How to Send DMs with the X API
in 2026 (v2, OAuth2)

# 1. Send the user to authorize (PKCE code_challenge required)
https://twitter.com/i/oauth2/authorize?response_type=code\
&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID\
&redirect_uri=https://yourapp.com/callback\
&scope=dm.read%20dm.write%20users.read%20tweet.read%20offline.access\
&state=STATE&code_challenge=CHALLENGE&code_challenge_method=S256

# 2. Exchange the returned code for a user access token
curl -X POST https://api.twitter.com/2/oauth2/token \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "grant_type=authorization_code" \
  -d "code=RETURNED_CODE" \
  -d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
  -d "redirect_uri=https://yourapp.com/callback" \
  -d "code_verifier=VERIFIER"
# Response includes access_token (dm.write) and refresh_token

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.twitter.com/2/dm_conversations/with/RECIPIENT_USER_ID/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer USER_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text":"Hey, saw your post on shipping fast. Quick question."}'

# 201 Created returns the dm_conversation_id and dm_event_id

const recipientId = "RECIPIENT_USER_ID";

const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.twitter.com/2/dm_conversations/with/${recipientId}/messages`,
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.X_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      text: "Hey, saw your post on shipping fast. Quick question.",
    }),
  }
);

if (!res.ok) {
  const err = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
  // 401 = bad/expired token, 403 = missing dm.write or recipient unreachable,
  // 429 = rate limited
  throw new Error(`X DM ${res.status}: ${JSON.stringify(err)}`);
}

console.log(await res.json()); // { data: { dm_conversation_id, dm_event_id } }

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.twitter.com/2/dm_events?dm_event.fields=text,sender_id,created_at&max_results=50",
  {
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.X_USER_ACCESS_TOKEN}`,
    },
  }
);

const { data = [] } = await res.json();
for (const event of data) {
  console.log(event.sender_id, "->", event.text);
}