X Use

Set up x-use

x-use is an MCP server that automates X (Twitter) through a real logged-in Chrome session instead of the paid X API. This skill takes a machine from nothing to a configured, working account.

Read this first: the steps split at the client restart. Everything before it is shell work, because x-use's MCP tools do not exist yet. Everything after it is tool work. Do not try to call add_account before step 4 has completed.

Explain each step briefly as you go. The setup request authorizes routine local installation and registration; ask only for missing choices or credentials.

1. Check the prerequisites

Python 3.10 or newer with venv support. Check Python:

python --version

If Python is missing, explain the prerequisite. Setup installs the Chromium browser matching the default Patchright driver. Installed Chrome or Edge is also supported through mcp.browser_channel.

2. Install

pip install x-use-mcp
python -m patchright install chromium

This provides the x-use command and matching Chromium. Inside a checkout, prefer the one-command uv setup: py -3 scripts/setup_uv.py on Windows or python3 scripts/setup_uv.py on macOS/Linux. It installs missing uv locally, uses the dependency lock and creates .venv; use that environment's full x-use executable path for registration. Linux system libraries are explicit with --with-system-deps, which can require OS permission.

Then verify:

x-use doctor

doctor prints one PASS, FAIL, or SKIP line per check: config files, browser binary, driver, per-account cookies, LLM key, proxies. On a fresh machine the cookie and config checks are expected to fail, since nothing is configured yet. Do not treat that as a broken install. A FAIL on the browser or driver line is the one that actually blocks progress.

If x-use is not found after installing, it is a PATH problem, not a failed install. pip show -f x-use-mcp locates the console script; use its full path everywhere below, for example .venv/bin/x-use or .venv\Scripts\x-use.exe.

3. Install the workflow skills

x-use skills install

This writes seven skills to ~/.claude/skills/ and ~/.agents/skills/, so Claude Code and Codex-style agents both pick them up. They cover engagement, content, daily review, inbox/messages/notifications, account setup, and X thread workflows. Use x-use-inbox for reading incoming activity and sending contextual DMs. --force overwrites existing copies, and x-use skills list shows what landed.

4. Register the MCP server, then restart the client

Work out which client you are running inside and register x-use in that one. Use the full executable path and absolute data directory printed by the installer. Set X_USE_HOME in the server environment so settings, accounts and state stay stable when the client starts from another working directory.

• Claude Code:

  claude mcp add --scope user x-use --env X_USE_HOME=/absolute/path/to/x-use-data -- /absolute/path/to/x-use/.venv/bin/x-use mcp

• Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json), Cursor, Windsurf, and any other client taking JSON:

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "x-use": {
        "command": "/absolute/path/to/x-use/.venv/bin/x-use",
        "args": ["mcp"],
        "env": {"X_USE_HOME": "/absolute/path/to/x-use-data"}
      }
    }
  }

• Codex (~/.codex/config.toml):

  [mcp_servers.x-use]
  command = "/absolute/path/to/x-use/.venv/bin/x-use"
  args = ["mcp"]
  
  [mcp_servers.x-use.env]
  X_USE_HOME = "/absolute/path/to/x-use-data"

If this client cannot reload MCP servers in the current session, tell the user to restart the client and pause tool-dependent setup until the tools appear. When connected, confirm with list_accounts. An empty list is the correct answer before the first account is added.

5. Add the account

Everything from here is MCP tool calls.

Ask for a short account id, something like main or brand. It is an internal label, not the X handle.

Then walk the user through the cookie export, which is how x-use authenticates:

1. Install a cookie-export browser extension, for example Cookie-Editor.
2. Log into x.com in that browser.
3. Open the extension while on x.com and export as JSON.
4. Save the file on this machine and give you the path.

add_account(account_id="main", cookie_file="/path/to/cookies.json")

The file is validated and copied server-side. Never ask the user to paste cookie contents into the conversation. The path-only design exists precisely so the values never cross the wire, and pasting them defeats it.

Verify with get_account_health(account="main"). This checks the local cookie file and configuration without logging into X; valid cookie structure does not prove a live authenticated session. Inspect reported problems, then use a bounded browser read to verify the session. Stop for a login or account challenge.

6. Configure the account

Ask what niche they are in, which keywords to watch, which profiles they want to engage with, and their actual X handle.

update_account(
  account="main",
  target_keywords=["..."],
  competitor_profiles=["https://x.com/..."],
  self_handles=["theirhandle"],
)

self_handles matters more than it looks. Without it the own-post guard cannot fire, and x-use cannot identify the account's historical posts from this configuration. For a published thread, use get_thread_run to retrieve the confirmed post URLs.