X's Under the Hood: what it shows, what it doesn't

What Under the Hood shows

The report covers one full calendar month at a time, and X publishes it only after that month has closed and roughly 10 more days have passed, per X's own published reporting code. It lists two kinds of labels: labels applied to specific posts, with the share of that month's posts carrying each one, and labels applied to the account as a whole, with the share of days in the month each one was active.

It is only generated for accounts at least 1 year old with at least 10 eligible posts in the covered month; an account that misses either threshold sees an eligibility panel instead of label data. It is visible only to the account's own owner, while logged in: there is no way to view another handle's report from outside, which is exactly the gap a public check fills.

What Under the Hood doesn't show

It only covers one calendar month at a time, published well after the fact: a restriction applied and lifted entirely since the last report was generated will not appear until the next one, which can be weeks away, not the moment it happens.

It doesn't identify which specific post triggered an account-level label, only the share of days that label was active. It doesn't run a search test, a thread visibility test, or a ranking comparison: it reports labels X's own systems logged internally, not an outside read of what search or an open conversation actually shows a visitor right now.

Accounts under a year old, or with fewer than 10 posts in the covered month, see no label data at all in that report, regardless of what is actually happening to their reach.

When does an outside check add something Under the Hood can't?

A check from outside the account reads what a stranger's search or an open thread actually shows right now, on any public handle, without waiting for a calendar month to close or meeting an account age and posting-volume minimum. It cannot read X's internal labels either: it observes the same 4 public surfaces described on the methodology page, repeatable as often as needed, on the account's current state rather than a month that already ended.

Should I read Under the Hood or run a check?

Both answer different questions, and neither replaces the other. Under the Hood, when it is available to your account, names X's own labels for a month that has already closed. An outside check tells you what a visitor sees right now, on any of the 4 restrictions, as often as you want to run it.

To see today's visibility instead of last month's, test any public handle right now, free and in a few seconds.

The 4 restrictions, in detail

• Search suggestion ban
• Search ban
• Ghost ban
• Reply deboosting