> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.motion.tips/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.motion.tips/how-it-works.md).
# How It Works
Motion turns posting on X into a tipping allocation. This page walks each step in plain terms.
## What is a tracked post?
A tracked post is a public X post connected to one of the communities Motion indexes. A post is tracked when it does any of these:
* uses the community's $cashtag (for example `$MOTION`)
* mentions the community's account (for example `@motiontip`)
* replies to, quotes, or retweets a post that does either
Motion follows a fixed list of communities, the current list is on the [first page](/readme.md#the-communities). If your post touches one of those communities, it counts. If it doesn't, it doesn't.
Your X account must be public. Motion only reads public activity, so posts from a protected account can't be scored.
## 1. You post
Bagwork in any tracked community on X. Four moves earn:
* **Reply** to a tracked post
* **Quote** a tracked post
* **Retweet** a tracked post
* **Post or mention** the community yourself (for $MOTION that's `$MOTION` or `@motiontip`)
Post from your normal X account. There is nothing to submit and nothing to register: Motion reads public activity on its own. Anything you post inside a cycle window is picked up automatically and scored when that cycle closes.
## 2. Motion scores it
The protocol's indexing engine reads public X activity around the clock. A cycle is a fixed 30-minute window, 48 of them a day. When a cycle closes, everything that happened inside it gets scored: who did what, in which community. Eligible actions earn points, and your points are totalled at the close. Not every action is worth the same: [Earn Points](/qualify-and-earn.md) explains what qualifies and what it earns.
## 3. The treasury burns
The cycle's score sets how much $MOTION the treasury sends to the burn address. The burn address is an address nobody holds keys to: tokens sent there can never move again. Each cycle's burn is a single on-chain transaction, and the [burn log](https://motion.tips/burn-log) links the proof for every single cycle, so you can open any burn and check it yourself.
## 4. You earn Tip Credit
A non-public algorithm sets your Tip Credit allocation each cycle, weighing your social activity, the reach of your profile, and a hype multiplier. That credit is your tipping allocation.
Tip Credit is not a token sitting in a wallet. It is an allocation the protocol tracks for your account, backed by the locked treasury, and it accrues to your X username automatically, you don't have to do anything to collect it. Your credit shows on the public [leaderboard](/leaderboard-and-tip-allocation.md). It only ever grows in the burn phase.
## 5. Credit becomes tips
Your Tip Credit is what you tip with: real tips, sent to real creators, straight from the X timeline with a single reply, [Tipping](/tip-on-the-timeline.md) shows the exact command.
Tips you **receive** are real $MOTION, and they accumulate to your X username even if you have never visited the site. When you want them on-chain, sign in with X on [motion.tips](https://motion.tips) and claim them to your wallet, that claim is the only moment you need a wallet at all. Or skip the wallet entirely and tip them forward to someone else.
## What do I actually do?
Post in the communities you are already in: reply, quote, retweet, or post with the community's tag. Then check the [leaderboard](/leaderboard-and-tip-allocation.md) after the next cycle closes, if you were scored, you're on it.
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