---
title: Automating a Twitter Post with JavaScript
description: In this article I walk through a simple JavaScript implementation to post a tweet to Twitter.
date: 2020-09-17
tags: Automation, JavaScript, Twitter
source: https://brianchildress.co/blog/automate-twitter-post-with-javascript
---

# Automating a Twitter Post with JavaScript

In this article, I'll walk through a simple implementation I use to automatically post a link to a random blog article I've written to my Twitter feed. This implementation is written in JavaScript, but the concepts are easily translated to other languages.

The breakdown:

I have a blog (The one you're reading right now. Welcome!) that uses [Hexo](https://hexo.io/) to turn Markdown files into a static website. As a static site generator, Hexo also produces an RSS feed that contains basic information about each article (e.g. Title, Date, Author). In this solution I read the RSS feed and randomly select an article. Then I send the tweet. The solution below can be run on an "ad hoc" basis from your local machine OR be automated. I'm currently using a [GitHub Action](https://github.com/features/actions) to automate the tweet on a cron schedule.

There are two main components to the solution, the solution itself AND the [Twitter Developer](https://developer.twitter.com/) credentials that grant access to the Twitter API. I'll start with the Twitter credentials.

From the Twitter developer console we need to create an _app_, and from the app we can create a set of _tokens_ and _keys_. We need to capture those tokens and keys and save them somewhere safe. These are effectively usernames and passwords so they should be treated as such. I prefer to store and pass these values as environment variables, using a _.env_ file for NodeJs. \*\*NEVER EVER commit these values or this file into any type of source control (i.e. GIT).\*\*

_NOTE:_ You may need to regenerate credentials when switching environments or when things just stop working.

_.env_

```
API_KEY= < API KEY >
API_SECRET_KEY= < API SECRET KEY >
ACCESS_TOKEN= < ACCESS TOKEN >
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET= < ACCESS TOKEN SECRET >
```

The tweeting solution has few components, the solution below will simply, read the RSS feed, randomly select an article, craft a tweet, send a tweet. Easy peazy.

_tweet-amazingness.js_

```js
const dotenv = require("dotenv");
const Twitter = require("twitter");
const Parser = require("rss-parser");

dotenv.config();

// get RSS feed
const parser = new Parser();

// Create a Twitter client to manage credentials
const client = new Twitter({
  consumer_key: process.env.API_KEY,
  consumer_secret: process.env.API_SECRET_KEY,
  access_token_key: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN,
  access_token_secret: process.env.ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET,
});

// Generate a random integer, somewhere between 0 and the 'max' value provided
const getRandomInt = (max) => {
  return Math.floor(Math.random() * Math.floor(max));
};

// Inspired by: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/get-the-relative-timestamp-difference-between-dates-in-javascript/
const timeDiff = (prev) => {
  if (!prev) {
    return null;
  }

  const curr = new Date();
  const ms_Min = 60 * 1000; // milliseconds in Minute
  const ms_Hour = ms_Min * 60; // milliseconds in Hour
  const ms_Day = ms_Hour * 24; // milliseconds in day
  const ms_Mon = ms_Day * 30; // milliseconds in Month
  const ms_Yr = ms_Day * 365; // milliseconds in Year
  const diff = curr - prev; // difference between dates.

  // If the diff is less then milliseconds in a minute
  if (diff < ms_Min) {
    return "A few seconds ago";

    // If the diff is less then milliseconds in a Hour
  } else if (diff < ms_Hour) {
    return "A few minutes ago";

    // If the diff is less then milliseconds in a day
  } else if (diff < ms_Day) {
    return "A few hours ago";

    // If the diff is less then milliseconds in a Month
  } else if (diff < ms_Mon) {
    return "A few days ago";

    // If the diff is less then milliseconds in a year
  } else if (diff < ms_Yr) {
    return "A few months ago";
  } else {
    return "A few years ago";
  }
};

// Using an IIFE to call teh file, automatically run the function, and move on :)
(async () => {
  let feed = await parser.parseURL("https://brianchildress.co/atom.xml");

  // Select a post
  const postNumber = getRandomInt(feed.items.length);
  const selectedPost = feed.items[postNumber];

  // Determine what the time stamp is
  const postDate = Date.parse(selectedPost.pubDate);
  const timeSincePost = timeDiff(postDate);
  // Generate and send post
  const postLink = selectedPost.link;
  const status = `${timeSincePost} I wrote an article called, "${selectedPost.title}". ${postLink}`;

  client.post(
    "statuses/update",
    {
      status: status,
    },
    function (error, tweet, response) {
      if (error) {
        console.log(error);
      } else {
        console.log(tweet);
      }
    }
  );
})();
```

Hopefully this solution has some components that might be helpful for other projects, from parsing an RSS feed, to creating a basic Tweet.