# Bot of Prey

Bot of Prey is a simple Mastodon / Fediverse bot that posts a random bird of prey taken from Wikimedia Commons. The bot makes an API call to my website, the source of which can also be found [here](https://git.bateleur.org/hexaitos/predator_pics).

## Running the bot
You will need to have access to the bird API. You can either host it yourself or use the publically available one at [birds.bateleur.org/api/random](https://birds.bateleur.org/api/random). You will also need an API token for a Fediverse instance. I have tried this with both Mastodon and GoToSocial, I do not know if any others work the same way. 

You must then create a `.env` file within this directory and put the following lines into it: 

```conf
API_KEY = "API_KEY_FOR_FEDIVERSE_INSTANCE"
INSTANCE_URL = "URL_TO_FEDIVERSE_INSTANCE"
BIRD_API_URL = "URL_TO_BIRD_API"
```

You can also copy the included `.env.example` to `.env` and place the correct values into the variables. 

If you would then like for the bot to run every x hours, I would recommend either a `systemd` service or a simple cron job. You can also save Bot of Prey‘s output to a file for logging. An example cron job (posts every six hours) could be as follows: 

```cron
0 */6 * * * /home/user/bot_of_prey/main.rb >> /home/user/bot_of_prey.log 2>&1
```

You will also need to install all the requires gems. Make sure you have Bundler installed or install it with `gem install bundler` if needed. Afterwards, run the `bundle install` command, this should install all the required gems.