Configuration¶

Configuration file¶

pyTweetBot takes its configuration in a JSON file which looks as follow :

>>> {
>>>     "database" :
>>>     {
>>>         "host" : "",
>>>         "username" : "",
>>>         "password" : "",
>>>         "database" : ""
>>>     },
>>>     "email" : "bot@bot.com",
>>>     "scheduler" :
>>>     {
>>>         "sleep": [6, 13]
>>>     },
>>>     "hashtags":
>>>     [
>>>     ],
>>>     "twitter" :
>>>         "auth_token2" : "",
>>>         "access_token1" : "",
>>>         "access_token2" : "",
>>>         "user" : ""
>>>     },
>>>     "friends" :
>>>     {
>>>         "max_new_followers" : 40,
>>>         "max_new_unfollow" : 40,
>>>         "follow_unfollow_ratio_limit" : 1.2,
>>>         "interval" : [30, 45]
>>>     },
>>>     "forbidden_words" :
>>>     [
>>>     ],
>>>     "direct_message" : "",
>>>     "tweet" : {
>>>         "max_tweets" : 1200,
>>>         "exclude" : [],
>>>         "interval" : [2.0, 4.0]
>>>     },
>>>     "news" :
>>>     [
>>>         {
>>>             "keyword" : "",
>>>             "countries" : ["us","fr"],
>>>             "languages" : ["en","fr"],
>>>             "hashtags" : []
>>>         }
>>>     ],
>>>     "rss" :
>>>     [
>>>         {"url" : "http://feeds.feedburner.com/TechCrunch/startups", "hashtags" : "#startups", "via" : "@techcrunch"},
>>>         {"url" : "http://feeds.feedburner.com/TechCrunch/fundings-exits", "hashtags" : "#fundings", "via" : "@techcrunch"}
>>>     ],
>>>         "max_retweets" : 600,
>>>         "max_likes" : 600,
>>>         "keywords" : [],
>>>         "nbpages" : 40,
>>>         "retweet_prob" : 0.5,
>>>         "limit_prob" : 1.0
>>>         "interval" : [2.0, 4.0]
>>>     },
>>>     "github" :
>>>     {
>>>         "login": "",
>>>         "password": "",
>>>         "exclude": [],
>>>         "topics" : []
>>>     }
>>> }

Their is two required sections :

Database : contains the information to connect to the MySQL database (host, username, password, database)
Twitter : contains the information for the Twitter API (auth and access tokens)

Database configuration¶

The database part of the configuration file looks like the following

>>> "database" :
>>> {
>>>     "host" : "",
>>>     "username" : "",
>>>     "password" : "",
>>>     "database" : ""
>>> }

This section is mandatory.

Update e-mail configuration¶

You can configure your bot to send you an email with the number of new followers in the email section

>>> "email" : "bot@bot.com"

Scheduler configuration¶

The scheduler is responsible for executing the bot’s actions and you can configure it the sleep for a specific period of time.

>>> "scheduler" :
>>> {
>>>     "sleep": [6, 13]
>>> }

Here the scheduler will sleep during 6h00 and 13h00.

Hashtags¶

You can add text to be replace as hashtags in your tweet in the “hashtags” section

>>> "hashtags":
>>> [
>>>     {"from" : "My Hashtag", "to" : "#MyHashtag", "case_sensitive" : true}
>>> ]

Here, occurences of “My Hashtag” will be replaced by #MyHashtag.

Twitter¶

To access Twitter, pyTweetBot needs four tokens for the Twitter API and your username.

>>> "twitter" :
>>> {
>>>     "auth_token1" : "",
>>>     "auth_token2" : "",
>>>     "access_token1" : "",
>>>     "access_token2" : "",
>>>     "user" : ""
>>> }

TODO: tutorial to get the tokens

Friends settings¶

The friends section has four parameters.

>>> "friends" :
>>> {
>>>     "max_new_followers" : 40,
>>>     "max_new_unfollow" : 40,
>>>     "follow_unfollow_ratio_limit" : 1.2,
>>>     "interval" : [30, 45]
>>> }

The max_new_followers set the maximum user that can be followed each day;
The max_new_unfollow set the maximum user that can be unfollowed each day;
The interval parameter set the interval in minutes between each follow/unfollow action choosen randomly between the min and the max;