(Version française)

An extension for extracting and downloading toots (posts on Mastodon) for text mining and analysis.

Cite this software

If you use this extension for your research, please reference it as follows:

Moncomble, F. (2024). MastoScraper (Version 0.5) [JavaScript]. Arras, France: Université d’Artois. Available at: https://fmoncomble.github.io/mastoscraper/

Installation

Chrome/Edge

Remember to pin the add-on to the toolbar.

Instructions for use

  • Click the add-on’s icon in the toolbar.
  • On first using the add-on, follow the authentication procedure to authorize the app on Mastodon. All credentials are stored locally on your computer, not on a remote server.
  • Build your search query with at least one keyword, and click Search.
  • Choose your preferred output format:
    • XML/XTZ for an XML file to import into TXM using the XML/TEI-Zero module
      • When initiating the import process, open the “Textual planes” section and type ref in the field labelled “Out of text to edit”
    • TXT for plain text
    • CSV
    • XSLX (Excel spreadsheet)
    • JSON
  • (Optional) Enter the maximum number of toots to collect.
  • You can stop the process at any time by clicking Abort.
  • Click Download to collect the output or Reset to start afresh.