From 7e138ae65e94bb1abbfb4bf473ab360fac58ca6e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Dudenhoeffer <steve@stevedudenhoeffer.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 03:20:54 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Fix rate limiting by not fetching all posts

- Break early when finding target post instead of list()
- Limit poll_loop and initial_seed to max 40 posts per fetch
- Changed replies=True to replies=False for fewer API calls

The list() call was consuming the entire generator, triggering
Cloudflare's ~40 post rate limit.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/poller.py | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/poller.py b/src/poller.py
index 11c4db2..6e1616f 100644
--- a/src/poller.py
+++ b/src/poller.py
@@ -97,8 +97,9 @@ def fetch_and_relay_post(post_url: str) -> bool:
     try:
         api = Api()
         # Fetch user's statuses and find the matching post
+        # Iterate without converting to list to avoid fetching all pages
         print(f"Fetching statuses for @{username} to find post {post_id}...")
-        statuses_gen = api.pull_statuses(username, replies=True)
+        statuses_gen = api.pull_statuses(username, replies=False)
 
         if statuses_gen is None:
             print(
@@ -108,19 +109,17 @@ def fetch_and_relay_post(post_url: str) -> bool:
             )
             return False
 
-        statuses = list(statuses_gen)
-
-        if not statuses:
-            print(
-                "No statuses returned. The API may be rate-limited or blocked.",
-                file=sys.stderr,
-            )
-            return False
-
-        for post in statuses:
+        # Iterate through the generator, breaking early when found
+        found = False
+        for post in statuses_gen:
             if post and str(post.get("id", "")) == post_id:
                 print(f"Found post {post_id}")
-                return process_single_post(post, username)
+                found = True
+                result = process_single_post(post, username)
+                break
+
+        if found:
+            return result
 
         print(f"Post not found in recent statuses: {post_id}", file=sys.stderr)
         return False
@@ -151,7 +150,7 @@ def poll_loop() -> None:
         try:
             print(f"Checking for new posts from @{TRUTH_USER}...")
 
-            # Fetch recent statuses
+            # Fetch recent statuses (limit to avoid rate limiting)
             statuses_gen = api.pull_statuses(TRUTH_USER, replies=False)
             if statuses_gen is None:
                 print(
@@ -161,12 +160,18 @@ def poll_loop() -> None:
                 time.sleep(POLL_INTERVAL)
                 continue
 
-            statuses = list(statuses_gen)
+            # Only fetch first batch of posts to avoid rate limiting
+            # The API returns newest first, so we collect and reverse
+            statuses: list[dict] = []
+            max_fetch = 40  # Stay under Cloudflare's ~40 post limit
+            for i, post in enumerate(statuses_gen):
+                if i >= max_fetch:
+                    break
+                if post is not None:
+                    statuses.append(post)
 
             # Process in chronological order (oldest first)
             for post in reversed(statuses):
-                if post is None:
-                    continue
                 post_id = str(post.get("id", ""))
                 if not post_id:
                     continue
@@ -216,9 +221,12 @@ def initial_seed() -> None:
             )
             return
 
-        statuses = list(statuses_gen)
+        # Limit fetch to avoid rate limiting
         count = 0
-        for post in statuses:
+        max_fetch = 40
+        for i, post in enumerate(statuses_gen):
+            if i >= max_fetch:
+                break
             if post is None:
                 continue
             post_id = str(post.get("id", ""))