X (Twitter) Ends Free Access to API: FME Implications

X (Twitter) has shut down its free API. This change will impact FME users who utilize the Twitter API for their data integration needs, including anyone who uses the FME transformers: TwitterStatusFetcher, Tweeter, DirectTweeter, TweetSearcher or TweetStreamer.

Twitter announced it was ending free access to Twitter's API as of February 2023. While the details of the new API plan have not been fully disclosed, it has been suggested that the API could require a monthly fee of $100 or more, depending on usage. This change will result in disruptions to a number of services, including public notification services, apps, research projects, bots, and other software applications that rely on the Twitter API. If you are a Twitter user, it is important that you start preparing for this change to minimize its impact on you.  

This article was originally posted as an announcement in early 2023. Since then, there have been multiple changes with X (Twitter) that may not be accurately reflected in this article.

Technical Recommendation:

If you experience a disruption to your Twitter access in FME, we recommend the following workaround:

• Obtain a paid Twitter API account from https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api
• Make a backup copy of {FME Installed Dir}\WebServices\Twitter.xml
• Edit Twitter.xml and replace the existing <client_id> and  <client_secret>values and enter ones based on your new account. You will likely need to set up a developer portal account in order to be able to generate the client ID and secret key based on your paid Twitter access account.
• Confirm that the new client id and client secret values are visible from: FME Options > Web Connections > Manage Web Services > Twitter
• Define a new web connection using your paid Twitter access account, and then make sure all your Tweets and Twitter transformers use this new web connection.
• If you still have problems getting your Twitter workflows to work, please contact Safe Support. Note that under FME Options > Twitter, for quite some time, we have had the warning: "WARNING: This service definition is provided by Safe Software for demonstration purposes and ease of use. The consumer id and consumer secret may become deactivated at any time. For production use, we recommend users obtain their own consumer id and consumer secret from the web service provider."

We understand that this change may be unexpected and disruptive, and we are committed to helping you navigate through this transition as smoothly as possible. We are closely monitoring the situation to understand the implications of this change for our users. We will keep you updated with any developments and provide guidance on the best course of action to take. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support team .