If you're running an instance of Ktistec and want to see what other ActivityPub instances are sending you, turn on JSON-LD processing debug logging.

1. Go the the /system URL.
2. Find the ktistec.json_ld setting.
3. Select "Debug" and save.

Ktistec will dump received activities to the log, after the activity has been parsed into JSON but before JSON-LD expansion.

2025-01-22 14:53:17 UTC 409 POST /actors/toddsundsted/inbox 4.29ms
2025-01-22T14:53:17.597172Z  DEBUG - ktistec.json_ld: {"@context" => ["https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "https://w3id.org/security/v1"],
"id" => "https://random.site/users/FooBar#delete", "type" => "Delete", "actor" => "https://random.site/users/FooBar", "object" => "https://random.site/users/FooBar", "to" => ["https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public"], 
"signature" => {"type" => "RsaSignature2017", "creator" => "https://random.site/users/FooBar#main-key", "created" => "2025-01-22T14:52:40Z", "signatureValue" => "01234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz=="}}

Answer to a FAQ:
The server returns HTTP status code 409 ("Conflict") if it has already received an activity.

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub

Ktistec release v2.4.5 rolls out the build time and executable size optimizations I've been blogging about here. It also fixes a few small bugs.

Fixed

• Handle @-mentions with hosts in new posts.
• Handle HEAD requests for pages with pretty URLs.
• Destroy session after running scripts.

Changed

• Delete old authenticated sessions.

I've started a branch full of query optimizations. My general rule—as highlighted in the server logs—is if a query takes longer than 50msec, it takes too long. It's time to address some problems...

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

Ktistec release v2.4.4 fixes a few things in the prior release and introduces at least one killer feature!

Fixed

• Always get the attachments. (fixes #119)
• Don't run scripts until the server has been configured.

Changed

• ⭐️ Make the editor toolbar sticky.
• Clear the cached translator when the settings change.

I'm spending some cycles looking at the size of the server executable. You can read about my approach to reducing Crystal Language executable size and build time here.

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

Ktistec release v2.4.3 supports language translation.

Inspiration for this feature comes from Mastodon.

In order to enable translation, you need an API key for either DeepL or LibreTranslate. These are the only services Ktistec supports at this time.

Posts from properly configured accounts on supported servers, like Mastodon, include the content language. On posts like these, Ktistec will display a button to translate the content if the language differs from your language.

Unfortunately, not all Fediverse/ActivityPub servers explicitly support language (I mean, Ktistec didn't until just now). And not all users correctly set their posts' language, so ymmv... but it has been hugely useful for me.

I'm going to focus on site customization next (colors, etc.).

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

Release v2.4.2 fixes a few more bugs. Only one is a regression—I found the others while testing. In this release:

Fixed

• Fix metrics chart line labels.
• Permit del, ins, and s elements in sanitized HTML.
• Only store the redirect_after_auth_path on browser navigation.
• Add "content" property to editor JSON error response.
• Use FileUtils.mv to move uploaded files. (fixes #117)

Thanks to @jayvii for help with troubleshooting the last one!

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

Eh, I didn't test enough and released v2.4.0 of Ktistec with a few annoying regressions. Release v2.4.1 fixes them! ☹️ 😠 😡 🤬

Fixed

• Handle edge cases and race conditions in script runner.
• Reconnect editor autocomplete support.
• Fix permissions on uploaded files.

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

I just released v2.4.0 of Ktistec. This release encompasses a few things that I've been working on for a while: improved support for operating without JavaScript available/enabled and support for running scripted automations.

Except for a few items, Ktistec now works without JavaScript. Obviously, things like WYSIWYG editing of HTML don't work—I plan to add support for Markdown to compensate. Running in Lynx is a stretch, but...

Since the early days, most controller actions supported both text/html and application/json.  I cleaned up support for the latter and have officially documented the Ktistec API in the README.

In addition, I've added support for running bots/automations (prior announcement). The Ktistec server will periodically run any executable script in the etc/scripts directory. These scripts have access to the Ktistec API and can post, follow, share, like, etc. This is experimental and obviously introduces an attack surface, though that shouldn't be a problem on correctly configured hosts.

Here's the full changelog:

Added

• Support running scripted automations.
• "Fetch Once" button on hashtag and thread pages. (fixes #108)
• Support navigation to a post's threaded view. (fixes #108)
• Add support for post name and summary.

Fixed

• Improve support for operating without JavaScript available/enabled.
• Only enforce CSRF protection on "simple" requests.

Changed

• Replace use of multi-action controller with formaction. (fixes #101)

Other

• API usability improvements.

#ktistec #fediverse #activitypub #crystallang

I've been thinking about the demise of botsin.space. Running a site for bots is hard (and expensive) but writing and running an ActivityPub-based bot should be easy.

To prove this was the case I added experimental support for bots/automations to Ktistec in the form of scripts that the server periodically runs. These scripts can be in a programming language of your choice. The server provides credentials for its API in the process environment (if you can use curl you can publish posts), simple interaction happens via stdin/stdout/stderr, and the complexity of using ActivityPub is abstracted away.

The code is only available on the following branch for the moment:

    https://github.com/toddsundsted/ktistec/commits/run-scripts/

There are a couple example shell scripts here:

    https://github.com/toddsundsted/ktistec/commit/4982925a...

I have a few enhancements in mind, but it's already proven useful as a means to periodically log data from my server host, and I'll use it, when finished, to publish release notes.

#ktistec #activitypub #fediverse #bots

TIL scripting media queries... gone are the days of the no-js class on the body tag...

i'm working on improving the ktistec user experience when javascript is disabled.

ktistec uses trix as its rich text editor.  of course. trix doesn't work without javascript. behind the scenes, however, trix uses a hidden textarea to hold the body of the post being edited. using scripting media queries, ktistec can now show (or hide) either the editor or the textarea based on the availability of javascript (2030b26b). 

#ktistec #activitypub #fediverse

i'm working toward providing a decent experience in ktistec with javascript turned off.  the first step was emitting minified css instead of using the webpack style loader plugin to apply css via javascript (fd7a5369).

#ktistec #activitypub #fediverse