This release ("savor the moments when goodness prevails") of Ktistec lands two big new features: RFC 9421 HTTP Message Signatures and private labels.

RFC 9421 support is inbound only, for the moment. The code for signing activities is written, but I want to test parsing and verification in the real world first. Signing will ship in the next release.

Private labels allow you to annotate posts with your own hashtag-like labels. Once posts are labeled, you can view them together on an index page, just like hashtags. You can use them in custom themes, and in the next release, you will be able to include them as criteria in custom feeds. Because they are private, they are not federated.

Here's the full changelog:

Added

• Verify inbound RFC 9421 HTTP Message Signatures (rsa-v1_5-sha256).
• Private labels, visible only to you, for organizing and finding posts.
• Cache the posts on inbound post quotes or replies.
• Include totalItems in label, hashtag, and mention collections.

Fixed

• Ignore inbound activities whose identifier is local.
• Mark an actor up only when its origin took part in the request.
• Store a community-relayed Delete only when its origin serves it.
• Don't accept a community's signature as verification of a relayed vote by an actor on another origin.
• Ignore federated hashtags, mentions, and emoji whose name is only their sigil.
• Hide inline quote links and dim deleted or blocked posts on unthemed pages.
• Fix action button spacing on mobile.

Changed

• Move the timeline's share and reply filters into a control bar.
• Hyphenate multi-word names in the theme data attributes.
• Record how an inbound activity was verified.

I'll be publishing a series of posts on writing custom algorithmic feeds. Stay tuned!

#ktistec #crystallang #activitypub #fediverse

imagine the good you could do with $474 million dollars…!

if you're using #ktistec and you're on an older version, i would be very happy to help you upgrade. there are a few instances running older versions, and there are enough improvements in usability, performance, and security that it is worth moving to the latest version.

le sigh another bandcamp friday coming there goes a paycheck

it was a long day but a very very very satisfying one…!

the explosion of new fediverse servers is exciting, but it also means entertaining new bugs. i just noticed that epiktistes stored its first ever empty hashtag (just a #) on sept 16th, which means we operated for over six years until some new server federated that (naming no names, assigning no blame...)

the only part of a research project that makes me unhappy is when i've only just started and early indicators are already telling me where it's going to end...