This page tracks changes. For what the weights mean and how the ranker works end to end, start with how the X algorithm works, read from its source code, and for how X compares with TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, see how social media algorithms work in 2026.
Every figure below comes from the ranking weights file, home-mixer/params/param.rs in xAI's open-source x-algorithm repository. The repository is a periodic snapshot, so each number is the value as of the named release, not a permanent constant. Each weight multiplies the predicted probability that you take an action, not a raw count of actions.
What changed in the X algorithm in November 2026?
Four live weights moved compared with the October 2026 snapshot:
| Signal | October 2026 | November 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Like | 0.5 | 0.66 | Up 32% |
| Continuous dwell time | 0.004 | 0.006 | Up 50% |
| Video open | 0.07 | 0.02 | Down about 71% |
| "Not interested" | -47.52 | -52.272 | 10% stronger penalty |
Nothing was removed, and the rest of the action weights held: copy-link share 20.0, reply 5.0, quote 5.0, DM-share 5.0, follow the author 4.0, generic share 2.0, repost 1.0, click and dwell 0.4, report -234, mute -58.8, block -31.2.
What do the November 2026 changes mean for your posts?
- Likes count a little more, but still very little. At 0.66, a like is weighted about an eighth of a reply, and a copy-link share is weighted about thirty times a like (it was forty). The order of the signals is unchanged.
- Time on a post counts more. The continuous dwell weight rose by half. A post that holds a reader for a few extra seconds earns a little more from every view.
- A tap on a video counts less. Opening a video is now worth well under a third of what it was. A thumbnail that earns a tap but not a watch buys less than it used to.
- "Show me less of this" bites harder. The not-interested penalty grew by 10%. Bait that draws the wrong viewer costs more when they wave it off.
Read these as probability weights, not exchange rates. A -52.272 penalty does not mean one "not interested" cancels some fixed number of likes; it scales a much rarer predicted action so it can move the final score at all.
What did X add but not switch on?
The November 2026 release also added code that is present but turned off. Each of these sits behind a feature flag that defaults to false in the public repository, so as published none of it changes ranking yet:
- A video carousel. A separate strip of videos inside the timeline with its own scoring: a video-open weight of 1.0, immersive dwell and view weights currently at 0, and deduplication by author and by content similarity (a 0.72 similarity threshold) so it does not show near-duplicates.
- Page-level reranking and exploration. Settings to rerank a whole page of the feed at once and to explore beyond the top-scored posts (a decode temperature of 0.0 and an exploration temperature of 0.2).
- A general post-video weight, added at 0.0, so it has no effect today.
Flags like these are worth watching. If the video carousel ships on, X gains a real short-video surface with its own ranking, and that would be the first release to change what kind of post X rewards rather than how much.
What was the baseline before November 2026?
Our tracking starts from the October 2026 snapshot of the code. At that point the positive weights were copy-link share 20.0, reply 5.0, quote 5.0, DM-share 5.0, follow the author 4.0, generic share 2.0, repost 1.0, like 0.5, click and dwell 0.4, and the negatives were report -234, mute -58.8, "not interested" -47.52, block -31.2. The widely shared 2023 multipliers (a reply worth about 27 likes, and so on) describe the older twitter/the-algorithm codebase and were superseded by the Phoenix ranker in January 2026, not corrected.
How often does the X algorithm change?
xAI has published the ranking code on a roughly monthly cadence since it first released it on January 20, 2026. We diff each release against the last one and add a dated entry here whenever a weight moves. Months with no change get no entry.
Sources
All figures are confirmed from published source code, not leaks or estimates: the ranking weights file, home-mixer/params/param.rs in xAI's open-source X ranking repository, compared release to release.
The November 2026 release nudged likes and dwell up, cut the value of a bare video tap, and stiffened the "not interested" penalty. The ranking order did not move: a post worth privately sending still wins on X.
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