BTweet is a small command line tool that allows you to configure your own twitter bot in a simple way to stream twitter based on a list of words. The bot is able to retweet, like and follow users based on the content of tweets and various customizable filters. The @jazzmaniatico account is an example of possible use for this tool, in which it has been configured to search for twitter giveaways.

The easiest way to install the latest version is by using pip/easy_install to pull it from PyPI:

pip install btweet

You may also use Git to clone the repository from GitHub and install it manually:

git clone https://github.com/btweet/btweet.git
cd btweet
python setup.py install

It depends on the packages tweepy and daemonize, which are installed automatically, and optionally on python-levenshtein, which can be installed manually via PyPI:

pip install python-levenshtein

The CLI can be executed with the command btweet or python -m btweet

$ btweet
usage: btweet [--help] <command> [<args>]

List of available commands:
  auth    set the credentials to twitter
  get     get the value of an option
  set     set the value of an option
  run     start the bot in a terminal
  start   start the bot in background mode
  stop    stop the bot in background mode
  filter  get and modify the filters lists
  help    get extensive help about a command

To get information about a command use btweet help <command>.

Four credentials are required to run the bot in your twitter account: API key, API secret key, Access token and Access secret token. If you do not have them, go to developer.twitter.com and create an App. Then run btweet auth -a to add the credentials to the tool. You can check if they have been added correctly:

$ btweet auth
>> Using credentials of @jazzmaniatico

The bot can be launch with the command btweet run, or as a daemon process with btweet start and btweet stop:

$ btweet run 
btweet: Running giveaway bot
>> Using credentials of @jazzmaniatico
>> Loading timeline of size 2500
>> Starting queue thread
>> Proccessing @pccomponentes
>> New retweet
...

The bot is preconfigured with some example parameters and filters.

To change parameters, such as interaction times, use btweet get and btweet set. It is important to set enough time between the bot actions. For instance, to set a wait time of 40 seconds after a retweet use btweet set retweet_time 40. All the parameters are listed with the get command.

The actions of the bot are based on four lists of words:

• track_list: list of words used to stream twitter.
• follow_list: list of words used to follow a tweet author.
• fav_list: list of words use to like a tweet.
• ignore_list: list of words to ignore a tweet.
• user_list: list of user to be ignored.

To add a word to a list use btweet filter <list_name> -a "<word or sentence>". To delete it use the flag -d.

This is a hobby project made for fun, not actively maintained. Any kind of contribution is welcome, you can collaborate by opening an issue or making a pull request to the develop branch.

The code is under the GPLv3 license. You can find a copy of the license here.