frigatebird 🐦 — resilient X CLI for posting, articles, replies, reading, and list automation

frigatebird is a Playwright-first X CLI that preserves the familiar bird command-line experience while running on browser automation instead of private GraphQL internals.

Why This Exists

bird set a high bar for fast, scriptable X workflows. After deprecation and de-open-sourcing, teams still needed the same CLI ergonomics without depending on internal API behavior.

frigatebird is the continuity path:

• Keep the bird-style command surface.
• Keep API-key-free operation via browser session cookies.
• Keep practical day-to-day workflows for posting, reading, follows, lists, and timeline operations.

Disclaimer

Frigatebird automates X’s web UI and relies on selectors/flows that X can change at any time. Expect occasional breakage when X ships UI changes.

Install

npm install
npx playwright install chromium

When published to npm:

npm install -g frigatebird

Quickstart

# Show authenticated account
frigatebird whoami

# Read a tweet (URL or ID)
frigatebird read https://x.com/user/status/1234567890123456789
frigatebird 1234567890123456789 --json

# Post and reply
frigatebird tweet "hello from frigatebird"
frigatebird reply 1234567890123456789 "thanks"

# Publish a long-form article
frigatebird article "Launch notes" "Today we shipped..."
frigatebird article "Draft from file" --body-file ./article.md

# Search and mentions
frigatebird search "from:openai" -n 5
frigatebird mentions -n 5

# Lists and list timeline
frigatebird lists --json
frigatebird list-timeline 1234567890 -n 20

# Follow graph
frigatebird following -n 20 --json
frigatebird followers -n 20 --json

# List membership automation
frigatebird add "AI News" @openai @anthropicai
frigatebird remove @openai "AI News"
frigatebird batch accounts.json

Commands

• frigatebird tweet "<text>" — post a tweet.
• frigatebird post "<text>" — alias for tweet.
• frigatebird article "<title>" [body] [--body-file path] — publish a long-form article.
• frigatebird reply <tweet-id-or-url> "<text>" — reply to a tweet.
• frigatebird read <tweet-id-or-url> [--json] [--json-full] — read one tweet.
• frigatebird <tweet-id-or-url> [--json] — shorthand for read.
• frigatebird replies <tweet-id-or-url> [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [-n count] [--json] [--json-full] — list replies.
• frigatebird thread <tweet-id-or-url> [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [-n count] [--json] [--json-full] — show thread/conversation tweets.
• frigatebird search "<query>" [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — search tweets.
• frigatebird mentions [--user @handle] [-n count] [--json] [--json-full] — mention timeline/search.
• frigatebird user-tweets <@handle> [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — profile tweets.
• frigatebird home [-n count] [--following] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — home timeline.
• frigatebird bookmarks [-n count] [--folder-id id] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--expand-root-only] [--author-chain] [--author-only] [--full-chain-only] [--include-ancestor-branches] [--include-parent] [--thread-meta] [--sort-chronological] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — bookmarks + optional thread expansion.
• frigatebird unbookmark <tweet-id-or-url...> [--json] — remove bookmark(s).
• frigatebird like <tweet-id-or-url> — like a tweet.
• frigatebird retweet <tweet-id-or-url> — repost a tweet.
• frigatebird likes [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — liked tweets.
• frigatebird follow <username-or-id> — follow user.
• frigatebird unfollow <username-or-id> — unfollow user.
• frigatebird following [--user userId] [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — accounts a user follows.
• frigatebird followers [--user userId] [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — accounts following a user.
• frigatebird lists [--member-of] [-n count] [--json] [--json-full] — list your lists.
• frigatebird list [--member-of] [-n count] [--json] [--json-full] — alias for lists.
• frigatebird list-timeline <list-id-or-url> [-n count] [--all] [--max-pages n] [--cursor str] [--delay ms] [--json] [--json-full] — timeline for a list.
• frigatebird news [-n count] [--ai-only] [--with-tweets] [--tweets-per-item n] [--for-you] [--news-only] [--sports] [--entertainment] [--trending-only] [--json] [--json-full] — explore/news aggregation.
• frigatebird trending — alias for news.
• frigatebird about <@handle> [--json] — profile origin/location metadata.
• frigatebird query-ids [--fresh] [--json] — compatibility command (Playwright mode does not require GraphQL query IDs).
• frigatebird whoami [--json] — active authenticated account.
• frigatebird check — credential/session status.
• frigatebird refresh [--json] — refresh local auth cookie cache.
• frigatebird add <listName> <handles...> [--no-headless] [--json] — add handles to list.
• frigatebird remove <handle> <listName> [--no-headless] [--json] — remove handle from list.
• frigatebird batch <file.json> [--no-headless] [--json] — batch list updates from JSON.
• frigatebird help [command] — command help.

Global Options

• --auth-token <token>
• --ct0 <token>
• --base-url <url> (default https://x.com, useful for fixture/e2e)
• --cookie-source <chrome|firefox|safari|edge> (repeatable)
• --chrome-profile <name>
• --chrome-profile-dir <path>
• --firefox-profile <name>
• --cookie-timeout <ms>
• --timeout <ms>
• --quote-depth <n>
• --compat-json (strict bird-style JSON envelopes + field names)
• --media <path> (repeatable)
• --alt <text> (repeatable)
• --plain
• --no-emoji
• --no-color
• --no-headless

Media rules:

• up to 4 attachments
• one video maximum
• video cannot be mixed with other media
• supported: jpg, jpeg, png, webp, gif, mp4, m4v, mov

Authentication

Frigatebird uses your existing X web session and cookie credentials. No X API key required.

Resolution order:

1. CLI flags (--auth-token, --ct0)
2. env vars (AUTH_TOKEN, CT0, fallbacks below)
3. browser cookie extraction via @steipete/sweet-cookie

When --cookie-source is explicitly set and differs from cached auth source metadata, Frigatebird clears cached auth and re-resolves cookies from the requested source order.

If auth fails:

frigatebird refresh
frigatebird check
frigatebird whoami

Config (JSON5)

Precedence: CLI flags > env vars > project config > global config.

Config files:

• ~/.config/bird/config.json5
• ~/.config/frigatebird/config.json5
• ./.birdrc.json5
• ./.frigatebirdrc.json5

Supported keys:

• authToken, ct0, baseUrl
• cookieSource
• chromeProfile, chromeProfileDir, firefoxProfile
• cookieTimeoutMs, timeoutMs, quoteDepth

Example:

{
  cookieSource: ["chrome", "safari"],
  chromeProfile: "Default",
  timeoutMs: 20000,
  quoteDepth: 1
}

Environment vars:

• auth: AUTH_TOKEN, CT0, TWITTER_AUTH_TOKEN, TWITTER_CT0
• cookie source: BIRD_COOKIE_SOURCE, FRIGATEBIRD_COOKIE_SOURCE
• base URL: BIRD_BASE_URL, FRIGATEBIRD_BASE_URL
• profiles: BIRD_CHROME_PROFILE, BIRD_CHROME_PROFILE_DIR, BIRD_FIREFOX_PROFILE and FRIGATEBIRD_* variants
• timeouts/depth: BIRD_TIMEOUT_MS, BIRD_COOKIE_TIMEOUT_MS, BIRD_QUOTE_DEPTH and FRIGATEBIRD_* variants
• output: NO_COLOR, BIRD_PLAIN, FRIGATEBIRD_PLAIN

Output

• --json gives machine-readable output for read/timeline/list commands.
• --json-full includes raw compatibility payloads where available.
• --plain disables emoji + color for stable scripts.
• --compat-json switches JSON output to strict bird-style schemas.
• Collection commands emit nextCursor when additional pages are available; pass it back via --cursor.
• In default JSON mode, collection commands include both canonical items and alias keys:
  • tweets: tweets
  • users: users
  • lists: lists
  • news: news

Development

npm install
npx playwright install chromium
npm run build
npm run lint
npm run test:run        # unit/integration
npm run test:coverage   # unit/integration + coverage
npm run test:e2e        # e2e only
npm run test:e2e:live -- --list-name testlist001   # opt-in live mutation e2e (article mutation disabled by default)
npm run smoke:pack-install

Live mutation e2e requirements:

• required argument: --list-name <your-list-name>
• FRIGATEBIRD_AUTH_TOKEN
• FRIGATEBIRD_CT0
• optional args: --cookie-source <source>
• optional env: FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_COOKIE_SOURCE, FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_EXPECTED_HANDLE_PREFIX, FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_TARGET_HANDLE
• article mutation is disabled by default; enable manually with:
  • --enable-premium-features-e2e --article-cookie-source chrome --article-expected-handle-prefix Oceanswave

Release

• CI: .github/workflows/ci.yml
• npm publish: .github/workflows/release.yml (triggered by GitHub Release published, trusted publishing/OIDC)
• live mutation CI: .github/workflows/live-e2e.yml
  • manual trigger: workflow_dispatch (list_name, cookie_source, premium_features_e2e, article inputs)
  • scheduled trigger: weekly cron, opt-in with repo variable FRIGATEBIRD_ENABLE_SCHEDULED_LIVE_E2E=1
  • scheduled config variables: FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_E2E_LIST_NAME, FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_E2E_COOKIE_SOURCE, FRIGATEBIRD_LIVE_E2E_PREMIUM, and optional article/guard prefix vars
• PR auto-merge: .github/workflows/auto-merge.yml (uses pull_request_target; enables squash auto-merge for non-draft same-repo PRs)
• release checklist: RELEASE.md

Notes

• Selector drift is the primary maintenance cost.
• query-ids is intentionally kept for CLI compatibility with historical bird workflows.