NodeBB and Threads

There have been some reports (@bh4-tech I believe?) that NodeBB does not successfully federate with Threads. Looking into the issue, I discovered that it is only this domain community.nodebb.org that is unable to get/send activites with Threads.net.

After some help from @erincandescent@akko.erincandescent.net @jaz@mastodon.iftas.org and @grishka@friends.grishka.me, I have discovered that our domain has been blocked by Threads for not serving up a public feed.

This is the feed they're specifically looking for. If your application does not serve it, it will be automatically blocked at some point. There is an appeal form you can fill out so your server can be re-instated.

- At this time, Threads seems to see the lack of the public feed as a non-starter for AP federation.
- As an AP software implementor, in order for admins running NodeBB to not have their servers auto-blocked, I will have to implement this API
- Threads relying on the existence of a Mastodon-specific API suggests that they're federating with Mastodon only (perhaps as part of a limited experiment), or that it is an oversight that needs to be fixed on their end with time.

Therefore if you wish for your NodeBB to federate with Threads, my guidance at this time is to whitelist your domain with Threads directly by filling out the form.

RC1 of NodeBB v4

I'm happy to announce RC1 (that's Release Candidate 1!!) of NodeBB v4. Since the last v4 pre-release (beta 4), we've made additional bug fixes and stability improvements.

Here is the list of new features and fixes since the first beta:

- Emoji! :star2: :trumpet: :snake:
- Ability to search for a user by their handle directly from the search bar
- When encountering links to websites that advertise an ActivityPub alternate, NodeBB will try to load that site in NodeBB first
- Categories now have their own avatars instead of serving the generic site brand icon
- NodeBB will attempt to backfill an entire topic when encountering a new object, reducing the need to visit the original site to get the entire conversation. (This is contingent on the other server supporting resolvable context collections)
- Chats are now federating out as limited-visibility posts on the fediverse
- Improvements to the title generator
- Custom Fields now two-way federating (custom fields are a feature new to the 3.x branch as well!)
- Better compatibility with nodebb-plugin-feed

Timeline-wise this brings us close to the end of our funding from @nlnet@social.nlnet.nl for the 2024 calendar year. We've exceeded our own expectations of what we could do this year, and we've already applied for funding from NLNet again to really let NodeBB push the boundaries of what the ActivityPub protocol can do!

The RC signifies that the software has reached a (self-proclaimed) stable state, and broader usage is encouraged. If you have any questions, concerns, or trouble upgrading your existing NodeBB to v4, please call that out here for support.

There is now a soft feature freeze in place while we sort out the last remaining (hopefully none :hand_with_index_and_middle_fingers_crossed:) bugs, and we'll aim to launch v4 after that.

NodeBB v4.0.0 Beta

Last friday I quietly tagged a commit on the activitypub branch with v4.0.0-beta.1, which signals that the ActivityPub integration is now ready for beta testing.

For the most complete (yet readable) list of new functionality from the alpha, check out the "Road to Beta" project page.

tl;dr — some new features and a lot of fixes

- Editing a category now issues an Update(Actor)
- replies is now populated and responds with an OrderedCollection of direct replies (see the post about that)
- Proper sharedInbox support
- Better indicators for content that comes from non-local (aka "remote") users
- Conversational context synchronization mechanic (corresponding post for that)
- Moving a topic out of the "uncategorized" category will now federate out an Announce

By and large most incompatibilties have been resolved, although if you do find some issues, please do let me know in the corresponding bug report thread.

I'm looking to wrap up the year with some of the more difficult projects I've put off

- Object Integrity Proofs, which will also enable Inbox Forwarding
- Better handling of "Open in App" signals from third-party instances
- Post visibility support (or at least better handling so non-public messages aren'y unceremoniously dropped!)
- Ongoing integration with FEPs 400e and 7888