NAME

Net::Twitter::Lite - A perl interface to the Twitter API

VERSION

This document describes Net::Twitter::Lite version 0.02000

SYNOPSIS

use Net::Twitter::Lite;

my $nt = Net::Twitter::Lite->new(
    username => $user,
    password => $password
);

my $result = eval { $nt->update('Hello, world!') };

eval {
    my $statuses = $nt->friends_timeline({ since_id => $high_water, count => 100 });
    for my $status ( @$statuses ) {
        print "$status->{time} <$status->{user}{screen_name}> $status->{text}\n";
    }
};
warn "$@\n" if $@;

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a perl interface to the Twitter APIs. It uses the same API definitions as Net::Twitter, but without the extra bells and whistles and without the additional dependencies. Same great taste, less filling.

This module is related to, but is not part of the Net::Twitter distribution. It's API methods and API method documentation are generated from Net::Twitter's internals. It exists for those who cannot, or prefer not to install Moose and its dependencies.

You should consider upgrading to Net::Twitter for additional functionality, finer grained control over features, full backwards compatibility with older versions of Net::Twitter, and additional error handling options.

MIGRATING FROM NET::TWITTER 2.x

If you are migrating from Net::Twitter 2.12 (or an earlier version), you may need to make some minor changes to your application code in order to user Net::Twitter::Lite successfully.

The primary difference is in error handling. Net::Twitter::Lite throws exceptions on error. It does not support the get_error, http_code, and http_message methods used in Net::Twitter 2.12 and prior versions.

Instead of

# DON'T!
my $friends = $nt->friends();
if ( $friends ) {
    # process $friends
}

wrap the API call in an eval block:

# DO!
my $friends = eval { $nt->friends() };
if ( $friends ) {
    # process $friends
}

Here's a much more complex example taken from application code using Net::Twitter 2.12:

  # DON'T!
  my $friends = $nt->friends();
  if ( $friends ) {
      # process $friends
  }
  else {
      my $error = $nt->get_error;
      if ( ref $error ) {
          if ( ref($error) eq 'HASH' && exists $error->{error} ) {
	          $error = $error->{error};
          }
          else {
	          $error = 'Unexpected error type ' . ref($error);
          }
      }
      else {
          $error = $nt->http_code() . ": " . $nt->http_message;
      }
      warn "$error\n";
  }

The Net::Twitter::Lite equivalent is:

# DO!
eval {
    my $friends = $nt->friends();
    # process $friends
};
warn "$@\n" if $@;
return;

In Net::Twitter::Lite, an error can always be treated as a string. See Net::Twitter::Lite::Error. The HTTP Status Code and HTTP Message are both available. Rather than accessing them via the Net::Twitter::Lite instance, you access them via the Net::Twitter::Lite::Error instance thrown as an error.

For example:

# DO!
eval {
   my $friends = $nt->friends();
   # process $friends
};
if ( my $error = $@ ) {
    if ( blessed $error && $error->isa("Net::Twitter::Lite::Error)
         && $error->code() == 502 ) {
        $error = "Fail Whale!";
    }
    warn "$error\n";
}

Unsupported Net::Twitter 2.12 options to `new`

Net::Twitter::Lite does not support the following Net::Twitter 2.12 options to new. It silently ignores them:

no_fallback

If Net::Twitter::Lite is unable to create an instance of the class specified in the useragent_class option to new, it dies, rather than falling back to an LWP::UserAgent object. You really don't want a failure to create the useragent_class you specified to go unnoticed.

twittervision

Net::Twitter::Lite does not support the TwitterVision API. Use Net::Twitter, instead, if you need it.

skip_arg_validation

Net::Twitter::Lite does not API parameter validation. This is a feature. If Twitter adds a new option to an API method, you can use it immediately by passing it in the HASH ref to the API call.

Net::Twitter::Lite relies on Twitter to validate its own parameters. An appropriate exception will be thrown if Twitter reports a parameter error.

die_on_validation

See "skip_arg_validation". If Twitter returns an bad parameter error, an appropriate exception will be thrown.

arrayref_on_error

This option allowed the following idiom in Net::Twitter 2.12:

# DON'T!
for my $friend ( @{ $nt->friends() } ) {
   # process $friend
}

The equivalent Net::Twitter::Lite code is:

# DO!
eval {
    for my $friend ( @{ $nt->friends() } ) {
        # process $friend
    }
};

Unsupported Net::Twitter 2.12 methods

clone: The clone method was added to Net::Twitter 2.x to allow safe error handling in an environment where concurrent requests are handled, for example, when using LWP::UserAgent::POE as the useragent_class. Since Net::Twitter::Lite throws exceptions instead of stashing them in the Net::Twitter::Lite instance, it is safe in a current request environment, obviating the need for clone.
get_error
http_code
http_message: These methods are replaced by Net::Twitter::Lite::Error. An instance of that class is thrown errors are encountered.

METHODS AND ARGUMENTS

new

This constructs a Net::Twitter::Lite object. It takes several named parameters, all of them optional:

username: This is the screen name or email used to authenticate with Twitter.
password: This is the password used to authenticate with Twitter.
clientname: The value for the X-Twitter-Client-Name HTTP header. It defaults to "Perl Net::Twitter::Lite".
clientver: The value for the X-Twitter-Client-Version HTTP header. It defaults to current version of the Net::Twitter::Lite module.
clienturl: The value for the X-Twitter-Client-URL HTTP header. It defaults to the search.cpan.org page for the Net::Twitter::Lite distribution.
useragent_class: The LWP::UserAgent compatible class used internally by Net::Twitter::Lite. It defaults to "LWP::UserAgent". For POE based applications, consider using "LWP::UserAgent::POE".
useragent_args: An HASH ref of arguments to pass to constructor of the class specified with useragent_class, above. It defaults to {} (an empty HASH ref).
useragent: The value for User-Agent HTTP header. It defaults to "Net::Twitter::Lite/0.02000 (Perl)".
source: The value used in the source parameter of API method calls. It is currently only used in the update method in the REST API. It defaults to "twitterpm". This results in the text "from Net::Twitter" rather than "from web" for status messages posted from Net::Twitter::Lite when displayed via the Twitter web interface. The value for this parameter is provided by Twitter when a Twitter application is registered. See http://apiwiki.twitter.com/FAQ#HowdoIget%E2%80%9CfromMyApp%E2%80%9DappendedtoupdatessentfrommyAPIapplication.
apiurl: The URL for the Twitter API. This defaults to "http://twitter.com".
identica: If set to 1 (or any value that evaluates to true), apiurl defaults to "http://identi.ca/api".

credentials($username, $password)

Set the credentials for Basic Authentication. This is helpful for managing multiple accounts.

API METHODS AND ARGUMENTS

Most Twitter API methods take parameters. All Net::Twitter::Lite API methods will accept a HASH ref of named parameters as specified in the Twitter API documentation. For convenience, many Net::Twitter::Lite methods accept simple positional arguments as documented, below. The positional parameter passing style is optional; you can always use the named parameters in a hash ref if you prefer.

For example, the REST API method update has one required parameter, status. You can call update with a HASH ref argument:

$nt->update({ status => 'Hello world!' });

Or, you can use the convenient form:

$nt->update('Hello world!');

The update method also has an optional parameter, in_reply_to_status_id. To use it, you must use the HASH ref form:

$nt->update({ status => 'Hello world!', in_reply_to_status_id => $reply_to });

Convenience form is provided for the required parameters of all API methods. So, these two calls are equivalent:

$nt->friendship_exists({ user_a => $fred, user_b => $barney });
$nt->friendship_exists($fred, $barney);

Many API methods have aliases. You can use the API method name, or any of its aliases, as you prefer. For example, these calls are all equivalent:

$nt->friendship_exists($fred, $barney);
$nt->relationship_exists($fred, $barney);
$nt->follows($fred, $barney);

Aliases support both the HASH ref and convenient forms:

$nt->follows({ user_a => $fred, user_b => $barney });

Methods that support the page parameter expect page numbers > 0. Twitter silently ignores invalid page values. So { page => 0 } produces the same result as { page => 1 }.

REST API Methods

Several of these methods accept a user ID as the id parameter. The user ID can be either a screen name, or the users numeric ID. To disambiguate, use the screen_name or user_id parameters, instead.

For example, These calls are equivalent:

$nt->create_friend('net_twitter'); # screen name
$nt->create_friend(1564061);       # numeric ID
$nt->create_friend({ id => 'net_twitter' });
$nt->create_friend({ screen_name => 'net_twitter' });
$nt->create_friend({ user_id     => 1564061 });

However user_id 911 and screen_name 911 are separate Twitter accounts. These calls are NOT equivalent:

$nt->create_friend(911); # interpreted as screen name
$nt->create_friend({ user_id => 911 }); # screen name: richellis

Whenever the id parameter is required and user_id and screen_name are also parameters, using any one of them satisfies the requirement.

block_exists

block_exists(id)

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name
Required: id

Returns if the authenticating user is blocking a target user. Will return the blocked user's object if a block exists, and error with HTTP 404 response code otherwise.

Returns: BasicUser

blocking

blocking(page)

Parameters: page
Required: none

Returns an array of user objects that the authenticating user is blocking.

Returns: ArrayRef[BasicUser]

blocking_ids

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns an array of numeric user ids the authenticating user is blocking.

Returns: ArrayRef[Int]

create_block

create_block(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Blocks the user specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the blocked user when successful. You can find out more about blocking in the Twitter Support Knowledge Base.

Returns: BasicUser

create_favorite

create_favorite(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Favorites the status specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the favorite status when successful.

Returns: Status

create_friend

create_friend(id)

alias: follow_new

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, follow
Required: id

Befriends the user specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the befriended user when successful. Returns a string describing the failure condition when unsuccessful.

Returns: BasicUser

create_saved_search

create_saved_search(query)

Parameters: query
Required: query

Creates a saved search for the authenticated user.

Returns: SavedSearch

destroy_block

destroy_block(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Un-blocks the user specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the un-blocked user when successful.

Returns: BasicUser

destroy_direct_message

destroy_direct_message(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Destroys the direct message specified in the required ID parameter. The authenticating user must be the recipient of the specified direct message.

Returns: DirectMessage

destroy_favorite

destroy_favorite(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Un-favorites the status specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the un-favorited status.

Returns: Status

destroy_friend

destroy_friend(id)

alias: unfollow

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name
Required: id

Discontinues friendship with the user specified in the ID parameter as the authenticating user. Returns the un-friended user when successful. Returns a string describing the failure condition when unsuccessful.

Returns: BasicUser

destroy_saved_search

destroy_saved_search(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Destroys a saved search. The search, specified by id, must be owned by the authenticating user.

Returns: SavedSearch

destroy_status

destroy_status(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Destroys the status specified by the required ID parameter. The authenticating user must be the author of the specified status.

Returns: Status

direct_messages

Parameters: since_id, max_id, count, page
Required: none

Returns a list of the 20 most recent direct messages sent to the authenticating user including detailed information about the sending and recipient users.

Returns: ArrayRef[DirectMessage]

disable_notifications

disable_notifications(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Disables notifications for updates from the specified user to the authenticating user. Returns the specified user when successful.

Returns: BasicUser

enable_notifications

enable_notifications(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Enables notifications for updates from the specified user to the authenticating user. Returns the specified user when successful.

Returns: BasicUser

end_session

Parameters: none
Required: none

Ends the session of the authenticating user, returning a null cookie. Use this method to sign users out of client-facing applications like widgets.

Returns: Error

favorites

Parameters: id, page
Required: none

Returns the 20 most recent favorite statuses for the authenticating user or user specified by the ID parameter.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

followers

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, page
Required: none

Returns the authenticating user's followers, each with current status inline. They are ordered by the order in which they joined Twitter (this is going to be changed).

Returns 100 followers per page.

Returns: ArrayRef[BasicUser]

followers_ids

followers_ids(id)

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, page
Required: id

Returns an array of numeric IDs for every user is followed by.

Returns: ArrayRef[Int]

friends

alias: following

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, page
Required: none

Returns the authenticating user's friends, each with current status inline. They are ordered by the order in which they were added as friends. It's also possible to request another user's recent friends list via the id parameter.

Returns 100 friends per page.

Returns: ArrayRef[BasicUser]

friends_ids

friends_ids(id)

alias: following_ids

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, page
Required: id

Returns an array of numeric IDs for every user the specified user is following.

Currently, Twitter returns IDs ordered from most recently followed to least recently followed. This order may change at any time.

Returns: ArrayRef[Int]

friends_timeline

alias: following_timeline

Parameters: since_id, max_id, count, page
Required: none

Returns the 20 most recent statuses posted by the authenticating user and that user's friends. This is the equivalent of /home on the Web.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

friendship_exists

friendship_exists(user_a, user_b)

alias: relationship_exists

alias: follows

Parameters: user_a, user_b
Required: user_a, user_b

Tests for the existence of friendship between two users. Will return true if user_a follows user_b, otherwise will return false.

Returns: Bool

mentions

alias: replies

Parameters: since_id, max_id, count, page
Required: none

Returns the 20 most recent mentions (statuses containing @username) for the authenticating user.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

new_direct_message

new_direct_message(user, text)

Parameters: user, text
Required: user, text

Sends a new direct message to the specified user from the authenticating user. Requires both the user and text parameters. Returns the sent message when successful.

Returns: DirectMessage

public_timeline

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns the 20 most recent statuses from non-protected users who have set a custom user icon. Does not require authentication. Note that the public timeline is cached for 60 seconds so requesting it more often than that is a waste of resources.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

rate_limit_status

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns the remaining number of API requests available to the requesting user before the API limit is reached for the current hour. Calls to rate_limit_status do not count against the rate limit. If authentication credentials are provided, the rate limit status for the authenticating user is returned. Otherwise, the rate limit status for the requester's IP address is returned.

Returns: RateLimitStatus

saved_searches

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns the authenticated user's saved search queries.

Returns: ArrayRef[SavedSearch]

sent_direct_messages

Parameters: since_id, max_id, page
Required: none

Returns a list of the 20 most recent direct messages sent by the authenticating user including detailed information about the sending and recipient users.

Returns: ArrayRef[DirectMessage]

show_saved_search

show_saved_search(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Retrieve the data for a saved search, by ID, owned by the authenticating user.

Returns: SavedSearch

show_status

show_status(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Returns a single status, specified by the id parameter. The status's author will be returned inline.

Returns: Status

show_user

show_user(id)

Parameters: id
Required: id

Returns extended information of a given user, specified by ID or screen name as per the required id parameter. This information includes design settings, so third party developers can theme their widgets according to a given user's preferences. You must be properly authenticated to request the page of a protected user.

Returns: ExtendedUser

test

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns the string "ok" status code.

Returns: Str

update

update(status)

Parameters: status, in_reply_to_status_id
Required: status

Updates the authenticating user's status. Requires the status parameter specified. A status update with text identical to the authenticating user's current status will be ignored.

Returns: Status

update_delivery_device

update_delivery_device(device)

Parameters: device
Required: device

Sets which device Twitter delivers updates to for the authenticating user. Sending none as the device parameter will disable IM or SMS updates.

Returns: BasicUser

update_profile

Parameters: name, email, url, location, description
Required: none

Sets values that users are able to set under the "Account" tab of their settings page. Only the parameters specified will be updated; to only update the "name" attribute, for example, only include that parameter in your request.

Returns: ExtendedUser

update_profile_background_image

update_profile_background_image(image)

Parameters: image
Required: image

Updates the authenticating user's profile background image. Expects raw multipart data, not a URL to an image.

Returns: ExtendedUser

update_profile_colors

Parameters: profile_background_color, profile_text_color, profile_link_color, profile_sidebar_fill_color, profile_sidebar_border_color
Required: none

Sets one or more hex values that control the color scheme of the authenticating user's profile page on twitter.com. These values are also returned in the /users/show API method.

Returns: ExtendedUser

update_profile_image

update_profile_image(image)

Parameters: image
Required: image

Updates the authenticating user's profile image. Expects raw multipart data, not a URL to an image.

Returns: ExtendedUser

user_timeline

Parameters: id, user_id, screen_name, since_id, max_id, count, page
Required: none

Returns the 20 most recent statuses posted from the authenticating user. It's also possible to request another user's timeline via the id parameter. This is the equivalent of the Web /archive page for your own user, or the profile page for a third party.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

verify_credentials

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns an HTTP 200 OK response code and a representation of the requesting user if authentication was successful; returns a 401 status code and an error message if not. Use this method to test if supplied user credentials are valid.

Returns: ExtendedUser

Search API Methods

search

search(q)

Parameters: q, callback, lang, rpp, page, since_id, geocode, show_user
Required: q

Returns tweets that match a specified query. You can use a variety of search operators in your query.

Returns: ArrayRef[Status]

trends

Parameters: none
Required: none

Returns the top ten queries that are currently trending on Twitter. The response includes the time of the request, the name of each trending topic, and the url to the Twitter Search results page for that topic.

Returns: ArrayRef[Query]

trends_current

trends_current(exclude)

Parameters: exclude
Required: none

Returns the current top ten trending topics on Twitter. The response includes the time of the request, the name of each trending topic, and query used on Twitter Search results page for that topic.

Returns: HashRef

trends_daily

Parameters: date, exclude
Required: none

Returns the top 20 trending topics for each hour in a given day.

Returns: HashRef

trends_weekly

Parameters: date, exclude
Required: none

Returns the top 30 trending topics for each day in a given week.

Returns: HashRef

ERROR HANDLING

When Net::Twitter::Lite encounters a Twitter API error or a network error, it throws a Net::Twitter::Lite::Error object. You can catch and process these exceptions by using eval blocks and testing $@:

eval {
    my $statuses = $nt->friends_timeline(); # this might die!

    for my $status ( @$statuses ) {
        #...
    }
};
if ( $@ ) {
    # friends_timeline encountered an error

    if ( blessed $@ && $@->isa('Net::Twitter::Lite::Error' ) {
        #... use the thrown error obj
        warn $@->error;
    }
    else {
        # something bad happened!
        die $@;
    }
}

Net::Twitter::Lite::Error stringifies to something reasonable, so if you don't need detailed error information, you can simply treat $@ as a string:

eval { $nt->update($status) };
if ( $@ ) {
    warn "update failed because: $@\n";
}

SUPPORT

Please report bugs to bug-net-twitter@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=Net-Twitter.

Join the Net::Twitter IRC channel at irc://irc.perl.org/net-twitter.

Follow net_twitter: http://twitter.com/net_twitter.

Track Net::Twitter::Lite development at http://github.com/semifor/net-twitter-lite.

AUTHOR

Marc Mims <marc@questright.com>

LICENSE

The Twitter API itself, and the description text used in this module is:

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

To install Net::Twitter::Lite, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm Net::Twitter::Lite

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Net::Twitter::Lite

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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NAME

VERSION

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

MIGRATING FROM NET::TWITTER 2.x

Unsupported Net::Twitter 2.12 options to new

Unsupported Net::Twitter 2.12 methods

METHODS AND ARGUMENTS

API METHODS AND ARGUMENTS

REST API Methods

Search API Methods

ERROR HANDLING

SEE ALSO

SUPPORT

AUTHOR

LICENSE

Module Install Instructions

Unsupported Net::Twitter 2.12 options to `new`