Introduction
Projects allow you to organize your work based on how you intend to use the Twitter API so you can effectively manage your access to the API and monitor your usage. Each Project can contain one or multiple Apps depending on your access level (described later on this page). You will use these Apps to generate authentication credentials such as API Keys and Secrets, user Access Tokens, and App Access Token.
While you can use these keys and tokens from any App to access the Twitter API or Twitter Ads API (you must apply for additional access to use the Ads API), you must use keys and tokens from an App associated with a Project to be able to use the Twitter API v2 endpoints.
If you have a developer account, you can view and manage your Projects on the Projects & Apps page within the developer portal. Sign up for an account if you don't have one already.
Projects and Twitter API access levels
At this time, there are three different levels of access that are applied at the Project-level:
- Essential access
- Elevated access
- Academic research access
To learn more about what each of these access levels provides, please visit the about Twitter API page.
You can only have one Project with either Essential access or Elevated access at this time. If you are approved for Academic Research access as well, you can have up to two projects: one having Essential/Elevated access and the other having Academic Research access.
We will describe a few Project-specific differences here for you:
Essential access
This access level is provided to anyone who has signed up for a developer account.
Number of Apps within that Project: 1
Tweet consumption cap: 500,000 Tweets per month
Authentication methods:
Elevated access
This access level is provided to anyone who has applied for additional access via the developer portal.
Number of Apps within that Project: 3
Tweet consumption cap: 2 million Tweets per month
Authentication methods:
Academic Research access
This access level is provided to academic researchers who meet a certain set of requirements and applied for additional access via the developer portal.
Number of Apps within that Project: 1
Tweet consumption cap: 10 million Tweets per month
Authentication methods:
If you need additional functionality or access, please join our waitlist.
Tweet caps and Projects
Tweet consumption caps apply at the Project-level, effectively limiting the volume of Tweets you can retrieve from certain Twitter API v2 endpoints within a given month.
Learn more about Tweet caps.
Configuring Projects
Creating a Project
To create a Project, click on “New Project” in your dashboard or the Projects & Apps page within the developer portal. You’ll only be able to see this option if you haven’t already created a Project. You will be prompted to create a Project name, description, and use case. You will also be asked to create a new App or connect an existing standalone App.
If you are approved for the Academic Research access, your Projects & Apps page will automatically include a project with Academic Research access, and will contain the details that you submitted with your application. To get started with Academic Research access, you will need to create or add an App to that Project.
Creating or Connecting an App for your Project
If your Project doesn’t include an App, you can add one by clicking on the Project name in the dashboard. From there, you can either create a new App or select an existing standalone App to connect to your Project. The App is where you can generate the authentication keys and tokens listed at the beginning of this guide.
Editing a Project
To edit a Project, click on the name of your Project from the dashboard or Projects & Apps page within the developer portal. From there you will see the details of your Project and can select “edit” to make changes.
Standalone Apps
Standalone Apps are Apps that exist outside of the Project structure. The authentication credentials associated with these standalone Apps can make successful requests to Twitter API's standard v1.1, premium v1.1, enterprise, or to the Twitter Ads API. Standalone Apps will fail when trying to make requests to the Twitter API v2 endpoints unless you connect them to a Project.
If you created an App before August 2020, they will be visible in the “Standalone Apps” section of the developer portal under Projects & Apps. You will be limited to ten Apps in total, including those that are connected to your Project.
If you’re part of a team account, you will see the Apps that you own under Standalone Apps. If a teammate owns an App that’s part of a Project, you will be able to see the App’s name and owner’s info, but you will not be able to change its settings, access its keys and tokens, or regenerate its keys and tokens. You should contact the App owner to make any changes to their App.