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Crosspost

by Nicholas C. Zakas

If you find this useful, please consider supporting my work with a donation or nominate me for a GitHub Star.

Description

A utility for posting across multiple social networks at once.

Installation

npm install @humanwhocodes/crosspost

Usage

API Usage

The API is split into two parts:

  1. The Client class that can be used to post the same message across multiple services.
  2. A number of different strategy implementations, one for each service:
    • BlueskyStrategy
    • MastodonStrategy
    • TwitterStrategy

Each strategy requires its own parameters that are specific to the service. If you only want to post to a particular service, you can just directly use the strategy for that service.

import {
	Client,
	TwitterStrategy,
	MastodonStrategy,
	BlueskyStrategy,
} from "@humanwhocodes/crosspost";

// Note: Use an app password, not your login password!
const bluesky = new BlueskyStrategy({
	identifier: "me.you.social",
	password: "your-app-password",
	host: "you.social", // "bsky.social" for most people
});

// Note: Personal access token is required
const mastodon = new MastodonStrategy({
	accessToken: "your-access-token",
	host: "mastodon.host",
});

// Note: OAuth app is required
const twitter = new TwitterStrategy({
	accessTokenKey: "access-token-key",
	accessTokenSecret: "access-token-secret",
	apiConsumerKey: "api-consumer-key",
	apiConsumerSecret: "api-consumer-secret",
});

// create a client that will post to all three
const client = new Client({
	strategies: [bluesky, mastodon, twitter],
});

// post to all three
await client.post("Hello world!");

CLI Usage

Crosspost also has a command line interface to allow for incorporation into CI systems.

Usage: crosspost [options] "Message to post."
--twitter, -t   Post to Twitter.
--mastodon, -m  Post to Mastodon.
--bluesky, -b   Post to Bluesky.
--help, -h      Show this message.

Example:

npx crosspost -t -m -b "Hello world!"

# or

npx @humanwhocodes/crosspost -t -m -b "Hello world!"

This posts the message "Hello world!" to Twitter, Mastodon, and Bluesky. You can choose to post to any combination by specifying the appropriate command line options.

Each strategy requires a set of environment variables in order to execute:

  • Twitter
    • TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_KEY
    • TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET
    • TWITTER_API_CONSUMER_KEY
    • TWITTER_API_CONSUMER_SECRET
  • Mastodon
    • MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN
    • MASTODON_HOST
  • Bluesky
    • BLUESKY_HOST
    • BLUESKY_IDENTIFIER
    • BLUESKY_PASSWORD

Tip: You can also load environment variables from a .env file in the current working directory by setting the environment variable CROSSPOST_DOTENV to 1.

Setting up Strategies

Each strategy uses the service's preferred way of posting messages, so you'll need to follow specific steps in order to enable API access.

Twitter

To enable posting on Twitter, you'll need to create a free developer account and an OAuth application. Follow these instructions.

Generally speaking, if you are creating an app to automate your own posts, you'll be able to use it for free so long as you're not posting a large number of times per day.

Note: The post uses the terms "app key" and "app secret" whereas the Twitter strategy here uses "API consumer key" and "API consumer secret". They are the same values.

Mastodon

To enable posting to Mastodon, you'll need to create a new application:

  1. Log in to your Mastodon server.
  2. Click on "Edit Profile".
  3. Click on "Development".
  4. Click "New Application".
  5. Give your application a name.
  6. Check off write:statuses for your scope.
  7. Click "Submit".

This will generate a client key, client secret, and access token. You only need to use the access token when posting via the API.

Bluesky

Bluesky doesn't require an application for automated posts, only your identifier and an app password. To generate an app password:

  1. Log in to your Bluesky account.
  2. Click "Settings".
  3. Click "Privacy and Security."
  4. Click "App Passwords".
  5. Click "Add App Password".
  6. Name your app password and click "Next".
  7. Copy the generated password and click "Done".

Important: Do not use your login password with the API.

License

Copyright 2024 Nicholas C. Zakas

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.