hermes-agent/website/docs/user-guide/features/x-search.md

title	description	sidebar_label	sidebar_position
X (Twitter) Search	Search X (Twitter) posts and threads from within the agent using xAI's built-in x_search Responses tool — works with either a SuperGrok OAuth login or an XAI_API_KEY.	X (Twitter) Search	7

X (Twitter) Search

The x_search tool lets the agent search X (Twitter) posts, profiles, and threads directly. It's backed by xAI's built-in x_search tool on the Responses API at https://api.x.ai/v1/responses — Grok itself runs the search server-side and returns synthesized results with citations to the originating posts.

Use this instead of web_search when you specifically want current discussion, reactions, or claims on X. For general web pages, keep using web_search / web_extract.

Authentication

x_search registers when either xAI credential path is available:

Credential	Source	Setup
SuperGrok OAuth (preferred)	Browser login at accounts.x.ai, refreshed automatically	hermes auth add xai-oauth — see xAI Grok OAuth (SuperGrok Subscription)
XAI_API_KEY	Paid xAI API key	Set in ~/.hermes/.env

Both hit the same endpoint with the same payload — the only difference is the bearer token. When both are configured, SuperGrok OAuth wins so x_search runs against your subscription quota instead of paid API spend.

The tool's check_fn runs the xAI credential resolver every time the model's tool list is rebuilt. A True return means the bearer is fetchable AND non-empty AND (if it had expired) successfully refreshed. Revoked tokens with a failed refresh hide the tool from the schema; the model simply can't see it.

Enabling the tool

Auto-enables when xAI credentials (OAuth token or XAI_API_KEY) are present. Disable explicitly via hermes tools → Search → x_search if you don't want this.

hermes tools
# → 🐦 X (Twitter) Search   (press space to toggle on)

The picker offers two credential choices:

1. xAI Grok OAuth (SuperGrok Subscription) — opens the browser to accounts.x.ai if you're not already logged in
2. xAI API key — prompts for XAI_API_KEY

Either choice satisfies the gating. You can pick whichever credentials you already have; the tool works identically with both. If both end up configured, OAuth is preferred at call time.

Configuration

# ~/.hermes/config.yaml
x_search:
  # xAI model used for the Responses call.
  # grok-4.20-reasoning is the recommended default; any Grok model
  # with x_search tool access works.
  model: grok-4.20-reasoning

  # Request timeout in seconds. x_search can take 60–120s for
  # complex queries — the default is generous. Minimum: 30.
  timeout_seconds: 180

  # Number of automatic retries on 5xx / ReadTimeout / ConnectionError.
  # Each retry backs off (1.5x attempt seconds, capped at 5s).
  retries: 2

Tool parameters

The agent calls x_search with these arguments:

Parameter	Type	Description
query	string (required)	What to look up on X.
allowed_x_handles	string array	Optional list of handles to include exclusively (max 10). Leading @ is stripped.
excluded_x_handles	string array	Optional list of handles to exclude (max 10). Mutually exclusive with allowed_x_handles.
from_date	string	Optional YYYY-MM-DD start date.
to_date	string	Optional YYYY-MM-DD end date.
enable_image_understanding	boolean	Ask xAI to analyze images attached to matching posts.
enable_video_understanding	boolean	Ask xAI to analyze videos attached to matching posts.

The tool returns JSON with:

• answer — synthesized text response from Grok
• citations — citations returned by the Responses API top-level field
• inline_citations — url_citation annotations extracted from the message body (each with url, title, start_index, end_index)
• credential_source — "xai-oauth" if OAuth resolved, "xai" if API key resolved
• model, query, provider, tool, success

Example

Talking to the agent:

What are people on X saying about the new Grok image features? Focus on responses from @xai.

The agent will:

1. Call x_search with query="reactions to new Grok image features", allowed_x_handles=["xai"]
2. Get back a synthesized answer plus a list of citations linking to specific posts
3. Reply with the answer and references

Troubleshooting

"No xAI credentials available"

The tool surfaces this when both auth paths fail. Either set XAI_API_KEY in ~/.hermes/.env or run hermes auth add xai-oauth and complete the browser login. Then restart your session so the agent re-reads the tool registry.

"x_search is not enabled for this model"

The configured x_search.model doesn't have access to the server-side x_search tool. Switch to grok-4.20-reasoning (the default) or another Grok model that supports it. Check the xAI documentation for the current list.

Tool doesn't appear in the schema

Two possible causes:

1. Toolset not enabled. Run hermes tools and confirm 🐦 X (Twitter) Search is checked.
2. No xAI credentials. The check_fn returns False, so the schema stays hidden. Run hermes auth status to confirm xai-oauth login state, and check that XAI_API_KEY is set (if you're using the API-key path).

See Also

• xAI Grok OAuth (SuperGrok Subscription) — the OAuth setup guide
• Web Search & Extract — for general (non-X) web search
• Tools Reference — full tool catalog