Getting Started
===============

Getting your application tokens
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

.. danger::

This section is subject to changes made by Twitter and may not always be completely up-to-date. If you see something change on their end, please create a `new issue on Github <https://github.com/bear/python-twitter/issues/new>`_ or submit a pull request to update it.


In order to use the python-twitter API client, you first need to acquire a set of application tokens. These will be your ``consumer_key`` and ``consumer_secret``, which get passed to ``twitter.Api()`` when starting your application.

Create your app
________________

The first step in doing so is to create a `Twitter App <https://apps.twitter.com/>`_. Click the "Create New App" button and fill out the fields on the next page.


.. image:: python-twitter-app-creation-part1.png

If there are any problems with the information on that page, Twitter will complain and you can fix it. (Make sure to get the name correct - it is unclear if you can change this later.) On the next screen, you'll see the application that you created and some information about it:

Your app
_________

Once your app is created, you'll be directed to a new page showing you some information about it.

.. image:: python-twitter-app-creation-part2.png

Your Keys
_________

Click on the "Keys and Access Tokens" tab on the top there, just under the green notification in the image above.


.. image:: python-twitter-app-creation-part3.png

At this point, you can test out your application using the keys under "Your Application Tokens". The ``twitter.Api()`` object can be created as follows::

    import twitter
    api = twitter.Api(consumer_key=[consumer key],
                      consumer_secret=[consumer secret],
                      access_token_key=[access token],
                      access_token_secret=[access token secret])

Note: Make sure to enclose your keys in quotes (ie, api = twitter.Api(consumer_key='1234567', ...) and so on) or you will receive a NameError.

If you are creating an application for end users/consumers, then you will want them to authorize you application, but that is outside the scope of this document.

And that should be it! If you need a little more help, check out the `examples on Github <https://github.com/bear/python-twitter/tree/master/examples>`_. If you have an open source application using python-twitter, send us a link and we'll add a link to it here.