# Profile

> An account's bio, avatar, verification and exact follower, following, tweet and like counts.

- **Request:** `GET https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/twitter/profile`
- **Auth:** `x-api-key` header ([get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard))
- **Cost:** 1 credit per call. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)).
- **MCP tool:** `twitter_profile` on `https://api.lurkapi.com/mcp`
- **Freshness:** responses are cached for up to 1 hour
- **Try it live:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/twitter/profile#try (no signup)
- **Platform:** [X (Twitter)](https://lurkapi.com/docs/twitter.md) (x.com)
- **Web page:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/twitter/profile

## When to use this

Use it to size up an account: followers, following, tweets and likes as exact numbers, plus bio, website, location, join date and verification. `verified` is the blue check; `verified_type` shows gold (`Business`) and grey (`Government`) checks. Pass a `pinned_tweet_ids` entry to the tweet endpoint for the pinned tweet.

Protected accounts return their profile with `protected: true`. Unknown and suspended accounts return 404 `not_found`.

## Parameters

All parameters go in the query string.

| Name | Type | Required | Default | Allowed values | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `handle` | string | yes |  |  | X username, with or without @ (e.g. `NASA`), or the profile URL. | `NASA` |

## Example request

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your key, or set `LURKAPI_KEY` for the code. [Get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard).

curl:

```bash
curl "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/twitter/profile?handle=NASA" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

JavaScript:

```js
const params = new URLSearchParams({
  handle: "NASA",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/twitter/profile?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.LURKAPI_KEY },
});
const data = await res.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(`${data.code}: ${data.error}`);
console.log(data.pinned_tweet_ids);
```

Python:

```python
import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/twitter/profile",
    params={
        "handle": "NASA",
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["LURKAPI_KEY"]},
    timeout=60,
)
data = res.json()
if not data["success"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{data['code']}: {data['error']}")
print(data["pinned_tweet_ids"])
```

## Example response

A real response from this endpoint, captured from the live API and trimmed to a couple of items. Strings over 96 characters (mostly signed media URLs) are cut short and end in `…`.

200 OK (application/json):

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 999998,
  "credits_charged": 1,
  "id": "11348282",
  "handle": "NASA",
  "name": "NASA",
  "bio": "Making the seemingly impossible, possible. ✨",
  "location": "Pale Blue Dot",
  "website": "http://www.nasa.gov/",
  "avatar": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1321163587679784960/0ZxKlEKB_400x400.jpg",
  "banner": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/11348282/1788992290",
  "verified": true,
  "verified_type": "Government",
  "created_at": "2007-12-19T20:20:32.000Z",
  "followers": 92377446,
  "following": 115,
  "tweets": 74343,
  "media_count": 28163,
  "likes": 17002,
  "pinned_tweet_ids": [
    "2104593672624886205"
  ],
  "protected": false,
  "professional_type": null
}
```

## Response fields

Every field of a successful response. `[]` marks a list: `a[].b` is the `b` of each item in `a`. **nullable** fields can be `null`; **optional** fields can be missing.

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `success` | `true` | Always true here; errors have `success: false`. |
| `credits_remaining` | `number` | Your balance after this call. On anonymous playground calls: free tries left today. |
| `credits_charged` | `number` | Credits this call cost; 0 on free endpoints. On anonymous playground calls: tries used (1). |
| `id` | `string` | Numeric user id. It stays the same when the handle changes. |
| `handle` | `string` | Username (handle), without @, with X's capitalization. |
| `name` | `string` | Display name. |
| `bio` | `string` | Bio text, t.co links expanded. Empty if none. |
| `location` | `string`, nullable | Location as the account wrote it (free text); null if none. |
| `website` | `string`, nullable | The website link on the profile, expanded; null if none. |
| `avatar` | `string`, nullable | Profile picture URL, 400×400; null if none. |
| `banner` | `string`, nullable | Header image URL; null if none. |
| `verified` | `boolean` | Has the blue check (X Premium). |
| `verified_type` | `string`, nullable | `Business` (gold check, a verified organization) or `Government` (grey check); null otherwise. |
| `created_at` | `string` | When the account was created, ISO 8601. |
| `followers` | `number` | Followers, exact. |
| `following` | `number` | Accounts they follow. |
| `tweets` | `number` | Tweets posted, replies and retweets included. |
| `media_count` | `number` | Tweets with photos or videos. |
| `likes` | `number` | Tweets they liked. |
| `pinned_tweet_ids` | `string[]` | Ids of the pinned tweet(s); pass one to the tweet endpoint. Empty if none. |
| `protected` | `boolean` | A protected (private) account: only approved followers see its tweets. |
| `professional_type` | `string`, nullable | `Creator` or `Business` for professional accounts; null for personal ones. |

## Caching and freshness

Responses are cached for up to 1 hour, so a repeat call within that window can return the same data. It still costs 1 credit.

## Errors

Errors return `{ success: false, error, code, docs }` with the HTTP status below. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)). [All error codes](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#errors).

| Status | Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `missing_api_key` | No API key. Send it in the `x-api-key` header. |
| 401 | `invalid_api_key` | The key is unknown or was revoked. |
| 402 | `insufficient_credits` | Not enough credits for this call. Buy a pack or wait for tomorrow's top-up. |
| 404 | `not_found` | The endpoint, or the thing you asked for (ad, post, subreddit), doesn't exist. Charged when the platform was checked. |
| 405 | `method_not_allowed` | Endpoints take GET with query params. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | Too many calls at once. Wait for the `retry-after` seconds, then retry. |
| 500 | `internal_error` | Something broke on our side. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 502 | `upstream_error` | The platform didn't give a usable answer. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 503 | `upstream_busy` | All our connections to the platform are busy. Retry in a few seconds; 5xx errors are free. |
| 504 | `upstream_timeout` | The platform took over 30 seconds to answer. Retry; timeouts are free. |

## Use it in Claude

Once LurkAPI is [connected to Claude](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#claude), this endpoint is the `twitter_profile` tool. Ask in plain English, for example:

Ask Claude:

```text
Use LurkAPI's twitter_profile with handle "NASA" and summarize what you find.
```

Claude calls `twitter_profile` with arguments like these, and each call costs 1 credit:

Tool arguments:

```json
{
  "handle": "NASA"
}
```

Tool results skip nulls and empty lists to save tokens.

---

Previous: [Tweet](https://lurkapi.com/docs/twitter/tweet.md) · Next: [User tweets](https://lurkapi.com/docs/twitter/user-tweets.md)