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Pixelfed

Pixelfed is a photo sharing platform for the Fediverse, similar to Instagram.

Overview​

PropertyValue
LanguagePHP (Laravel)
DatabaseMySQL/PostgreSQL
LicenseAGPL-3.0
Repositorygithub.com/pixelfed/pixelfed
Documentationdocs.pixelfed.org

ActivityPub Implementation​

Actor Type​

{
  "@context": [
    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
    "https://w3id.org/security/v1"
  ],
  "type": "Person",
  "id": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice",
  "preferredUsername": "alice",
  "name": "Alice",
  "summary": "<p>Photography enthusiast</p>",
  "inbox": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice/inbox",
  "outbox": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice/outbox",
  "followers": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice/followers",
  "following": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice/following",
  "icon": {
    "type": "Image",
    "url": "https://pixelfed.social/storage/avatars/alice.jpg"
  }
}

Photo Posts​

Pixelfed posts are Notes with Image attachments:

{
  "type": "Note",
  "id": "https://pixelfed.social/p/alice/12345",
  "attributedTo": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice",
  "content": "<p>Beautiful sunset! #photography</p>",
  "published": "2024-01-15T18:30:00Z",
  "to": ["https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public"],
  "cc": ["https://pixelfed.social/users/alice/followers"],
  "sensitive": false,
  "attachment": [
    {
      "type": "Image",
      "mediaType": "image/jpeg",
      "url": "https://pixelfed.social/storage/m/photo.jpg",
      "name": "A colorful sunset over the ocean",
      "width": 1920,
      "height": 1080,
      "blurhash": "LEHV6nWB2yk8pyo0adR*.7kCMdnj"
    }
  ],
  "tag": [
    {
      "type": "Hashtag",
      "href": "https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/photography",
      "name": "#photography"
    }
  ]
}

Collections (Albums)​

{
  "type": "Collection",
  "id": "https://pixelfed.social/c/alice/vacation",
  "name": "Summer Vacation",
  "attributedTo": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice",
  "totalItems": 15,
  "items": [
    "https://pixelfed.social/p/alice/12345",
    "https://pixelfed.social/p/alice/12346"
  ]
}

Stories​

Pixelfed Stories are ephemeral content (24-hour expiration):

{
  "type": "Note",
  "id": "https://pixelfed.social/stories/alice/98765",
  "attributedTo": "https://pixelfed.social/users/alice",
  "published": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "expires": "2024-01-16T10:00:00Z",
  "attachment": [
    {
      "type": "Image",
      "url": "https://pixelfed.social/storage/stories/image.jpg"
    }
  ]
}

Supported Activities​

ActivitySupportNotes
Create✅Photo posts
Delete✅Post removal
Like✅Favorites
Announce✅Shares
Follow✅Standard
Undo✅All reversible

Custom Extensions​

PropertyTypeDescription
blurhashStringImage placeholder
widthIntegerImage width
heightIntegerImage height
expiresDateTimeStory expiration

API Endpoints​

Standard Endpoints​

GET /.well-known/webfinger
GET /.well-known/nodeinfo
GET /users/{username}
GET /p/{username}/{id}

Collections​

GET /users/{username}/outbox
GET /users/{username}/followers
GET /users/{username}/following

Compatibility​

Image Handling​

  • Uses blurhash for placeholders
  • Includes dimensions in attachment
  • Alt text via name property

Federation Behavior​

  • Photo posts appear as Notes in Mastodon
  • Multiple images shown as attachments
  • Albums may not fully federate

See Also​