Fetch your twitter timeline via the unofficial adaptive search API

timeline.php

<?php
/**
 * Twitter timeline backup
 *
 * Required:
 *   - PHP 8.1+
 *       - cURL extension enabled
 *       - Windows:
 *           - download https://windows.php.net/downloads/releases/php-8.1.12-Win32-vs16-x64.zip (or a newer available version)
 *           - unzip to a folder of your choice
 *           - copy/rename the php.ini-development to php.ini
 *           - open the php.ini in an editor:
 *               - search for 'extension=curl', uncomment this line (remove the semicolon)
 *               - search for 'extension=openssl', uncomment this line
 *               - search for 'extension_dir', uncomment this line (under "on windows")
 *               - it might be necessary to provide a ca file for openSSL
 *                   - download cacert.pem from https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem
 *                   - search for ';curl.cainfo', uncomment this line and add "c:\path\to\cacaert.pem"
 *                   - search for ';openssl.cafile', uncomment this line and add the same path to the cacert.pem as above
 *       - Linux: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-php-8-1-and-set-up-a-local-development-environment-on-ubuntu-22-04
 *           - apt-add-repository ppa:ondrej/php -y
 *           - apt-get update
 *           - apt-get install -y php8.1-cli php8.1-common php8.1-curl
 *
 * Run the script in the console:
 *
 *   - Windows: C:\path\to\php\php.exe C:\path\to\script\timeline.php
 *   - Linux: php /path/to/script/timeline.php
 *
 * @see https://github.com/pauldotknopf/twitter-dump
 *
 * @created      17.11.2022
 * @author       smiley <smiley@chillerlan.net>
 * @copyright    2022 smiley
 * @license      MIT
 */

/*
 * How to get the request token:
 *
 *   - open https://twitter.com/search in a webbrowser (chrome or firefox recommended)
 *   - open the developer console (press F12)
 *   - type anything in the twitter search box, hit enter
 *   - go to the "network" tab in the dev console and filter the requests for "adaptive.json"
 *   - click that line, a new tab for that request appears
 *   - there, in the "headers" tab, scroll to "request headers" and look for "Authorization: Bearer ..."
 *   - right click that line, select "copy value" and paste it below, should look like: 'Bearer AAAANRILgAAAAAAnNwI...'
 */
$token = 'Bearer AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANRILgAAAAAAnNwIzUejRCOuH5E6I8xnZz4puTs=1Zv7ttfk8LF81IUq16cHjhLTvJu4FA33AGWWjCpTnA';

/*
 * The search query
 *
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/tweets/search/integrate/build-a-query
 * @see https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/advanced-tweetdeck-features
 *
 * try:
 *   - "@username" timeline including replies
 *   - "@username include:nativeretweets filter:nativeretweets" for RTs (returns RTs of the past week only)
 *   - "to:username" for @mentions and replies
 */
$query = 'from:dril';

/*
 * continue/run from stored responses, useful if the run gets interrupted for whatever reason
 */
$fromFile = true;

/*
 * the storage path for the raw responses, a different directory per query is recommended
 */
$dir = __DIR__.'/from-dril';

/*
 * JSON output flags
 *
 * @see https://www.php.net/manual/en/json.constants.php
 */
$jsonFlags = JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR|JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES|JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE|JSON_PRETTY_PRINT;

/* ==================== stop editing here ===================== */

if(!file_exists($dir)){
	mkdir(directory: $dir, recursive: true);
}

$dir          = realpath($dir);
$timelineJSON = sprintf('%s/%s.json', $dir, md5($query));
$userJSON     = sprintf('%s/%s-users.json', $dir, md5($query));

[$timeline, $users] = getTimeline($query, $fromFile);
$tl = json_encode($timeline, $jsonFlags);
$ul = json_encode($users, $jsonFlags);

file_put_contents($timelineJSON, $tl);
file_put_contents($userJSON, $ul);

echo sprintf("timeline data for '%s' saved in: %s\n", $query, realpath($timelineJSON));
echo sprintf("user data saved in: %s\n", realpath($userJSON));

// verify readability/decoding
$tl = json_decode(file_get_contents($timelineJSON), true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
$ul = json_decode(file_get_contents($userJSON), true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);

echo sprintf("fetched %s tweets from %s users\n", count($tl), count($ul));


exit;

/* ===================== here be dragons ====================== */

/**
 * retrieves the timeline for the given query and parese the response data
 */
function getTimeline(string $query, bool $fromFile = false):array{
	global $dir;

	$tweets     = [];
	$users      = [];
	$timeline   = [];
	$lastCursor = '';
	$count      = 0;

	while(true){
		$filename = sprintf('%s/%s-%d.json', $dir, md5($query), $count);

		if($fromFile && file_exists($filename)){
			$response = file_get_contents($filename);
		}
		else{
			[$response, $status, $headers] = search($query, $lastCursor);

			// rate limit hit (doesn't seem to happen?)
			if($status === 429){
#				var_dump($headers); // @todo: examine headers if x-rate-limit-reset is set

				// just sleep for a bit
				sleep(10);

				continue;
			}
			elseif($status !== 200 || empty($response)){
				break;
			}

			file_put_contents($filename, $response);
		}

		if(!parseResponse($response, $tweets, $users, $timeline, $lastCursor)){
			break;
		}

		echo sprintf("[%s] fetched data for '%s', cursor: %s\n", $count, $query, $lastCursor);

		$count++;

		if(empty($lastCursor)){
			break;
		}

		if(!$fromFile){
			sleep(2);
		}
	}

	foreach($timeline as $id => &$v){
		$tweet = $tweets[$id];

		if($tweet['quoted_status_id'] !== null && isset($tweets[$tweet['quoted_status_id']])){
			$tweet['quoted_status'] = $tweets[$tweet['quoted_status_id']];
		}

		$v = $tweet;
	}

	return [$timeline, $users];
}

/**
 * parse the API response and fill the data arrays (passed by reference)
 */
function parseResponse(string $response, array &$tweets, array &$users, array &$timeline, string &$cursor):bool{

	try{
		$json = json_decode(json: $response, flags: JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
	}
	catch(Throwable $e){
#		var_dump($response); // @todo: handle json error

		return false;
	}

	if(!isset($json->globalObjects->tweets, $json->globalObjects->users, $json->timeline->instructions)){
		return false;
	}

	if(empty((array)$json->globalObjects->tweets)){
		return false;
	}

	foreach($json->globalObjects->tweets as $tweet){
		$tweets[$tweet->id_str] = parseTweet($tweet);
	}

	foreach($json->globalObjects->users as $user){
		$users[$user->id_str] = parseUser($user);
	}

	foreach($json->timeline->instructions as $i){

		if(isset($i->addEntries->entries)){

			foreach($i->addEntries->entries as $instruction){

				if(str_starts_with($instruction->entryId, 'sq-I-t')){
					$timeline[$instruction->content->item->content->tweet->id] = null;
				}
				elseif($instruction->entryId === 'sq-cursor-bottom'){
					$cursor = $instruction->content->operation->cursor->value;
				}

			}

		}
		elseif(isset($i->replaceEntry->entryIdToReplace) && $i->replaceEntry->entryIdToReplace === 'sq-cursor-bottom'){
			$cursor = $i->replaceEntry->entry->content->operation->cursor->value;
		}
		else{
			$cursor = '';
		}
	}

	return true;
}

/**
 * fetch data from the adaptive search API
 *
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/tweets/search/integrate/build-a-query
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/tweets/search/introduction
 */
function search(string $query, string $cursor = null):array{

	// the query parameters from the call to https://twitter.com/i/api/2/search/adaptive.json in original order
	$params = [
		'include_profile_interstitial_type'    => '1',
		'include_blocking'                     => '1',
		'include_blocked_by'                   => '1',
		'include_followed_by'                  => '1',
		'include_want_retweets'                => '1',
		'include_mute_edge'                    => '1',
		'include_can_dm'                       => '1',
		'include_can_media_tag'                => '1',
		'include_ext_has_nft_avatar'           => '1',
		'include_ext_is_blue_verified'         => '1',
		'skip_status'                          => '1',
		'cards_platform'                       => 'Web-12',
		'include_cards'                        => '1',
		'include_ext_alt_text'                 => 'true',
		'include_ext_limited_action_results'   => 'false',
		'include_quote_count'                  => 'true',
		'include_reply_count'                  => '1',
		'tweet_mode'                           => 'extended',
		'include_ext_collab_control'           => 'true',
		'include_entities'                     => 'true',
		'include_user_entities'                => 'true',
		'include_ext_media_color'              => 'false',
		'include_ext_media_availability'       => 'true',
		'include_ext_sensitive_media_warning'  => 'true',
		'include_ext_trusted_friends_metadata' => 'true',
		'send_error_codes'                     => 'true',
		'simple_quoted_tweet'                  => 'true',
		'q'                                    => $query,
#		'social_filter'                        =>'searcher_follows', // @todo
		'tweet_search_mode'                    => 'live',
		'count'                                => '100',
		'query_source'                         => 'typed_query',
		'cursor'                               => $cursor,
		'pc'                                   => '1',
		'spelling_corrections'                 => '1',
		'include_ext_edit_control'             => 'true',
		'ext'                                  => 'mediaStats,highlightedLabel,hasNftAvatar,voiceInfo,enrichments,superFollowMetadata,unmentionInfo,editControl,collab_control,vibe',
	];

	// remove the cursor parameter if it's empty
	if(empty($params['cursor'])){
		unset($params['cursor']);
	}

	return request('https://api.twitter.com/2/search/adaptive.json', $params);
}

/**
 * set up and fire http requests
 */
function request(string $url, array $params = null):array{
	global $token;

	// add the query string if we have parameters given
	if(!empty($params)){
		$url .= '?'.http_build_query(data: $params, encoding_type: PHP_QUERY_RFC3986);
	}

	// set up the stream context to add a header and user agent
	$contextOptions = [
		'http' => [
			'method'           => 'GET',
			'header'           => ['Authorization: '.$token],
			'protocol_version' => '1.1', // 1.1 is default from PHP 8.0
			'user_agent'       => 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)',
			'max_redirects'    => 0,
			'timeout'          => 5,
		]
	];

	// fire the request
	$context         = stream_context_create($contextOptions);
	$response        = file_get_contents(filename: $url, context: $context);
	$responseHeaders = get_headers($url, true, $context);

	[$version, $status, $statustext] = explode(' ', $responseHeaders[0], 3);

	unset($responseHeaders[0]);

	return [$response, intval($status), $responseHeaders];
}

/**
 * parse/clean/flatten a tweet object
 *
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/data-dictionary/object-model/tweet
 */
function parseTweet(object $tweet):array{
	$text       = $tweet->full_text ?? $tweet->text ?? '';
	$mediaItems = [];

	foreach($tweet->entities->urls ?? [] as $entity){
		$text = str_replace($entity->url, $entity->expanded_url ?? $entity->url ?? '', $text);
	}

	foreach($tweet->entities->media ?? [] as $media){
		// we'll just remove the shortened media URL as it is of no use
		$text         = str_replace($media->url, '', $text);
		$mediaItems[] = parseMedia($media);
	}

	return [
		'id'                      => (int)$tweet->id,
		'user_id'                 => (int)($tweet->user_id ?? $tweet->author_id ?? $tweet->user->id ?? 0),
		'user'                    => null, // isset($tweet->user) ? parseUser($tweet->user) : null,
		'created_at'              => strtotime($tweet->created_at),
		'text'                    => $text,
		'source'                  => $tweet->source,
		'retweet_count'           => (int)($tweet->retweet_count ?? $tweet->public_metrics->retweet_count ?? 0),
		'favorite_count'          => (int)($tweet->favorite_count ?? $tweet->public_metrics->like_count ?? 0),
		'reply_count'             => (int)($tweet->reply_count ?? $tweet->public_metrics->reply_count ?? 0),
		'quote_count'             => (int)($tweet->quote_count ?? $tweet->public_metrics->quote_count ?? 0),
		'favorited'               => $tweet->favorited ?? false,
		'retweeted'               => $tweet->retweeted ?? false,
		'possibly_sensitive'      => $tweet->possibly_sensitive ?? false,
		'in_reply_to_status_id'   => $tweet->in_reply_to_status_id ?? null,
		'in_reply_to_user_id'     => $tweet->in_reply_to_user_id ?? null,
		'in_reply_to_screen_name' => $tweet->in_reply_to_screen_name ?? null,
		'is_quote_status'         => $tweet->is_quote_status ?? false,
		'quoted_status_id'        => $tweet->quoted_status_id ?? null,
		'quoted_status'           => null,
		'retweeted_status_id'     => $tweet->retweeted_status_id ?? null,
		'retweeted_status'        => null,
		'self_thread'             => $tweet->self_thread->id ?? null,
		'conversation_id'         => $tweet->conversation_id ?? null,
		'place'                   => $tweet->place ?? null,
		'coordinates'             => $tweet->coordinates ?? null,
		'geo'                     => $tweet->geo ?? null,
		'media'                   => $mediaItems,
	];
}

/**
 * parse/clean/flatten a user object
 *
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/data-dictionary/object-model/user
 */
function parseUser(object $user):array{

	foreach(['name', 'description', 'location', 'url'] as $var){
		${$var} = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', $user->{$var} ?? '');
	}

	foreach($user->entities->description->urls ?? [] as $entity){
		$description = str_replace($entity->url, $entity->expanded_url ?? $entity->url ?? '', $description);
	}

	foreach($user->entities->url->urls ?? [] as $entity){
		$url = str_replace($entity->url, $entity->expanded_url ?? $entity->url ?? '', $url);
	}

	$screenName     = $user->screen_name ?? $user->username;
	$profile_image  = str_replace('_normal.', '.', $user->profile_image_url_https ?? $user->profile_image_url ?? '');
	$profile_banner = $user->profile_banner_url ?? '';

	return [
		'id'              => $user->id,
		'screen_name'     => $screenName,
		'name'            => $name,
		'description'     => $description,
		'location'        => $location,
		'url'             => $url,
		'followers_count' => $user->followers_count ?? $user->public_metrics->followers_count ?? 0,
		'friends_count'   => $user->friends_count ?? $user->public_metrics->following_count ?? 0,
		'statuses_count'  => $user->statuses_count ?? $user->public_metrics->tweet_count ?? 0,
		'favourites_count' => $user->favourites_count ?? 0,
		'created_at'      => strtotime($user->created_at),
		'protected'       => (bool)($user->protected ?? false),
		'verified'        => (bool)($user->verified ?? false),
		'muting'          => (bool)($user->muting ?? false),
		'blocking'        => (bool)($user->blocking ?? false),
		'blocked_by'      => (bool)($user->blocked_by ?? false),
		'is_cryptobro'    => $user->ext_has_nft_avatar ?? false,
		'clown_emoji'     => $user->ext_is_blue_verified ?? false,
		'profile_image'   => $profile_image,
		'profile_banner'  => $profile_banner,
	];
}

/**
 * @see https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/data-dictionary/object-model/media
 */
function parseMedia(object $media):array{
	return [
		'id'                 => $media->id,
		'media_key'          => $media->media_key ?? null,
		'source_user_id'     => $media->source_user_id ?? null,
		'type'               => $media->type,
		'url'                => $media->media_url_https ?? $media->media_url,
		'alt_text'           => $media->ext_alt_text ?? '',
		'possibly_sensitive' => $tweet->ext_sensitive_media_warning ?? null,
		'width'              => $media->original_info->width ?? null,
		'height'             => $media->original_info->height ?? null,
		'variants'           => $media->video_info->variants ?? null,
	];
}