fast cli for twitter/x. built by @steipete. mirrored here so it stays accessible.
what it does · install · usage · ai agents
bird is a cli for reading and posting on twitter/x. no api keys. no oauth dance. it reads cookies directly from safari or chrome.
the original steipete/bird repo was removed from github. this mirror exists so people who depend on the tool can still get it. all credit for the cli goes to @steipete (Peter Steinberger). i'm just keeping the lights on.
# direct download — universal arm64/x86_64 binary from this mirror
curl -L https://github.com/zaydiscold/bird/releases/download/v0.8.0/bird -o bird
chmod +x bird
sudo mv bird /usr/local/bin/birdor with wget:
wget -O bird https://github.com/zaydiscold/bird/releases/download/v0.8.0/bird
chmod +x bird
sudo mv bird /usr/local/bin/birdnote on homebrew: steipete's tap (
brew install steipete/tap/bird) was the original install method. i'm not sure if that tap is still maintained — it may be down. use the curl install above to be safe.
steipete's original tap:brew install steipete/tap/bird
verify:
bird whoami # returns your twitter handlerequires being logged into x.com in safari or chrome.
bird auto-detects safari cookies. no setup.
bird whoami # confirm logged-in account
bird check # check cookie availability
bird --chrome-profile "Default" ... # use chrome instead of safaribird read <url-or-id> # single tweet
bird thread <url-or-id> # full conversation thread
bird thread <url-or-id> --all # thread, all pages
bird replies <url-or-id> # replies to a tweet
bird user-tweets @handle -n 20 # user's recent tweetsbird search "query" -n 20
bird search "from:@handle keyword" -n 10
bird search "term" --all # paginate through everythingbird home -n 20 # for you feed
bird home --following -n 20 # following, chronological
bird mentions -n 20 # your mentions
bird bookmarks -n 20 # saved bookmarks
bird likes -n 20 # liked tweets
bird lists # your lists
bird list-timeline <list-id-or-url> # list timeline
bird about @handle # account origin and location
bird following -n 50 # who you follow
bird followers -n 50 # your followersbird tweet "text here"
bird reply <url-or-id> "reply text"
bird follow @handle
bird unfollow @handle
# attach media — up to 4 images or 1 video
bird tweet "caption" --media /path/to/image.jpg --alt "alt text"
bird tweet "caption" --media /path/to/video.mp4
# long posts (X Premium): text over 280 weighted chars is auto-routed
# through CreateNoteTweet — no flag needed, just write a long tweet
bird tweet "$(cat my-long-post.txt)"long posts / note tweets (new in 0.9.0): if your text exceeds the standard
280 weighted-char limit (URLs count as 23), tweet/reply automatically use
X's CreateNoteTweet mutation instead of CreateTweet. Requires X Premium on
the account. Short tweets are unaffected — they still use the cheap path. The
note-tweet request carries the distinct feature-flag set + fieldToggles that
X's web client sends, so it passes server-side validation.
bird read <id> --json # structured json
bird read <id> --json-full # json + raw api response
bird search "query" --plain # no color, pipeableflags: -n result count · --all paginate · --following filter · --ai-only curated news · --with-tweets include tweets · --tweets-per-item N · --chrome-profile "Name" · --json · --json-full · --plain · --media path · --alt text
for claude code, cursor, codex, and other ai agents: zaydiscold/bird-skill
i built the skill myself. paste any x.com link into a claude code session and it reads the tweet directly — no browser, no webfetch. it also handles timelines, search, posting, all of it. homegrown, built to work on top of peter's binary.
npx skills add zaydiscold/bird-skill@bird -g -y
mit. license
zayd / cold
zayd.wtf · twitter · github
icarus only fell because he flew
to do
☑ mirror binary + release
☑ homebrew formula
☑ bird-skill for ai agents
☐ auto-update check on install
