How to Connect Your X (Twitter) Account to BuiltPublic

Why You Need API Credentials

BuiltPublic publishes posts on X (formerly Twitter) on your behalf. To do this securely, it uses the official X API — which means you need to create your own developer credentials and connect them. This guide walks you through every step, from creating a developer account to posting your first automated update.

Before you start: X requires a paid API plan to post tweets. The Basic plan ($100 / month) or the Pay Per Use plan (~$0.01 per tweet) both work. The free tier only supports read operations and will return an error when BuiltPublic tries to publish.

Step 1 — Create a Twitter Developer Account

If you don't already have a developer account, start here:

• Go to developer.twitter.com and click Sign in with your X account.
• Accept the developer agreement and fill in the required use-case description. Write something like: "I want to automate posting development updates from my GitHub projects."
• Submit your application. Approval is usually instant for most accounts.

Step 2 — Create a Project and App

Once inside the Developer Portal:

• Click + Add Project in the left sidebar and give it a name (e.g., BuiltPublic).
• Choose Production as the environment.
• Inside the project, click + Add App. Name the app anything you like (e.g., BP App).

You will now be inside your app's settings panel.

Step 3 — Set App Permissions to Read and Write

This is the most commonly missed step. By default, new apps only have Read permission. BuiltPublic needs Read and Write to publish posts.

• In your app panel, go to the Settings tab.
• Scroll to User authentication settings and click Set up.
• Under App permissions, select Read and Write.
• For Type of App, choose Web App, Automated App or Bot.
• Fill in the Callback URI and Website URL fields (you can use your own website URL — BuiltPublic uses OAuth 1.0a tokens, so the callback URI is not strictly used).
• Click Save.

Important: If you change permissions after generating tokens, you must regenerate your Access Token and Secret for the change to take effect.

Step 4 — Generate Your API Keys and Access Tokens

You need four values to connect X to BuiltPublic:

• API Key (also called Consumer Key)
• API Secret (also called Consumer Secret)
• Access Token
• Access Token Secret

To get them:

• In your app panel, go to the Keys and Tokens tab.
• Under Consumer Keys, click Regenerate (or Generate if this is the first time). Copy your API Key and API Key Secret and store them somewhere safe — they are shown only once.
• Under Authentication Tokens, click Generate next to Access Token and Secret. Make sure the token shows Access Token (Read and Write) — if it says Read only, go back to Step 3 and save your permissions first.
• Copy your Access Token and Access Token Secret.

Step 5 — Upgrade to a Paid API Plan

X's Free plan does not allow posting tweets via the API. You must upgrade to at least the Basic plan or the Pay Per Use option.

• Go to developer.twitter.com/en/portal/products.
• Choose Pay Per Use if you post infrequently (you pay ~$0.01 per tweet, with no monthly fee). Choose Basic ($100 / month) for up to 100 tweets per month included.
• Complete the billing setup. Your existing app and credentials remain valid after the upgrade — no need to regenerate them.

Step 6 — Channels and posts in BuiltPublic

The dashboard no longer includes a page to store X API keys. Keep your developer tokens secure on your side; use BuiltPublic to draft, schedule, and track posts per project.

• Open Dashboard, choose a project, then go to Channels to add or edit X/LinkedIn channels.
• From the project, open a generated post to edit copy, adjust the schedule (UTC), or mark it published when you have posted manually.

Step 7 — If you integrate the X API yourself

The four tokens from this guide are still what you need for any custom or future automation that calls the X API outside of BuiltPublic's dashboard.

Troubleshooting Common Errors

“The Free API tier no longer supports posting tweets” (503 error)

Your app is still on the Free plan. Go back to Step 5 and upgrade your X API plan.

“Invalid or expired credentials” (401 error)

One or more of the four tokens is incorrect or has been revoked. Regenerate your Access Token and Secret in the Developer Portal (Keys and Tokens tab) and update wherever your app stores them.

“Your app does not have write permission” (403 error)

Your Access Token was generated before you set Read and Write permissions. Go to Step 3, re-save your permissions, then regenerate your Access Token and Secret in Step 4.

“Duplicate tweet” (400 error)

X rejects posts that are identical to a recent tweet. BuiltPublic uses AI to generate unique content from each commit, but if you manually post the same text twice this error can appear. Simply edit the post text before publishing again.

You're All Set

With your X app configured, you can use those tokens in your own tooling if needed, and use BuiltPublic to turn commits into post drafts you edit, schedule, and publish on your own terms from the dashboard.

Have questions or run into an issue not covered here? Reach out to us and we'll help you get set up.