X announced in August 2026 that it is significantly expanding the open-source code behind its platform and launching a new transparency tool that lets users see whether their accounts or posts have been affected by its ranking systems.
The company is publishing the source code for its “For You” timeline — the default feed users see when opening the app — on GitHub under the Apache v2 license. The release includes model configuration, filter details, and core ranking system parameters, making the codebase roughly 10 to 15 times larger than before. Developers will also be able to submit proposed updates to the algorithm, which X engineers will review for possible inclusion.
Alongside the code release, X is rolling out a transparency feature called “Under the Hood” in the app’s settings. Users who have posted ten or more times in the past month can download their aggregate stats as a JSON file showing whether any labels have been applied to their account or posts over the previous calendar month. X suggests non-technical users can feed the file into an AI tool alongside the GitHub repository to interpret the results. The feature will initially be available to a test group of accounts at least one year old before a broader rollout.
X’s VP of Product, Keith Coleman, said external researchers were able to run the algorithm’s scoring system outside of X ahead of launch. Some systems were excluded from the release — including those that use Grok to flag potentially rule-violating posts — to prevent bad actors from exploiting that information to spread spam.
The move is framed as a response to longstanding concerns about how X’s algorithm influences politics, elections, and the spread of misinformation. The platform has faced accusations of shadowbanning — making posts invisible without users’ knowledge — for years, which Twitter previously denied.
Coleman said the goal is to allow the public to assess how posts are distributed on the platform and verify whether it operates as a level playing field. However, the source notes that X has become less transparent in other areas since going private under Elon Musk, including reporting less frequently on user metrics, revenue, and government takedown requests.
Source: TechCrunch