View For You & Following Timelines — Tutorial

Step-by-step guide to switching between For You and Following timelines, auto-collecting posts, and exporting timeline data using XActions browser scripts.

Works on: Browser Console
Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 2-10 minutes (depends on maxPosts)
Requirements: Logged into x.com in your browser

Prerequisites

• Logged into x.com in your browser
• Browser DevTools console (F12 -> Console tab)
• Navigate to https://x.com/home before running

Quick Start

1. Open x.com on your Home timeline (https://x.com/home)
2. Press F12 to open DevTools, then click the Console tab
3. Copy the script from src/timelineViewer.js
4. Edit the CONFIG section as needed
5. Paste into the console and press Enter

Configuration

const CONFIG = {
  timeline: 'for-you',             // 'for-you' or 'following'
  autoSwitch: true,                // Automatically switch to selected timeline
  collectPosts: true,              // Scroll and collect posts
  maxPosts: 100,                   // Max posts to collect
  exportData: true,                // Auto-download JSON when done
  scrollDelay: 2000,               // ms between scroll actions
  delayBetweenActions: 1500,       // ms between UI actions
  maxScrollRetries: 8,             // Empty scrolls before stopping
};

Step-by-Step Guide

Viewing the For You Timeline

Step 1 -- Configure

const CONFIG = {
  timeline: 'for-you',
  autoSwitch: true,
  collectPosts: true,
  maxPosts: 50,
  exportData: true,
};

Step 2 -- Run the script

The script will:

1. Detect which timeline is currently active
2. Switch to "For You" if not already selected
3. Scroll and collect posts
4. Display a summary with analytics
5. Auto-download the data as JSON

Output:

XActions -- Timeline Viewer

Current timeline: following
Target timeline: for-you

Switching to "for-you" timeline...
Clicked "For You" tab.

Collecting posts from "for-you" timeline...
   Target: 50 posts

   Collected 12/50 posts (12 new)...
   Collected 28/50 posts (16 new)...
   Collected 44/50 posts (16 new)...
   Collected 50/50 posts (6 new)...

TIMELINE SUMMARY (50 posts)

Top 5 by views:
   1. @elonmusk: "Just deployed the new feature..." (2,450,000 views)
   2. @nichxbt: "XActions v2.0 is here..." (125,000 views)
   ...

Most frequent accounts in timeline:
   1. @techcrunch (4 posts)
   2. @nichxbt (3 posts)
   ...

Content breakdown:
   Text only:  22
   With image: 18
   With video: 7
   Reposts:    3

Aggregate metrics:
   Total views:     4,250,000
   Total likes:     12,500
   Avg views/post:  85,000
   Liked by you:    8

Timeline data saved to sessionStorage.
Timeline data exported as JSON file.
Timeline Viewer script complete.

Viewing the Following Timeline

Switch to see only posts from accounts you follow:

const CONFIG = {
  timeline: 'following',
  autoSwitch: true,
  collectPosts: true,
  maxPosts: 100,
  exportData: true,
};

Collecting Without Switching

If you are already on the timeline you want and do not want to switch:

const CONFIG = {
  timeline: 'for-you',
  autoSwitch: false,      // Do not switch -- collect from current tab
  collectPosts: true,
  maxPosts: 200,
  exportData: true,
};

Just Switching (No Collection)

If you only want to switch the tab without collecting posts:

const CONFIG = {
  timeline: 'following',
  autoSwitch: true,
  collectPosts: false,    // Do not scroll or collect
  exportData: false,
};

Exported Data Format

The JSON export contains:

{
  "exportedAt": "2026-03-30T14:00:00.000Z",
  "timeline": "for-you",
  "postCount": 50,
  "posts": [
    {
      "username": "nichxbt",
      "displayName": "nich",
      "text": "XActions v2.0 is here...",
      "views": 125000,
      "likes": 450,
      "retweets": 89,
      "replies": 23,
      "timestamp": "2026-03-30T12:00:00.000Z",
      "postUrl": "https://x.com/nichxbt/status/123456789",
      "hasImage": true,
      "hasVideo": false,
      "isRepost": false,
      "isLiked": true
    }
  ]
}

Each post includes:

Tips & Tricks

• For You vs Following. "For You" shows algorithmic recommendations. "Following" shows chronological posts from accounts you follow.
• Increase maxPosts for larger samples. For meaningful analytics, collect 200+ posts.
• Data is also saved to sessionStorage. Access it programmatically with JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem('xactions_timeline')).
• The JSON file downloads automatically. File name format: xactions_timeline_{timeline}_{date}.json.
• maxScrollRetries prevents infinite scrolling. After 8 scrolls with no new posts, the script stops. Increase this if you have a fast connection.
• Metric parsing handles abbreviations. "125K" becomes 125000, "1.2M" becomes 1200000.

Troubleshooting

Related Scripts

• src/discoveryExplore.js -- Browse explore feed and trends
• src/saveSearch.js -- Save and manage search queries