: https://bots.law/admin/channel/group/add/

3. Create new Twitter/Mastodon accounts:

   • Both: use bots+xyz@free.law for your email address
   • Mastodon: Use mastodon.social
   • Twitter: If using Firefox, be sure to turn off Privacy Badger for this.

4. On the twitter account, set the profile using this template:

   • Bio:

     Real-time updates on the latest cases in tech. Curated by @xxx. Hosted by @freelawproject.

     Also at @techcases@mastodon.social

   • Location: Oakland, CA

   • Website: https://bots.law/little-cases/xyz/ (you got this when making the group)

   • Remove the birth date (required for sign up)

5. Go through the Twitter settings:

   • Add an email address (bots+xyz@free.law)
   • Set gender to "robot"
   • Automation -> @freelawproject
   • Disable direct messages (folks can use other channels to reach us)
   • Disable discoverability
   • Disable email notifications

6. Set up the Mastodon profile and settings:

   • Do obvious things
   • Automated deletion at six months.

7. Make the bots follow the FLP account on Twitter/Mastodon.

8. Set up twitter, masto, and Bluesky keys:

   • For Mastodon:

     • Sign into your Mastodon account.
     • Click Preferences.
     • From the list of options on the left, choose Development.
     • Then click the New button.
     • Give your application a name (this name doesn't matter).
     • Choose the scope of your application(make sure your new app has full Write permission).
     • At the bottom of the page, click the Submit button
     • You will be directed back to the Your applications page, but now you should see your application name. Click it.
     • There are three tokens in your application's page. Copy the access token.
     • Update the access token field of the Masto channel (the secret token should be blank)

   • For Twitter:

     • Log in to your bot's Twitter account.

     • On the server or your local machine, set the consumer key and secret from the @freelawproject account in your .env file (either location works).

     • Run the script using the following command:

         docker exec -it bc2-django python /opt/bigcases2/scripts/get-twitter-keys.py
       

     • Click on the link that the script produces, then click "Authorize App" (Make sure you are logged in to your bot's Twitter account!).

     • Copy the code shown on the web browser and paste it into the console running the script and press enter.

     • Copy the account ID, access token and secret access token to the channel for the bot.

   • For Bluesky:

     • Log in to your bot's account.
     • Click Settings on the left side of the screen.
     • Scroll down to the Advanced section.
     • Click the App Passwords option.
     • Then click the Add app password button.
     • Give your application a name (this name doesn't matter).
     • Copy the password of your new application.
     • Paste the password into the access token field of the channel (the secret token should be blank)
     • Copy your handle without the @ symbol(you can find it on the profile page) and paste it into the account id field.

9. Have curators create accounts. Once done, add them to the channels as a curator.