How to Manually Configure Twitter Cookies in Agent Reach: Supported Formats and Step-by-Step Guide

To configure Twitter cookies in Agent Reach, export your auth_token and ct0 cookies from the browser, then run agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "auth_token=xxx; ct0=yyy" — the tool accepts both semicolon-separated header strings and space-separated token pairs.

Manually configuring Twitter cookies is essential when using Agent Reach to interact with X (formerly Twitter) through its upstream twitter-cli integration. This guide covers the exact cookie formats accepted by Agent Reach, the complete configuration workflow, and the underlying source code implementation in the Panniantong/Agent-Reach repository.

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Required Twitter Cookies for Authentication

Agent Reach relies on two browser session cookies to authenticate with Twitter:

Cookie	Purpose
auth_token	Primary authentication token for the Twitter session
ct0	CSRF token required for API requests

These cookies are extracted and stored as twitter_auth_token and twitter_ct0 in Agent Reach's local configuration, as defined in agent_reach/config.py at lines 107–108.

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Exporting Cookies from Your Browser

The recommended method uses the Cookie-Editor extension available for Chrome and Edge.

1. Install Cookie-Editor from the Chrome Web Store or Edge Add-ons store.

2. Navigate to https://x.com (or https://twitter.com) and log into your account.

3. Click the Cookie-Editor extension icon, then select Export → Header String.

4. Copy the resulting string — it will resemble:

auth_token=xxxxxxxxxxxx; ct0=yyyyyyyyyyyy; other_cookie=zzz…

Detailed visual instructions are documented in docs/cookie-export.md at lines 21–27.

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Configuring Cookies in Agent Reach

Basic Configuration Command

Pass the exported cookie string directly to the configure command:

agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "auth_token=ABC123; ct0=DEF456; guest_id=v1%3A1690000000"

The parser in agent_reach/cli.py (_parse_twitter_cookie_input at lines 1248–1365) extracts only the auth_token and ct0 values, ignoring extraneous cookies.

Verifying the Configuration

Check that both values were stored correctly:

agent-reach doctor | grep -E "twitter_auth_token|twitter_ct0"

Note: The doctor command verifies the configuration keys exist but does not execute an actual twitter status call to test live connectivity.

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Accepted Cookie Input Formats

The _parse_twitter_cookie_input function in agent_reach/cli.py accepts two representations:

Format	Example	Parser Behavior
Semicolon-separated header string	auth_token=xxx; ct0=yyy; …	Extracts auth_token= and ct0= key-value pairs anywhere in the string
Space-separated tokens	xxx yyy	Treats first token as auth_token, second as ct0

Both formats ignore additional data — extra cookies in a header string or additional tokens in space-separated input are discarded.

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Running Twitter Commands

Using Agent Reach's Wrapper (Recommended)

When you run Twitter commands through Agent Reach, environment variables are automatically injected:

agent-reach run twitter search "agent reach" -n 3

The channel implementation in agent_reach/channels/twitter.py (lines 23–31) reads the stored configuration and sets TWITTER_AUTH_TOKEN and TWITTER_CT0 for the subprocess.

Using twitter-cli Directly

For direct twitter invocations, export the variables manually:

TWITTER_AUTH_TOKEN=ABC123 TWITTER_CT0=DEF456 twitter search "open-source AI" -n 5

Legacy Environment Sync

Add --sync-legacy-twitter during configuration to additionally write the cookies to the legacy twitter-cli environment:

agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "$COOKIE_STRING" --sync-legacy-twitter

This enables plain twitter … calls without manual environment variable management.

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Complete Configuration Example

# 1. Export cookies with Cookie-Editor and copy the header string

COOKIE_STRING="auth_token=ABC123; ct0=DEF456; guest_id=v1%3A1690000000"

# 2. Store in Agent Reach configuration

agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "$COOKIE_STRING"

# 3. Verify configuration

agent-reach doctor | grep -E "twitter_auth_token|twitter_ct0"

# 4. Execute Twitter search through Agent Reach

agent-reach run twitter search "agent reach" -n 3

# 5. Or call twitter-cli directly with manual exports

TWITTER_AUTH_TOKEN=ABC123 TWITTER_CT0=DEF456 twitter search "agent reach" -n 3

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Key Source Files

File	Lines	Purpose
agent_reach/cli.py	1248–1365	Cookie parsing logic (_parse_twitter_cookie_input)
agent_reach/config.py	107–108	Configuration key definitions (twitter_auth_token, twitter_ct0)
agent_reach/channels/twitter.py	23–31	Environment variable injection for Twitter subprocesses
docs/install.md	149–157	User-facing configure twitter-cookies documentation
docs/cookie-export.md	21–27	Cookie-Editor export instructions

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Summary

• Two cookies required: auth_token and ct0 exported from an active X/Twitter browser session.
• Two input formats accepted: semicolon-separated header strings or space-separated token pairs.
• Configure with: agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "auth_token=xxx; ct0=yyy".
• Verify with: agent-reach doctor to confirm keys are stored.
• Execute via: agent-reach run twitter … for automatic environment setup, or manual TWITTER_AUTH_TOKEN=xxx TWITTER_CT0=yyy twitter … for direct CLI usage.
• Implementation: Parsing logic resides in agent_reach/cli.py with configuration management in agent_reach/config.py.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if my cookie string contains extra cookies?

Agent Reach's parser ignores any additional cookies. Only auth_token and ct0 values are extracted and stored; all other key-value pairs in a header string are discarded without error.

Can I configure Twitter cookies without the Cookie-Editor extension?

Yes. Any method that obtains the raw auth_token and ct0 values works. You can manually construct a space-separated string ("token_value ct0_value") or semicolon-separated format — both are accepted by the parser in agent_reach/cli.py.

Why does agent-reach doctor not test actual Twitter connectivity?

The doctor command only validates that configuration keys exist in the local config file. It does not invoke twitter status or make live API calls to avoid rate limiting and unnecessary authentication attempts during routine diagnostics.

How do I update cookies after they expire?

Re-export fresh cookies from your browser and rerun agent-reach configure twitter-cookies "new_auth_token=xxx; new_ct0=yyy". The configuration command overwrites existing values, so no manual deletion is required.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}