Second lesson - basic twitter bot

index.js

// load a package that makes tweeting possible
var Twitter = require('twitter');

// configure the client so it can authorize itself
var client = new Twitter({
  consumer_key: 'xyz',
  consumer_secret: 'abc',
  access_token_key: '012-xyz',
  access_token_secret: 'ABC'
});

// define a variable
var myTweet;

// setInterval: do something every x miliseconds
setInterval(function() {
  // assign a value to the variable
  // in this case a piece of text (a string) with
  // the time in miliseconds since 01-01-1970
  myTweet = 'It is now: ' + Date.now() + ' miliseconds since 1970';

  // update your twitter status which means
  // post a tweet
  client.post('statuses/update',

    // the status is the text in 'myTweet'
    { status: myTweet},
    function() {
      // when done tweeting, show what Twitter said in repsonse
      console.log(arguments);
    }
  );
// 1000 miliseconds * 60 seconds * 2 = every 2 minutes
}, 2 * 60 * 1000);

To run this program you need to do the following steps:

• Save the file in a directory. For example in /Users/yourname/Desktop/twitter-bot
• Go with the Terminal app to that location: cd Desktop/twitter-bot
• Check if you are on the right path by typing pwd and verify the output is something like /Users/yourname/Desktop/twitter-bot
• Install the dependency package: npm install twitter
• Run the program: node index.js

Be aware that you need OAuth tokens from Twitter via e.g. apps.twitter.com and/or use the tool twurl to generate tokens. See for more information: http://dghubble.com/blog/posts/twitter-app-write-access-and-bots/