Retweet & Like Bot

A small Twitter/X bot that automatically retweets and likes tweets for the hashtags you care about — running for free on a schedule via GitHub Actions, no server to babysit.

On every run the bot:

1. Searches recent tweets for your hashtag
2. Filters out anything you don't want — old tweets, replies, your own tweets, blocked users, and blocked words
3. Retweets and likes what's left, gently and within Twitter's limits

2026-07-22 12:00:01 INFO Client created for @yourhandle
2026-07-22 12:00:02 INFO Found 43 tweets for '#python'
2026-07-22 12:00:07 INFO Retweeted & liked 1948… by @somedev
2026-07-22 12:00:19 INFO Retweeted & liked 1948… by @anotherdev
2026-07-22 12:01:10 INFO Done — actioned 8 tweet(s)

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Playing nice with Twitter

Aggressive bots get suspended. This one is deliberately conservative:

• Capped actions per run — MAX_ACTIONS_PER_RUN (default 10) limits how much it does each time.
• Spaced out — it waits ACTION_DELAY_SECONDS (default 10s) between actions instead of firing in a burst.
• Rate-limit aware — it respects the API's rate limits and stops cleanly if it hits one.
• No replies, no self-retweets — it skips replies and your own tweets by default.
• Runs every 2 hours, not every minute.

You can tune all of these (see the table below) but the defaults are chosen to keep your account safe. Please also follow the Twitter Automation Rules.

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Project structure

python-retweet-like-bot/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── bot.yml         # GitHub Actions — runs the bot on a schedule
├── config.py               # Creates & verifies the Twitter API client
├── mybot.py                # Entry point — searches, filters, retweets & likes
├── blocklist.json          # Users and words to skip (edit this, no code needed)
├── requirements.txt        # Python dependencies
├── .env.example            # Template for your credentials
├── .gitignore
└── .env                    # Your credentials (never committed)

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Requirements

You need a Twitter/X developer account with an app that has Read and Write permissions, and API v2 access that allows tweet search (search_recent_tweets). Create one at developer.twitter.com. From your app you'll need four values:

• API Key (CONSUMER_KEY)
• API Secret (CONSUMER_SECRET)
• Access Token (ACCESS_TOKEN)
• Access Token Secret (ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET)

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Setup

1. Clone and create a virtual environment

git clone https://github.com/Towernter/python-retweet-like-bot.git
cd python-retweet-like-bot
python -m venv venv

Activate it:

# Windows
venv\Scripts\activate

# Mac / Linux
source venv/bin/activate

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Add your credentials

Copy the template and fill it in:

cp .env.example .env

CONSUMER_KEY=your_api_key
CONSUMER_SECRET=your_api_secret
ACCESS_TOKEN=your_access_token
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_access_token_secret
SEARCH_QUERY=#python

4. Choose who and what to skip

Edit blocklist.json — no code changes needed:

{
  "blocked_users": ["spammer1", "annoyingaccount"],
  "blocked_words": ["crypto", "giveaway"]
}

Any tweet from a blocked user, or whose text contains a blocked word, is skipped.

5. Run it locally

python mybot.py

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Deploy on GitHub Actions

The included workflow (.github/workflows/bot.yml) runs the bot every 2 hours for free.

1. Push this repo to GitHub.
2. Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions and add your four credentials as repository secrets: CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET, ACCESS_TOKEN, ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET.
3. On the same page, under the Variables tab, add a variable named SEARCH_QUERY with your hashtag (e.g. #python).
4. Open the Actions tab — the bot runs automatically on schedule, or hit Run workflow to trigger it manually.

To change how often it runs, edit the cron line in bot.yml.

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Configuration reference

Variable	Where	Default	What it does
CONSUMER_KEY / CONSUMER_SECRET	secret	—	Your app's API key/secret
ACCESS_TOKEN / ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET	secret	—	Your access token/secret
SEARCH_QUERY	variable / .env	#your_hashtag	What to search for
MAX_RESULTS	.env	50	How many recent tweets to scan per run (10–100)
MAX_ACTIONS_PER_RUN	.env	10	Max retweets+likes per run
ACTION_DELAY_SECONDS	.env	10	Pause between actions
MAX_AGE_MINUTES	.env	0	Ignore tweets older than this (0 = no limit)

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Previously deployed on Heroku as a streaming worker. Now modernised to Tweepy v2 and GitHub Actions.