path: root/README.org

#+TEXINFO_DIR_CATEGORY: Emacs
#+TEXINFO_DIR_TITLE: Mastodon: (mastodon).
#+TEXINFO_DIR_DESC: Client for Mastodon on ActivityPub networks.

@@html: <a href="https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/mastodon.html"><img alt="ELPA" src="https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/mastodon.svg"></a>@@

@@html: <a href="https://melpa.org/#/mastodon"><img alt="MELPA" src="https://melpa.org/packages/mastodon-badge.svg"></a>@@

# @@html: <a href="https://ci.codeberg.org/martianh/mastodon.el"><img alt="Build Status" src="https://ci.codeberg.org/api/badges/martianh/mastodon.el/status.svg"></a>@@

* README

=mastodon.el= is an Emacs client for the AcitivityPub social networks that
implement the Mastodon API. For info see [[https://joinmastodon.org/][joinmastodon.org]].

NB: =mastodon.el= now ships this readme as an .info file, so if you have it installed you should be able to browse this readme inside emacs. =C-h i= for info, then =m masto RET= should load it for you.

** Installation

You can install =mastodon.el= from ELPA, MELPA, or directly from this repo. It is also available as a GUIX package.

*** ELPA

You should be able to directly install with:

=M-x package-refresh-contents RET=

=M-x package-install RET mastodon RET=

*** 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=

*** Repo

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.

*** 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

For a full list of commands and variables, see [[file:mastodon-index.org][mastodon-index.org]].

|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Key            | Action                                                                          |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *Help*                                                                            |
| =?=              | Show discover menu of all bindings, if =discover= is available                    |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *Timeline actions*                                                                |
| =n=              | Go to next item (toot, notification, user)                                      |
| =p=              | Go to previous item (toot, notification, user)                                  |
| =M-n=/=<tab>=    | Go to the next interesting thing that has an action                             |
| =M-p=/=<S-tab>=  | Go to the previous interesting thing that has an action                         |
| =F=              | Open federated timeline (1 prefix arg: hide-replies, 2 prefix args: media only) |
| =H=              | Open home timeline  (1 prefix arg: hide-replies)                                |
| =L=              | Open local timeline (1 prefix arg: hide-replies, 2 prefix args: media only)     |
| =N=              | Open notifications timeline                                                     |
| =@=              | Open mentions-only notifications timeline                                       |
| =u=              | Update current timeline                                                         |
| =T=              | Open thread for toot at point                                                   |
| =#=              | Prompt for tag and open its timeline                                            |
| =A=              | Open author profile of toot at point                                            |
| =P=              | Open profile of user attached to toot at point                                  |
| =O=              | View own profile                                                                |
| =U=              | update your profile bio note                                                    |
| =;=              | view instance description for toot at point                                     |
| =:=              | view followed tags and load a tag timeline                                      |
| =C-:=            | view timeline of all followed tags                                              |
| =,=              | view favouriters of toot at point                                               |
| =.=              | view boosters of toot at point                                                  |
| =/=              | switch between mastodon buffers                                                 |
| =\=              | prompt for an instance domain and view its local timeline (if poss)             |
| =Z=              | report user/toot at point to instances moderators                               |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *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                                                   |
| =S=              | view your scheduled toots                                                       |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *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                         |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *Profile view*                                                                    |
| =C-c C-c=        | cycle between statuses, statuses without boosts, followers, and following       |
|                | =mastodon-profile--account-account-to-list= (see lists view)                      |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                | *Notifications view*                                                              |
| =a=, =j=           | accept/reject follow request                                                    |
| =C-k=            | 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                                            |
| =C-M-q=          | Quit and kill all mastodon buffers                                              |
|----------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

**** Toot byline legend

|---------------+------------------------|
| Marker        | Meaning                |
|---------------+------------------------|
| =(🔁)= (or =(B)=) | I boosted this toot    |
| =(⭐)= (or =(F)=) | I favourited this toot |
| =(🔖)= (or (=K=)) | I bookmarked this toot |
|---------------+------------------------|

*** Composing toots

=M-x mastodon-toot= (or =t= from a mastodon.el buffer) opens a new buffer/window
in =text-mode= and =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. Further keybindings are displayed in the buffer, and in the following subsection.

Replies preserve visibility status/content warnings, and include boosters by default. If the region is active when you start a reply, it will be yanked into the compose buffer prefixed with =>= to form a rough reply quote.

Server's max toot length, with running char count, 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=).

If you want to view some of the toot being replied to in the compose buffer, set =mastodon-toot-display-orig-in-reply-buffer= to non-nil.

The compose buffer uses =text-mode= so any configuration you have for that mode
will be enabled. If any of your existing config conflicts with =mastodon-toot=,
you can disable it in the =mastodon-toot-mode-hook=. For example, the default
value of that hook is as follows:

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(add-hook 'mastodon-toot-mode-hook
          (lambda ()
              (auto-fill-mode -1)))
#+end_src

**** 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                    |
| =C-c C-l=  | Set toot language                |
| =-C-c C-s= | Schedule toot                    |
|----------+----------------------------------|

**** Autocompletion of mentions, tags and emoji

Autocompletion of mentions, tags, and emojis is provided by
=completion-at-point-functions= (capf) backends.
=mastodon-toot--enable-completion= is enabled by default.

To trigger completion, type a prefix followed by a few letters, =@= for
mentions, =#= for tags, and =:= for emoji.

If you want to enable =company-mode= in the toot compose buffer, set
=mastodon-toot--use-company-for-completion= to =t=. (=mastodon.el= used to run its
own native company backends, but these have been removed in favour of capfs.)

If you don’t run =company= and want immediate, keyless completion, you’ll need
to have another completion engine running that handles capfs. A common
combination is =consult= and =corfu=.

**** 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:

In addition to =mastodon=, the following three functions are autoloaded and should
work without first loading a =mastodon.el= buffer:
- =mastodon-toot=: Compose new toot
- =mastodon-notifications-get=: View all notifications
- =mastodon-url-lookup=: Attempt to load a URL in =mastodon.el=. URL may be at
  point or provided in the minibuffer.


- =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-search--trending-statuses=: View a list of trending statuses on your instance.


- =mastodon-tl--add-toot-account-at-point-to-list=: Add the account of the toot at point to a list.


- =mastodon-tl--dm-user=: Send a direct message to one of the users at point.


- =mastodon-profile--add-private-note-to-account=: Add a private note to another user’s account.
- =mastodon-profile--view-account-private-note=: View a private note on a user’s account.


- =mastodon-profile--show-familiar-followers=: Show a list of “familiar followers” for a given account. Familiar followers are accounts that you follow, and that follow the account.


- =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-tl--followed-tags-timeline=: View a timeline of all your followed tags.
- =mastodon-tl--some-followed-tags-timleine=: View a timeline of multiple tags, from your followed tags or any other.


- =mastodon-switch-to-buffer=: switch between mastodon buffers.


- =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
   - Default number of posts displayed
   - Timestamp format
   - Relative timestamps
   - Display user avatars
   - Avatar image height
   - Enable image caching
   - Hide replies in timelines
   - Show toot stats in byline

- Compose options:
   - Completion style for mentions and tags
   - Enable custom emoji
   - Display toot being replied to
   - Set default reply visibility

- Nofitication options:
   - Display user's profile note in follow requests

*** Commands and variables index

An index of all user-facing commands and custom variables is available here: [[file:mastodon-index.org][mastodon-index.org]].

You can also hit =?= in any =mastodon.el= buffer to see the available bindings, or run =M-X= (upper-case =X=) to view all commands in the buffer with completion, and call one.

*** Alternative timeline layout

The incomparable Nicholas Rougier has written an alternative timeline layout
for =mastodon.el=.

The repo is at [[https://github.com/rougier/mastodon-alt][mastodon-alt]].

*** Live-updating timelines: =mastodon-async-mode=

(code taken from [[https://github.com/alexjgriffith/mastodon-future.el][mastodon-future]].)

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= (=a= in a
timeline). At the moment this requires [[https://codeberg.org/martianh/lingva.el][lingva.el]], a little interface I wrote
to [[https://lingva.ml][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 'item-json)))
        (if toot
            (lingva-translate nil (mastodon-tl--content toot))
          (message "No toot to translate?"))))
#+end_src

*** Bookmarks and =mastodon.el=

=mastodon.el= doesn’t currently implement its own bookmark record and handler,
which means that emacs bookmarks will not work as is. Until we implement them,
you can get bookmarks going immediately by using [[https://github.com/emacsmirror/emacswiki.org/blob/master/bookmark%2b.el][bookmark+.el]].

** Dependencies

Hard dependencies (should all install with =mastodon.el=):
- =request= (for uploading attachments), [[https://github.com/tkf/emacs-request][emacs-request]]
- =persist= for storing some settings across sessions

Optional dependencies (install yourself, =mastodon.el= can use them):
- =emojify= for inserting and viewing emojis
- =mpv= and =mpv.el= for viewing videos and gifs
- =lingva.el= for translating toots

** Network compatibility

=mastodon.el= should work with ActivityPub servers that implement the Mastodon API.

Apart from Mastodon itself, it is currently known to work with:
-  Pleroma ([[https://pleroma.social/][pleroma.social]])
- Akkoma ([[https://akkoma.social/][akkoma.social]])
- Gotosocial ([[https://gotosocial.org/][gotosocial.org]])

It does not support the non-Mastodon API servers Misskey ([[https://misskey.io/][misskey.io]]), Firefish ([[https://joinfirefish.org/][joinfirefish.org]], formerly Calkey) and Friendica, but it should fully support displaying and interacting with posts and users on those platforms.

If you attempt to use =mastodon.el= with a server and run into problems, feel
free to open an issue.

** Contributing

PRs, issues, feature requests, and general feedback are very welcome!

If you prefer emailing patches to the process described below, feel free to send them on. Ideally they'd be patches that can be applied with =git am=, if you want to actually contribute a commit.

*** 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. Else 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. Provide your emacs version and what kind of server your account is on.

*** Fixes and features

1. Create an [[https://codeberg.org/martianh/mastodon.el/issues][issue]] detailing what you'd like to do.
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 (to develop) referencing the issue created in step 1.

*** Coding style

- This library uses an unconvential double dash (=--=) between file namespaces and function names, which contradicts normal Elisp style. This needs to be respected until the whole library is changed.
- Use =aggressive-indent-mode= or similar to keep your code indented.
- Single spaces end sentences in docstrings.
- There's no need for a blank line after the first docstring line (one is added automatically when documentation is displayed).

** Supporting =mastodon.el=

If you'd like to support continued development of =mastodon.el=, I accept
donations via paypal: [[https://paypal.me/martianh][paypal.me/martianh]]. If you would prefer a different
payment method, please write to me at <martianhiatus [at] riseup [dot] net> and I can
provide IBAN or other bank account 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