Twitter MCP server: post and read on X from an AI agent, at cost
An X MCP server hands your AI agent the X API as tools, so it can publish and read analytics from a chat window. The catch is money: X bills per call, $0.015 to publish and $0.200 if the post contains a URL. Rates read on November 12, 2026.
That single line is why this page exists. Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok give you an API quota. X gives you a meter.
What an MCP Twitter integration can and cannot do
The X API is pay per usage with, in its own words, "No contracts, subscriptions, or minimum spend". You buy credits and they are deducted as you call. Everything an agent can do on X follows from what you are willing to spend, not from a plan tier.
| Action | Possible from an agent | Billed by X |
|---|---|---|
| Publish text, 1 to 4 images, or one video | yes | $0.015 per request |
| Publish a post containing a URL | yes | $0.200 per request |
| Read a post or look one up | yes | $0.005 per resource |
| Look up a user or their follows | yes | $0.010 per resource |
| Read post metrics (likes, replies, reposts, impressions) | yes | $0.005 per read |
| Read a DM | needs elevated access | $0.010 per resource |
| Send a DM | needs elevated access | $0.015 per request |
| Browse a timeline to find things to reply to | technically yes, ruinous | one billed read per page |
The per-call figures come from the X API pricing page, read on November 12, 2026, and X states that rates can change.
Two lines in that table decide your architecture. The URL post at $0.200 is 13 times a plain post, so an agent that drops a link in every tweet costs 13 times one that does not: 90 posts a month with a link is $18, the same 90 without is $1.35. And timeline browsing is the thing to design out, because "find interesting tweets and reply" means a billed read per page, forever, with no cap of its own.
What the X MCP server in PlugKit exposes
PlugKit speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP at https://api.plugkit.co/mcp, with 103 tools across all eight connected platforms. For X specifically, the ones that matter are create_post and publish_post for publishing, get_post_analytics and get_account_analytics for the live reads, get_analytics_summary for the stored history that costs nothing, and get_usage and get_subscription for the bill.
Three design choices in there are worth copying whether or not you use it:
- No discovery reads. Only posts published through the server are tracked, because listing a timeline would bill a read per page. The platform page says so in as many words.
- Analytics off by default, per account. Turning it on requires
acknowledgeCost: truein the request, or it is refused. X posts then refresh at most once a day, where the other platforms refresh hourly. - A spend cap per account, $20 a month by default and settable with
capUsd. When the cap is hit, collection stops and publishing carries on, which is the right way round.
X DMs are not available. They need elevated paid access that a normal app does not get, so no MCP server, hosted or self-built, will hand your agent an X inbox today. If the inbox is the job, the platforms that do support it are in social media inbox.
Why most Twitter MCP servers on GitHub break
Search the registries and you will find dozens. They fail in three predictable ways.
| Kind | How it breaks |
|---|---|
| Scrapers and unofficial clients | Work until the endpoint changes or the account is restricted. Against the X developer terms. |
| Thin wrappers over the official API | Work, but you supply your own X credentials and swallow the per-call bill with no visibility. |
| Local stdio servers with keys in a config file | Work on your laptop only. Nothing runs when the laptop sleeps, and the key sits in plain text. |
The second kind is the common trap. The code is fine. What is missing is the meter: no usage endpoint, no cap, no refusal when spend runs away. You find out from the X invoice at the end of the month, after an agent decided to read 4,000 posts to pick a reply.
The third kind is a transport choice, and the MCP spec allows both. The specification defines stdio, where the client launches the server as a subprocess, and Streamable HTTP, where the server "operates as an independent process that can handle multiple client connections" on a single endpoint serving POST and GET. Only the second one keeps working when your machine is off. The trade-offs either way are in MCP server hosting.
Connect an X MCP server to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
With the hosted server, one line in Claude Code:
claude mcp add -t http plugkit https://api.plugkit.co/mcp
Then authorise it. PlugKit acts as an OAuth 2.1 server with PKCE and no client secret, and the consent screen offers two scopes: mcp:read for profiles, accounts, posts, conversations and analytics, or mcp:write to add publishing, messaging and replies. An API key sent as a Bearer token works too, with full access and no scopes, which is why OAuth is the better default. The mechanics of that handshake are in MCP server OAuth.
Start on mcp:read for a week. On X that is not just caution, it is money: a read-only scope cannot fire a $0.200 post.
Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code each have their own setup path, and ChatGPT's connector flow is the one that trips people up most often. It is covered in ChatGPT MCP connectors.
What to actually ask the agent
Cheap, and useful on day one:
- "What did my last 20 X posts do on impressions?" That is
get_analytics_summaryagainst stored history, no platform call, no charge. - "Post this thread to X and LinkedIn at 9am." One
create_post, two targets, one billed X request. - "Which of my accounts has X analytics turned on, and what have I spent this month?" That is
get_subscriptionandget_usage.
Expensive, and worth saying no to:
- "Find tweets about MCP servers and reply to the good ones." Billed read per page, unbounded.
- "Check every mention hourly." X refreshes once a day on this setup for exactly that reason.
The same agent on Instagram or LinkedIn has none of these constraints, which is the honest reason to treat X as a special case rather than one platform among eight. The per-platform picture is in Instagram MCP server and LinkedIn MCP server, and the wider field is compared in social media MCP servers compared.
PlugKit is $49 a month for 5 connected accounts, cancel anytime, and the X calls are passed through at X's own rate with no markup. Which means the honest version of this page is: the subscription is the small number, and your agent's habits are the big one.
FAQ
Is there an official Twitter MCP server from X?
No. X publishes a REST API and a developer console, not an MCP server. Everything you find is third party: either a hosted server like PlugKit that holds the credentials and meters the calls, or an open-source wrapper you run yourself with your own X credentials.
How much does it cost to let an AI agent post on X?
$0.015 per post, or $0.200 if the post contains a URL, plus $0.005 for each post read. Rates read on the X API pricing page on November 12, 2026. There is no monthly API fee, so the bill is entirely a function of how often your agent acts. Three link posts a day is about $18 a month in X charges alone.
Can an MCP server read my X DMs?
Not on normal access. X DM endpoints require elevated paid access, so a standard app cannot read or send them whatever the MCP server claims. If a server offers X DMs without that access, it is driving the web interface, which breaks and risks the account.
Why is my agent's X spend higher than expected?
Almost always timeline reads or mention polling. Each page of results is a billed read, and an agent asked to "find something to reply to" will happily make hundreds. Cap the spend per account, turn off background polling, and keep the agent to posts it published itself.
Do I need my own X developer account?
Only if you run your own server. With a hosted MCP server the credentials and the per-call billing sit on the provider's side and are passed through to you at cost. If you build it yourself, you create the X app, buy the credits and carry the meter. The wider version of that choice is in MCP or REST API for your agent.
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