How do I use my own X (formerly Twitter) API to pull in comments more frequently?

Modified on Wed, 13 Mar 2024 at 06:27 PM

By default, EventPilot pulls the latest 20 posts once per hour during the event between 7am and 5pm local event time and up to 20 posts once per day before your event.


EventPilot Pro Users (no DIY): In order to pull a larger number of X (formerly Twitter) posts at a higher frequency into the Activity Feed, you can set up your own API integration by following these steps: 

  1. Log into your account at https://x.com
  2. In the same browser, now go to https://developer.x.com
  3. Click on Developer Portal in the upper right
  4. Select the Basic plan if your hashtag generally receives fewer than 10,000 posts per month - this plan should be sufficient for most events. You can always see your usage in the developer portal dashboard and upgrade to Pro later if necessary or simply control the number of posts being pulled to stay under the 10,000 limit
  5. Click the Subscribe to Basic button
  6. Follow the prompts to enter your payment information
  7. After successfully subscribing, you should be in the developer portal with a new Default project opened
  8. In the left menu, click on Projects & Apps
  9. Click on the number underneath Default project - ... 
  10. Under the header User authentication settings, click the Set up button
    The User authentication settings page opens
  11. Set the permissions as follows: 
    1. App permissions: Read
    2. Type of App: Web App, Automated App or Bot
    3. Under App Info set the fields for Callback URI and Website URL to your own website URL
    4. Click Save beneath the App Info section



  12. On the page Here is your OAuth 2.0 Client ID and Client Secret, copy both values and save for your own records - you do not need to share these values with ATIV
  13. You may be prompted to confirm that you saved the ID. Click Yes, I saved it
  14. Select the Keys and tokens tab under your app name in the upper part of the main page
  15. Under Authentication Tokens, next to Bearer Token, click the Generate button
  16. Copy your new bearer token and save it for your own records
    (If you lose your bearer token, you can click the "Regenerate" button to create a new one)
  17. Click the Yes, I saved it button
  18. Email the Bearer Token to your ATIV Project Manager so we can fetch posts for your hashtag


Check with your project manager to determine how often you want posts to be pulled. For example, Pre-Event, posts could be pulled every four hours, during your event, every 10 min. Each pull receives up to 50 new posts since the last pull and automatically excludes reposts. 




Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between ATIV pulls versus my own API pulls? 



ATIVYour API
Max number of posts since last pull2050
Frequency before eventonce per dayYour frequency setting
Frequency during eventonce per hour between 7am and 5pm local event timeYour frequency setting



Which subscription should I buy and how often should I fetch posts? 

If your user base is extremely active and publishes at least 50 posts every 10 minutes and you want to keep your feed as up-to-date as possible, you would have to fetch 7,200 posts per day (every 10 min means 144 fetches per day * 50 posts = 7,200 posts)This means you would reach the Basic Subscription limit of 10,000 in just over 1 day. You could use the Pro subscription or instead, simply reduce how many posts are fetched per day to stay within your subscription limit.


Most events would likely have fewer posts. Before a conference, you may have a few hundred posts over a period of several weeks. During the conference, you may have 50 posts every hour or a total of 1,200 posts in one day. 


Based on your previous events and assuming you would not have 50 posts per pull, you may want to consider

  • Before the event: every 4 hours (240min) would pull 6 times per day. 6 x up to 50 posts = up to 300 posts per day. If you start pulling 1 month before your conference, that's a total of 9,000 posts over 30 days leading up to the event. Most likely, there will be far fewer posts ranging in the hundreds. Review your actual usage on the X web page during the time before the event.
  • During the event: every 30min would be 48 pulls per day. 48 x up to 50 posts = up to 2,400 posts per day. If your conference is 3 days long, that would be 7,200 posts over three days. 


Do reposts count against my limit?

No, we do not fetch reposts.


What frequency options do I have? 

Your project manager can apply a frequency setting for BEFORE and a different for DURING:

  • 10min
  • 30min
  • once per hour (60min)
  • once every 2 hours (120min)
  • once every 4 hours (240min)
  • once every 8 hours (480min)
  • once every 12 hours (720min)


When does the automatic pull end? 

Pulling posts automatically stops when your conference is over. The system stops pulling on the second day after your event.



Can I use the Free API account? 

The Free API account cannot be used to look up posts. You must purchase one of the subscriptions. 


How do I cancel the API? 

  1. Log into https://developer.twitter.com
  2. Click on Products in the left menu bar
  3. Select the Free tab in the center of the page
  4. You should now see a Downgrade button. Click that button to be automatically downgraded at the end of your current subscription period. If you do not see the downgrade button, please reach out to X support.