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 takes 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>.
<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/>
<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>
<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>If you want to set a <ahref="https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/profile/#header">header image</a>, add a <code><ahref="https://indieweb.org/featured">u-featured</a></code> image to your h-card, eg:
<p>By default, your fediverse address will be <code>@yourdomain.com@yourdomain.com</code>. Many services (eg Mastodon) default to only showing the username, so this generally shows up as just <code>@yourdomain.com</code> in posts, and the full address appears on hover.</p>
<p>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:
<!-- <li id="sites" class="question">Which sites are supported?</li> -->
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<!-- <li><em><a href="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 <a href="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. <a href="https://mastodon.social/about/more">mastodon.social/about/more</a>. -->
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<!-- <li><em><a href="https://project.hubzilla.org/">Hubzilla</a></em>: replies, likes, and reposts aka shares, both directions, via OStatus.<br /> -->
<!-- The instance must be running <a href="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. <a href="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>). -->
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<!-- 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! -->
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<!-- <li><em><a href="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/7">Diaspora</a></em>, via OStatus.</li> -->
<!-- <li><em><a href="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/9">Friendica</a></em>, via OStatus.</li> -->
<!-- <li><em><a href="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/8">GNU Social</a></em> (née StatusNet), via OStatus.</li> -->
<!-- <li><em><a href="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/11">MediaGoblin</a></em>, via ActivityPub?</li> -->
<!-- <li><em><a href="https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed/issues/12">Pleroma</a></em>, via ActivityPub.</li> -->
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. It can be empty if you want. Your web server should then <ahref="#setup">send Bridgy Fed a webmention</a>, which it will translate and forward into the fediverse. Alternatively, <ahref="https://indieweb.org/Webmention#Manual_Webmentions">you can send the webmention manually.</a> For example:
<p class="<spanclass='keyword'>e-content</span>"><spanclass='value'>Highly entertaining. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.</span></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 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>.
You can see your recent interactions by <ahref="/web-site">entering your domain here</a>.
</p>
</li>
<liid="reply"class="question">How do I reply to a fediverse post?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
Put the reply in a new post on your web site, and include a link to the fediverse post you're replying to with class <code><ahref="http://microformats.org/wiki/rel-in-reply-to">u-in-reply-to</a></code>, as if you were publishing a normal <ahref="https://indieweb.org/comment">IndieWeb reply</a>. For example:
<p class="<spanclass='keyword'>e-content</span>"><spanclass='value'>Highly entertaining. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.</span></p>
<liid="like"class="question">How do I favorite (aka like) or boost (aka repost) a fediverse post?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>Favoriting and boosting are almost exactly the <ahref="#reply">same as replying</a>. The only difference is that you use <code><ahref="https://indieweb.org/like">u-like-of</a></code> for a favorite/like or <code><ahref="https://indieweb.org/repost">u-repost-of</a></code> for a boost/repost.
<liid="follow"class="question">How do I follow someone?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p>
Post an <ahref="https://indieweb.org/follow#How_to_markup">IndieWeb follow</a> on your site with <code>u-follow-of</code> microformats2, then send a webmention to Bridgy Fed. Your site may do that automatically if it supports webmentions. For example:
I'm now following <a class="<spanclass='keyword'>u-follow-of</span>" href="<ahref='https://octodon.social/@cwebber'>https://octodon.social/@cwebber</a>">@cwebber@octodon.social</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>
<liid="read"class="question">How do I read my fediverse timeline/feed?</li>
<liclass="answer">
<p><ahref="/web-site">Your user page</a> has links to your fediverse timeline/feed, ie posts from people you follow, in HTML, Atom, and RSS formats. Add them to your feed reader or read them in your browser!
<p>They can search for your web site in any Mastodon instance! Often you can just enter your domain, eg <code>yourdomain.com</code>, in any Mastodon search box. If that doesn't work, try your full fediverse address, eg <code>@yourdomain.com@yourdomain.com</code>. This can be finicky now and then, but it usually works.
<p><ahref="/web-site">Check out your user page!</a> It detects and describes common problems with <ahref="#setup">your setup</a>, and it shows your recent interactions and detailed logs.
<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>
