ActivityPub
ActivityPub is a decentralized social networking protocol based on the ActivityStreams 2.0 data format. ActivityPub is an official W3C recommended standard published by the W3C Social Web Working Group. It provides a client to server API for creating, updating and deleting content, as well as a federated server to server API for delivering notifications and subscribing to content.
To understand the whole ActivityPub stack as it is commonly implemented, also read:
Places for developer discussion:
- Discussion forums: Discourse with ActivityPub support
- Discussion forums: NodeBB with ActivityPub support
- Developer chat: Matrix
- Developer and standardization chat: IRC channel
#social
Implementations and usage:
- FediDB: Fediverse Network Stats
- Fediverse Observer: Fediverse Network Stats
- The Federation: Fediverse Network Stats
Documentation:
- Guide for new ActivityPub implementers: Community edited and unofficial, but useful!
- Evan Prodromou: ActivityPub: Book published by O’Reilly'
- ActivityPub Primer: Community-edited Wiki
- Understanding ActivityPub: Blog post by Sebastian Jambor
- How to make friends and verify requests. Implementing an ActivityPub inbox: Blog post by Eugen Rochko from the Mastodon project
- FediDevs.org: Developer documentation and community
Interactive exploration:
- ActivityPub.academy: A modified Mastodon instance for interactive protocol exploration
- httpsig.org: Try out HTTP signatures (RFC 9421) interactively
Libraries:
- Fedify - ActivityPub server framework: Typescript library
Testing:
- activitypub-testing: Implementation Guide
- FediTest: Testing distributed, heterogeneous systems with complex protocols such as the Fediverse.
- BrowserPub: A browser for exploring ActivityPub and the fediverse.
News:
- Connected Places: Newsletter about the open social web
- … and see below!
Events:
- Open Social Web Events: curated by FediForum
Ongoing standardization work:
- SocialCG: W3C Community Group that advances the federated social web including ActivityPub
Other resources:
- Delightful fediverse clients: Curated list of module and desktop apps for accessing the ActivityPub network
- Delightful fediverse experience: Curated list of decentralized social networking software based on ActivityPub
- Delightful fediverse development: Curated list of resources for developers creating software based on ActivityPub
- FediForum Connect: Curated list of open social web products and services for organizations, communities and creators