twitter-reader skill

Twitter Skill (Read-Only)

If your host has not already executed the shell probes below (for example, in Codex), run the commands inside the ! wrappers with its shell tool before choosing a setup path. Use the actual output; if shell access is unavailable, report that limitation.

Reads Twitter/X for financial research using opencli, a universal CLI tool that bridges web services to the terminal via browser session reuse.

This skill is read-only. It is designed for financial research: searching market discussions, reading analyst tweets, tracking sentiment, and monitoring financial news on Twitter/X. It does NOT support posting, liking, retweeting, replying, or any write operations.

Important: opencli reuses your existing Chrome login session — no API keys or cookie extraction needed. Just be logged into x.com in Chrome and have the Browser Bridge extension installed.

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Step 1: Ensure opencli Is Installed and Ready

Current environment status:

!`(command -v opencli && opencli doctor 2>&1 | head -5 && echo "READY" || echo "SETUP_NEEDED") 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"`

If the status above shows READY, skip to Step 2. If NOT_INSTALLED, install first:

# Install opencli globally
npm install -g @jackwener/opencli

If SETUP_NEEDED, guide the user through setup:

Setup

opencli requires Node.js >= 20 and a Chrome browser with the Browser Bridge extension:

1. Install the Browser Bridge extension:
   • Download the latest opencli-extension-v{version}.zip from the GitHub Releases page
   • Unzip it, open chrome://extensions in Chrome, and enable Developer mode
   • Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder
2. Login to x.com in Chrome — opencli reuses your existing browser session
3. Verify connectivity:

opencli doctor

This auto-starts the daemon, verifies the extension is connected, and checks session health.

Common setup issues

Symptom	Fix
Extension not connected	Install Browser Bridge extension in Chrome and ensure it's enabled
Daemon not running	Run opencli doctor — it auto-starts the daemon
No session for twitter.com	Login to x.com in Chrome, then retry
CSRF token missing	Refresh x.com in Chrome to regenerate the ct0 cookie

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Step 2: Identify What the User Needs

Match the user's request to one of the read commands below, then use the corresponding command from references/commands.md.

User Request	Command	Key Flags
Setup check	opencli doctor	—
Home feed / timeline	opencli twitter timeline	--type for-you|following, --limit N (default 20)
Search tweets	opencli twitter search "QUERY"	--filter top|live, --limit N (default 15)
Trending topics	opencli twitter trending	--limit N (default 20)
Bookmarks	opencli twitter bookmarks	--limit N (default 20)
Recent tweets from a user	opencli twitter tweets USERNAME	--limit N (default 20)
View a specific thread	opencli twitter thread TWEET_ID	--limit N (default 50)
Twitter article	opencli twitter article TWEET_ID	—
User profile	opencli twitter profile USERNAME	— (defaults to logged-in user)
Followers	opencli twitter followers USERNAME	--limit N (default 50)
Following	opencli twitter following USERNAME	--limit N (default 50)
Notifications	opencli twitter notifications	--limit N (default 20)

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Step 3: Execute the Command

General pattern

# Use -f json or -f yaml for structured output
opencli twitter timeline -f json --limit 20
opencli twitter timeline --type following --limit 20

# Recent tweets from a specific user
opencli twitter tweets elonmusk --limit 20 -f json

# Searching for financial topics
opencli twitter search "$AAPL earnings" --filter live --limit 10 -f json
opencli twitter search "Fed rate decision" --limit 20 -f yaml

# Trending topics
opencli twitter trending --limit 20 -f json

Key rules

1. Check setup first — run opencli doctor before any other command if unsure about connectivity
2. Use -f json or -f yaml for structured output when processing data programmatically
3. Use -f csv when the user wants spreadsheet-compatible output
4. Use --limit N to control result count — start with 10-20 unless the user asks for more
5. For search, use --filter — top (default) for relevance, live for latest tweets
6. Read-only — don't post, like, retweet, reply, quote, follow, or delete, even though opencli exposes some of these commands

Output format flag (-f)

Format	Flag	Best for
Table	-f table (default)	Human-readable terminal output
JSON	-f json	Programmatic processing, LLM context
YAML	-f yaml	Structured output, readable
Markdown	-f md	Documentation, reports
CSV	-f csv	Spreadsheet export

Output columns

Tweet-listing commands (timeline, search, thread) include: id, author, text, created_at, likes, retweets, replies, views, url, has_media, media_urls.

tweets (per-user posts) also includes is_retweet.

bookmarks columns: author, text, likes, retweets, bookmarks, url.

trending columns: rank, topic, tweets, category.

Profile (profile) columns: screen_name, name, bio, location, url, followers, following, tweets, likes, verified, created_at.

followers / following columns: screen_name, name, bio, followers.

notifications columns: id, action, author, text, url.

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Step 4: Present the Results

Lead with what matters for the user's research question rather than a raw dump. Attribute each tweet (@handle, text, engagement such as likes and views, and the URL when the user may want the full thread), group search results by theme, and note the bullish or bearish lean and where views are consensus or contrarian. For profiles, give follower count, bio, and notable recent activity. Keep browser session details private.

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Step 5: Diagnostics

If something isn't working, run:

opencli doctor

This checks daemon status, extension connectivity, and browser session health.

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Error Reference

Error	Cause	Fix
Extension not connected	Browser Bridge not installed/enabled	Install extension and enable it in Chrome
No session	Not logged into x.com	Login to x.com in Chrome
CSRF token missing	Cookie expired or page needs refresh	Refresh x.com in Chrome
Rate limited	Too many requests	Wait a few minutes, then retry

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Reference Files

• references/commands.md — Complete read command reference with all flags, research workflows, and usage examples
• references/schema.md — Output format documentation and column definitions

Read the reference files when you need exact command syntax, research workflow patterns, or output details.