How to set up an X (formerly Twitter) inbox in Front

⚠️ Front’s support for the legacy version of the Twitter channel was discontinued at the end of May 2023.

Unfortunately, X (formerly Twitter) recently made the decision to dramatically increase their API pricing well beyond typical rates, which has made it cost prohibitive for Front to support without charging our customers significantly more for their usage.

Instead, starting at the end of May, a new version of the X (Twitter) channel was launched that will allow customers to connect channels using their own X (Twitter) API token. A basic API token can be purchased directly from X (Twitter) for $100 per month. Front will not charge any additional fees for Twitter channel usage.

If you are currently using X (Twitter) channels, those channels will need to be deleted and reconnected. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Setting up an X (Twitter) inbox in Front enables you and your team to send and receive tweets in Front. Like other kinds of Front conversations, you can assign, tag, and comment on tweets to manage X (Twitter) as a team. You can also retweet or like posts directly from Front. Messages from an X (Twitter) inbox will be subject to X's(Twitter) 280 character limit. 

Front's X (Twitter) DM inbox allows you and your team to send a direct message to anyone on X (Twitter) directly from Front. Twitter DMs sent from Front will be subject to X's (Twitter) 10,000 character limit for DMs.

X (Twitter) is no longer officially supported by Front, meaning:

• We don’t plan to invest more development into the integration. Maintenance and updates will be severely limited. e.g. We will not add support for attachments.

• We cannot provide support for issues or errors on X's (Twitter) side.

• We don’t recommend using X (Twitter) for business-critical use cases.

We have observed that X (Twitter) has changed our customer’s app configurations without notice, causing customers to lose access to the APIs our integration requires. If this happens:

• You can re-associate your application with an environment at developer.twitter.com to restore access.

• An in-app notification will appear in Front to alert your team that your application is in this state. You'll see the notification "Twitter developer app is not enrolled in access to the Twitter API v2. Please visit the Twitter Developer Portal and confirm your app is attached to a Project."

• Reauthorizing the channel is not required to resolve the issue. You’ll see the error message "Twitter developer App is not attached to a Project" when trying to authorize or reauthorize a channel with an application in this state.

The following instructions apply to the new version of the X (Twitter) channel launched on May 30, 2023 at 7:00PM PST.

• You must be an admin to add X (Twitter) as a shared inbox in Front. 

• To add an X (Twitter) or X (Twitter) DM inbox, your account must be on a paid Front plan and below your limit of X (Twitter) and X (Twitter) DM channels. See the Pricing section of this article for more details.

• You must be on a paid X (Twitter) plan (Basic plan or above).

• You must create an app in the X (Twitter) developer portal.

Plan details: We initially recommended purchasing X's (Twitter) Basic plan when the channel launched on May 30, 2023. However as of Spring 2024, X (Twitter) rolled out a rate change for DMs to just 1 request per day.

• For most workflows this is not enough and may negatively impact the ability to send and receive DMs through Front.

• These details are subject to change by X (Twitter), and we recommend checking the X (Twitter) developer plan's rate limits to identify the plan that meets your team's messaging needs: https://developer.twitter.com

• While we do try to be accurate with the X (Twitter) plan information, the rate limits and plan makeup that X (Twitter) provides are only accurate as of the date they were pulled and subject to change by X (Twitter) without notice.

App creation details: Once you've subscribed to a X (Twitter) plan, create an app in the X (Twitter) developer portal before continuing with the instructions below.

• If you need to manage both Tweets and DMs for the same X (Twitter) handle, create one app for Tweets and separate app for DMs.

• X (Twitter) provides 2 apps per Basic API subscription.

Please note the following limitations of the X (Twitter) Basic API subscription before continuing:

• A max of 10,000 Tweets can be imported each month

• A max of 100 Tweets can be sent per X (Twitter) handle each day

• As of May 28, 2024, the X (Twitter) Basic API limits are too low to operate a Direct Message (DM) channel

• Sending or receiving attachments for X (Twitter) DMs is not currently supported due to a X (Twitter) API limitation — you will need to open the conversation in X (Twitter) instead. 

• X (Twitter) no longer provides real-time notifications, so inbound messages may be delayed. Front will check for new messages every 5 minutes.

X (Twitter) Basic API limits are accurate as of May 28, 2024, and are subject to change by X (Twitter) without notice.

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and select company, workspace, or personal settings in the left sidebar, depending on the space you’re working with.

Step 2

Click on Inboxes on the left menu and create a new shared inbox or individual inbox.

Step 3

Click Channels in the left sidebar, click Connect a channel, then Select Twitter or Twitter DM. 

Step 4

In a separate browser tab, navigate to your X (Twitter) app user authentication settings. You can do so by logging into the X (Twitter) Developer Portal, and using the left sidebar to select the right Project and App under the Project & Apps menu item. Then click Edit under User authentication settings.

Step 5

On the User authentication settings page, update the following properties:

1. App permissions should be set to "Read and write and Direct message"

2. Type of App should be set to "Web App, Automated App, or Bot"

3. Callback URI  should be updated by copying and pasting the callback URL you'll find in the Front setup page for your new Twitter channel. 

4. Website URL should be set to the URL you use to access Front. For example, https://app.frontapp.com or https://[sso domain].frontapp.com if you're using SSO.

Once you've made the required updates, click Save.

Step 6

Navigate to the Keys and tokens tab of your X (Twitter) app settings page. Copy the ID and Secret fields from the OAuth 2.0 Client ID and Client Secret section and paste them into the corresponding fields on the Front channel setup page. Save the channel in Front, and you're all set!

To DM someone, compose a message. Make sure the From field is your X (Twitter) DM account, and the To field is the X (Twitter) handle of the person you want to DM.

The account you are trying to DM will need to have their X (Twitter) account settings set to receive DMs from everyone, including accounts they don't follow. Otherwise, if they don't openly accept DMs, you will receive an error when trying to DM them.

Write your message and send.

If your team’s account is on a free trial, you will not be able to connect an X (Twitter) account to create a X (Twitter) or X (Twitter) DM inbox until you upgrade to a paid Front plan. 

You can be on any plan to add a X (Twitter) channel. There is a 10-handle limit on any account. Some legacy plans with different names may also require a purchased add-on. If you'd like to purchase the feature, reach out to us.