Bridgy Fed turns your web site into its own <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse">fediverse</a> account, visible in <ahref="https://joinmastodon.org/">Mastodon</a> and beyond. You can post, reply, like, repost, and follow fediverse accounts by posting on your site with <ahref="https://microformats.org/wiki/microformats2">microformats2</a> and sending <ahref="http://www.webmention.org/">webmentions</a>. Bridgy Fed translates those posts to fediverse protocols like <ahref="https://activitypub.rocks/">ActivityPub</a> and <ahref="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OStatus">OStatus</a>, and sends fediverse interactions back to your site as webmentions.
This isn't <ahref="https://indieweb.org/syndication">syndication</a> or <ahref="https://indieweb.org/POSSE">POSSE</a>! You don't need an account on Mastodon or anywhere else. Bridgy Fed lets your site act like a first class member of the fediverse. People there will see your posts directly from your site, and vice versa.
Bridgy Fed does take some technical know-how to set up, and there are simpler (but less powerful) alternatives. If you just want your site's posts to show up in the fediverse, without any other interactions, <ahref="https://www.google.com/search?q=rss+atom+mastodon+bot">consider an RSS or Atom feed bot instead</a>. Or, if you want to cross-post to an existing Mastodon account, <ahref="https://brid.gy/">try Bridgy</a>.
<li>Your site needs to support SSL. Bridgy Fed uses your domain as your identity, so it depends on SSL to prove that you own it.</li>
<li>Add <ahref="http://www.webmention.org/">webmention</a> support to your site. This is strongly recommended, but technically optional. You don't have to automate the webmentions to Bridgy Fed to federate your posts, and you don't have to accept the inbound webmentions that Bridgy Fed sends, but you'll have a much better experience if you do. <ahref="https://indieweb.org/webmention#Publishing_Software">Check out the IndieWeb wiki</a> for instructions for your web server.</li>
<li>Configure your web site to redirect these URL paths to the same paths on <code>https://fed.brid.gy/</code>, including query parameters:</li>
<p>Here are instructions for a few common web servers:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><em><ahref="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> (self-hosted)</em>: install the <ahref="https://wordpress.org/plugins/safe-redirect-manager/">Safe Redirect Manager</a> plugin, then add these entries:</p>
<li><em><ahref="http://withknown.com/">Known</a></em> or <em><ahref="https://drupal.org/project/indieweb">Drupal</a></em>: follow the <ahref="#apache">Apache</a> or <ahref="#nginx">nginx</a> instructions below.
</li>
<liid="apache"><em><ahref="http://httpd.apache.org/">Apache</a></em>: add this to your <code>.htaccess</code> file:<br/>
(<code>RewriteEngine on</code> is optional if you already have it earlier in your <code>.htaccess</code>. <code>RewriteBase /</code> is optional if you don't have any other <code>RewriteBase</code> directives, or if you put this <code>RewriteRule</code> inside an existing <code>RewriteBase /</code> section.)
</li>
<liid="nginx"><em><ahref="https://nginx.org/">nginx</a></em>: add this to your <code>nginx.conf</code> file, in the <code>server</code> section:<br/>
<liid="profile"class="question">How do I set up my profile?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
Your site's fediverse profile comes from the <ahref="https://microformats.org/wiki/microformats2">microformats2</a><ahref="https://indieweb.org/representative_h-card">representative h-card</a> on your site's home page. Here's a minimal example to set your name and a profile picture:
<p>By default, your fediverse address will be <code>@yourdomain.com@yourdomain.com</code>. We recommend this for simplicity and predictability, for everyone else as well as you, but if you want a different username, you can set it by adding an <code>acct:</code><ahref="https://microformats.org/wiki/rel-me">u-url</a> link inside your h-card with <code>username@yourdomain.com</code>, eg:
<liid="sites"class="question">Which sites are supported?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
These sites are currently supported:
</p>
<ul>
<li><em><ahref="https://joinmastodon.org/">Mastodon</a></em>: posts, replies, likes, reposts aka boosts, @-mentions, and follows, both directions, via ActivityPub.<br/>
The instance must be running at least <ahref="https://hackernoon.com/mastodon-and-the-w3c-f75f376f422">Mastodon 1.6</a>, and more reliably with 2.0 and up. You can find its version on the bottom or right of its <code>/about/more</code> page, e.g. <ahref="https://mastodon.social/about/more">mastodon.social/about/more</a>.
</li>
<li><em><ahref="https://project.hubzilla.org/">Hubzilla</a></em>: replies, likes, and reposts aka shares, both directions, via OStatus.<br/>
The instance must be running <ahref="https://hub.somaton.com/channel/mario/?f=&mid=6db16e0e253c3c376cb921e7b31f94c24522933d7e54c6cf9febaa05359ab2fe@hub.somaton.com">Hubzilla 2.6</a> or higher. You can find its version on its <code>/siteinfo</code> page, e.g. <ahref="https://hub.somaton.com/siteinfo">hub.somaton.com/siteinfo</a>. It also needs the GNU Social addon installed and enabled, and you also need to enable it in your account settings on the <em>Feature/Addon settings</em> page (<code>/settings/featured</code>).
</li>
</ul>
<p>
We're aware of the sites below, and we've made progress on some, but they're not yet supported. Click through and vote for their feature requests if you're interested in any of them!
</p>
<ul>
<li><em><ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/7">Diaspora</a></em>, via OStatus.</li>
<li><em><ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/9">Friendica</a></em>, via OStatus.</li>
<li><em><ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/8">GNU Social</a></em> (née StatusNet), via OStatus.</li>
<li><em><ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/11">MediaGoblin</a></em>, via ActivityPub?</li>
<li><em><ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/12">Pleroma</a></em>, via ActivityPub.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br>
<h3id="usage">Usage</h3>
<liid="use"class="question">How do I use it?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
Federated social network identities take the form <code>@username@example.com</code>, like an email address with a leading <code>@</code>. Your site's identity via Bridgy Fed will be <code>@yourdomain.com@yourdomain.com</code>. (You can customize the username if you prefer.)
</p>
<p>
To use it, first <ahref="#setup">set up your site</a>, then create an IndieWeb <ahref="https://indieweb.org/post">post</a>, <ahref="https://indieweb.org/like">like</a>, <ahref="https://indieweb.org/repost">repost</a>, <ahref="https://indieweb.org/reply">reply</a>, or <ahref="https://indieweb.org/follow">follow</a> as usual, and include a link to <code><ahref="https://fed.brid.gy/">https://fed.brid.gy/</a></code> in that post. Your web server should then <ahref="#setup">send Bridgy Fed a webmention</a>, which it will translate to a Salmon slap or ActivityPub activity and forward to the destination. For example:
<p class="<spanclass='keyword'>e-content</span>"><spanclass='value'>Highly entertaining. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.</span></p>
<p>Basic HTML formatting like links, lists, blockquotes, bold, and italics are often preserved and visible in the fediverse, but specifics vary from site to site.
</p>
<p>
To receive likes, reposts, replies, @-mentions, and follows from the fediverse, just make sure your site accepts webmentions! Bridgy Fed translates those interactions and sends them to your site as webmentions. The webmention source URL will usually be a proxy page on <code>fed.brid.gy</code>. For best results, <ahref="https://brid.gy/about#appspot">make sure your webmention handler detects and handles <code>u-url</code> links</a>!
</p>
<p>
You can see your recent interactions at <ahref="https://fed.brid.gy/user/[your-domain.com]">fed.brid.gy/user/yourdomain.com</a>.
<liid="fragment"class="question">Can I publish just one part of a page?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>If that HTML element has its own id, then sure! Just put the id in the fragment of the URL that you publish. For example, to publish the <code>bar</code> post here:</p>
<p>...just add the id to your page's URL in a fragment, e.g. <code>http://site/post#b</code> here.</p>
</li>
<liid="discovery"class="question">How can people on the fediverse find me?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>In general, all you have to do is use Bridgy Fed to interact with the fediverse once. Send an original post from your site, like or repost something, follow someone, etc. Then, when other users search for <code>@yourdomain.com@yourdomain.com</code>, they should find your profile!
</p>
<p>In practice, this can be a bit finicky, and takes time to propagate to other instances besides the one you first interacted with, but it generally does work.
</p>
</li>
<liid="troubleshooting"class="question">I tried it, and it didn't work!</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>If you sent a webmention, check the HTTP response code and body. It will usually describe the error.</p>
<p>If you got an HTTP 204 from an attempt to federate a response to Mastodon, that means Mastodon accepted the response. If it doesn't show up, that's a known inconsistency right now. We're actively working with them to debug these cases.</p>
<p>You can also <ahref="/recent">see all recent Bridgy Fed requests here</a>, including raw logs. Warning: not for the faint of heart!</p>
<liid="who"class="question">Who are you? Why did you make this?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
I'm <ahref="https://snarfed.org/">Ryan Barrett</a>. I'm just a guy who likes <ahref="https://snarfed.org/2012-07-25_why_i_have_my_own_web_site">the web</a> and <ahref="https://indieweb.org/why">owning my data</a>.
<liid="cost"class="question">How much does it cost?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>Nothing! Bridgy Fed is small, and it doesn't cost much to run. We don't need donations, promise.
</p>
<p>If you <em>really</em> want to contribute, <ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues">file an issue</a> or <ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed">send a pull request</a>, or <ahref="https://opencollective.com/indieweb">donate to the IndieWeb</a>!
</p></li>
<liid="privacy"class="question">What do you do with my data?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>Nothing! Bridgy Fed isn't a business, and never will be, so we don't have the same motivations to abuse your data that other services might. More concretely, Bridgy Fed won't ever send you email, it stores as little of your <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_information">PII</a> (personally identifiable information) as possible, and it <em>never</em> has access to any of your passwords.
</p>
</li>
<liid="history"class="question">How long has this been around?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>I started thinking about bridging federated social networks and peer to peer networks when I discovered them in the early 2000s. I started talking about bridging them to the IndieWeb in 2016, <ahref="http://indieweb.org/2017/ostatusbridge">led a session on it at IndieWeb Summit</a> in July 2017, wrote up <ahref="https://snarfed.org/indieweb-activitypub-bridge">concrete</a><ahref="https://snarfed.org/indieweb-ostatus-bridge"> designs</a> soon after, and started working on Bridgy Fed in August 2017.
<p>Bridgy Fed's terms of service are very simple. You agree not to deliberately attack, breach, or otherwise harm the service. If you manage to access private keys or other private data, you agree to <ahref="#vulnerability">report the vulnerability</a> and not use or disclose that data.
<p>Otherwise, you may use the service for any purpose you see fit. However, we may terminate or block your access for any reason, or no reason at all. (We've never done this, and we expect we never will. Just playing it safe.)
</p>
<p>Do you an administer an instance or other service that Bridgy Fed interacts with? If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to <ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues">file an issue</a>!
<liid="vulnerability"class="question">I found a security vulnerability!</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>Oof. Thank you for reporting it! Please send details to <ahref="mailto:security@brid.gy">security@brid.gy</a>. We may provide monetary awards for reports of significant vulnerabilities, eg reading or modifying stored access tokens, <em>if</em> you follow these rules:</p>
<ul>
<li>Vulnerabilities must be in the application itself, not unrelated services like email (eg SPF/DKIM/DMARC).</li>
<li>Out of scope: rate limiting, XSS/CSRF attacks (Bridgy Fed has no authenticated sessions or private data accessible to users), <code>/admin/*</code> pages.
<li>No automated fuzzing, DoSes, or other high volume traffic. We block this traffic, and it will disqualify you from any possible award.</li>
</ul>
<p>Otherwise, <ahref="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/">the code is open source</a>, feel free to try to break in, let us know if you succeed!</p>
