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X Public Data (Twitter): Setting up Twitter developer account

As previously communicated, our Twitter data source connectors went through major changes in May 2023


Furthermore, we renamed our Twitter Public Data data source connector to X Public Data (Twitter) on September 27, 2023. This article has been updated to use the new connector name.

The X Public Data (Twitter) data source connector remains available, but due to Twitter policy changes, it's required that our customers purchase an additional Twitter Basic API subscription from Twitter directly. The required subscription starts from 100 USD per month. 


The change to X Public Data (Twitter) came into effect on May 31, 2023. You can take the following steps to set up your own Twitter Basic API subscription so you can keep existing queries running. Otherwise, queries will stop working.


What is required

You'll need the following items on May 31 to successfully log in to and use the Supermetrics X Public Data (Twitter) data source:

  • A Twitter developer account
  • A valid subscription to Twitter’s Basic API access (100 USD per month)
    • Twitter's Pro API access also works (5,000 USD per month) and provides more generous tweet fetching limits
  • A live Twitter application (app) tied to your developer account. This app must be part of a project.
  • Twitter API key and API key secret for that app so you can log in to Supermetrics

This article instructs you on how to get set up with the required items.


Instructions

Step 1: Create Twitter developer account

If you do not have one already, the first step is to create the developer account that will be linked to your Twitter Basic subscription and your app that will be used by the data source.

  1. Go to Twitter Developer Platform.
  2. Log in with the Twitter profile you want to have your Basic API subscription attached to.
    This should automatically create a developer account for your profile.
  3. If you check your Twitter Developer Portal dashboard now, you should have a project and an app with the Free tier.

Now you're ready to set up Basic API access!

Step 2: Get Basic API access to Twitter

Once you have your developer account, now you can start the process of subscribing to Twitter's Basic API access. This level of API access will cost 100 USD per month to maintain and is required to use the X Public Data (Twitter) data source.

  1. Go to https://developer.twitter.com/en/portal/petition/essential/basic-info
  2. Click Subscribe.
  3. Fill in the Describe all of your use cases of Twitter’s data and API box with following:
    The API access will be used to fetch reporting and analytics data for Twitter profiles using Supermetrics in order to automate manual reporting activities. The data will be used for marketing purposes to understand how profile follower base evolves and which tweets are performing the best.
  4. Check the boxes to agree to their terms and conditions. 
  5. Click Submit to continue.
  6. Add your credit card information that will be used for the recurring 100 USD fee. 
  7. Click Save payment method.
  8. Your Twitter Products dashboard will now update to show you have Basic access.

Now you're ready to get your API keys!

Step 3: Get your API keys
  1. Go back to your Twitter Developer Portal dashboard.
  2. You should see one project and one project app. 
  3. On the project app, click the key icon to open the Keys and tokens panel.
  4. Under the Consume Keys section, click Regenerate.
  5. You'll get a popup with your API key and API key secret. Copy them for later use — these two values are what is needed to log in to the X Public Data (Twitter) data source.

Store the API key and API key secret securely

Treat the API key and API key secret like a username and password. Save them securely, such as in a password vault, in case you need to reconnect later. This information is only shown once — if you lose them, you'll need to regenerate them and log in to the data source again with the new keys.

With your API key and API key secret saved, you're now ready to log in to the data source on and after May 31, when the changes take place!


Actions to take on May 31 to keep queries running

When the changes to X Public Data (Twitter) are live on May 31, you'll need to take the following steps to ensure your API keys are in our system and keep existing queries running.

  1. Open the data destination of your choice, or go to the data source management page on the Supermetrics Hub
  2. In the Data Source list, select X Public Data (Twitter).
  3. Click + Add connection.
  4. Fill in the fields — all are required.
    • Client ID: the API key from your Twitter app
    • Client Secret: the API key secret from your Twitter app
    • App name: Any 3-50 character long name to identify the app
  5. Choose to make this connection shared or private.
  6. Click Start.
  7. If the keys are correct, the login flow takes you back to the data destination or data source management page.
  8. Finally, follow the steps here to replace your old X Public Data (Twitter) connection to use the new API key login.

Now your existing queries should automatically update to use the API key login!


Breaking changes in X Public Data (Twitter)

In addition to the login updates above, there are additional changes to the data source that may affect existing queries.


Field deprecations:

  • Tweet source
  • Is truncated
  • Language
  • Is geo enabled
  • Timezone
  • Status place
  • Status source
  • Favourites count


For the "Twitter tweets by keyword" query type, the Result type setting changes. The Result type setting value "Mixed popular & recent" will reference only recency instead. Only two options will remain - "Recent" and "Relevant".

Tweet fetching limitations:

The Basic API package allows users to fetch up to 10,000 tweets per month (30-day period), which is more restrictive than the data source used to be. Please be mindful of the number of profiles and tweets you're fetching, as it's not possible to reset the monthly limit.

If you're struggling to work within the 10,000 tweet limit, you can upgrade to the newly announced Pro level, which includes 1,000,000 tweets per month. You can upgrade directly within the developer portal.

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