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Overview

The retweet and unretweet commands allow you to share tweets with your followers or undo previous retweets.

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Retweet

twitter retweet <tweet_id>
Share a tweet to your followers. The retweeted post will appear on your profile and in your followers’ timelines.

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Unretweet

twitter unretweet <tweet_id>
Remove a retweet. This undoes a previous retweet action.

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Examples

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Retweet a Post

twitter retweet 1234567890123456789
Output: 
🔄 Retweeting 1234567890123456789...
✅ Done.

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Unretweet a Post

twitter unretweet 1234567890123456789
Output: 
🔄 Undoing retweet 1234567890123456789...
✅ Done.

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Retweet from Feed

You can combine commands to retweet from your feed: 
# First, find interesting tweets
twitter feed -n 20

# Then retweet by ID
twitter retweet 1234567890123456789

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Command Reference

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Retweet

Arguments:
  • tweet_id (required): The numeric tweet ID to retweet
Syntax: 
twitter retweet <tweet_id>

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Unretweet

Arguments:
  • tweet_id (required): The numeric tweet ID to unretweet (the original tweet ID, not your retweet ID)
Syntax: 
twitter unretweet <tweet_id>
When unretweeting, use the original tweet ID, not the ID of your retweet. The API will automatically find and remove your retweet of that original tweet.

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Finding Tweet IDs

You can find tweet IDs from:
  1. Tweet URLs: Extract from https://x.com/user/status/[ID]
  2. CLI commands: Use twitter feed, twitter search, or twitter user-posts
  3. Tweet detail: Use twitter tweet <url> for detailed information

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Rate Limits and Anti-Detection

Retweet Limits: Twitter enforces strict limits on retweet operations:
  • Standard limit: ~100-200 retweets per day
  • Short-term burst limit: ~10-20 retweets per 15 minutes
  • Exceeding these limits triggers temporary blocks (15+ minutes)
Anti-Detection Features:
  • Random delays (1.5-4 seconds) after each operation
  • Chrome TLS fingerprint impersonation
  • Dynamic transaction IDs for authenticity
  • Automatic exponential backoff on rate limits
Safe limits:
  • Maximum: 15 retweets per 15-minute window
  • Recommended: 8-10 retweets per 15 minutes
  • Daily maximum: Keep under 150 retweets
If rate limited:
  • Wait at least 15-20 minutes before retrying
  • The CLI will automatically retry with exponential backoff
  • Error code 348 indicates retweet rate limit

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Error Handling

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Common Errors

Already retweeted: 
❌ Twitter API: You have already retweeted this tweet (code 327)
Haven’t retweeted: 
❌ Twitter API: You have not retweeted this tweet
Rate limited: 
❌ Rate limited: Retweet limit exceeded (try again later, recommended wait: 15+ minutes)
Tweet not found: 
❌ Twitter API error 404: Tweet not found
Protected tweet: 
❌ Twitter API: You cannot retweet this protected tweet
Error codes 348 and 349 specifically indicate write operation rate limits. The CLI automatically handles these with user-friendly messages and retry logic.

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Retweet vs Quote Tweet

The retweet command creates a standard retweet (boost). To add your own commentary, use the post command with a quote:
twitter post "Great insight! https://x.com/user/status/1234567890123456789"
Quote tweets are not currently automated via a dedicated command.

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Best Practices

Avoid Automation Patterns:
  • Don’t retweet in rapid succession
  • Vary your activity (mix likes, retweets, and original posts)
  • Maintain human-like timing
  • Twitter actively monitors for bot behavior
Recommended workflow:
  1. Browse your feed naturally: twitter feed
  2. Wait a few seconds/minutes between actions
  3. Mix retweets with other interactions
  4. Don’t retweet everything from a single user in quick succession

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