Unable to delete old tweets (api.destroy.status)

[gitanjaligulve]

Hi there,
I specifically joined the community to get an answer I have 22K tweets and want to delete most of my older tweets (2 years or more old) Manual deletion is a bear. I am using a self written piece of code (with api.destroy.status) and it worked fine on a test account. But now when I try it in my own account it is failing.
Some additional details which may help identify the issue quickly -

1. I am using a csv file based on my archive data and using the tweet ids in there to destroy.
2. I split the archive file in chunks of 500 tweets
3. I tested my code on a test account and it worked like a charm (~150 tweets)
4. I deleted the app on the test account and installed on my personal account 1st. I also deleted the app and reinstalled with a new name and tried it on my user account. Both failed. I wasn’t capturing the error code from the API. I probably should do this.
5. If I was hitting rate limits won’t it give a more explicit message or (and I know I should do this) is it best that I catch the status of the destroy call or alternately use the get rate limit method?
6. I am forcing it to authenticate 1st by not supplying the verify code up front.
7. I tried to look up a sample tweet which failed to delete , manually, and it worked and I could delete it manually.
   8… None of the tweets I am attempting to delete show up on my timeline anymore - even though they do on my archive - since I have more than 3000 tweets since those.
   9 I am pretty handy with coding and python but don’t normally do dev stuff nor on twitter data lately.

[gitanjaligulve]

Update. I figured out what was wrong and fixed it.
However, I am worried about a security issue. Noted 2 strange things:

1. When editing my code to update with latest access and consumer key and secrets I noticed my vim editor flagged a status as “recording”
2. Each time I successfully run my app, I notice a strange app I have NOT authorized show up in apps. Am I missing something or should I report this as a security concern to support?

[andypiper]

When editing my code to update with latest access and consumer key and secrets I noticed my vim editor flagged a status as “recording”

Sounds like a general vim question.

Each time I successfully run my app, I notice a strange app I have NOT authorized show up in apps. Am I missing something or should I report this as a security concern to support?

That doesn’t sound right - when you say it shows up in apps, you mean in your account settings?

[gitanjaligulve]

Thanks for the followup!
I noticed a slew of apps all named ErasedXXXXX where X is some arbitrarily
long numeric string (different each time) appear in the approved apps area
right after I run my own tweet delete script.
I also noted that they show up in last login list every day. (An example
attached).

Something that may be relevant: It is my practice to authorize my app, edit
my code to include the Access and Consumer key and secret , run my code and
then immediately deauthorize and delete my app from my account. In a nod to
some level of security . Unsure if the logins are related to that. However
I did see the ErasedXXXX apps as authorized a few times (not every time) I
ran my own code.

Best Regards
Miss Gitanjali Gulve Sehgal (Gigi)
Founder-CEO OhmPye - an experimental hearable startup
408-480-8506
Cupertino, California

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