# The Twitter Ruby Gem [![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/sferik/twitter.png?branch=master)][travis] [![Dependency Status](https://gemnasium.com/sferik/twitter.png?travis)][gemnasium] [![Code Climate](https://codeclimate.com/badge.png)][codeclimate] [travis]: http://travis-ci.org/sferik/twitter [gemnasium]: https://gemnasium.com/sferik/twitter [codeclimate]: https://codeclimate.com/github/sferik/twitter #### A Ruby interface to the Twitter API. ## Installation ```sh gem install twitter ``` Looking for the Twitter command-line interface? It was [removed][] from this gem in version 0.5.0 and now exists as a [separate project][separate]: ```sh gem install t ``` [removed]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/commit/dd2445e3e2c97f38b28a3f32ea902536b3897adf [separate]: https://github.com/sferik/t ## Documentation [http://rdoc.info/gems/twitter][documentation] [documentation]: http://rdoc.info/gems/twitter ## Announcements You should [follow @gem][follow] on Twitter for announcements and updates about this library. [follow]: https://twitter.com/gem ## Mailing List Please direct questions about this library to the [mailing list]. [mailing list]: https://groups.google.com/group/ruby-twitter-gem ## Apps Wiki Does your project or organization use this gem? Add it to the [apps wiki][apps]! [apps]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/wiki/apps ## What's new in version 4? ### Twitter API v1.1 Version 4 of this library targets Twitter API v1.1. To understand the implications of this change, please read the following announcements from Twitter: * [Changes coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API][coming] * [Current status: API v1.1][status] * [Overview: Version 1.1 of the Twitter API][overview] [coming]: https://dev.twitter.com/blog/changes-coming-to-twitter-api [status]: https://dev.twitter.com/blog/current-status-api-v1.1 [overview]: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/api/1.1/overview Despite the removal of certain underlying functionality in Twitter API v1.1, this library aims to preserve backward-compatibility wherever possible. For example, despite the remove of the [`GET statuses/retweeted_by_user`][retweeted_by_user] resource, the `Twitter::API#retweeted_by_user` method continues to exist, implemented by making multiple requests to the [`GET statuses/user_timeline`][user_timeline] resource. As a result, there is no longer a one-to-one correlation between method calls and Twitter API requests. In fact, it's possible for a single method call to exceed the Twitter API rate limit for a resource. If you think this might cause a problem for your application, feel free to [join the discussion][discussion]. [retweeted_by_user]: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/api/1/get/statuses/retweeted_by_user [user_timeline]: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/api/1.1/get/statuses/user_timeline [discussion]: https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/10644 ### Rate Limiting Another consequence of Twitter API v1.1 is that the `Twitter::Client#rate_limit` method has been removed, since the concept of a client-wide rate limit no longer exists. Rate limits are now applied on a per-resource level, however, since there is no longer a one-to-one mapping between methods and Twitter API resources, it's not entirely obvious how rate limit information should be exposed. I've decided to go back to the pre-3.0.0 behavior of including rate limit information on `Twitter::Error` objects. Here's an example of how to handle rate limits: ```ruby MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3 num_attempts = 0 begin num_attempts += 1 retweets = Twitter.retweeted_by_user("sferik") rescue Twitter::Error::RateLimited => error if num_attempts <= MAX_ATTEMPTS # NOTE: Your process could go to sleep for up to 15 minutes but if you # retry any sooner, it will almost certainly fail with the same exception. sleep error.rate_limit.reset_in retry else raise end end ``` ### Methods Missing As a consequence of moving to Twitter API v1.1, the following methods from version 3 are no longer available in version 4: * `Twitter::API#accept` * `Twitter::API#deny` * `Twitter::API#disable_notifications` * `Twitter::API#enable_notifications` * `Twitter::API#end_session` * `Twitter::API#no_retweet_ids` * `Twitter::API#rate_limit_status` * `Twitter::API#rate_limited?` * `Twitter::API#recommendations` * `Twitter::API#related_results` * `Twitter::API#retweeted_to_user` * `Twitter::API#trends_daily` * `Twitter::API#trends_weekly` * `Twitter::Client#rate_limit` * `Twitter::RateLimit#class` ### Custom Endpoints The `Twitter::API#update_with_media` method no longer uses the custom `upload.twitter.com` endpoint, so `media_endpoint` configuration has been removed. Likewise, the `Twitter::API#search` method no longer uses the custom `search.twitter.com` endpoint, so `search_endpoint` configuration has also been removed. ### Errors It's worth mentioning two new error classes: * `Twitter::Error::GatewayTimeout` * `Twitter::Error::RateLimited` In previous versions of this library, rate limit errors were indicated by raising either `Twitter::Error::BadRequest` or `Twitter::Error::EnhanceYourCalm` (for the Search API). As of version 4, the library will raise `Twitter::Error::RateLimited` for all rate limit errors. The `Twitter::Error::EnhanceYourCalm` class has been aliased to `Twitter::Error::RateLimited`. ### Identity Map In version 4, the identity map is [disabled by default][disabled]. If you want to enable this feature, you can use the [default identity map][default] or [write a custom identity map][custom]. ```ruby Twitter.identity_map = Twitter::IdentityMap ``` [disabled]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/commit/c6c5960bea998abdc3e82cbb8dd68766a2df52e1 [default]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/blob/master/lib/twitter/identity_map.rb [custom]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/blob/master/etc/sqlite_identity_map.rb ## Configuration Applications that make requests on behalf of one Twitter user at a time can pass global configuration options as a block to the `Twitter.configure` method. ```ruby Twitter.configure do |config| config.consumer_key = YOUR_CONSUMER_KEY config.consumer_secret = YOUR_CONSUMER_SECRET config.oauth_token = YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN config.oauth_token_secret = YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET end ``` Alternately, you can set the following environment variables: ```sh TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET TWITTER_OAUTH_TOKEN TWITTER_OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET ``` After configuration, requests can be made like so: ```ruby Twitter.update("I'm tweeting with @gem!") ``` ### Threadsafe Configuration Applications that make requests on behalf of multiple Twitter users should avoid using global configuration. Instead, instantiate a `Twitter::Client` for each user, passing in the user's token/secret pair as a `Hash`. You can still specify the `consumer_key` and `consumer_secret` globally. (In a Rails application, this could go in `config/initiliazers/twitter.rb`.) ```ruby Twitter.configure do |config| config.consumer_key = YOUR_CONSUMER_KEY config.consumer_secret = YOUR_CONSUMER_SECRET end ``` Then, for each user's token/secret pair, instantiate a `Twitter::Client`: ```ruby @erik = Twitter::Client.new( :oauth_token => "Erik's OAuth token", :oauth_token_secret => "Erik's OAuth secret" ) @john = Twitter::Client.new( :oauth_token => "John's OAuth token", :oauth_token_secret => "John's OAuth secret" ) ``` You can now make threadsafe requests as the authenticated user like so: ```ruby @erik.update("Tweeting as Erik!") @john.update("Tweeting as John!") ``` Or, if you prefer, you can specify all configuration options when instantiating a `Twitter::Client`: ```ruby @client = Twitter::Client.new( :consumer_key => "a consumer key", :consumer_secret => "a consumer secret", :oauth_token => "a user's OAuth token", :oauth_token_secret => "a user's OAuth secret" ) ``` This may be useful if you're using multiple consumer key/secret pairs. ### Middleware The Faraday middleware stack is fully configurable and is exposed as a `Faraday::Builder` object. You can modify the default middleware in-place: ```ruby Twitter.middleware.insert_after Twitter::Response::RaiseClientError, CustomMiddleware ``` A custom adapter may be set as part of a custom middleware stack: ```ruby Twitter.middleware = Faraday::Builder.new( &Proc.new do |builder| # Specify a middleware stack here builder.adapter :some_other_adapter end ) ``` ## Usage Examples ###### Return a user's location ```ruby Twitter.user("sferik").location ``` ###### Return a user's most recent Tweet ```ruby Twitter.user_timeline("sferik").first.text ``` ###### Return the text of a Tweet ```ruby Twitter.status(27558893223).text ``` ###### Find the 3 most recent marriage proposals to @justinbieber ```ruby Twitter.search("to:justinbieber marry me", :count => 3, :result_type => "recent").results.map do |status| "#{status.from_user}: #{status.text}" end ``` ###### Find a Japanese-language Tweet tagged #ruby (excluding retweets) ```ruby Twitter.search("#ruby -rt", :lang => "ja", :count => 1).results.first.text ``` ###### Update your status ```ruby Twitter.update("I'm tweeting with @gem!") ``` ###### Read the most recent Tweet in your timeline ```ruby Twitter.home_timeline.first.text For more usage examples, please see the full [documentation][]. ``` ## Performance You can improve performance by loading a faster JSON parsing library. By default, JSON will be parsed with [okjson][]. For faster JSON parsing, we recommend [Oj][]. [okjson]: https://github.com/ddollar/okjson [oj]: https://rubygems.org/gems/oj ## Additional Notes This will be the last major version of this library to support Ruby 1.8. Requiring Ruby 1.9 will allow us to [remove][class_variable_get] [various][each_with_object] [hacks][singleton_class] put in place to maintain Ruby 1.8 compatibility. [The first stable version of Ruby 1.9 was released on August 19, 2010.][ruby192] If you haven't found the opportunity to upgrade your Ruby interpreter since then, let this be your nudge. Once version 5 of this library is released, all previous versions will cease to be supported, even if critical security vulnerabilities are discovered. [class_variable_get]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/commit/88c5a0513d1b58a1d4ae1a1e3deeb012c9d19547 [each_with_object]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/commit/6052252a07baf7aefe0f100bba0abd2cbb7139bb [singleton_class]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/commit/2ed9db21c87d1218b15373e42a36ad536b07dcbb [ruby192]: http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/367983 ## Stats Here are some fun facts about this library: * It is implemented in just 2,000 lines of Ruby code * With over 5,000 lines of specs, the spec-to-code ratio is over 2.5:1 * The spec suite contains over 600 examples and runs in under 2 seconds * It has 100% C0 code coverage (the tests execute every line of source code at least once) * It is comprehensive: you can request all documented Twitter REST API resources (over 100 resources) * This gem works on every major Ruby implementation, including JRuby and Rubinius * The first version was released on November 26, 2006 * This gem has just three runtime dependencies: `faraday`, `multi_json`, and `simple_oauth` * Previous versions of this gem have been [downloaded over half a million times][stats] [stats]: https://rubygems.org/gems/twitter ## Contributing In the spirit of [free software][free-sw], **everyone** is encouraged to help improve this project. [free-sw]: http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html Here are some ways *you* can contribute: * by using alpha, beta, and prerelease versions * by reporting bugs * by suggesting new features * by writing or editing documentation * by writing specifications * by writing code (**no patch is too small**: fix typos, add comments, clean up inconsistent whitespace) * by refactoring code * by fixing [issues][] * by reviewing patches [issues]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/issues ## Submitting an Issue We use the [GitHub issue tracker][issues] to track bugs and features. Before submitting a bug report or feature request, check to make sure it hasn't already been submitted. When submitting a bug report, please include a [Gist][] that includes a stack trace and any details that may be necessary to reproduce the bug, including your gem version, Ruby version, and operating system. Ideally, a bug report should include a pull request with failing specs. [gist]: https://gist.github.com/ ## Submitting a Pull Request 1. [Fork the repository.][fork] 2. [Create a topic branch.][branch] 3. Add specs for your unimplemented feature or bug fix. 4. Run `bundle exec rake spec`. If your specs pass, return to step 3. 5. Implement your feature or bug fix. 6. Run `bundle exec rake spec`. If your specs fail, return to step 5. 7. Run `open coverage/index.html`. If your changes are not completely covered by your tests, return to step 3. 8. Add documentation for your feature or bug fix. 9. Run `bundle exec rake yard`. If your changes are not 100% documented, go back to step 8. 10. Add, commit, and push your changes. 11. [Submit a pull request.][pr] [fork]: http://help.github.com/fork-a-repo/ [branch]: http://learn.github.com/p/branching.html [pr]: http://help.github.com/send-pull-requests/ ## Supported Ruby Versions This library aims to support and is [tested against][travis] the following Ruby version: * Ruby 1.8.7 * Ruby 1.9.2 * Ruby 1.9.3 This library may inadvertently work (or seem to work) on other Ruby implementations, however support will only be provided for the versions listed above. If you would like this library to support another Ruby version, you may volunteer to be a maintainer. Being a maintainer entails making sure all tests run and pass on that implementation. When something breaks on your implementation, you will be personally responsible for providing patches in a timely fashion. If critical issues for a particular implementation exist at the time of a major release, support for that Ruby version may be dropped. ## Copyright Copyright (c) 2006-2012 John Nunemaker, Wynn Netherland, Erik Michaels-Ober, Steve Richert. See [LICENSE][] for details. [license]: https://github.com/sferik/twitter/blob/master/LICENSE.md