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0x5e/wechat-deleted-friends

★ 4,782PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · hard

TLDR

A defunct Python script that attempted to detect which WeChat contacts had deleted you by exploiting the group-add API, abandoned after WeChat introduced rate limits and the detection method was found to be unreliable.

Mindmap

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  root((wechat-deleted-friends))
    What it did
      Detect deletions
      Group add trick
    Why abandoned
      Rate limits added
      Detection unreliable
    Alternatives listed
      Go version
      Node version
      Chrome extension
    Tech stack
      Python
      requests library
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Study how WeChat's web API worked before rate limits were introduced as a historical reference

USE CASE 2

Use as a starting point for understanding social platform API-based contact detection patterns

USE CASE 3

Explore the linked alternative implementations in Go, Node.js, and as a Chrome extension

Tech stack

Pythonrequests

Getting it running

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

This tool no longer works, WeChat patched both the rate limit on group creation and the underlying assumption that deleted contacts cannot be added to groups.

No license information was provided in the explanation.

In plain English

This is a small Python script designed to check whether WeChat contacts have removed you from their friend list. WeChat does not notify users when someone deletes them, and there is no official way to find out. The tool worked around this by using WeChat's web API to create a group chat and attempt to add each contact. If a contact could not be added, it indicated they had deleted the user. Running the script required Python, the requests library, and logging into WeChat via a terminal prompt. The README is written in Chinese and is brief. It begins with a notice that the tool no longer works due to two blocking issues: WeChat introduced rate limits on the group creation API that break the detection method when the total number of additions exceeds a threshold, and a reader reported that even deleted contacts can still be added to groups, which removes the entire basis for the detection approach. Links in the README point to alternative implementations of the same idea in Go, Node.js, and as a Chrome extension, as well as to a larger WeChat web API project and a community-maintained protocol reference document. The README also notes that the script leaves behind a single-member group that must be deleted manually after running. The project is effectively abandoned and is kept as a reference. The author acknowledges the tool is no longer functional and advises visitors not to bother trying it.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
The wechat-deleted-friends script no longer works. Explain why the group-add detection method failed and what the two specific blockers were that caused the project to be abandoned.
Prompt 2
I want to build something similar to wechat-deleted-friends for detecting unfriends on a different platform. What is the general pattern for using group invite APIs to infer relationship status?
Prompt 3
Walk me through the Python code in wechat-deleted-friends that calls the WeChat web API. What endpoints does it use and what does it look for in the response?
Prompt 4
What cleanup step does wechat-deleted-friends leave behind after running, and why does the README warn users about it?
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