X (Twitter) sharing

Automatically post to X (Twitter) when you rate something or marked as watched.

Set up a custom X (Twitter) Developer App API Key with Simkl in a few simple steps

Twitter introduced a paid API with a "small plan" starting at $60,000 and up to $1 million a year for Apps like Simkl (if we were to use our own key). It's not rational for Simkl to pay X's proposed fees.

So the best way to automatically share your watched shows and movies after you rate or mark them as watched through Simkl is to create your own FREE personal Twitter API key. Don't worry, it allows up to 1,500 requests per month, so you can still share your favorites with friends! 😊

Auto-Posting to Twitter: A Safe and Secure Process

At Simkl, we aim to enrich your multimedia experience by adding features that connect to your social media. One of the functionalities we offer is the ability to automatically share on Twitter what you are watching through our platform.

Why do we need you to create a Twitter Developer App?

The Twitter Developer App is a secure way to link your Twitter account with Simkl, enabling you to automatically post your watching activities on Twitter without manual intervention. Here's why this process is safe:

1. Strict Compliance with Twitter's Policies: Our system is built following Twitter's Developer Agreement and Policy, ensuring that the handling of your keys complies with Twitter's guidelines and industry best practices.
2. End-to-End Encryption: Your keys are encrypted using advanced encryption techniques during transfer to Twitter for authorization.
3. Limited Access: The keys are only used to post what you are watching on Twitter through Simkl. They don't give us access to other parts of your Twitter account like your password or direct messages.
4. Full Control: You have full control over the connection between Simkl and your Twitter account. You can revoke our access at any time from your Twitter settings or delete your dev app.
5. It's free if you don't select a paid plan for your app. And allows up to 1,500 requests per month.

How to add your own Twitter Developer API key

In order to use Twitter with Simkl you need to bring your own API Key. In this article, we'll go through how to set it up.

Create a Twitter Developer account if you don't have one

If you don't already have a Twitter Developer account, you need to set one up. It only takes a few minutes.

Go to this page and sign up for a free account: https://developer.twitter.com

If you don't yet have a developer account, you can click the Developer Portal link:

https://developer.twitter.com/en/portal/petition/essential/basic-infodeveloper.twitter.com

Click the Sign up for Free Account and fill in the form:

Twitter will ask you to briefly describe the use case of Twitter's API. You can put something like this:

I will use Twitter's API to schedule and publish tweets, as well as replying to comments on my tweets. I will use data coming from Twitter's API to display analytics in regard to performance of my tweets, including impressions, engagement rate, link clicks, and similar metrics.

Click Submit. Twitter has a bug that does not show the progress of clicking the submit button, wait 10-20 seconds after clicking the button. In most cases, you will get access to Twitter's Developer portal immediately.

---

Setting up an app + API Keys

If you click the "Products" and then "Twitter API v2" project, you should see that you are on a Free account. You will be able to publish up to 1,500 tweets per month.

This covers watch history and review posting for most users.

If you watch and review more than 1500 episodes, and movies in a month, you will need to upgrade to their Basic plan, which costs $100/month.

You can read more about what's included in the different plans here: https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/getting-started/about-twitter-api

Next, click the Projects & Apps menu. You will see that a default project and a default app has been created for you. This is all we need.

Under User authentication settings, click the Set up button.

Set up user authentication as follows:

Under App permissions choose Read and write.

Under Type of App choose Web App, Automated App, or Bot.

https://passport.simkl.com/?do=tw_pub

Finally, under App info add this URL in Callback URI / Redirect URL:

https://passport.simkl.com/?do=tw_pub

Under Website URL you can add a link to your own website or Twitter profile URL (Example: https://twitter.com/twitter_username. Do not use simkl.com as your website).

Leave other fields blank, they are optional.

Then click Save.

You will now have a Client ID and a Client Secret. Note these down (Save them someplace), this is important!

Setting up Twitter with Simkl

Go to Simkl and click Settings > Sharing.

You can now add your "Twitter API Key" here.

Insert the Client ID and the Client Secret here and click Connect Twitter profile

Twitter will now ask you to authorize your new app. And that's it!

Congratulations 🥳 You can now use Twitter with Simkl. When you mark something as watched or rated a show or a movie, Simkl will auto-post it on your Twitter profile in 1-3 minutes.