Twitter post to .md convertor

Takes a post's url as a variable and outputs that post in a .md file. The name of the file is the first 40 characters of the first sentence. Any invalid characters are replaced with a %.

I wanted a quick way to archive posts locally in a universal format.

Running the script

Prereqs:

• Python 3.x
• Selenium
• Configured WebDriver (I use firefox configs in the code)
• Setup & activate a virtual environment (Optional)
• Then install dependencies pip install -r requirements.txt

Then run py convertor.py url where url is the url of the twitter post.

Ex:

py convertor.py https://x.com/Voltorik_/status/1792255489427787859

Tools used

Leverages Selenium (web browser automation tool)

• Used to run the instance of a headless browser.
• Data extracted:
  • tweetText - The tweets text content
  • User-Name - The display name and username (@user)
  • time - The timestamp of the original post

Script execution steps

1. Starts up a new headless browser and waits until the tweetText div is loaded.
2. Extracts content as mentioned above.
3. Splits User-Name data into separate pieces.
4. Converts the time attribute into a new string format. Ex: (Sunday) May 19, 2024 - 06:06 PM
5. Assigns the file name. Spilts by ., then takes the first 40 characters of sentence. Replaces any invalid chars with %.
6. Generates a new .md file.

File output template

displayName (@username)

formattedTimeStamp

tweetContent

URL: urlOfPost

Ex:

Voltorik (@Voltorik_)
(Sunday) May 19, 2024 - 06:06 PM

I wish to live a calm, quiet life. Similar to that of a wizard in his tower.
I want to gather knowledge for the sake of it.
Because it's fun. Because if someone accidentally wanders into my tower,
I may be able to guide them in the right direction.

URL: https://x.com/Voltorik_/status/1792255489427787859