import datetime
import argparse

from auth import twitter_auth as auth
from twitterbot import TwitterBot
from apscheduler.schedulers.blocking import BlockingScheduler

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Respond to Twitter mentions.')
parser.add_argument('-l', '--listen', nargs='+', default='happy birthday',
                    help='phrase(s) to reply to (separate by space)')
parser.add_argument('-r', '--reply', default='HANDLE thanks!',
                    help='reply text (use HANDLE for user handle)')
args = parser.parse_args()

bot = TwitterBot(auth, args.listen, args.reply.replace('HANDLE', '@{}'))


def reply():
    print(' Running...')
    bot.reply_to_mention()
    print(' Finished running at {}'.format(datetime.datetime.now()))


def main():
    print('Starting bot...')

    # run once every minute
    scheduler = BlockingScheduler()
    scheduler.add_job(reply, 'interval', minutes=1)
    scheduler.start()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

import sys
import datetime
import argparse

from auth import twitter_auth as auth
from twitterbot import TwitterBot
from apscheduler.schedulers.blocking import BlockingScheduler

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Respond to Twitter mentions.')
parser.add_argument('-l', '--listen', nargs='+', default=['happy birthday'],
                    help='phrase(s) to reply to (separate by space)')
parser.add_argument('-r', '--reply', default='HANDLE thanks!',
                    help='reply text (use HANDLE for user handle)')
args = parser.parse_args()

bot = TwitterBot(auth, args.listen, args.reply.replace('HANDLE', '@{}'))


def reply():
    print(' Running...')
    bot.reply_to_mention()
    print(' Finished running at {}'.format(datetime.datetime.now()))


def main():
    print('Starting bot...')

    # run once every minute
    scheduler = BlockingScheduler()
    scheduler.add_job(reply, 'interval', minutes=1)
    scheduler.start()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Change default type for listen argument
Change default type for listen argument

str->list
