A simple Ruby script to follow/unfollow twitter users from the command line

fou.rb

#
# fou (follow or unfollow) is a simple script which allows you to
# follow/unfollow twitter users from the command line.
#
# Copyright (c) by Daniel Hofstetter (http://cakebaker.42dh.com)
#
# Licensed under the MIT license (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
# Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
#

require 'net/http'
require 'base64'

username = 'your_twitter_username'
password = 'your_twitter_password'
host = 'twitter.com'
create_path = '/friendships/create/'
destroy_path = '/friendships/destroy/'

def show_usage
	puts 'Usage:'
	puts '  ruby fou.rb follow <username>    Follow the specified user'
	puts '  ruby fou.rb unfollow <username>  Unfollow the specified user'
end

unless ARGV.count == 2
	show_usage
	exit
end

path = ARGV[0] == 'follow' ? create_path : destroy_path
path += ARGV[1] + '.xml'

auth = 'Basic ' + Base64.encode64("#{username}:#{password}").delete("\n")

Net::HTTP.start(host) do |http|
	response = http.post(path, '', {'Authorization' => auth})
	puts response
end