Natrail Disruptions Poster

This project automates the posting of railway disruptions to Bluesky using the atproto Python SDK.

It fetches disruption information, formats it, and posts it with relevant URLs and hashtags.

It uses the flickr api to retrive images for posts thumbs

Current Bluesky Profile: https://bsky.app/profile/natrail-bot.bsky.social

Data Taken from: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/status-and-disruptions/

Features

• Automated Disruption Fetching: Automatically fetches the latest railway disruptions from a specified source.
• URL and Hashtag Parsing: Identifies and processes URLs and hashtags within the disruption messages to ensure they are clickable when posted.
• Rate Limiting Handling: Manages rate limits by retrying posts after a specified delay if rate limits are encountered.
• Logging: Provides detailed logging of the posting process for debugging and tracking.
• Environment Configuration: Uses environment variables for secure handling of login credentials.

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• atproto library
• python-dotenv library
• flickrapi library
• requests library
• sqlite3 library

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/random-robbie/natrail-bot.git
   cd natrail-bot
   

2. Install the required Python packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Edit the .env file in the project root and add your Bluesky handle and password:

   BLUESKY_HANDLE=your-handle
   BLUESKY_PASSWORD=your-password
   FLICKR_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   FLICKR_API_SECRET=your_api_secret_here
   

Usage

Run the script to post the latest disruptions to Bluesky:

python natrail.py

You can run it on a VPS.

You get free $200 credit for 60 days if you sign up and add a payment method.