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* README
=mastodon.el= is an Emacs client for the Mastodon and Pleroma social networks. For info see https://joinmastodon.org/.
** Installation
Clone this repository and add the lisp directory to your load path.
Then, require it and go.
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/mastodon.el/lisp")
(require 'mastodon)
#+END_SRC
Or, with =use-package=:
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(use-package mastodon
:ensure t)
#+END_SRC
The minimum Emacs version is now 27.1. But if you are running an older version it shouldn't be very hard to get it working.
*** MELPA
Add =MELPA= to your archives:
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives
'("melpa" . "http://melpa.org/packages/") t)
#+END_SRC
Update and install:
=M-x package-refresh-contents RET=
=M-x package-install RET mastodon RET=
*** Emoji
=mastodon-mode= will enable [[https://github.com/iqbalansari/emacs-emojify][Emojify]] if it is loaded in your Emacs environment, so
there's no need to write your own hook anymore. =emojify-mode= is not required.
*** Discover
=mastodon-mode= can provide a context menu for its keybindings if [[https://github.com/mickeynp/discover.el][Discover]] is
installed. It is not required.
if you have Discover, add the following to your Emacs init configuration:
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(require 'mastodon-discover)
(with-eval-after-load 'mastodon (mastodon-discover))
#+END_SRC
Or, with =use-package=:
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(use-package mastodon
:ensure t
:config
(mastodon-discover))
#+END_SRC
** Usage
*** Logging in to your instance
You need to set 2 variables in your init file to get started:
1. =mastodon-instance-url=
2. =mastodon-active-user=
(see their doc strings for details). For example If you want to post
toots as "example_user@social.instance.org", then put this in your init
file:
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(setq mastodon-instance-url "https://social.instance.org"
mastodon-active-user "example_user")
#+END_SRC
Then *restart* Emacs and run =M-x mastodon=. Make sure you are connected
to internet before you do this. If you have multiple mastodon accounts
you can activate one at a time by changing those two variables and
restarting Emacs.
If you were using mastodon.el before 2FA was implemented and the above steps
do not work, delete the old file specified by =mastodon-client--token-file= and
restart Emacs and follow the steps again.
*** Timelines
=M-x mastodon=
Opens a =*mastodon-home*= buffer in the major mode and displays toots. If your credentials are not yet saved, you
will be prompted for email and password. The app registration process will
take place if your =mastodon-token-file= does not contain =:client_id= and
=:client_secret=.
**** Keybindings
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Key | Action |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | *Help* |
| =?= | Open context menu if =discover= is available |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | *Timeline actions* |
| =n= | Go to next item (toot, notification) |
| =p= | Go to previous item (toot, notification) |
| =M-n=/== | Go to the next interesting thing that has an action |
| =M-p=/== | Go to the previous interesting thing that has an action |
| =F= | Open federated timeline |
| =H= | Open home timeline |
| =L= | Open local timeline |
| =N= | Open notifications timeline |
| =@= | Open mentions-only notifications timeline |
| =u= | Update current timeline |
| =T= | Open thread for toot under =point= |
| =#= | Prompt for tag and open its timeline |
| =A= | Open author profile of toot under =point= |
| =P= | Open profile of user attached to toot under =point= |
| =O= | View own profile |
| =U= | update your profile bio note |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | *Other views* |
| =S= | search (posts, users, tags) (NB: only posts you have interacted with) |
| =I=, =c=, =d= | view, create, and delete filters |
| =R=, =a=, =j= | view/accept/reject follow requests |
| =G= | view follow suggestions |
| =V= | view your favourited toots |
| =K= | view bookmarked toots |
| =X= | view/edit/create/delete lists |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | *Toot actions* |
| =t= | Compose a new toot |
| =c= | Toggle content warning content |
| =b= | Boost toot under =point= |
| =f= | Favourite toot under =point= |
| =k= | toggle bookmark of toot at point |
| =r= | Reply to toot under =point= |
| =v= | Vote on poll at point |
| =C= | copy url of toot at point |
| =C-RET= | play video/gif at point (requires =mpv=) |
| =e= | edit your toot at point |
| =E= | view edits of toot at point |
| =i= | (un)pin your toot at point |
| =d= | delete your toot at point, and reload current timeline |
| =D= | delete and redraft toot at point, preserving reply/CW/visibility |
| (=S-C-=) =W=, =M=, =B= | (un)follow, (un)mute, (un)block author of toot at point |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | Notifications view |
| =a=, =j= | accept/reject follow request |
| =c= | clear notification at point |
| | see =mastodon-notifications--get-*= functions for filtered views |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | *Quitting* |
| =q= | Quit mastodon buffer, leave window open |
| =Q= | Quit mastodon buffer and kill window |
|---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
**** Toot byline legend
|---------------+------------------------|
| Marker | Meaning |
|---------------+------------------------|
| =(B)= | I boosted this toot |
| =(F)= | I favourited this toot |
| =(🔖)= (or (=K=)) | I bookmarked this toot |
|---------------+------------------------|
*** Composing toots
=M-x mastodon-toot= (or =t= from a mastodon.el buffer).
Pops a new buffer/window in =mastodon-toot= minor mode. Enter the
contents of your toot here. =C-c C-c= sends the toot. =C-c C-k= cancels.
Both actions kill the buffer and window.
Autocompletion of mentions and tags is provided by mastodon company backends
(requires =company-mode= and =mastodon-toot--enable-completion= must be set to =t=)
. Type =@= or =#= followed by two or more characters for candidates to appear.
Replies preserve visibility status/content warnings, and include boosters by default.
Server's max toot length, and attachment previews, are shown.
You can download and use your instance's custom emoji
(=mastodon-toot--download-custom-emoji=, =mastodon-toot--enable-custom-emoji=).
**** Keybindings
|---------+----------------------------------|
| Key | Action |
|---------+----------------------------------|
| =C-c C-c= | Send toot |
| =C-c C-k= | Cancel toot |
| =C-c C-w= | Add content warning |
| =C-c C-v= | Change toot visibility |
| =C-c C-n= | Add sensitive media/nsfw flag |
| =C-c C-a= | Upload attachment(s) |
| =C-c != | Remove all attachments |
| =C-c C-e= | Add emoji (if =emojify= installed) |
| =C-c C-p= | Create a poll |
|---------+----------------------------------|
**** draft toots
- Compose buffer text is saved as you type, kept in =mastodon-toot-current-toot-text=.
- =mastodon-toot--save-draft=: save the current toot as a draft.
- =mastodon-toot--open-draft-toot=: Open a compose buffer and insert one of your draft toots.
- =mastodon-toot--delete-draft-toot=: Delete a draft toot.
- =mastodon-toot--delete-all-drafts=: Delete all your drafts.
*** Other commands and account settings:
- =mastodon-url-lookup=: Attempt to load URL in =mastodon.el=. URL may be the one at point or provided in the minibuffer. Should also work if =mastodon.el= is not yet loaded.
- =mastodon-tl--view-instance-description=: View information about the instance that the author of the toot at point is on.
- =mastodon-tl--view-own-instance=: View information about your own instance.
- =mastodon-search--trending-tags=: View a list of trending hashtags on your instance.
- =mastodon-tl--follow-tag=: Follow a tag (works like following a user)
- =mastodon-tl--unfollow-tag=: Unfollow a tag
- =mastodon-tl--list-followed-tags=: View a list of tags you're following.
- =mastodon-profile--update-display-name=: Update the display name for your account.
- =mastodon-profile--update-user-profile-note=: Update your bio note.
- =mastodon-profile--update-meta-fields=: Update your metadata fields.
- =mastodon-profile--set-default-toot-visibility=: Set the default visibility for your toots.
- =mastodon-profile--account-locked-toggle=: Toggle the locked status of your account. Locked accounts have to manually approve follow requests.
- =mastodon-profile--account-discoverable-toggle=: Toggle the discoverable status of your account. Non-discoverable accounts are not listed in the profile directory.
- =mastodon-profile--account-bot-toggle=: Toggle whether your account is flagged as a bot.
- =mastodon-profile--account-sensitive-toggle=: Toggle whether your posts are marked as sensitive (nsfw) by default.
*** Customization
See =M-x customize-group RET mastodon= to view all customize options.
- Timeline options:
- Use proportional fonts
- Timestamp format
- Relative timestamps
- Display user avatars
- Avatar image height
- Enable image caching
- Compose options:
- Completion for mentions and tags
- Enable custom emoji
- Display toot being replied to
*** Live-updating timelines: =mastodon-async-mode=
(code taken from https://github.com/alexjgriffith/mastodon-future.el.)
Works for federated, local, and home timelines and for notifications. It's a
little touchy, one thing to avoid is trying to load a timeline more than once
at a time. It can go off the rails a bit, but it's still pretty cool. The
current maintainer of =mastodon.el= is unable to debug or improve this feature.
To enable, it, add =(require 'mastodon-async)= to your =init.el=. Then you can
view a timeline with one of the commands that begin with
=mastodon-async--stream-=.
*** Translating toots
You can translate toots with =mastodon-toot--translate-toot-text=. At the moment
this requires [[https://codeberg.org/martianh/lingva.el][lingva.el]], a little interface I wrote to https://lingva.ml, to
be installed to work.
You could easily modify the simple function to use your Emacs translator of
choice (=libretrans.el= , =google-translate=, =babel=, =go-translate=, etc.), you just
need to fetch the toot's content with =(mastodon-tl--content toot)= and pass it
to your translator function as its text argument. Here's what
=mastodon-toot--translate-toot-text= looks like:
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defun mastodon-toot--translate-toot-text ()
"Translate text of toot at point.
Uses `lingva.el'."
(interactive)
(let* ((toot (mastodon-tl--property 'toot-json)))
(if toot
(lingva-translate nil (mastodon-tl--content toot))
(message "No toot to translate?"))))
#+end_src
** Dependencies
Hard dependencies (should all install with =mastodon.el=):
- =request= (for uploading attachments), https://github.com/tkf/emacs-request
- =persist= for storing some settings across sessions
- =ts= for poll relative expiry times
Optional dependencies:
- =company= for autocompletion of mentions and tags when composing a toot
- =emojify= for inserting and viewing emojis
- =mpv= and =mpv.el= for viewing videos and gifs
- =lingva.el= for translating toots
** Contributing
PRs, issues, feature requests, and general feedback are very welcome!
*** Bug reports
1. =mastodon.el= has bugs, as well as lots of room for improvement.
2. I receive very little feedback, so if I don't run into the bug it often doesn't get fixed.
3. If you run into something that seems broken, first try running =mastodon.el= in emacs with no init file (i.e. =emacs -q= (instructions and code for doing this are [[https://codeberg.org/martianh/mastodon.el/issues/300][here]]) to see if it also happens independently of your own config (it probably does).
4. Enable debug on error (=toggle-debug-on-error=), make the bug happen again, and copy the backtrace that appears.
5. Open an issue here and explain what is going on.
*** Features
1. Create an [[https://github.com/jdenen/mastodon.el/issues][issue]] detailing the feature you'd like to add.
2. Fork the repository and create a branch off of =develop=.
3. Run the tests and ensure that your code doesn't break any of them.
4. Create a pull request referencing the issue created in step 1.
*** Fixes
1. In an [[https://github.com/jdenen/mastodon.el/issues][issue]], let me know that you're working to fix it.
2. Fork the repository and create a branch off of =develop=.
3. Run the tests and ensure that your code doesn't break any of them.
4. Create a pull request referencing the issue from step 1.
** Supporting mastodon.el
If you'd like to support continued development of =mastodon.el=, I accept donations via paypal at martianhiatus [ at ] riseup [ dot ] net. If you would prefer a different payment method, write to me at that address and I can provide IBAN or other details.
I don't have a tech worker's income, so even a small tip would help out.
** Contributors:
=mastodon.el= is the work of a number of people.
Some significant contributors are:
- https://github.com/jdenen [original author]
- http://atomized.org
- https://alexjgriffith.itch.io
- https://github.com/hdurer
- https://codeberg.org/Red_Starfish