Automate Twitter Banner Updates with n8n Workflow

1. Opening Problem Statement

Meet Sarah, a social media manager for a growing tech startup. Every week, Sarah wants to showcase appreciation to her latest Twitter followers by updating her profile banner with their profile pictures. But manually checking new followers, downloading images, resizing them, creating a banner collage, and uploading to Twitter saps hours each week. On top of that, mistakes like incorrect image sizes or forgetting to update the banner altogether cost her company missed engagement opportunities and a less professional look.

Sarah’s scenario is all too common in social media teams aiming to keep social proof fresh and visually appealing, but without investing excessive manual effort every time new followers join. Her pain is the tedious process, frequent human errors, and wasted time that could be spent on higher-value social campaigns.

2. What This Automation Does

This unique n8n workflow automates the entire process of creating a dynamic Twitter banner composed of your 3 newest followers’ profile pictures. When you execute the workflow, here’s what happens:

• It fetches the 3 most recent followers from Twitter API along with their profile image URLs.
• Downloads each follower’s profile image at a high resolution.
• Resizes and crops each image into a perfect circular avatar with a transparent background for a clean look.
• Downloads a customizable background image template for the banner.
• Composites the 3 circular avatars side-by-side onto the banner template.
• Uploads the newly created banner to Twitter as the updated profile banner.

This saves Sarah hours per week by eliminating repetitive manual downloads, image editing, and uploads. It also reduces errors and keeps the Twitter profile banner dynamic and engaging with the latest social proof.

3. Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n automation platform account (cloud or self-hosted). 🔑
• Twitter Developer account with OAuth 1.0 credentials for updating profile banner. 🔑
• Twitter Bearer Token for fetching followers via Twitter API v2. 🔑
• Image editing capabilities enabled in n8n (editImage node). 📁
• A banner background image URL or file accessible via HTTP. 📁

Optional: If you want to self-host n8n, check out this guide for affordable and reliable hosting.

4. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Trigger the workflow manually

In n8n, start by adding a Manual Trigger node named “On clicking ‘execute'”. This allows you to test the workflow on demand.

Navigate to Trigger → Manual Trigger, then rename it. You should see the trigger ready to activate workflow runs manually.

Common mistake: Forgetting to actually click ‘Execute’ after designing the workflow means it won’t run.

Step 2: Fetch new followers using Twitter API v2

Add an HTTP Request node named “Fetch new followers.”

Set the URL to: https://api.twitter.com/2/users/{YOUR_USER_ID}/followers?user.fields=profile_image_url&max_results=3

Replace {YOUR_USER_ID} with your numeric Twitter user ID.

Choose Authentication: Header Auth and connect your Twitter Bearer Token credentials.

This node sends a GET request to fetch your 3 latest followers with profile images.

Visual confirmation: The node data preview shows follower data including profile_image_url.

Common mistake: Using OAuth 1.0 here instead of Bearer Token leads to authentication failure.

Step 3: Split follower data array into individual items

Add an Item Lists node called “Item Lists.”

Set the field to split out as data to transform the array of follower data into separate items to process individually.

Previewing this node output shows 3 separate follower records.

Common mistake: Incorrect field name will cause blank outputs.

Step 4: Download each follower’s high-resolution profile image

Insert an HTTP Request node named “Fetching images.”

Set the URL dynamic expression to: {{$json["profile_image_url"].replace('normal','400x400')}}

This modifies Twitter’s default image URL from standard resolution to 400×400 pixels.

Set the response format to File and data property name as avatar to store the image binary.

The node will download the three follower avatars as binary files.

Common mistake: Forgetting to set response format to File means images won’t download properly.

Step 5: Resize follower images to 200×200

Add an Edit Image node labeled “Resize.”

Set resize operation with width and height to 200 pixels and data property name as avatar.

This prepares images for the next crop step.

Common mistake: Not setting data property or dimensions correctly can distort images.

Step 6: Crop images to circular avatars with transparency

Use another Edit Image node named “Crop.”

Configure a multi-step operation:

• Create a new 200×200 image with black background.
• Draw a transparent circle to mask.
• Composite the resized avatar image in circle shape for a clean, stylized look.
• Output format set to PNG.

This outputs nice round avatars with transparent backgrounds.

Common mistake: Incorrect coordinates in circle drawing result in incomplete masks.

Step 7: Resize circular avatars to 75×75 for final banner placement

Add another Edit Image node named “Resize1.”

Set resize to 75×75 pixels to scale down avatars for banner overlay.

Common mistake: Skipping this step can cause oversized avatars on the banner.

Step 8: Extract avatar images as binaries into a single object

Use a Function node with this JavaScript code:

const binary = {};
for (let i=0; i < items.length; i++) {
 binary[`data${i}`] = items[i].binary.avatar;
}

return [
 {
 json: {
 numIcons: items.length,
 },
 binary,
 }
];

This collects all avatars into one item with multiple binary properties for easy merging into the banner.

Common mistake: Variable naming mismatch causes property errors.

Step 9: Download background banner image

Add an HTTP Request node named "Fetch bg."

Use your banner template URL as {TEMPLATE_IMAGE_URL} (replace accordingly).

Set response format to File and data property name as bg.

Step 10: Merge background and avatars into a single stream

Add a Merge node set to Merge By Index mode.

Connect the background image node to the first input and the function node output with avatars to the second input.

This pairs the background and avatars for composite editing.

Step 11: Composite avatars onto the banner template

Use another Edit Image node called "Edit Image" with a multi-step operation:

• Composite data0 avatar at position (1000, 375).
• Composite data1 avatar at (1100, 375).
• Composite data2 avatar at (1200, 375).
• Use the background image as the base.

This creates the final banner image with new follower avatars lined up.

Step 12: Update Twitter profile banner

Add an HTTP Request node with Twitter OAuth1.0 authentication to POST to https://api.twitter.com/1.1/account/update_profile_banner.json.

Set request method to POST with multipart-form-data, sending the edited banner image binary as banner:bg.

This uploads and applies the new Twitter banner.

Common mistake: Using wrong OAuth version or forgetting multipart data results in failure.

5. Customizations ✏️

• Change number of followers shown: In the "Fetch new followers" HTTP Request node, adjust the max_results parameter from 3 to any number supported by Twitter API.
• Use a different banner background: Replace {TEMPLATE_IMAGE_URL} in the "Fetch bg" node with any image URL you want to use as your banner background.
• Adjust avatar placement coordinates: In the "Edit Image" composite step, modify the positionX and positionY values to fit your banner size and style.
• Change avatar circle size: Modify the circle radius and size in the "Crop" node's multi-step image editing operations for different avatar shapes.
• Add additional image processing: Insert more Edit Image nodes for filters or effects before uploading.

6. Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: "401 Unauthorized" fetching followers

Cause: Incorrect or expired Twitter Bearer Token in the "Fetch new followers" node.

Solution: Regenerate token in Twitter Developer Portal and update credentials in n8n HTTP Header Auth.

Problem: Banner update fails with OAuth errors

Cause: Using incorrect OAuth authentication type or expired OAuth1 credentials.

Solution: Verify OAuth1 credentials in n8n and ensure correct key, secret, token, and token secret are used.

Problem: Images not downloading or corrupt

Cause: HTTP Request nodes missing Response Format set to File or network issues.

Solution: Double-check "Fetching images" and "Fetch bg" nodes have Response Format as File; retry with stable connection.

7. Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Confirm Twitter API tokens and OAuth1 credentials are valid and authorized for necessary scopes.
• Test "Fetch new followers" node alone and verify you see the latest followers with profile_image_url fields.
• Ensure "Fetching images" node downloads the images without errors.
• Preview after "Crop" and "Resize1" nodes show expected circular avatar images at 75x75 pixels.
• Test banner composite image preview in the "Edit Image" node.
• Test the final HTTP Request node by running workflow in manual mode to update Twitter banner safely.
• Backup existing banner image or Twitter profile settings before running automated updates live.

8. Deployment Guide

Once tested manually, activate the workflow for scheduled runs or manual triggers as preferred.

If you want to automate weekly updates, add a Cron Trigger node at the start to run at specific intervals.

Monitor executions in n8n to check for any errors or upload failures.

Log success notifications by adding nodes like Email or Slack alerts as extensions.

9. FAQs

Q: Can I use this workflow with more than 3 followers?
A: Yes, by changing the max_results parameter and adjusting avatar composites accordingly.

Q: Will this consume Twitter API rate limits?
A: Fetching followers and updating banners uses API calls; stay within your Twitter Developer account limits.

Q: Is my profile image data secure?
A: All data transfers happen via secure OAuth1 and HTTPS channels.

Q: Can this run fully automated?
A: Yes, by replacing manual trigger with scheduled Cron node.

10. Conclusion

By building and deploying this n8n workflow, you’ve automated the entire process of refreshing your Twitter profile banner with your latest three followers’ faces—saving hours of tedious manual image editing and upload.

This not only improves your social media presence but also energizes your community by visually celebrating your growing follower base.

Next, consider automating other social media content updates or integrating follower interaction alerts to deepen engagement while freeing your time for strategic tasks.

Keep experimenting with n8n to create personalized, impactful automations tailored exactly to your social media goals!