Connecting X

Connecting an X account

Two places in a project connect to X, and each is set up on its own: Beacon posts to X, and RSS & Atom Feeds → X feed reads the accounts the site follows. Both need an app of your own in X’s developer portal, and each has its own callback address. Connecting needs an account owner or admin.

1. Open your app in X’s developer portal

Go to developer.x.com → Projects & Apps and open (or create) the app you want to use. Everything below is inside that app.

2. Turn on user authentication

Open User authentication settings and press Set up (or Edit). If you cannot find it, you are looking at the project rather than the app — open the app first.
Set App permissions to Read and write if Beacon is to post. Read is enough for the X feed alone.
Set Type of App to Web App, Automated App or Bot.

3. Register the callback address

In the same screen, Callback URI / Redirect URL is a list, and X refuses any address not on it, character for character.

Beacon shows its address in Accounts → App credentials, after Register this callback with X.
RSS & Atom Feeds → X feed shows its address under Connect the X account.

Copy each one rather than typing it.

Using one app for both? Add both addresses. Adding the second does not replace the first. If an address is missing, X shows a black page reading “Something went wrong — You weren’t able to give access to the App”, which looks like a problem with your account and is not.

4. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret

Open Keys and tokens and, under OAuth 2.0 Client ID and Client Secret, copy both. The secret is shown once, when it is created or regenerated; if you did not keep it, regenerate it. The API Key, API Secret and Bearer Token higher up the page will not work here.

5. Save them, then connect

In Beacon	Accounts → App credentials beside X. Paste the Client id and Client secret, press Save credentials, then press Connect an account and approve on X.
In RSS & Atom Feeds	X feed. Paste the Client ID and Client Secret, press Save credentials, then press Authorize X account → and approve on X.

When you return, the screen names the account it connected. If Beacon and the X feed in one project use the same app and the same X account, connecting one keeps the other connected too.

If your browser fills the two boxes in for you — a text box above a password box looks like a sign-in form — clear them before saving. Saving an autofilled email as the Client ID replaces working credentials.

If it still will not connect

“Something went wrong” on X’s own page	The callback address is not on the app’s list, or does not match exactly.
X needs API credits, or posts fail with a payment error	X charges each app for its API use. Add credit to the app under Billing in the developer portal; credit on a different app does nothing for this one. An app shared by Beacon and the X feed shares its balance.
Authorization expired, or Beacon shows Reconnect	The permission was revoked on X, or the connection was never completed. Connect again; the credentials rarely need changing.
The network refused to trade the code for a token	Almost always a wrong Client Secret, or a callback address the app is not registered for.

Signed in to VeraGen? Press Guide me on any screen for a walkthrough, or ask Odin.