Likes lookup: Standard v1.1 compared to Twitter API v2

Likes lookup: Standard v1.1 compared to Twitter API v2

If you have been working with the standard v1.1 GET favorites/list endpoint, the goal of this guide is to help you understand the similarities and differences between the standard v1.1 and Twitter API v2 Likes lookup endpoints.

With v2, we’ve also introduced a new liked users endpoint which allows you to get information about a Tweet’s liking users.

  • Similarities
    • Authentiation
    • Rate limits
  • Differences
    • Endpoint URLs
    • Request limitations
    • App and Project requirements
    • Response data format
    • Request parameters

 

Similarities

Authentication

Both the standard v1.1 and Twitter API v2 Likes lookup endpoints use OAuth 1.0a User Context or OAuth 2.0 Bearer Token. Therefore, if you were previously using the GET favorites/list endpoints standard v1.1 endpoints, you can continue using the same authentication method if you migrate to the Twitter API v2 version if you wish. 

Depending on your authentication library/package of choice, Bearer Token authentication is probably the easiest way to get started and can be set with a simple request header. To learn how to generate a Bearer Token, see this OAuth 2.0 Bearer Token guide
 

Rate limits

The standard v1.1 GET favorites/list endpoint has a 75 requests per 15 minutes per user rate limit. The corresponding liked Tweets endpoint in v2 also has this same rate limit. However, this v2 endpoint also has an additional rate limit of 75 requests per 15 minutes per App.

 

Differences

Endpoint URLs

  • Standard v1.1 endpoints:
    • GET https://api.twitter.com/1.1/favorites/list.json
      (list of Tweets which are by the specified user)
    • There is no v1.1 equivalent to the v2 liking users endpoint
  • Twitter API v2 endpoint:
    • GET https://api.twitter.com/2/users/:id/liked_tweets
      (list of Tweets which are liked by the specified user ID)
    • GET https://api.twitter.com/2/tweets/:id/liking_users
      (list of users who liked the specified Tweet ID)

 

Request limitations

The v2 liked Tweets endpoint allows you to request 5 to 100 Tweets per request, but you can request all likes of a Tweet using pagination tokens. The v1.1 GET favorites/list endpoint also allows you to pull all likes of Tweets, but you can pull from 20 to 200 Tweets per request.

 

App and Project requirements

The Twitter API v2 endpoints require that you use credentials from a developer App that is associated with a Project when authenticating your requests. All Twitter API v1.1 endpoints can use credentials from standalone Apps or Apps associated with a project.

Response data format

One of the biggest differences between standard v1.1 and Twitter API v2 endpoint versions is how you select which fields return in your payload.

For the standard endpoints, you receive many of the response fields by default, and then have the option to use parameters to identify which fields or sets of fields should return in the payload.

The Twitter API v2 version only delivers the Tweet id and text fields by default. To request any additional fields or objects, you wil need to use the fields and expansions parameters. Any Tweet fields that you request from these endpoints will return in the primary Tweet object. Any expanded user, media, poll, or place objects and fields will return in an includes object within your response. You can then match any expanded objects back to the Tweet object by matching the IDs located in both the Tweet and the expanded object. 

We encourage you to read more about these new parameters in their respective guides, or by reading our guide on how to use fields and expansions

We have also put together a data format migration guide which can help you map standard v1.1 fields to the newer v2 fields. This guide will also provide you the specific expansion and field parameter that you will need to pass with your v2 request to return specific fields. 
 

In addition to the changes in how you request certain fields, Twitter API v2 is also introducing new JSON designs for the objects returned by the APIs, including Tweet and user objects.

  • At the JSON root level, the standard endpoints return Tweet objects in a statuses array, while Twitter API v2 returns a data array. 
  • Instead of referring to Retweeted and Quoted "statuses", Twitter API v2 JSON refers to Retweeted and Quoted Tweets. Many legacy and deprecated fields, such as contributors and user.translator_type are being removed. 
  • Instead of using both favorites (in Tweet object) and favourites (in user object), Twitter API v2 uses the term like
  • Twitter is adopting the convention that JSON values with no value (for example, null) are not written to the payload. Tweet and user attributes are only included if they have a non-null values. 
     

We also introduced a new set of fields to the Tweet object including the following:

  • conversation_id field
  • Two new annotations fields, including context and entities
  • Several new metrics fields 
  • A new reply_setting field, which shows you who can reply to a given Tweet

 

Request parameters

The following standard v1.1 request parameters accepted two request query parameters (user_id or screen_name). The Twitter API v2 only accepts the numerical user ID, and it must be passed as part of the endpoint path.