scraper-for-x

Read-only scraping of logged-in X/Twitter data via a harvest-then-replay hybrid: a stealth browser (or a cookie import) logs you in once and harvests the session, then every read afterward is a plain httpx GraphQL request — no browser in the loop, no x-client-transaction-id replay.

Read DISCLAIMER.md before using this. Using this tool violates X's Terms of Service, publishing it exposes its maintainer, and scraping other people's tweets can make you a data controller over their personal data under GDPR. Use a dedicated/throwaway account, not your primary one.

Installation

Base install — cookie-import login only, no browser dependency:

pip install scraper-for-x

The [browser] extra — adds a stealth browser for scrape-x login:

pip install "scraper-for-x[browser]"

If you only ever import cookies from a session you already have (e.g. exported from your own logged-in browser), the base install is all you need.

Quick Start

# 1. One-time interactive login — opens a real browser window, you log in by hand.
scrape-x login

# 2. Fetch a profile's tweets.
scrape-x fetch nasa --limit 50

CLI overview

fetch/search/tweet all share --format json|ndjson, --output PATH, --profile NAME, --profile-dir PATH, --wait-on-limit, --max-wait, --raw (+ --no-redact), and -v/--verbose. See the CLI Reference for every flag and exit code.

Known limitation: search and fetch --replies (v0.1.0)

Live-verified 2026-07-05: X's SearchTimeline and UserTweetsAndReplies GraphQL operations require a fresh, single-use x-client-transaction-id header on every request — unlike plain profile fetches and single-tweet lookups, which this package proved work over plain httpx replay with no such header. A captured transaction-id cannot be harvested once and reused like a session cookie or query-id; reproducing X's generator for it is exactly the fragility this package's harvest-then-replay architecture was built to avoid (see twikit#408).

Both scrape-x search and scrape-x fetch --replies fail fast with a clear FeatureNotImplementedError (exit code 1) rather than a confusing network error. A browser-observe fallback for these two operations specifically (the same approach scrape-fb uses) is on the roadmap — see wiki/FAQ-and-Troubleshooting.md.

Python API

from scraper_for_x import XScraper

XScraper(profile="default").login()  # one-time, opens a headed browser

with XScraper(profile="default") as x:
    tweets = x.fetch_user_tweets("nasa", limit=50)
    for tweet in x.iter_user_tweets("nasa", limit=50):
        ...  # must be consumed inside the `with` block

    x.fetch_tweet("https://x.com/nasa/status/1234567890")
    # x.search(...) raises FeatureNotImplementedError -- see "Known limitation" above.

Documentation

This README covers the essentials. For everything else, see the wiki:

• Installation
• Quick Start
• CLI Reference — every flag, every exit code
• Python API Reference
• Configuration — profiles, environment variables
• Output Schema — every Tweet/User/Media field
• Security and Privacy — the full threat model behind DISCLAIMER.md
• FAQ and Troubleshooting
• Contributing

License

MIT — see LICENSE. The license covers the code; it does not cover what you do with the data you collect (see DISCLAIMER.md).