X API

Scrape X data with one API

Name: X Data API
Brand: SocialCrawl
Availability: InStock

Fetch public X (Twitter) profiles, tweets, communities, AI search, and transcripts as structured JSON with one SocialCrawl API key. Same Post, Comment, and Author schema as every other platform. Reads are priced in credits.

Read the docs How it works Try live

/v1/twitter

8 active endpoints

GET /v1/twitter/profile
GET /v1/twitter/profile/full
GET /v1/twitter/user/tweets
GET /v1/twitter/tweet
GET /v1/twitter/tweet/transcript
GET /v1/twitter/ai-search
GET /v1/twitter/community
GET /v1/twitter/community/tweets

What X endpoints does SocialCrawl ship?

8 live read endpoints for public X data. Profiles, tweet timelines, single tweets, AI search, communities, and transcripts. Data API only.

Profile

1 credit

/v1/twitter/profile

Get Twitter user profile.

handle

Full profile

5 credits

/v1/twitter/profile/full

X (Twitter) profile, recent posts, and computed analytics in one call.

handle, posts, cursor, include

User tweets

1 credit

/v1/twitter/user/tweets

List Twitter user tweets.

handle, trim

1 credit

/v1/twitter/tweet

Get Twitter tweet details.

url, trim

Tweet transcript

10 credits

/v1/twitter/tweet/transcript

Get Twitter video transcript.

url

AI search

5 credits

/v1/twitter/ai-search

AI-powered X (Twitter) search via xAI Grok.

query, from_handles, exclude_handles, from_date, to_date

Community

1 credit

/v1/twitter/community

Get Twitter community details.

url

Community tweets

1 credit

/v1/twitter/community/tweets

List Twitter community tweets.

url

X API15 endpoints supported

View docs

Returns an X (Twitter) account's public profile: follower count, following count, tweet count, bio, profile and banner image URLs, and verification status.

Use it when you have a handle and want a quick account snapshot before pulling its tweets.

1 credit

GET/v1/twitter/profile?handle=elonmusk

handle

handle · Twitter username without the @ symbol

$ curl https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/twitter/profile?handle=elonmusk \
    -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"

idle

// Edit the params above and hit "Try it" to run a live request against the API

How the X API works

X (Twitter) is a normal SocialCrawl social surface. You call GET /v1/twitter/… with an API key, spend credits on live misses, and get a single JSON envelope back. No second SDK.

Authenticate every call

Send your key in the x-api-key header. The same key works across the SocialCrawl catalog.

GET with query params

Routes are GET. Pass handles, urls, queries, and cursors as query strings. We validate formats before charging.

Pay in credits, not seats

Live misses debit the route tier. Cache hits cost 0. Empty or hard failures refund.

Read one JSON envelope

Every response is the same shape: success, data, credits_used, credits_remaining, request_id, cached.

The usual integration chain

Most products resolve an account, page content, then deepen only the posts that matter.

01Account

GET /v1/twitter/profile

Author-shaped profile

Resolve the handle or id once.

02Feed

GET /v1/twitter/profile/full

PostList of recent public items

Page with cursor or after when the route supports it.

03Item

GET /v1/twitter/user/tweets

Full Post for one URL or id

List rows are not enough when you need the full record.

04Comments

GET /v1/twitter/tweet

CommentList when the platform exposes it

Expand only when a thread matters.

request

GET /v1/twitter/profile
  ?handle=elonmusk
Host: www.socialcrawl.dev
x-api-key: sc_your_api_key_here

response envelope

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { "/* Author | Post | PostList | CommentList | … */": true },
  "credits_used": 1,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "request_id": "req_…",
  "cached": false
}

What lands in data

Field names match the rest of SocialCrawl where archetypes align.

Authorprofile

id, username, display_name, avatar_url, bio, followers, url, ext

PostList / Postprofile/full

items[].post with id, url, content, engagement, author, published_at, ext

CommentListuser/tweets

items[] with author, content.text, engagement, published_at when comments ship

Search / Mediatweet

search hits, media metadata, or transcripts depending on route

Inside the gateway

Same request lifecycle as every other /v1 platform endpoint.

Edge receives the call

Next.js catch-all routes into the Hono social API. We mint a request_id, authenticate the key, then enforce rate limit and concurrency.

Validate, then debit

Registry lookup finds the route. Required params run first. Invalid input returns 400 with no charge. Valid calls debit before upstream work.

Cache or fetch

A deterministic cache key is built from platform + resource + params. Hit: credits_used = 0. Miss: upstream fetch with retries and circuit breaker.

Normalize and return

Upstream JSON is mapped to Author / Post / PostList / CommentList (or route archetype), validated, wrapped in the success envelope, and logged for billing audit.

Billing rules that matter in production

Standard live miss: tier cost (often 1 credit)
Advanced reads: typically 5 credits
Premium reads: typically 10 credits
Metered routes: min floor when documented
Cache hit: 0 credits
Empty / hard fail: auto-refund
Bad params: 400, never charged
No credits: 402, never charged
Disabled routes: 503, never charged

How we get the data

X (Twitter) is public-read data on SocialCrawl. We normalize it into the shared schema so your code does not learn a second OAuth flow.

What X is for this API

Public X (Twitter) surfaces exposed by the registry. Read-only for research, monitoring, and product jobs.

How SocialCrawl reaches it

Social-read upstreams behind one gateway. Prism composites combine legs when a fat route is registered.

What leaves our edge

Unified JSON envelope: success, data, credits_used, request_id, cached. Shared Author / Post / Comment leaves where archetypes align.

What we do not ship live

No write endpoints and no private inbox. Disabled routes stay out of the active count. Prefer registry docs for the live inventory.

field map sketch

public profile / channel→ author.*profile identity and counters

public post / media→ post.* / items[].postpost content and engagement

list / search page→ items[] or hitscomments or search hits when present

What this API is used for

The jobs this API is most often used for.

8active X endpoints in the registry

1 / 5 / 10credit ladder across standard, advanced, premium

Real-time narrative and account monitoring on X

Callers concentrate on profile, content lists, search, and deepen paths on X (Twitter). AI search plus profile and tweet reads on the shared schema without a separate X developer app for these surfaces.

Detail reads are typically a few seconds on live miss. Search and fat composites are slower paths.

What people build with the X API

The jobs X data is most often used for. Each one is a full recipe with the endpoint chain and pricing.

Social listeningAI-grounded search with date windows and handle filters.

Creator analyticsProfile resolution and recent posts for the accounts you follow.

Influencer discoveryProfile resolution and recent posts for creators who publish there.

Identity resolutionProfile lookup and recent posts for the same subject on X.

Trend detectionAI-grounded search with date filters to see how a term is being framed now.

Market researchAI-grounded search with date windows and handle filters, for how a category is discussed publicly.

Video transcriptsPosts already carry their text, so search and post detail return the words without a transcript step.

News and OSINT monitoringAI-grounded search with date windows and handle filters, for how a subject is being discussed publicly on X.

Use case examples

Common ways teams put this data to work, and the stack each one tends to run.

Monitoring jobs

Python, cron, Slack bots

Poll profiles and feeds on X (Twitter). Alert when engagement velocity jumps.

Research and VoC

Node, notebooks, BI loads

Search and expand posts for brand, product, and competitor language on X (Twitter).

Backend product jobs

Go, workers, Explorer

Wire resolve to list to detail into pipelines. Cache hits keep recurring runs cheap.

Call it in two lines

Live misses spend credits by tier. Cache hits are free. Empty or hard failures refund.

curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/twitter/profile?handle=elonmusk" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_your_api_key_here"

curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/twitter/profile/full?handle=example" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_your_api_key_here"

X on SocialCrawl

Same key as the rest of the catalog

Platform docs Get an API key

Endpoints

What data does the X API return?

Every endpoint returns structured JSON in a unified envelope. Computed fields such as engagement rate and content category are included only where the endpoint supports them and the required source inputs are present.

ProfileGet Twitter user profile User TweetsList Twitter user tweets TweetGet Twitter tweet details CommunityGet Twitter community details Community TweetsList Twitter community tweets Tweet TranscriptGet Twitter video transcript Ai SearchAI-powered X (Twitter) search via xAI Grok Search TweetsSearch Twitter tweets Tweet RepliesList Twitter tweet replies User MediaList Twitter user media tweets User FollowersList Twitter user followers User FollowingList Twitter user following Tweet RetweetersList Twitter tweet retweeters Search UsersSearch Twitter users Profile FullX (Twitter) profile, recent posts, and computed analytics in one call.

Comparison

How does SocialCrawl compare to Official X API for X data?

Same X data, two very different paths. Auth, rate limits, schema, and cost, side by side.

Feature	SocialCrawl	Official X API
Authentication	One x-api-key header	OAuth 2.0 with developer app credentials
Setup / approval	Sign up and call immediately	Developer portal signup and paid tier selection
Rate limits	Credit-based, pay per request	Hard caps per tier; reads heavily restricted on lower tiers
Response schema	Unified JSON envelope shared across 51 platforms	X-specific payloads you map yourself
Pricing	1 credit per request (10 for video transcripts); 100 free credits	Paid tiers required for meaningful read access
Data coverage	Profiles, tweets, communities, transcripts, AI search: read-only public data	Full platform access including posting, DMs, and realtime streams
Maintenance	Schema stays stable when X changes internals	You track API version and tier policy changes

Authentication

SocialCrawl

One x-api-key header

Official X API

OAuth 2.0 with developer app credentials

Setup / approval

SocialCrawl

Official X API

Developer portal signup and paid tier selection

Rate limits

SocialCrawl

Credit-based, pay per request

Official X API

Hard caps per tier; reads heavily restricted on lower tiers

Response schema

SocialCrawl

Unified JSON envelope shared across 51 platforms

Official X API

X-specific payloads you map yourself

Pricing

SocialCrawl

1 credit per request (10 for video transcripts); 100 free credits

Official X API

Paid tiers required for meaningful read access

Data coverage

SocialCrawl

Profiles, tweets, communities, transcripts, AI search: read-only public data

Official X API

Full platform access including posting, DMs, and realtime streams

Maintenance

SocialCrawl

Schema stays stable when X changes internals

Official X API

You track API version and tier policy changes

FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

How do I scrape Twitter and X data with an API?

Send a GET request to any of the 15 SocialCrawl Twitter endpoints with an x-api-key header. No OAuth, no developer portal review, no $200/month X API tier, just a handle or URL and a key. Responses come back in a unified schema with AI-enriched fields like engagement_rate and estimated_reach.

What Twitter / X endpoints does SocialCrawl offer?

15 endpoints, including profile (user data by handle), profile/full (extended profile detail), user/tweets (recent tweets from a user), tweet (full tweet details from a URL), community (X community metadata), community/tweets (tweets inside a community), tweet/transcript (video captions for tweets containing video), and ai-search (AI-powered X search via xAI Grok).

How much does the Twitter API cost?

Profile, user tweets, tweet details, community, community tweets, and AI search each cost 1 credit on the standard tier. Tweet video transcripts cost 10 credits (premium). New accounts get 100 free credits, no credit card required, so you can pull around 100 requests before paying anything.

Do I need an X Developer account or OAuth token?

No. SocialCrawl works without an X Developer account, OAuth token, Basic/Pro API subscription, or Twitter login. Pass your SocialCrawl x-api-key plus a handle or tweet URL. Public profile and tweet data comes back in a unified schema directly.

Is scraping Twitter data legal?

SocialCrawl reads only publicly visible Twitter and X data through the same interfaces any browser uses. You are responsible for making sure your use case complies with X's terms of service and applicable data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA. SocialCrawl operates under a documented GDPR legitimate-interest framework: public, logged-out data only, no credential use, short-lived caches (2 to 30 minutes) with no persistent store, and a public opt-out channel for anyone whose public info appears in responses. Full details: socialcrawl.dev/legal/public-data-notice.

Can I get tweets from a specific X community?

Yes. Two dedicated endpoints wrap X communities: community returns the community name, description, member count, and rules from a community URL; community/tweets returns the recent tweets posted inside that community with engagement metrics and author info.

What is the best Twitter scraper API?

SocialCrawl is a strong choice for read-only Twitter data: 15 endpoints covering profiles, tweets, X communities, video transcripts, and Grok-powered AI search, all behind one x-api-key. Most calls cost 1 credit, transcripts cost 10, and new accounts get 100 free credits with no credit card or X developer tier required.

Is there a Twitter data API without the paid X tier?

Yes, SocialCrawl is a Twitter data API that reads public profiles, user tweets, tweet details, X communities, video transcripts, and Grok-powered AI search as unified JSON, with no X developer tier. The official X API is the route for posting, DMs, and realtime streams, but meaningful read access sits behind paid tiers. SocialCrawl needs only an x-api-key: most calls cost 1 credit, tweet video transcripts cost 10, and new accounts start with 100 free credits on signup.

X scraping API vs the official X API: what's the difference?

With SocialCrawl there is no app review or approval queue. Sign up and call X endpoints immediately with a single x-api-key. Responses share one unified schema with every other SocialCrawl platform, and credit-based pricing replaces per-platform quotas. Official APIs are still the right choice for posting and other write actions: SocialCrawl is read-only data.

Ask AI about SocialCrawl

Ask ChatGPT Ask Perplexity Ask Gemini Ask Claude Ask Grok

Related APIs and tools

Adjacent endpoints and free tools on SocialCrawl. The tools run without an API key.

Read the X API reference in the docs

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