From 3661f784cbfb41952d1c2e0d6c520268bb5b1d58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:00:35 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: default engine auto with graphql primary

---
 CHANGELOG.md      |  6 ++++++
 README.md         |  6 +++---
 src/index.ts      | 19 ++-----------------
 src/lib/engine.ts | 15 +++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/lib/engine.ts

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1adf6c0..a17ccd4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 ## 0.1.1 — Unreleased
 
+### Changed
+- Engine default now `auto` (GraphQL primary; Sweetistics only on fallback when configured).
+
+### Tests
+- Add engine resolution tests for auto/default behavior.
+
 ### Fixed
 - GraphQL read: rotate TweetDetail query IDs with fallback to avoid 404s.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 22f5d30..da515ed 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ bird mentions -n 5
 
 ## Engines
 
-- `--engine graphql` (default) — use Twitter/X GraphQL with cookies (Chrome/Firefox/env/flags).
+- `--engine auto` (default) — use GraphQL first; if a Sweetistics API key is available, fall back on errors.
+- `--engine graphql` — use Twitter/X GraphQL with cookies (Chrome/Firefox/env/flags).
 - `--engine sweetistics` — use Sweetistics API key (no browser cookies needed).
-- `--engine auto` — Sweetistics if a key is available, otherwise GraphQL.
 
 Global options:
 - `--timeout <ms>`: abort requests after the given timeout (milliseconds).
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Example `~/.config/bird/config.json5`:
 
 ```json5
 {
-  engine: "graphql",
+  engine: "auto",
   firefoxProfile: "default-release",
   sweetisticsApiKey: "sweet-...",
   allowFirefox: true,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 94fe2da..1a436c8 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import JSON5 from 'json5';
 import kleur from 'kleur';
 import { resolveCliInvocation } from './lib/cli-args.js';
 import { resolveCredentials } from './lib/cookies.js';
+import { resolveEngineMode, shouldUseSweetistics, type EngineMode } from './lib/engine.js';
 import { extractTweetId } from './lib/extract-tweet-id.js';
 import { SweetisticsClient } from './lib/sweetistics-client.js';
 import { type TweetData, TwitterClient } from './lib/twitter-client.js';
@@ -130,12 +131,10 @@ program
   .option(
     '--engine <engine>',
     'Engine: graphql | sweetistics | auto',
-    process.env.BIRD_ENGINE || config.engine || 'graphql',
+    process.env.BIRD_ENGINE || config.engine || 'auto',
   )
   .option('--timeout <ms>', 'Request timeout in milliseconds');
 
-type EngineMode = 'graphql' | 'sweetistics' | 'auto';
-
 type MediaSpec = { path: string; alt?: string; mime: string; buffer: Buffer };
 
 function resolveSweetisticsConfig(options: { sweetisticsApiKey?: string; sweetisticsBaseUrl?: string }) {
@@ -147,20 +146,6 @@ function resolveSweetisticsConfig(options: { sweetisticsApiKey?: string; sweetis
   return { apiKey, baseUrl };
 }
 
-function resolveEngineMode(value?: string): EngineMode {
-  const normalized = (value || 'auto').toLowerCase();
-  if (normalized === 'graphql' || normalized === 'sweetistics' || normalized === 'auto') {
-    return normalized;
-  }
-  return 'auto';
-}
-
-function shouldUseSweetistics(engine: EngineMode, hasApiKey: boolean): boolean {
-  if (engine === 'sweetistics') return true;
-  if (engine === 'graphql') return false;
-  return hasApiKey; // auto
-}
-
 function resolveTimeoutMs(...values: Array<string | number | undefined | null>): number | undefined {
   for (const value of values) {
     if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') continue;
diff --git a/src/lib/engine.ts b/src/lib/engine.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ba0be1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/engine.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+export type EngineMode = 'graphql' | 'sweetistics' | 'auto';
+
+export function resolveEngineMode(value?: string): EngineMode {
+  const normalized = (value || 'auto').toLowerCase();
+  if (normalized === 'graphql' || normalized === 'sweetistics' || normalized === 'auto') {
+    return normalized;
+  }
+  return 'auto';
+}
+
+export function shouldUseSweetistics(engine: EngineMode, hasApiKey: boolean): boolean {
+  if (engine === 'sweetistics') return true;
+  if (engine === 'graphql') return false;
+  return false; // auto: GraphQL primary, Sweetistics only as fallback
+}