mvanhorn--last30days-skill/docs/v2.1-launch-copy.md

v2.1 Launch Copy (DRAFT — do not publish)

Context

Bird CLI (@steipete/bird) has been deprecated on npm and the GitHub repo deleted. steipete was asked to take it down (likely by X). Nobody has forked and republished it. Our v2.1 vendors a search-only subset of Bird v0.8.0 (MIT licensed) so users don't need any external tools.

YouTube transcripts are the second headline feature. Inspired by Peter Steinberger's yt-dlp + summarize toolchain. We use yt-dlp directly (no summarize dependency) — search YouTube, grab transcripts, feed them into the synthesis. Zero API keys, zero cost.

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README: "New in V2.1" blurb

New in V2.1 — two headline features:

• YouTube transcripts as a 4th source. When yt-dlp is installed, /last30days automatically searches YouTube, grabs view counts, and extracts auto-generated transcripts from the top videos. A 20-minute review contains 10x the signal of a tweet — now the skill reads it. Inspired by @steipete's yt-dlp + summarize toolchain.
• X search is fully bundled. No external bird CLI install needed. Add AUTH_TOKEN and CT0 once, and the vendored Bird client runs locally without browser-cookie prompts. XAI_API_KEY remains an optional fallback.

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README: X Search Authentication section

X Search Authentication

X search prefers explicit env auth. This keeps local runs headless and avoids browser-cookie and macOS Keychain prompts.

Recommended setup: While logged into x.com once, open browser dev tools and copy the auth_token and ct0 cookies for x.com.

Save them as AUTH_TOKEN and CT0 in ~/.config/last30days/.env or .claude/last30days.env:

AUTH_TOKEN=your_auth_token
CT0=your_ct0_token

xAI fallback: If you do not want to provide AUTH_TOKEN and CT0, set XAI_API_KEY and use xAI's x_search backend instead.

Verify it's working:

node ~/.claude/skills/last30days/scripts/lib/vendor/bird-search/bird-search.mjs --whoami

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README: Install block env line

AUTH_TOKEN=...            # recommended for X search
CT0=...                   # recommended for X search
XAI_API_KEY=xai-...       # optional X fallback

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SKILL.md: Stats line

├─ 🔵 X: {N} posts │ {N} likes │ {N} reposts

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GitHub issue #19 response (post AFTER publishing)

Thanks for reporting this. Bird CLI was deprecated and the GitHub repo was deleted. steipete was asked to take it down.

The good news: you don't need Bird anymore. v2.1 (just shipped) bundles X search directly. No external CLI, no npm install, no brew. Just Node.js 22+ plus AUTH_TOKEN and CT0, or XAI_API_KEY as fallback.

It also adds YouTube as a 4th source. When yt-dlp is installed, the skill automatically searches YouTube and extracts transcripts from the top videos. A 20-minute tutorial has 10x the signal of a tweet, and now the synthesis engine reads it.

The recommended setup is to copy auth_token and ct0 from x.com once and store them as AUTH_TOKEN and CT0 in your env. That avoids browser-cookie and Keychain prompts during normal runs.

The xAI API (XAI_API_KEY) also still works as a fallback.

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X/Social launch post

Short (280 chars)

/last30days v2.1 is out 🚀

Two new features: → YouTube transcripts as a 4th source (yt-dlp) → X search fully bundled (no bird CLI install needed)

Research any topic across Reddit, X, YouTube & web in one command.

h/t @steipete for the inspiration on both.

github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill

Thread version (post 1)

/last30days v2.1 just shipped — two headline features:

1️⃣ YouTube transcripts as a 4th source When yt-dlp is installed, the skill searches YouTube, grabs view counts, and extracts auto-generated transcripts from top videos. A 20-min review has 10x the signal of a tweet — now the synthesis reads it.

Thread version (post 2)

2️⃣ X search is fully bundled Bird CLI was deprecated. Instead of requiring an external tool, v2.1 vendors a search-only subset. Add AUTH_TOKEN and CT0 once, then it runs locally with no npm install. XAI_API_KEY still works as fallback.

Both features inspired by @steipete's tooling.

Thread version (post 3)

YouTube goes through the same scoring pipeline as Reddit and X — relevance, recency, engagement. Transcripts get truncated to ~500 words per video and fed into the synthesis engine alongside social posts.

Zero API keys for YouTube. Zero cost. Just brew install yt-dlp.

Thread version (post 4)

Try it:

/last30days [any topic]

Reddit + X + YouTube + Web. Four sources, one command, copy-paste prompts.

github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill