Edit Posts

Working with edited posts in the X API

Posts on X can be edited within 30 minutes of posting, up to 5 times. The X API provides full access to edit history and metadata.

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Edit rules

Rule	Details
Time window	30 minutes from original post
Edit limit	5 edits maximum
ID behavior	Each edit creates a new post ID
Deletion	Deleting any version deletes the entire chain

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What can’t be edited

Some post types are not editable:

• Promoted posts (ads)
• Posts with polls
• Replies to others (non-self-thread)
• Reposts (Quote posts can be edited)
• Community posts
• Collaborative posts
• Scheduled posts

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Edit data in responses

Default fields

All post responses include edit_history_tweet_ids by default:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "1234567891",
    "text": "Updated text (edited)",
    "edit_history_tweet_ids": ["1234567890", "1234567891"]
  }
}

• Single ID = never edited
• Multiple IDs = edit history (oldest first)

Edit controls

Request edit_controls for edit status:

curl "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/1234567891?tweet.fields=edit_controls" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

{
  "data": {
    "id": "1234567891",
    "text": "Updated text (edited)",
    "edit_history_tweet_ids": ["1234567890", "1234567891"],
    "edit_controls": {
      "is_edit_eligible": true,
      "editable_until": "2024-01-15T12:30:00.000Z",
      "edits_remaining": 3
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
is_edit_eligible	Whether the post can be edited
editable_until	Timestamp when edit window closes
edits_remaining	Number of edits left (0-5)

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Getting edit history

Use the edit_history_tweet_ids expansion to get full post objects for all versions:

curl "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/1234567891?\
tweet.fields=edit_controls&\
expansions=edit_history_tweet_ids" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

{
  "data": {
    "id": "1234567891",
    "text": "Updated text (edited)",
    "edit_history_tweet_ids": ["1234567890", "1234567891"],
    "edit_controls": {
      "is_edit_eligible": true,
      "editable_until": "2024-01-15T12:30:00.000Z",
      "edits_remaining": 3
    }
  },
  "includes": {
    "tweets": [{
      "id": "1234567890",
      "text": "Original text (with typo)",
      "edit_history_tweet_ids": ["1234567890", "1234567891"],
      "edit_controls": {
        "is_edit_eligible": true,
        "editable_until": "2024-01-15T12:30:00.000Z",
        "edits_remaining": 3
      }
    }]
  }
}

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Which version is returned?

By default, the API returns the most recent version of an edited post.

To get a specific version, request it by its post ID directly:

# Get original version
curl "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/1234567890" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

# Get edited version  
curl "https://api.x.com/2/tweets/1234567891" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

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Metrics for edited posts

Each version of an edited post has its own engagement metrics. The metrics are attributed to the version that was visible when the engagement occurred.

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Availability

Edit metadata is available:

• For all posts created since September 29, 2022
• On all v2 endpoints that return posts
• Including search, timelines, stream, and lookup

Posts created before this date do not have edit metadata.

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Use cases

Track changes

Monitor posts for edits and log the differences:

def check_for_edits(post):
    history = post.get("edit_history_tweet_ids", [])
    if len(history) > 1:
        print(f"Post {post['id']} has been edited {len(history) - 1} times")

Show edit indicator

Display an “edited” badge in your UI:

const isEdited = post.edit_history_tweet_ids?.length > 1;
if (isEdited) {
  showEditedBadge();
}

Get original content

Retrieve the original version of an edited post:

original_id = post["edit_history_tweet_ids"][0]
original = api.get_tweet(original_id)

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Next steps

Post lookup

Retrieve posts with edit history.

Data dictionary

Complete post object reference.