Support > X API > Developer account

Developer account support

A developer account is used for managing your X API access. Here we answer frequently asked questions on developer account management, access levels and functionality.

 
 

Frequently asked questions about developer accounts and access

How do I sign up for a developer account?

To sign up for a developer account:

  1. Log-in to X and verify your email address. (Note that the email and phone number verification from your X account may be needed to apply for a developer account, review on the X help center: email address confirmation.)
  2. Click sign up at developer.x.com to enter your developer account name, location and use case details
  3. Review and accept the developer agreement and submit
  4. Check your email to verify your developer account. Look for an email from developer-accounts@x.com that has the subject line: "Verify your X Developer Account" Note: the developer-accounts@x.com email is not available for inbound requests.
  5. You should now have access to the Developer Portal to create a new App and Project with Free, Basic, or Pro. 
  6. If you apply for Enterprise access, please continue to check your verified email for information about your application.

To check if you have a developer account go to the developer portal dashboard to review your account status and setup. 

What is the developer portal and how can I access it?

The developer portal is a self-serve user interface within developer.x.com where developers can manage their API access through Projects, and Apps. The developer portal is visible when a user is logged in (with X) and has an approved developer account on developer.x.com.  You can access the developer portal by clicking the "Developer Portal" link in the top right-hand corner of developer.x.com.

Can I resend the email verification?

Yes, you can request a new email verification here: https://developer.x.com/en/portal/petition/verification but please note this is limited to be re sent only every 15 min. First check your email to verify your developer account. This email has the subject line: "Verify your X Developer Account"

Why can't I log in to my developer account?

The login for your developer account is your X log in.  If you are using sign in with Google or Apple, you will likely need to set up your contact email and phone number for additional verification before moving forward with a developer account. See Help with logging in.

For more troubleshooting, review the following steps:

  1. Ensure your X account is in good standing. Resolve any suspensions or policy related issues before applying for a developer account. See help.x.com and specifically the X API policy help form for any previous App related issues. 
  2. Make sure that you have your email address and phone number set up on your X account.
  3. Check if you have old, obsolete Apps that can be deleted. You can still review your current Apps without a developer account here: https://developer.x.com/en/apps 
  4. Ensure any previously created Developer Apps are in good standing. Note that Apps that have not been used in a long time may be suspended due to inactivity, review our announcement on inactive Apps for more information.

What contact email is X using to send communications about my developer account?

Check your current email address in your X account settings. The email address associated with your X account and that you verify to submit your application is the email that will be used for communications about the application status.  At this time, the email for application-related correspondence cannot be changed after the application is submitted.

How long will it take to get a developer account?

Immediately after you sign up for a developer account, you will be able to create a X App and Project with X API v2 access.  You will have the Free tier and will be able to make requests immediately.

What are the different access levels to the X API v2?

All X API access requires a developers account, which can be created quickly by signing up.  Free access will be available immediately, and Basic and Pro access can be purchased. For Enterprise, please fill in the interest form here.

  • Free: Free, instant access to the X API. Includes 1,500 Posts/month and a single App environment. 1 App, 1 Project.
  • Basic: $100 per month access up to 50K Posts/month, and 2 App environments.
  • Pro: $5K per month access up to 1M Posts/month and 3 app IDs
  • Enterprise: Starting at $42K per month. Includes 50+ million Posts per month, 3+ apps. Requires an approved developer account application.
     

Can I use the v1.1 version of the X API with Free, Basic, or Pro tiers?

  • Free:  Only has access to v1.1 Media Upload and Login with X 
  • Basic:  Only has access to v1.1 Media Upload and Login with X 
  • Pro:  Only has access to v1.1 Media Upload, Rate Limit, Help, and Login with X 
  • Enterprise:  Has access to all available v1.1 endpoints 

How will I know if I have been approved?

Go to developer.x.com and click "Developer Portal" for the current status of your application.

I think my application was closed before I responded to a request for more information. What can I do?

Developers can reopen a pending access application review by responding to the last email sent to your email address about your application and provide the details requested to continue the application process. Note: the developer-accounts@x.com email is not available for inbound requests. Access requests rejected for compliance reasons cannot be reopened.

Is it possible to have multiple developer accounts?

At this time, a single X user can have a single developer account or can be a member of an team account. Users that already have a developer account cannot sign up  for another, nor can they be added to other developer accounts as team members.

How can I apply for the X API tiers?

You can subscribe to Free, Basic, Pro, or Enterprise via our website

How can I apply for Enterprise access?

Apply for Enterprise access.

How can I get help with a pending developer account application?

Review your email for communication from developer-accounts@x.com for any requests for information for your specific account. If you are unable to debug, please contact developer account support.

Can I delete my developer account?

It's not possible to delete your developer account at this time. 

What is the difference between an individual and a team account?

Currently, the functionality multiple developers to access the same Project settings and Post cap as a 'team' is the only difference between an individual and team developer account.

How many developers can I have on my team account?

There currently isn't a limit on the number of developers on your team. To review team members, roles, and added dates, see the "team" page.

Why can't I see the "team" option on my account drop-down?

This means that you applied as an individual account, as opposed to a team account. 

Can I change my individual/personal account to a team/organization account?

Changing an individual setup to a team setup is not possible today. If this is an important feature, please upvote or add it to our product feedback forum.

Can a developer be on two different developer accounts?

This is not possible at this time. If you do need multiple accounts, please request or vote for this on our feedback forum.

Why can't I leave the team account?

If you have a developer role, you can leave the team at any time. If you have an admin role and are the only one on the team, you must first promote another member to this role before leaving.

Why can't I add a specific team member to my account?

When building out your developer/admin team, there are some things to consider:

Team members can only be added to an team account if:

  • The invitee does not have access to your team account.
  • The invitee is not a member of any other team account.
  • The invitee is not suspended, muted, or blocked by the account admin.
  • The invitee has not applied or been approved for their own team account.
  • The invitee was invited to join the team account, but then the invite was revoked, the invitee cannot be re-invited for 24 hours.
  • In the situation where the invitee does not have a verified email address with X, a unique invitation link will be generated for admins to send to them directly.

If your team member never received an email, please ask them to double-check to see if they have an email address associated with their X account, located in X settings. We hope to expand the functionality of generating a unique invite link to pass to all members under the “Pending” tab if the member cannot find the email.

I’m a Verizon customer and I can’t log in to my account

If you’re a new or existing Verizon customer, you may not be able to log in to your account because you’re not receiving a login verification PIN via text message. Try logging out of your X account and logging back in. You should then receive a verification PIN via SMS. If this doesn't resolve your issue, send a text message from your device with the message content, GO, to the X shortcode 40404. This will opt you in to receive SMS from X, which is consistent with your notification settings. More details can be found on this help page.

 

Frequently asked questions about X Apps and Projects

Why is my "Create an App" button grayed out on https://developer.x.com/en/apps?

If you had worked with the X API prior to 2018, you may review your older apps on https://developer.x.com/en/apps. If you plan to create a new App for new credentials, you must have an approved developer account. the "Create an App" button will be grayed out and you will see a warning screen that states: 

Please apply for a X developer account

You may continue managing your existing Apps but if you would like to create new Apps, use X premium APIs or X API v2, please apply for a developer account.

As a developer platform, our first responsibility is to our users: to provide a place that supports the health of conversation on X. To continue to prevent misuse of our platform, we have introduced a few new requirements for developers.

What's the difference between standalone Apps and Projects?

Projects allow you to organize your work based on how you intend to use the X API v2, so you can effectively manage your access, and monitor your usage. Each Project contains at least one App. Projects have specified access tiers such as Basic and Pro tiers.  Projects with Pro access can have up to three connected Apps.  An App must be connected to a Project in order to use X API v2.

Standalone Apps are Apps that exist outside of the Project structure. These Apps can connect to v1.1, Labs, or Premium endpoints but can’t connect to v2 endpoints without being connected to a Project.

What is the relationship between my developer account, Projects and Apps?

Your developer account allows you to set up and manage you own Projects and Apps.  Projects create the permissions for allowing Apps to connect to X API v2 endpoints.  Only Apps within Projects can access X API v2.  Projects each have a X volume consumption limit for any connected Apps within the Project on a monthly basis.  We have a documentation section specifically for Projects, X Apps and the dashboard.

What exactly is a Project? 

A Project allows you to organize your work (based on use case) with the X Developer Platform’s APIs, and are required when making requests to the X API v2 endpoints. You are also limited to being able to retrieve a certain number of Posts per month from specific endpoints at the Project-level.

Can anyone else see my Project name or information other than me?

Your Project name and description will only be visible to you or your team if you have a team account. It is important to note that if you implement third-party authentication (sometimes referenced as “sign in with X”), your App’s description will be displayed publicly. You should review and update your App and Project description before implementing a sign in with X authentication flow. Review our documentation on 'sign in with X' to learn more.

How many Projects can I have? 

This depends on what access levels you currently have access to.

You are allowed one Project with either Free, Basic, or Pro tiers. This means that -- if you have Free access and subscribe to the Pro tier, your Project will automatically upgrade to having Pro. 

Can I have more than one App connected to a Project?

This depends on the access levels that you have access to. 

  • Free access can only have one App per Project.
  • Basic access can have up to two Apps per Project.
  • Pro access can have up to 3 Apps per Project.
  • Enterprise access can have 3+ Apps per Project.

Can I add existing Apps to a Project?

Yes, you can add an existing App (also known as standalone Apps) to your Project. When setting up your Project, you should see an option to add a standalone App to that Project. 

Is there a way to check my progress towards the monthly Project Post cap?

There is a Project-level Post cap limiting the number of Posts you can retrieve from several X API v2 endpoints. This is set based on the access tier (Basic, Pro, etc)

You can check your progress towards the monthly cap from the Project section on the developer portal dashboard

What are the X caps per access level? Is there a way to get more?

Projects with the Free tier will have a monthly Post cap of 1,500 Posts.  Projects with the Basic tier will have a monthly Post cap of 50,000 Posts. Projects with the Pro tier will have a monthly Post cap of 1,000,000 Posts. The existing Post caps are hard limits. To get more you would have to subscribe to the next tier up. 

Why can't I edit a Project?

If your developer account was set up as a team account, you will not be able to edit a Project unless you are an administrator of the account. 

Why can I see an App in a Project, but none of its details? 

If you are on a team, you may view the details of, edit, or manage keys for someone else's App in a team account's Project due to privacy reasons. In this case, you will only be able to see the App name and owner’s name so that you can contact them.

Where are my keys and tokens? 

You can access your keys and tokens inside of the Projects & Apps section of the developer portal, by clicking on an App. It is important to note that we recently stopped showing your keys and tokens in your X developer App dashboard other than when you first generate or regenerate your credentials. You will need to store your keys and tokens securely. If you lost your keys and/or tokens, or believe that they have been compromised, you should regenerate your keys and tokens via the App dashboard. Note that regenerating your keys and tokens will invalidate any previous keys and tokens and you may need to rewrite and/or redeploy existing code.

Why are my App permissions set to Read-only?

The default permission settings for OAuth1.0 for a new App will be set to Read-only. Your App settings can be updated on the specific App settings from the projects and Apps page in the developer portal. Look for the gear icon to drill down into the specific App settings. You will need to Edit "User authentication settings" in order to use Read & Write or Read, Write & Direct messages permissions. The Keys & Tokens screen will allow you to regenerate your credentials for the new permission setting if you have updated your permissions on the App level. Review our documentation on App permissions.

Note that there are multiple types of Authentication with X API, as listed in our documentation.

  • OAuth1.0a (user context, used with v1.1 and v2)
  • OAuth2.0 (Bearer token, app only, used with v1.1 and v2)
  • OAuth2.0 (Authorization code flow with PKCE, used with v2 only)

How do I regenerate my credentials?

It is possible to regenerate keys and tokens (also known as credentials) from within the developer portal. Credentials should be regenerated if App permissions change so that the credentials are updated for the new permissions setting. For example, if an App permission is changed from "Read-only" to "Read & Write", you will need to re-authenticate your App users. App owner user context Access Token & Secret can be regenerated from the developer portal. There is no way to look up currently active credentials in the developer portal, they must be regenerated.

To regenerate keys and tokens:

  1. Go to the developer portal
  2. Click on Projects & Apps on the left navigation
  3. Find the App name desired and click on it to show the Settings page for the App
  4. Switch from the "Settings" tab to the "Keys and tokens" tab
  5. Find the specific authentication needed and click Regenerate to create refreshed credentials
  6. Save these credentials securely
  7. The keys and tokens will now reflect the latest generated date, and permissions at the time of generation

I have a X App that is owned by handle A, but I want to make a request on behalf of handle B. How do I do that?

It is true that you can generate an access token and secret within your X App to be used by the owning user. You do not, however, need to have a developer account nor a X App for you to generate an access token for them. Even if the user does have a developer account and X Apps, you would not be able to use any of the access tokens that they generate from their X Apps, because those tokens are meant to be used with their respective X Apps.

To make a request on behalf of another user, you need to generate a new set of user access tokens that are specifically meant to be used by your X App. To generate these access tokens, you must use the 3-legged OAuth flow and have the user authenticate or authorize your X App. The third step in the 3-legged OAuth flow provides you a set of access tokens that you can use along with your consumer key and secret to make a request on behalf of that user with your X App.

You should be able to do all of your development for a single organization with one developer account. If you have a single organization with multiple use cases, please create and use different X Apps for those different use cases.

Why aren’t my Apps showing up in the developer portal?

Your X Apps may have been provisioned through an account other than the one you’re logged in to or set up through automated means. Please submit a platform support request for further assistance.

I've been working with the X API for a very long time, do I need to sign up for a developer account?

All developers will need to have a developer account to be able to utilize the benefits of X API v2, create new Apps and Projects. To do this, you must first sign up for a developer account.If you have existing Apps, you will be able to view and edit them if you are logged into your X account on developer.x.com.

I have a use case that requires more than 10 Apps. Why am I limited and how do I apply for an elevation?

We have limited accounts to a maximum of 10 Apps as an important step to combat spam and multi-key abuse. We recognize, however, that there are legitimate reasons for developers to have more than 10 Apps linked to their accounts. We suggest that you review our policy guidance on multiple Apps for the same use case to familiarize yourself with the types of App creation that are not policy-compliant. If, after reading this guide, you believe you may qualify for additional Apps beyond the 10 limit (or your current number of Apps, if it’s greater than 10) please complete the following steps:

  1. If you haven’t already submitted a developer account application, please submit one. Please be as specific and detailed as possible to avoid additional requests for information and ensure a smooth review. You will also need to confirm your email address at the end of the application flow. Please make sure to pay attention to your email in case we need to clarify your use case. 

  2. While we review your developer account application, make sure we know the purpose of each of your individual Apps. Using developer.x.com, you can add a description of your App's use case(s) where it says “Tell us how this App will be used”.

  3. Once you receive notice that your developer account is approved, you should submit an elevation request for each App that needs Enteprise App access: 

  • Go to our API Policy Support Form

  • Open a case under the “I have an API policy question not covered by these points” category. (Be sure that you’re signed in from the @handle tied to the developer account that is requesting additional Apps.)

  • In the “Details” section of the form please provide the total number of Apps that you require, along with the specific use case for each App. We will not approve Apps that do not include a use case.

  • Submit the case, and complete instructions in follow up emails as requested.

 

Get support

The X community forum is available for you to ask technical questions about the X developer platform. This is a discussions forum where you will find questions by other developers and technical information on a variety of topics related to using the X API.

We encourage you to join the conversation by responding to questions and engaging in conversations on our forum. X employees are also there to moderate.

Before you post a question

When you post a question, make sure to include the following information

  • A description of the problem
  • The API call being made (include headers, if possible)
  • The X response returned (include any error messages)
  • What you expected to receive instead
  • List of steps taken to troubleshoot the issue
  • List of steps required to reproduce the issue
  • If relevant, the time frame during which an issue occurred 
  • If relevant, the App ID, Post ID, etc.
  • Any relevant code sample or screenshots

Please only include one topic/question per post. 

For feature requests or missing functionality, please use our feedback platform instead.

For Policy-related issues, such as App suspension, please contact Policy support.

For X-related issues, such as login and account support, please use the X Help Desk.