A bot that posts random predefined statuses on Mastodon, and also replies to mentions with random, predefined statuses.
First, do the pip!
pip install mastodon.py
Then, put the script onto your server!
nano path/to/script/chatter-bot.py
Don't forget to also crreate the statuses and replies!
nano path/to/script/statuses.json
nano path/to/script/replies.json
Then, schedule it! This is not a bot that is running at all times, so statuses and replies will go out only when it runs (to conserve resources, we don't need a bot that's up and running at all times).
chmod +x path/to/script/chatter-bot.py
crontab -e
*/15 * * * * /path/to/your/virtualenv/bin/python /path/to/chatter-bot/chatter-bot.py
Set to run every 15 minutes, and to use a virtual environment (I prefer to do this cause it's easier to use pip that way, and there's less margin for error).
You're finished!
See it running in action, here.