xAutomation

An automation tool for posting sequentially from a database to X (formerly Twitter), managed via CLI scripts and scheduled with GitHub Actions.

This script fetches posts one by one from a PostgreSQL database, posts them using the X API, and keeps track of which post to send next.

Features

• Automated Sequential Posting: Posts tweets from a database in the order they were added.
• Database State: Remembers the last posted tweet's index to ensure no duplicates and correct ordering.
• CLI Content Management: Includes scripts to add, list, delete, and check the status of tweets in the queue.
• Database Reset: A simple script to clear all posts and reset the posting index.
• Scheduled Automation: Comes with a GitHub Actions workflow to run the bot automatically on a cron schedule.

Project Structure

xAutomation/
├── .env.example        # Example environment variables
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── schedule.yml  # GitHub Actions workflow
├── .gitignore          # Files to ignore
├── index.js            # Main script to post tweets
├── manage.js           # Script to manage posts (add, list, delete, status)
├── package-lock.json   # Exact dependency versions
├── package.json        # Project dependencies and info
├── README.md           # This project documentation
└── reset.js            # Script to clear the database

Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/HritvikBhatia/xAutomation.git
   cd xAutomation

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure environment variables Create a .env file in the root directory and copy the contents of .env.example. Fill in your credentials.

   # Your app credentials (identifies your app to Twitter)
   TWITTER_API_KEY=...
   TWITTER_API_SECRET=...
   
   # Your user access credentials (allows tweeting as your user)
   TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN=...
   TWITTER_ACCESS_SECRET=...
   
   # Connection string for your PostgreSQL database
   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:port/dbname...

4. Initialize the Database This project requires a PostgreSQL database with two tables. Connect to your database and run the following SQL commands to create them:

   -- Creates the table to store your posts
   CREATE TABLE posts (
     id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
     content TEXT NOT NULL
   );
   
   -- Creates the table to track which post is next
   CREATE TABLE tweet_state (
     id INT PRIMARY KEY,
     current_index INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0
   );
   
   -- Initializes the state tracker
   INSERT INTO tweet_state (id, current_index) VALUES (1, 0);

Usage

Managing Posts (CLI)

Use the manage.js script to add and review your scheduled posts.

• Add one or more new posts:

  • Posts will be added to the queue. Use \n for line breaks.

  node manage.js add "This is my first post." "This is my second post, with a\nline break."

• List all current posts:

  node manage.js list

• Delete a specific post by its ID:

  node manage.js delete <id>

• Check the current status:

  • Shows how many posts are in the database and which one is next to be posted.

  node manage.js status

• Reset the entire queue:

  • This will delete all posts and reset the posting index to 0. Use with caution!

  node reset.js

Running the Bot

• Manually: You can trigger the bot manually at any time to post the next tweet in the queue.

  node index.js

  If successful, it will log the posted tweet and update the database index.

• Scheduled (GitHub Actions): The project is configured to run automatically using GitHub Actions.

  • Schedule: The bot is set to run at:
    • 03:30 UTC
    • 13:30 UTC
    • 17:30 UTC
    • 20:30 UTC
  • Setup: For this to work in your own fork, you must add your .env variables ( TWITTER_API_KEY, DATABASE_URL, etc.) to your GitHub repository's Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions page.

Future Improvements

• Support for image or media posts on X
• Web UI/dashboard for scheduling and management
• Multi-account support
• More robust retry logic for failed API calls
• Analytics on engagement of posted content