Edit Tweets

Introduction

Non-streaming standard endpoints have been updated to provide edited Tweet metadata. The statuses/filter and statuses/sample streaming endpoints have not been updated, while other endpoints that provide Tweet objects have been updated. The Edit Tweets feature was first introduced for testing among Twitter employees on September 1, 2022. Starting on that date, eligible Tweets are editable for 30 minutes and up to 5 times. All objects for Tweets created since September 29, 2022 include Tweet edit metadata, even if the Tweet was never edited. Each time a Tweet is edited, a new Tweet ID is created. A Tweet's edit history can be described by chaining these IDs together, starting with the original ID. Additionally, if any Tweet in the edit chain is deleted, all Tweets in that chain are deleted as well. 

These edit metadata details are included when the include_ext_edit_control request parameter is set to true: 

include_ext_edit_control=true

With these new metadata, a developer can find out:

  • If a Tweet was edit eligible at the time of creation. Some Tweets, such as those with polls or scheduled Tweets, cannot be edited.
  • Tweets are editable for 30 minutes, and can be edited up to 5 times. For editable Tweets, you can see if time for editing remains and how many more edits are possible.
  • If you are viewing an edited version of a Tweet. In most cases, the API will return the most recent version of a Tweet, unless a specific past version is requested by Tweet

One new Tweet attribute has been added at the root level:

  • ext_edit_control  - Provides all Tweet IDs associated with the edit history of the Tweet. The "edit_tweet_ids" attribute is an array that provides all IDs associated with its edit history. If the Tweet has not been edited, this array will contain a single ID.

 

      "ext_edit_control": {
	"initial": {
	  "edit_tweet_ids":["1550220531252678656"], 
	  "editable_until_msecs": "123",
	  "edits_remaining": "5",
	  "is_edit_eligible": true
	}
}

Most Tweets are eligible. However, the following types of Tweets are not: 

  • Tweet is promoted
  • Tweet has a poll
  • Tweet is a non-self-thread reply
  • Tweet is a Retweet (note that Quote Tweets are eligible for edit)
  • Tweet is nullcast
  • Community Tweet
  • Superfollow Tweet
  • Collaborative Tweet

 

Example attributes for unedited Tweet

The JSON below highlights edit metadata that is included for a Tweet posted after the edit Tweet feature was added. This example is for a Tweet that has no edit history. 

Note that the "edit_tweet_ids" array has a single ID. 

 

      {
  "created_at": "Wed Aug 16 18:29:02 +0000 2022",
  "id": 1557433858676740098,
  "id_str": "1557433858676740098",
  "text": "I wonder if I will every use teh edit button",
  "ext_edit_control": {
	"initial": {
	  "edit_tweet_ids":["1557433858676740098"], 
	  "editable_until_msecs": "1658438151000",
	  "edits_remaining": "5",
	  "is_edit_eligible": true
	}
}

Example attributes for an edited Tweet

The JSON below highlights edit metadata that is included for a Tweet posted after the edit Tweet feature was added. This example is for a Tweet that has had a single edit. 

Note that the "edit_tweet_ids" array has two IDs, one for the original Tweet and one for the edited update. 

 

      {
  "created_at": "Wed Aug 16 18:35:42 +0000 2022",
  "id": 1557445923210514432,
  "id_str": "1557445923210514432",
  "text": "I wonder if I will ever use the edit button",
 "ext_edit_control": {
        "edit": {
          "edit_control_initial": {
            "edit_tweet_ids": [
              "1557433858676740098",
              "1557445923210514432"
            ],
            "editable_until_msecs": "1658438151000",
            "edits_remaining": "4",
            "is_edit_eligible": true
          },
          "initial_tweet_id": "1557433858676740098"
        }
   }

}