ct-alpha

CT Alpha — Crypto Twitter Intelligence

Turn X/Twitter into an actionable crypto intelligence layer. Search CT for narratives, alpha, strategies, and sentiment, then rank results using TweetRank (a PageRank-inspired credibility scoring system), extract tokens/CAs from multiple signals, detect coordinated raids, and suggest execution steps using available tools.

Overview

• Search: Query CT with crypto-optimized noise filters and relevancy sorting
• TweetRank: Score tweets by author credibility + engagement quality + recency
• Multi-Signal Token Detection: Cashtags, name-phrases, crypto URLs, contract addresses
• Raid Detection: Flag tickers promoted mostly by low-credibility accounts
• Trending: Detect trending tokens across multiple search queries
• Watchlist: Monitor trusted CT accounts by category
• Thread Hydration: Fetch full conversation threads
• X Articles: Full-text extraction of long-form posts (>280 chars)
• Cost Tracking: Per-session API spend tracking (~$0.005/tweet)
• Dynamic Tool Discovery: Suggest follow-up actions with DeFi Llama, Backpack, Polymarket, etc.

Prerequisites

• Runtime: Bun (TypeScript runtime)
• API Token: X API Bearer Token from developer.x.com (pay-per-use via xAI)
• Cost: ~$0.005 per tweet read, ~$0.10 per quick search (20 tweets)

Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the skill
git clone https://github.com/yashhsm/skills.git
cd skills/skills/ct-alpha

# Run the installer (configures token, watchlist, cache)
bun run install.ts

Environment Setup

# Set your X API Bearer Token
export X_BEARER_TOKEN="your_token_here"

# Or save to persistent env file
mkdir -p ~/.config/env
echo 'export X_BEARER_TOKEN="your_token_here"' >> ~/.config/env/global.env
source ~/.config/env/global.env

Basic Usage

# Search for alpha on a token
bun run ct-search.ts search "$SOL alpha" --quick

# Detect trending tokens
bun run ct-search.ts trending --window 6h --solana-only

# Monitor watchlist accounts
bun run ct-search.ts watchlist --since 24h

# Read a specific tweet or article
bun run ct-search.ts read https://x.com/user/status/123456

# Check API spending
bun run ct-search.ts cost

CLI Reference

search — Core research command

bun run ct-search.ts search "<query>" [flags]

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | --quick | 20 tweets, 1hr cache, ~$0.10 | Default mode | | --full | Up to 100 tweets, 15min cache, ~$0.50 | Confirm cost first | | --limit N | Max total tweets | 20 (quick), 100 (full) | | --sort <field> | likes, recency, relevancy | relevancy | | --since <duration> | 1h, 6h, 24h, 7d | 24h | | --min-likes N | Engagement filter | 3 (quick) | | --from user1,user2 | Restrict to specific accounts | — | | --extract-tickers | Show extracted tickers | — | | --extract-cas | Show contract addresses and crypto URLs | — | | --raw | JSON output | — |

trending — Multi-signal trending detection

bun run ct-search.ts trending [flags]

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | --window <duration> | 1h, 6h, 24h | 6h | | --min-mentions N | Minimum mention count | 3 | | --solana-only | Solana ecosystem only | — | | --top N | Top N results | 20 |

watchlist — Monitor CT accounts

bun run ct-search.ts watchlist [flags]

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | --category <cat> | Filter by category | all | | --since <duration> | Time window | 24h |

read — Read a specific tweet/article

bun run ct-search.ts read <tweet_url_or_id> [--thread] [--raw]

Accepts x.com URLs, twitter.com URLs, or raw tweet IDs. Articles (long-form posts) are fetched in full.

thread — Hydrate conversation thread

bun run ct-search.ts thread <tweet_id>

cost — Track API spending

bun run ct-search.ts cost [--reset]

Core Features

TweetRank Scoring

Every tweet is scored by three factors multiplied together:

1. AuthorCred (0-10): Watchlist membership (+5), follower/following ratio (capped +5), verification (+1), account age (log scale, capped +2), bot penalty (-3)
2. EngagementQuality: Bookmarks (×3, unfakeable) > Quotes (×2.5, high effort) > Likes (×1.5) > Retweets (×1, easily botted). All log-scaled.
3. RecencyBoost: 1 / (1 + hoursAgo / 24) — newer tweets score higher.

TweetRank = AuthorCred × EngagementQuality × RecencyBoost

Each tweet receives a source label:

• [WATCHLIST] — Author is on your watchlist (highest trust)
• [HIGH-CRED] — AuthorCred ≥ 5
• [UNKNOWN] — Unverified author
• [SUSPICIOUS] — Bot-like patterns detected

Multi-Signal Token Detection

Cashtag-only detection misses how tokens actually spread on CT. This extracts from four signal types:

| Signal | Example | Confidence | |--------|---------|------------| | Cashtag | $SOL, $JTO | High | | Name-phrase | "pendle" + crypto context | High/Medium | | Crypto URL | pump.fun, dexscreener, birdeye, jup.ag | High | | Contract Address | Base58 (Solana) / 0x (Ethereum) with context | High/Low |

Supported crypto URL domains: pump.fun, dexscreener.com, birdeye.so, jup.ag, raydium.io, solscan.io, etherscan.io.

Raid Detection

Detects coordinated pump campaigns by analyzing author credibility distribution per ticker:

• If >70% of authors mentioning a ticker have low credibility (AuthorCred < 3), it's flagged as a potential raid
• Output includes raid score, total/low-cred author counts

Noise Filtering

Every search auto-appends crypto noise filters:

• -is:retweet (removes retweets)
• -"airdrop", -"giveaway", -"whitelist" (spam removal)
• -"follow and RT", -"follow & RT", -"free mint", -"dm to claim" (engagement bait)
• Quick mode also adds -is:reply

Caching

Aggressive caching prevents redundant API calls:

| Cache Type | TTL | Use Case | |------------|-----|----------| | Quick search | 1 hour | Default searches | | Full search | 15 minutes | Deep dives | | Thread | 2 hours | Conversation threads | | Profile | 24 hours | User lookups | | Watchlist | 4 hours | Account monitoring |

Cache is file-based (JSON) with auto-pruning on startup (24h hard limit).

Research Methodology

Follow this 6-step loop for every research request:

1. Decompose

Break the user's question into 1-3 targeted search queries.

• Token research: search both $TICKER and plain name with OR
• Narratives: search thematic keywords, not just token names
• Strategies: include strategy/yield/APY keywords

2. Pre-Filter

Before any API call:

• Check cache (same query within TTL is free)
• Noise filters are automatic
• Estimate cost: Quick ~$0.10, Full ~$0.50-1.50
• Narrow time window: 24h for trending, 7d for research

3. Search

Execute with --quick mode first (always):

bun run ct-search.ts search "$TOKEN alpha" --quick --extract-tickers

4. Extract

Analyze TweetRank scores and trust labels. Look for extracted tickers, contract addresses, and crypto URLs.

5. Deep-Dive (if needed)

• Follow high-engagement threads: bun run ct-search.ts thread <id>
• Search specific authors: --from author1,author2
• Broaden with --full only if quick was insufficient

6. Synthesize

Combine findings into actionable intelligence:

• Group by theme, not by query
• Highlight tickers with strong multi-signal detection
• Flag raid risks
• Suggest verification and execution steps

Query String Rules

The query argument supports X API v2 operators:

| Operator | Example | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | keyword | solana alpha | Both words | | "exact" | "yield strategy" | Exact phrase | | OR | $SOL OR solana | Either term | | - | -airdrop | Exclude term | | from: | from:username | Tweets by user | | has:links | has:links | Tweets with URLs | | lang: | lang:en | Language filter | | $ | $SOL | Cashtag |

Do NOT use these v1.1 operators (they cause 400 errors on v2 pay-per-use):

• min_faves:N, min_retweets:N — use --min-likes CLI flag instead
• place:, bio:, sample: — not available on v2

Do NOT manually include noise filters in the query — the CLI auto-appends them.

Dynamic Tool Discovery

After completing research, suggest execution steps using available MCP tools:

| Tool Prefix | Use Case | Example | |-------------|----------|---------| | mcp__defillama__* | TVL, yields, fees, prices | get_protocol_tvl("pendle") | | mcp__backpack__* | Exchange price, depth, trades | backpack_get_ticker("SOL_USDC") | | mcp__polymarket__* | Prediction markets | search_polymarket("solana ETF") | | mcp__coingecko__* | Token data, market charts | get_id_coins("solana") |

Always frame suggestions as "verify" not "confirm" — encourage skepticism about CT alpha.

Cost Protocol

1. Always --quick first (~$0.10 for 20 tweets). Relevancy sort = best results come first.
2. Only increase --limit if 20 results are genuinely insufficient.
3. Display cost estimate before --full mode.
4. Cache is aggressive — same query within TTL is free.
5. Two-pass strategy: First search 20 results. If more depth needed on a sub-topic, do a targeted follow-up rather than re-running with higher limits.

Best Practices

• Start narrow, broaden only if needed: Specific ticker + context words first
• Use --from for signal: Restrict to watchlist accounts for highest signal-to-noise
• Use has:links for substance: Analytical content, not hot takes
• Never present CT findings as authoritative: Always include confidence levels and risk bullets
• Contract addresses are always UNVERIFIED: Verify on-chain before interacting
• Two-pass research: Quick search first, then targeted deep-dives
• Track spending: Use cost command to monitor API usage

Security Considerations

• X Bearer Token is stored in ~/.config/env/global.env — ensure proper file permissions
• Never commit tokens to version control
• Contract addresses extracted from tweets are ALWAYS unverified — always verify on-chain
• Watchlist data is local-only (not synced or shared)
• Cache files contain tweet data — consider cleanup for sensitive research

Skill Structure

ct-alpha/
├── SKILL.md                    # This file — agent instructions
├── ct-search.ts                # Main CLI entry point
├── setup.ts                    # Interactive setup script
├── install.ts                  # Full installer
├── lib/
│   ├── api.ts                  # X API v2 integration, pagination, caching
│   ├── extract.ts              # Multi-signal token extraction
│   ├── tweetrank.ts            # TweetRank scoring and raid detection
│   ├── format.ts               # Output formatting with trust labels
│   ├── cache.ts                # File-based caching layer
│   ├── cost.ts                 # API cost tracking
│   └── filters.ts              # Noise filtering, engagement filtering
├── resources/
│   ├── x-api.md                # X API v2 reference
│   ├── query-templates.md      # Pre-built search patterns
│   └── tool-discovery.md       # Dynamic tool suggestion map
├── data/
│   ├── known-tokens.json       # Token name → ticker mappings
│   └── watchlist.default.json  # Default watchlist categories
└── examples/
    └── basic-search.ts         # Quick start example

Resources

• X API v2 Documentation
• Bun Runtime
• SendAI Skills Repository