Exploring APIs with Tweepy: My First Step into the Twitter API

APIs had always been a bit of a mystery to me. I kept hearing how they’re “important” and how developers build apps using APIs—but for the longest time, I just couldn’t wrap my head around what that actually meant.
Recently, I finally took the plunge and built a small project called "Twitter-API-Free-Tier", where I experimented with the Twitter API using a Python library called Tweepy. This experience helped me understand what APIs are, why they’re useful, and how you can interact with them in real-world projects.
In this blog, I want to walk you through my learnings and share how I got started with APIs using the Twitter developer platform.⸻

What’s an API? and why use it?

At its core, an API (Application Programming Interface) is a bridge between two applications. Instead of interacting with software through a user interface (UI), an API lets you talk to it programmatically.For example, when we use the Twitter app, we click buttons to like tweets, follow users, or read replies. But under the hood, each of these actions is powered by an API request. So why use APIs?
• Automation: You can automate repetitive tasks (like liking posts or fetching followers).
• App Building: You can build your own app on top of another service (like Twitter).
• Custom Data Access: You can retrieve specific data in your own format for analysis or personalization.

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My Project: Getting Twitter-API-Free-Tier

To understand APIs practically, I used the free tier of the Twitter Developer Portal and the Python library Tweepy. Tweepy makes it much easier to interact with Twitter’s API. You don’t have to construct raw HTTP requests—instead, you use Python functions that feel intuitive and readable.

Key Learnings:

• APIs are powerful — they allow you to interact with applications in a flexible and programmable way.
• The free Twitter tier is limited, but it’s more than enough to get started and understand how things work.
• Tweepy simplifies everything — without it, I’d have to manually deal with HTTP requests and responses.

Why this matters:

Initially, I wondered: Why not just use the app? Why bother with an API? But I realized that APIs open doors that the UI doesn’t:
• You can build tools that don’t exist yet.
• You can analyze or fetch data at scale.
• You can understand how modern apps are structured (API in the middle, UI on top, backend underneath).

What’s next?

I haven’t built a full-fledged app yet—but now that I understand how APIs work and how to interact with them, I’m excited to explore more. Maybe build a dashboard, automate tasks, or even create a social media assistant. This was my first step into a broader world, and I’m looking forward to sharing more such journeys here on Hashnode.