Don't build #ActivityPub from scratch! It's complex. See why using the #Fedify framework is the smarter way to develop for the fediverse in my new post:

Don't build #ActivityPub from scratch! It's complex. See why using the #Fedify framework is the smarter way to develop for the fediverse in my new post:
I wish #ActivityPub allowed for a single identity to be used on myltiple services.
I don't want to create a mastodon account AND a loops account AND a pixelfed account AND a lemmy account. Why can't I just have @res260? :(
If AP steals one idea from #ATProto, it should be this.
"Local community organizers are looking for alternatives to centralized #eventplatforms like Meetup.com. While some communities have moved to standalone #WordPress solutions with #eventsplugins, they miss out on the network effects and discovery features that make centralized platforms valuable.
Building upon the existing WordPress #ActivityPub #eventbridge, we’ll create a “Community Event Starter Kit” that makes it easy to host events in #theFediverse.
https://hackathon.cloudfest.com/project/federated-community-events/
Fetching remote #ActivityPub objects or actors often involves handling #WebFinger lookups, content negotiation, and then parsing potentially untyped JSON.
With #Fedify, it's much simpler: use Context.lookupObject()
. Pass it a URI (e.g., https://instance.tld/users/alice
) or a handle (e.g., @alice@instance.tld
), and Fedify handles the lookup and content negotiation automatically.
The real power comes from the return value: a type-safe Activity Vocabulary object, not just raw JSON. This allows you to confidently access properties and methods directly. For example, you can safely traverse account moves using .getSuccessor()
like this:
let actor = await ctx.lookupObject("@alice@instance.tld");
while (isActor(actor)) {
const successor = await actor.getSuccessor();
if (successor == null) break;
actor = successor;
}
// actor now holds the latest account after moves
This is readily available in handlers where the Context
object is provided (like actor dispatchers or inbox listeners).
Focus on your app's logic, not protocol boilerplate!
Learn more: https://fedify.dev/manual/context#looking-up-remote-objects
Starting to feel, more and more, like I need to build my own #ActivityPub thing. This book sounds like a good foundation to build off of. Authored by @evan@cosocial.ca.
(comment on ActivityPub)
@patriottakes.bsky.social
please follow @ap.brid.gy so that people on #mastodon and other #ActivityPub services can communicate with you.
also, if everybody was bridged, the costs to move become negligible, pressuring #bluesky to never “go evil” in the first place.
fed.brid.gy/docs#bluesky...
Bridgy Fed
@davidcorn.bsky.social
please follow @ap.brid.gy so that people on #mastodon and other #ActivityPub services can communicate with you.
also, if everybody was bridged, the costs to move become negligible, pressuring #bluesky to never “go evil” in the first place.
fed.brid.gy/docs#bluesky...
Bridgy Fed
Is there a way to see how much #FreeOurFeeds has raised?
Isn't the better solution to normalize everybody on #bluesky bridging to #ActivityPub, so that if they start to "go evil", folks can move here and tell everybody there that they did so and to join them?
If most are not bridged as is the case today, moving here means losing lots of connections. Most will resist doing that until it gets truly desperate. But if most are bridged, the cost is negligible. And this will keep BS cool. #SocialWeb
@kinnison I'm all the more thankful that the #Fediverse is doing pretty well in comparison. Surely #ActivityPub is not flawless, but it's doing so much better than Matrix for its intended purposes. (Yes, instant messanging and microblogging aren't the same, but still, both are federated protocols)
First 100: BadgeFed Explorer
The verified Recognition was issued to @𝚂𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝙰𝗉𝗉𝗌
You ventured into uncharted territory and helped shape the BadgeFed project from the start. As one of the first 100 testers, your curiosity, feedback, and bug-finding instincts helped stabilize the platform. The fediverse will always remember your role in getting us off the ground—one crash, typo, and glorious bug report at a time.
Earning Criteria: Awarded to the first 100 individuals who actively participated in the early testing phase of BadgeFed. This includes exploring the platform, submitting feedback or bug reports, and generally poking around where things probably weren’t ready yet. These badges are limited—no retroactive claims, no reruns, no exceptions. You were here. You mattered..
Issued on: 04/11/2025 18:01:32
Accepted On: 04/12/2025 07:54:59
Verify the Recognition here.
First 100: BadgeFed Explorer
The verified Recognition was issued to @Suzanne Aldrich
You ventured into uncharted territory and helped shape the BadgeFed project from the start. As one of the first 100 testers, your curiosity, feedback, and bug-finding instincts helped stabilize the platform. The fediverse will always remember your role in getting us off the ground—one crash, typo, and glorious bug report at a time.
Earning Criteria: Awarded to the first 100 individuals who actively participated in the early testing phase of BadgeFed. This includes exploring the platform, submitting feedback or bug reports, and generally poking around where things probably weren’t ready yet. These badges are limited—no retroactive claims, no reruns, no exceptions. You were here. You mattered..
Issued on: 04/12/2025 05:07:53
Accepted On: 04/12/2025 06:30:41
Verify the Recognition here.
The first 16 badges based in activitypub from @badgefed@vocalcat.com were issued! I am planning to issue another 10 tonight.
Follow @badgefed@badges.vocalcat.com for check how the testing is going!
Week in Fediverse 2025-04-11
Servers
- PeerTube v7.1.1
- Lemmy v0.19.11
- Manyfold v0.107.0
- Hubzilla v10.2.2
- ActivityPub for WordPress v5.7.0
- Misskey v2025.4.0
- tootik v0.15.6
- Gush! v0.0.16
- NodeBB v4.2.1
- You think you're following us, but you might not be (Ghost)
- Trunk & Tidbits, March 2025 (Mastodon)
- 2025 PeerTube Roadmap ! (PeerTube)
- Flox: A self hosted Movie, Series and Animes watch list
Clients
- Fedilab v3.32.0
- IceCubesApp v1.11.3
- Pixelix v4.1.0
- Voyager v2.29.0
- Tesseract v1.4.33
- Interstellar v0.9.1
Tools and Plugins
For developers
Articles
- Eight years on, Mastodon stubbornly survives
- Mastodon Exit Interview
- Some Notes about FediList (and Poisoned Data)
- Fediverse Report – #111
-----
#WeekInFediverse #Fediverse #ActivityPub
Previous edition: https://mitra.social/objects/01960262-d8ba-73dd-51c1-18f3881f9ec7
Quick news from my #WordPress blogs:
- After eliminating #ActivityPub on both, due to a bloated (IMHO) plugin a few weeks ago, I removed the connection to Bridgy, due to too many hiccups lately.
- Both databases were reduced instantly by 25%, speeding access to content as a whole.
- From now on, all your likes, boosts and comments on my posts, past or future, stay in the Fediverse.
Been busy this evening, with a chain-reaction of events.
I got my #3DPrinter working again - nozzle was blocked, and I couldn't get it unblocked, so I ordered some replacement ones, which arrived nearly a week ago. For multiple reasons, I haven't had the opportunity and/or energy to fit it, until tonight. Got a great test print run off, first try with the new nozzle, so tomorrow I'll be able to set off the ~15 hour print I was trying to do when it blocked.
Also been thinking about a re-spin of the #MakerSpace concept that hopefully won't be so fkn horrible to run. I've been ruminating on this for the last couple of years - especially since I rage-quit running my local makerspace in the summer of 2023, when I had an #AutisticMeltdown due to having to leave our premises because the landlord was a rogue. Tonight I was able to actually get some good ideas down, some basic principles: virtual; non-hierarchical; no committee/board; distributed inventory; premise-less; nomadic - meeting in various venues around the area; organised online (pref using something federated); self-organising; plus a bunch of other things.
As a result of *that*, I ended up looking at #ActivityPub based applications, looking for things that might help with the "virtual makerspace" idea. Found three that I feel I need to check out: Hubzilla, Mobilizon, and NodeBB.
Looking at those three, NodeBB stuck out as it actually mentions FreeBSD as a supported platform, so *that* made me update my #FreeBSD-based mini-NAS, so I could test it. So I've just got it back up to scratch, because it WAS running FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE-p5 GENERIC, but after running freebsd-update, I found it's now no longer supported. While I've been typing this, it's just finished installing 14.2-RELEASE-p3.
Oh, and also been talking with my wife about how her #AutismAssessment went this evening.
And posting about British Chips and Mushy Peas.
Will it be possible to get the same reach with the #ActivityPub #Wordpress Plugin? (Or Bluesky Bridge)
I am asking because for example one can not opt into Full Text Search am I correct? https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-opt-into-or-out-of-full-text-search-on-mastodon/
ActivityPub ist super, um dein WordPress-Blog zum Fediverse zu verbinden. Je nach Aktivität kann es jedoch sein, dass du einen versehentlichen DDoS gegen deinen eigenen Server verursachst.
[…]
https://epiph.yt/blog/2025/das-activitypub-plugin-und-der-versehentliche-ddos/
Technically, this is where Mastodon shows a usability gap:
When suspended, you can export follows, but your followers are cut off. You can’t redirect them. They aren't notified.
Most of mine were mutuals so I can slowly rebuild. But even after reconnecting, I now see less of their discussions, because my new instance isn't yet well-federated.
That means losing not just access, but visibility to a community I cultivated over years.
#ActivityPub #MastodonMigration
4/6
Stanotte in preda alla vena creativa ho iniziato ascrivere una guida al #Fediverso. Poi mi sono accorto che devo ancora studiare bene come funziona #activitypub!
Quindi alla fine ho fatto solo la INTRO, abbastanza psichedelica!