Fediverse # Welley and the Fediverse Welley speaks ActivityPub, so you can follow and talk with people on Mastodon and lots of other apps. Each server decides which other servers it connects with. [Supported FEPs](https://welley.com/feps/) [Developer guide](https://welley.com/developers/) ## How your server federates ActivityPub connects Welley to independent servers. Administrators decide where the limits are. - ### [Open federation](https://welley.com/federation/federation-open/) Connect to the wider Fediverse and keep your own block list. - In open mode, your server federates with any domain that isn't blocked. - WebFinger and NodeInfo make accounts and the server discoverable. - Your server signs the federation requests it sends out. ![The Access tab shows public server access, the Help group option, and open federation.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-server-access-1200.309ed1ad.webp) The Access tab has settings for public access to the server, the Help group option and open federation. - ### [Limited federation](https://welley.com/federation/federation-limited/) Connect only to the domains your server approves. - Your allowlist controls both inbound and outbound federation. - ActivityPub reads need a valid signature from an allowed domain. - You can switch modes without restarting the server. If the allowlist is empty, ordinary federation is blocked. Peers have to sign their fetches. A Lemmy peer needs federation\_signed\_fetch enabled. ![The Access tab with Limited federation selected, its explanation, a domain field with an Add domain button, and three allowlisted domains.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-limited-1200.06a64eb7.webp) With limited federation, your server exchanges content only with the domains on your allowlist. [See all screens](https://welley.com/federation/federation-limited/) - ### [Closed federation](https://welley.com/federation/federation-closed/) Run your server with federation turned off. - Closed mode stops normal inbound and outbound ActivityPub traffic. - Your server's local features and the administrative APIs still work. - Access to the Welley Help group has its own setting. ![The Access tab shows the closed federation choice and its explanation. This is an unsaved choice.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-closed-1200.f735dcbc.webp) The Access tab shows the closed federation option and what it means. This choice isn't saved. - ### [Remote domains](https://welley.com/federation/federation-domains/) See the remote domains your server knows about. - Check each domain's availability, your local records of its users, report counts and block state. - Open a domain to see its details or moderation controls. - Filter the list to find domains that need attention. ![The Domains page with search, block state and availability filters and a table of federated domains with their moderation state, availability, user count and report count.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-domains-2000.fd2f6ea5.webp) See every server yours federates with, whether it's available, its known users and reports, and open a domain to moderate it. - ### [ActivityPub relays](https://welley.com/federation/federation-relays/) Exchange public content through a shared relay service. - Add a relay and check its subscription state. - A relay helps your server get public content from beyond what people follow directly. - Manage your server's relay connections in Federation. ActivityPub relays need open federation. You can't turn them on in limited or closed mode. ![The relay page shows a relay connection, delivery mode, and ingest counters. No relay connection was made.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-relays-1520.e341b97f.webp) The relay page shows a relay connection, its delivery mode and its ingest counters. We didn't connect a relay. - ### [Standards and shared extensions](https://welley.com/federation/federation-standard-features/) Use common Fediverse features with other independent servers. - Welley supports polls, custom emoji, emoji reactions, account moves and consent-based quote posts. - Public channels use standard ActivityPub Group actors. - Supported actor data comes with flags for search indexing consent and account discovery. Each remote server supports its own subset of ActivityPub and extensions. Being compatible doesn't mean having the same features. ![Public release text explains emoji reactions, custom emoji identity and differences from likes and votes.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-reactions-1440.af8a719c.webp) Text from one of our public releases explains federated emoji reactions and their limits. We removed the author's identity and the embedded media. ## Compatible software Apps that use ActivityPub don't all support the same things. Here's what works between Welley and each of them. - ### Mastodon Follow people, exchange posts, and keep your direct conversations in their own inbox. - Posts, polls, custom emoji, and direct-message addressing all use Mastodon-compatible ActivityPub. - A direct room sends ordinary direct Notes to just the people in the room. - Account migration works both ways through Move activities. What works depends on the other server's version and configuration, and on federation policy. ![The Conversation details dialog lists the three members Alex Morgan, Sam Rivera and Maya Chen beside the Files and Links tabs.](https://welley.com/assets/media/dm-exact-members-1200.2c4d36a7.webp) This is Welley's side of direct messages: each conversation names exactly who receives it. Mastodon-compatible direct messages use the same explicit recipients. Only Welley is shown here, with no Mastodon server. - ### Lemmy Follow Lemmy communities and exchange posts, comments, and images with them. - Follow a Lemmy community from Welley, or follow a public Welley channel from Lemmy. - Posts, comments, and images go both ways. - Welley handles removals by moderators. - Older replies from Lemmy can show up later, as Welley finds them in the background. Welley doesn't currently show Lemmy's vote arrows, so you can't vote from Welley. Reposts don't come through, and quotes turn into plain text. Limited federation needs the Lemmy server to sign its fetches. ![Public Welley release text describes Lemmy communities, posts, comments, images and federation limits.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-lemmy-1440.6b97ae90.webp) Our public release announcement explains how Welley works with Lemmy and what the limits are. This comes from the announcement and isn't a live test between servers. - ### NodeBB Follow forum categories and join discussions that span Welley and NodeBB. - Follow a NodeBB category and get its new topics in Welley. - Start topics with titles and post threaded replies with images. - Upvotes work both ways. - Older replies show up as Welley finds them in the background. Moderation actions don't carry over between Welley and NodeBB. Reposts don't show up in NodeBB, and quote posts turn into ordinary text. ![Public Welley release text describes NodeBB topics, replies, images, reactions and federation limits.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-nodebb-1440.80a0c627.webp) Our public release announcement explains how Welley works with NodeBB and where the limits are. It's taken from the announcement. It isn't a live test between two servers. - ### Perplexity Use eligible Perplexity models through Welley's AI provider connection. - Welley works with the OpenRouter provider and its model catalog. - OpenRouter's model catalog can include Perplexity Sonar. - This connection is about AI services. Perplexity is an AI service. It isn't a federated ActivityPub server. An operator has to set up a supported provider and an eligible model. Which models are available depends on the provider. ![The All models tab searched for sonar, listing Perplexity Sonar models through OpenRouter with their capabilities, prices per million tokens, context limits and status switches.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-integration-ai-models-2000.fdb0c420.webp) Search the model catalog of your connected providers and turn on the models your server may use, such as Perplexity Sonar through OpenRouter. - ### Mobilizon Get standard federated events and Group activity. - Welley sends and receives ActivityPub Event objects. - Welley understands Mobilizon-style Group actors. - Group announcements go through standard ActivityPub federation. Sharing Events and Groups doesn't mean every Mobilizon organizer, attendance, or group workflow works the same in Welley. ![Public event page in Welley with the date, the place and the Interested and Going controls.](https://welley.com/assets/media/event-public-attendance-demo-2000.4f715f13.webp) This shows only Welley's side, a public event with interest and attendance controls. It doesn't show an exchange with Mobilizon. - ### Pixelfed Follow photo accounts through ActivityPub. - Welley accepts ordinary ActivityPub posts and image attachments. - Welley reads Pixelfed's mention formats and image posts. - Media from other servers still follows Welley's media policy. Pixelfed-specific features such as Stories aren't supported. This covers standard posts and media. ![Welley photo post by Maya Chen with the NASA Blue Marble image of the Earth and the credit line in the post text.](https://welley.com/assets/media/compatibility-photo-post-1440.56b1b92e.webp) This shows only Welley's side, a photo post with its image credit. Image: NASA Earth Observatory, Blue Marble 2002. Image: [NASA Earth Observatory, Blue Marble 2002](https://science.nasa.gov/resource/blue-marble-2002/). - ### PeerTube Follow federated video channels and get their public content. - PeerTube channels come through the standard Group actor path. - On content from these channels, ordinary likes stay separate from forum votes. - Welley accepts attachments with several typed media URLs. Whether a video plays depends on the remote attachment and server. Don't expect PeerTube live chat, streaming, or channel tools to work the same way in Welley. ![Post by Alex Morgan with an attached video that plays inside Welley.](https://welley.com/assets/media/publishing-video-post-1440.9d629f19.webp) This shows only Welley's side, a video attached to a Welley post. It doesn't show delivery from PeerTube. - ### Misskey Exchange posts, reactions, quotes, and compatible spoiler content. - Welley accepts Like activities that carry Misskey emoji reactions. - Welley recognizes Misskey's quote alias. - Welley's Markdown supports compatible inline spoilers. This doesn't cover Misskey-specific visual effects or the full MFM syntax. ![Public release text explains emoji reactions, custom emoji identity and differences from likes and votes.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-reactions-1440.af8a719c.webp) Text from one of our public releases explains federated emoji reactions and their limits. We removed the author's identity and the embedded media. - ### Pleroma Exchange standard posts, media variants, and emoji reactions. - Welley accepts EmojiReact activities, and Like activities that carry a reaction. - Welley reads Pleroma's typed URL arrays in attachments. - An Undo activity takes back the matching reaction. What works depends on the other server's version and configuration, and on federation policy. ![Public release text explains emoji reactions, custom emoji identity and differences from likes and votes.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-reactions-1440.af8a719c.webp) Text from one of our public releases explains federated emoji reactions and their limits. We removed the author's identity and the embedded media. - ### Friendica Read federated activity and posts from Friendica accounts. - When Welley syncs a remote outbox, it accepts Update activities mixed in with other posts. - Software without special vote behavior stays on the standard ActivityPub path. Welley has a special path for Friendica outboxes. It doesn't cover every Friendica-specific feature. ![The Domains page of Welley server administration with a table of federated domains, their availability, user counts and report counts.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-domains-2000.fd2f6ea5.webp) Welley's side of federation, where admins see each connected server and its reports. Friendica itself isn't shown. - ### Discourse Read federated forum activity through the standard Group and context paths. - Welley understands Discourse forum announcements. - Welley can backfill replies by walking the remote context collection. This covers Discourse forum announcements and reply backfill. Other Discourse features can work differently. ![A Riverside Garden forum topic about the Saturday workday, with its plan, reaction chips, a reply composer and a reply from Sam Rivera.](https://welley.com/assets/media/forum-thread-demo-1792.fe41de2f.webp) The Welley forum with a topic and a member's reply. Welley reads forum announcements from Discourse and fills in their replies. The image shows only Welley, with no Discourse server. - ### Akkoma Get compatible media variants and standard emoji reactions. - Welley reads the URL-array attachment format that Pleroma and Akkoma use. - Posts and actor discovery follow standard ActivityPub behavior. This covers the shared protocol formats. Other Akkoma features can work differently. ![Public release text explains emoji reactions, custom emoji identity and differences from likes and votes.](https://welley.com/assets/media/public-reactions-1440.af8a719c.webp) Text from one of our public releases explains federated emoji reactions and their limits. We removed the author's identity and the embedded media. - ### GoToSocial Fetch reply threads that use paged ActivityPub collections. - When Welley fetches remote replies, it follows first-page links even if the root collection has summary items. - That includes GoToSocial's style of first-page link. This covers reply collections. It doesn't cover every GoToSocial feature. ![A Riverside Garden forum topic about the Saturday workday, with its plan, reaction chips, a reply composer and a reply from Sam Rivera.](https://welley.com/assets/media/forum-thread-demo-1792.fe41de2f.webp) The Welley forum with a topic and a member's reply. Welley can fetch reply threads that GoToSocial publishes in paged collections. Only Welley is shown, with no GoToSocial server. - ### Mbin, Kbin, and PieFed Understand how votes work on these forum systems. - Welley treats likes from these forum systems as votes. - It also accounts for the automatic vote from the author. - Everything else follows standard ActivityPub paths. Welley handles the vote rules of each of these apps. Full live federation with each platform isn't confirmed. ![The Domains page of Welley server administration with a table of federated domains, their availability, user counts and report counts.](https://welley.com/assets/media/admin-demo-federation-domains-2000.fd2f6ea5.webp) Welley's side of federation, where admins see every connected server and its reports. The image doesn't show Mbin, Kbin or PieFed, or their votes.