In this section, we will cover the process of creating a Twitter developer account. It is required for fetching tweets to authorize and authenticate the application with Twitter, through which data will be fetched.
To create a Twitter developer account, perform the following steps:
- Go to www.twitter.com and log in with your Twitter username and password. If you do not have a Twitter account, sign up by entering your name, e-mail ID, and a password.
- After creating or signing in to your account, add your mobile number to your Twitter profile before you create a Twitter application. Your mobile number can be added by clicking on your profile image and selecting Settings. Then, select the Mobile option on the left-hand side and provide your mobile number. Next, click on Continue. It will then send a one-time password to validate your account, which you will receive on your provided mobile number. You will see the following page for adding your mobile number:
- Go to the Twitter application web page by entering the URL
www.dev.twitter.com/apps. Here, you will see a list of all the applications created using your Twitter login credentials. - To create a new application, click on Create New App. You will see this web page:
It will ask you to fill in the following details to create an application:
Name: You have to provide a unique name for your Twitter application. The name has to be unique or else you will get an error that this particular name has already been taken.
Description: You have to provide a description of your Twitter application. This provides brief information about your Twitter application. It has to be a minimum of 10 characters.
Website: You have to provide a website that will act as the home page for your Twitter application. However, we are using it for personal use—for fetching tweets. So, provide any website address or put a placeholder. The website has to be specified with http or https followed by the domain name, for example, http://www.twitter.com.
Callback URL: This is used when you are allowing the user to sign in to your application to authenticate themselves. This URL is where they will be returned after they've offered consent to Twitter to use your application. It is optional.
After filling in the preceding details, read the Developer Agreement and tick the Yes, I agree checkbox. Click on the Create your Twitter application button to create your app.
After successful creation of your application, Consumer Key and Consumer Secret Key will be generated automatically.
- Now you have to create the access token. It will allow your Twitter application to read data from Twitter, including tweets and information about them. Go to the Keys and Access Tokens tab, scroll down the web page, and click on the Create my access token button. Then, mention the access type for this Twitter application.
It will automatically create your Access Token and Access Token Secret Key. Refresh the page if you do not see the newly created access tokens.
- Now, click on the Keys and Access Tokens tab to view your Consumer Key (API Key), Consumer Secret (API Secret), Access Token, and Access Token Secret values, which will look like this:
