ActivityPub federation endpoint for Indiekit, built on Fedify 2.0. Makes your IndieWeb site a full fediverse actor — discoverable, followable, and interactive from Mastodon, Misskey, Pixelfed, and any ActivityPub-compatible platform.
Federation
- Full ActivityPub actor with WebFinger, NodeInfo, HTTP Signatures, and Object Integrity Proofs (Ed25519)
- Outbox syndication — posts created via Micropub are automatically delivered to followers
- Inbox processing — receives follows, likes, boosts, replies, mentions, deletes, and account moves
- Content negotiation — ActivityPub clients requesting your site get JSON-LD; browsers get HTML
- Reply delivery — replies are addressed to and delivered directly to the original post's author
- Shared inbox support with collection sync (FEP-8fcf)
- Configurable actor type (Person, Service, Organization, Group)
Reader
- Timeline view showing posts from followed accounts with tab filtering (notes, articles, replies, boosts, media)
- Explore view — browse public timelines from any Mastodon-compatible instance
- Cross-instance hashtag search — search a hashtag across multiple fediverse instances
- Tag timeline — view and follow/unfollow specific hashtags
- Post detail view with threaded context
- Quote post embeds — quoted posts render as inline cards with author, content, and timestamp (FEP-044f, Misskey, Fedibird formats)
- Link preview cards via Open Graph metadata unfurling
- Notifications for likes, boosts, follows, mentions, and replies
- Compose form with dual-path posting (quick AP reply or Micropub blog post)
- Native interactions (like, boost, reply, follow/unfollow from the reader)
- Remote actor profile pages
- Content warnings and sensitive content handling
- Media display (images, video, audio)
- Infinite scroll with IntersectionObserver-based auto-loading
- New post banner — polls for new items and offers one-click loading
- Read tracking — marks posts as read on scroll, with unread filter toggle
- Popular accounts autocomplete in the fediverse lookup bar
- Configurable timeline retention
Moderation
- Mute actors or keywords
- Block actors (also removes from followers)
- All moderation actions available from the reader UI
Mastodon Migration
- Import following/followers lists from Mastodon CSV exports
- Set
alsoKnownAsalias for account Move verification - Batch re-follow processor — gradually sends Follow activities to imported accounts
- Progress tracking with pause/resume controls
Public Profile
- Standalone profile page at the actor URL (HTML fallback for browsers)
- Shows avatar, bio, profile fields, follower/following/post counts, and follow prompt
- Dark mode support via system preference
Debug Dashboard
- Optional Fedify Debugger integration
- Password-protected dashboard at
{mountPath}/__debug__/ - OpenTelemetry tracing for federation activity
- Real-time activity inspection
Admin UI
- Dashboard with follower/following counts and recent activity
- Profile editor (name, bio, avatar, header, profile links with rel="me" verification)
- Pinned posts (featured collection)
- Featured tags (hashtag collection)
- Activity log (inbound/outbound)
- Follower and following lists with source tracking
- Indiekit v1.0.0-beta.25+
- Fedify 2.0+ (bundled as dependency)
- Node.js >= 22
- MongoDB (used by Indiekit)
- Redis (recommended for production delivery queue; in-process queue available for development)
npm install @rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypubAdd the plugin to your Indiekit config:
// indiekit.config.js
export default {
plugins: [
"@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub",
],
"@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub": {
mountPath: "/activitypub",
actor: {
handle: "yourname",
name: "Your Name",
summary: "A short bio",
icon: "https://example.com/avatar.jpg",
},
},
};| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
mountPath |
string | "/activitypub" |
URL prefix for all plugin routes |
actor.handle |
string | "rick" |
Fediverse username (e.g. @handle@yourdomain.com) |
actor.name |
string | "" |
Display name (used to seed profile on first run) |
actor.summary |
string | "" |
Bio text (used to seed profile on first run) |
actor.icon |
string | "" |
Avatar URL (used to seed profile on first run) |
checked |
boolean | true |
Whether the syndicator is checked by default in the post editor |
alsoKnownAs |
string | "" |
Mastodon migration alias URL |
activityRetentionDays |
number | 90 |
Days to keep activity log entries (0 = forever) |
storeRawActivities |
boolean | false |
Store full raw JSON of inbound activities |
redisUrl |
string | "" |
Redis connection URL for delivery queue |
parallelWorkers |
number | 5 |
Number of parallel delivery workers (requires Redis) |
actorType |
string | "Person" |
Actor type: Person, Service, Organization, or Group |
logLevel |
string | "warning" |
Fedify log level: "debug", "info", "warning", "error", "fatal" |
timelineRetention |
number | 1000 |
Maximum timeline items to keep (0 = unlimited) |
notificationRetentionDays |
number | 30 |
Days to keep notifications (0 = forever) |
debugDashboard |
boolean | false |
Enable Fedify debug dashboard at {mountPath}/__debug__/ |
debugPassword |
string | "" |
Password for the debug dashboard (required if dashboard enabled) |
Without Redis, the plugin uses an in-process message queue. This works for development but won't survive restarts and has limited throughput.
"@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub": {
redisUrl: "redis://localhost:6379",
parallelWorkers: 5,
},If you serve a static site alongside Indiekit (e.g. with Eleventy), you need nginx rules to route ActivityPub requests to Indiekit while serving HTML to browsers:
# ActivityPub content negotiation — detect AP clients
map $http_accept $is_activitypub {
default 0;
"~*application/activity\+json" 1;
"~*application/ld\+json" 1;
}
# Proxy /activitypub to Indiekit
location /activitypub {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
}
# Default: static site, but AP clients get proxied
location / {
if ($is_activitypub) {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;
}
try_files $uri $uri/ $uri.html =404;
}When you create a post via Micropub, Indiekit's syndication system calls this plugin's syndicator. The plugin:
- Converts the JF2 post properties to an ActivityStreams 2.0
Create(Note)orCreate(Article)activity - For replies, resolves the original post's author to include them in CC and deliver directly to their inbox
- Sends the activity to all followers via shared inboxes using Fedify's delivery queue
- Appends a permalink to the content so fediverse clients link back to your canonical post
When remote servers send activities to your inbox:
- Follow → Auto-accepted, stored in
ap_followers, notification created - Undo(Follow) → Removed from
ap_followers - Like → Logged in activity log, notification created (only for reactions to your own posts)
- Announce (Boost) → Logged + notification (your content) or stored in timeline (followed account)
- Create (Note/Article) → Stored in timeline if from a followed account; notification if it's a reply or mention
- Update → Updates timeline item content or refreshes follower profile data
- Delete → Removes from activity log and timeline
- Move → Updates follower's actor URL
- Accept(Follow) → Marks our follow as accepted
- Reject(Follow) → Marks our follow as rejected
- Block → Removes actor from our followers
The plugin mounts a root-level router that intercepts requests from ActivityPub clients (detected by Accept: application/activity+json or application/ld+json):
- Root URL (
/) → Redirects to the Fedify actor document - Post URLs → Looks up the post in MongoDB, converts to AS2 JSON
- NodeInfo (
/nodeinfo/2.1) → Delegated to Fedify
Regular browser requests pass through unmodified.
The plugin supports migrating from a Mastodon account:
- Set alias — Configure
alsoKnownAswith your old Mastodon profile URL. This is verified by Mastodon before allowing a Move. - Import social graph — Upload Mastodon's
following_accounts.csvandfollowers.csvexports. Following entries are resolved via WebFinger and stored locally. - Trigger Move — From Mastodon's settings, initiate a Move to
@handle@yourdomain.com. Mastodon notifies your followers, and compatible servers auto-refollow. - Batch re-follow — The plugin gradually sends Follow activities to all imported accounts (10 per batch, 30s between batches) so remote servers start delivering content to your inbox.
After deployment, verify federation is working:
# WebFinger discovery
curl -s "https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct:handle@yourdomain.com" | jq .
# Actor document
curl -s -H "Accept: application/activity+json" "https://yourdomain.com/" | jq .
# NodeInfo
curl -s "https://yourdomain.com/nodeinfo/2.1" | jq .Then search for @handle@yourdomain.com from any Mastodon instance — your profile should appear.
All admin pages are behind IndieAuth authentication:
| Page | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | /activitypub |
Overview with follower/following counts, recent activity |
| Reader | /activitypub/admin/reader |
Timeline from followed accounts (tabbed: notes, articles, replies, boosts, media) |
| Explore | /activitypub/admin/reader/explore |
Browse public timelines from Mastodon-compatible instances |
| Hashtag Explore | /activitypub/admin/reader/explore/hashtag |
Search a hashtag across multiple fediverse instances |
| Tag Timeline | /activitypub/admin/reader/tag?tag=name |
Posts filtered by a specific hashtag, with follow/unfollow |
| Post Detail | /activitypub/admin/reader/post?url=... |
Single post view with quote embeds and link previews |
| Notifications | /activitypub/admin/reader/notifications |
Likes, boosts, follows, mentions, replies |
| Compose | /activitypub/admin/reader/compose |
Reply composer (quick AP or Micropub) |
| Moderation | /activitypub/admin/reader/moderation |
Muted/blocked accounts and keywords |
| Profile | /activitypub/admin/profile |
Edit actor display name, bio, avatar, links |
| Followers | /activitypub/admin/followers |
List of accounts following you |
| Following | /activitypub/admin/following |
List of accounts you follow |
| Activity Log | /activitypub/admin/activities |
Inbound/outbound activity history |
| Pinned Posts | /activitypub/admin/featured |
Pin/unpin posts to your featured collection |
| Featured Tags | /activitypub/admin/tags |
Add/remove featured hashtags |
| Migration | /activitypub/admin/migrate |
Mastodon import wizard |
| Public Profile | /activitypub/users/{handle} |
Public-facing profile page (no auth) |
| Debug Dashboard | /activitypub/__debug__/ |
Fedify debugger (password-protected, if enabled) |
The plugin creates these collections automatically:
| Collection | Description |
|---|---|
ap_followers |
Accounts following your actor |
ap_following |
Accounts you follow |
ap_activities |
Activity log with automatic TTL cleanup |
ap_keys |
RSA and Ed25519 key pairs for HTTP Signatures |
ap_kv |
Fedify key-value store and batch job state |
ap_profile |
Actor profile (single document) |
ap_featured |
Pinned/featured posts |
ap_featured_tags |
Featured hashtags |
ap_timeline |
Reader timeline items from followed accounts |
ap_notifications |
Interaction notifications |
ap_muted |
Muted actors and keywords |
ap_blocked |
Blocked actors |
ap_interactions |
Per-post like/boost tracking |
The JF2-to-ActivityStreams converter handles these Indiekit post types:
| Post Type | ActivityStreams |
|---|---|
| note, reply, bookmark, jam, rsvp, checkin | Create(Note) |
| article | Create(Article) |
| like | Like |
| repost | Announce |
| photo, video, audio | Attachments on Note/Article |
Categories are converted to Hashtag tags. Bookmarks include a bookmark emoji and link.
This plugin uses Fedify 2.0 but carries several workarounds for issues in Fedify or its Express integration. These are documented here so they can be revisited when Fedify upgrades.
File: lib/federation-bridge.js
Upstream issue: @fedify/express uses req.url (source, line 73), not req.originalUrl.
Indiekit plugins mount at a sub-path (e.g. /activitypub). Express strips the mount prefix from req.url, so Fedify's URI template matching breaks — WebFinger, actor endpoints, and inbox all return 404. The custom bridge uses req.originalUrl to preserve the full path.
The bridge also reconstructs POST bodies that Express's body parser has already consumed (req.readable === false). Without this, Fedify handlers like the @fedify/debugger login form receive empty bodies.
Revisit when: @fedify/express switches to req.originalUrl, or provides an option to pass a custom URL builder.
File: lib/federation-bridge.js (in sendFedifyResponse())
Upstream issue: JSON-LD compaction collapses single-element arrays to plain objects.
Mastodon's update_account_fields checks attachment.is_a?(Array) and silently skips profile links (PropertyValues) when attachment is a plain object instead of an array. The bridge intercepts actor JSON-LD responses and forces attachment to always be an array.
Revisit when: Fedify adds an option to preserve arrays during JSON-LD serialization, or Mastodon fixes their array check.
File: lib/federation-setup.js (line ~254)
Upstream issue: No authenticated document loading for outgoing key fetches during signature verification.
Fedify's .authorize() predicate triggers HTTP Signature verification on every GET to the actor endpoint. When a remote server that requires Authorized Fetch (e.g. kobolds.online) requests our actor, Fedify tries to fetch their public key to verify the signature. Those servers return 401 on unsigned GETs, causing uncaught FetchError and 500 responses.
This means we do not enforce Authorized Fetch on our actor endpoint. Any server can read our actor document without signing the request.
Revisit when: Fedify supports using the instance actor's keys for outgoing document fetches during signature verification (i.e. authenticated document loading in the verification path, not just in inbox handlers).
File: lib/federation-setup.js (lines ~784–816)
Upstream change: Fedify 1.x exported importSpki() for loading PEM public keys. This was removed in Fedify 2.0.
The plugin carries local importSpkiPem() and importPkcs8Pem() functions that use the Web Crypto API directly (crypto.subtle.importKey) to load legacy RSA key pairs stored in MongoDB from the Fedify 1.x era. New key pairs are generated using Fedify 2.0's generateCryptoKeyPair() and stored as JWK, so these functions only matter for existing installations that migrated from Fedify 1.x.
Revisit when: All existing installations have been migrated to JWK-stored keys, or Fedify re-exports a PEM import utility.
File: lib/inbox-listeners.js
Upstream behavior: Fedify's personal inbox handlers do not automatically use authenticated (signed) HTTP fetches.
All .getActor(), .getObject(), and .getTarget() calls in inbox handlers must explicitly pass an authenticated DocumentLoader obtained via ctx.getDocumentLoader({ identifier: handle }). Without this, fetches to Authorized Fetch (Secure Mode) servers like hachyderm.io fail with 401, causing timeline items to show "Unknown" authors and missing content.
This is not a bug — Fedify requires explicit opt-in for signed fetches. But it's a pattern that every inbox handler must follow, and forgetting it silently degrades functionality.
Revisit when: Fedify provides an option to default to authenticated fetches in inbox handler context, or adds a middleware layer that handles this automatically.
- No automated tests — Manual testing against real fediverse servers
- Single actor — One fediverse identity per Indiekit instance
- No Authorized Fetch enforcement —
.authorize()disabled on actor dispatcher (see workarounds above) - No image upload in reader — Compose form is text-only
- No custom emoji rendering — Custom emoji shortcodes display as text
- In-process queue without Redis — Activities may be lost on restart
MIT