My hypothesis on why Lemmy is rejecting valid activities
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I have not been able to successfully post to a Lemmy instance either as a post or a comment. A cryptic error message is returned where the error is unknown and the message is a generic message:
{"error":"unknown","message":"data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities"}From my logs, it seems this is happening:
- I make a valid ActivityPub request with the audience of a community (or cc a user).
- Lemmy makes an ActivityPub request back at me at
/. - My web site does not handle ActivityPub at
/, and responds with atext/plainerror message. This is default behavior in Drupal. - Lemmy rejects my request with a 400 response with the error message above.
I tested other instances by making the following get request to the root of each instance (thank you, Daniel Sternberg for maintaining curl):
curl -v -H "Accept: application/activity+json" -H "Content-Type: application/activity+json" <url>- With the following results
- Lemmy returns an Application Actor.
- Misskey returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Mastodon returns a 406 response in
application/json. - NodeBB returns
text/html. - GoToSocial returns a 406 response in
application/json. - Mitra returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Pixelfed returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Peertube returns an empty 406 response.
My hypothesis is that Lemmy is rejecting the request because I return
text/plainand/or it cannot handle a response with that content type.To test that I am working on changing the default behavior. I will need to dynamically add a route based on
system.site.page.frontand return a 406 response in JSON. This is simple enough. If my hypothesis is correct, I can also make a merge request into drupal/activitypub module, which would have the same problem. If not, then I’ll need to go digging further. -
I have not been able to successfully post to a Lemmy instance either as a post or a comment. A cryptic error message is returned where the error is unknown and the message is a generic message:
{"error":"unknown","message":"data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities"}From my logs, it seems this is happening:
- I make a valid ActivityPub request with the audience of a community (or cc a user).
- Lemmy makes an ActivityPub request back at me at
/. - My web site does not handle ActivityPub at
/, and responds with atext/plainerror message. This is default behavior in Drupal. - Lemmy rejects my request with a 400 response with the error message above.
I tested other instances by making the following get request to the root of each instance (thank you, Daniel Sternberg for maintaining curl):
curl -v -H "Accept: application/activity+json" -H "Content-Type: application/activity+json" <url>- With the following results
- Lemmy returns an Application Actor.
- Misskey returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Mastodon returns a 406 response in
application/json. - NodeBB returns
text/html. - GoToSocial returns a 406 response in
application/json. - Mitra returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Pixelfed returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Peertube returns an empty 406 response.
My hypothesis is that Lemmy is rejecting the request because I return
text/plainand/or it cannot handle a response with that content type.To test that I am working on changing the default behavior. I will need to dynamically add a route based on
system.site.page.frontand return a 406 response in JSON. This is simple enough. If my hypothesis is correct, I can also make a merge request into drupal/activitypub module, which would have the same problem. If not, then I’ll need to go digging further.>Mitra returns a 200 response in text/html.
But it federates with Lemmy
>data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities
Did you wrap your activity in
Announce? -
>Mitra returns a 200 response in text/html.
But it federates with Lemmy
>data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities
Did you wrap your activity in
Announce?>Mitra returns a 200 response in text/html.
But it federates with Lemmy
My hypothesis is it's the text/plain is the problem, and that everyone else is doing something acceptable.
Did you wrap your activity in
Announce?Is that necessary? I could not find that in the Federation documentation. I know that Lemmy sends Announces out when it forwards activities, but to me when the documentation states
When a user creates a new post, it is sent to the respective community as
Create/Page. Editing a previously created post sends an almost identical activity, except thetypebeingUpdate.A reply to a post, or to another comment as
Create/Notethat means I should do similarly, right?
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I have not been able to successfully post to a Lemmy instance either as a post or a comment. A cryptic error message is returned where the error is unknown and the message is a generic message:
{"error":"unknown","message":"data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities"}From my logs, it seems this is happening:
- I make a valid ActivityPub request with the audience of a community (or cc a user).
- Lemmy makes an ActivityPub request back at me at
/. - My web site does not handle ActivityPub at
/, and responds with atext/plainerror message. This is default behavior in Drupal. - Lemmy rejects my request with a 400 response with the error message above.
I tested other instances by making the following get request to the root of each instance (thank you, Daniel Sternberg for maintaining curl):
curl -v -H "Accept: application/activity+json" -H "Content-Type: application/activity+json" <url>- With the following results
- Lemmy returns an Application Actor.
- Misskey returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Mastodon returns a 406 response in
application/json. - NodeBB returns
text/html. - GoToSocial returns a 406 response in
application/json. - Mitra returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Pixelfed returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Peertube returns an empty 406 response.
My hypothesis is that Lemmy is rejecting the request because I return
text/plainand/or it cannot handle a response with that content type.To test that I am working on changing the default behavior. I will need to dynamically add a route based on
system.site.page.frontand return a 406 response in JSON. This is simple enough. If my hypothesis is correct, I can also make a merge request into drupal/activitypub module, which would have the same problem. If not, then I’ll need to go digging further.If I do need to wrap it an Announce, then I think I will need to do the following based on how it works on my end.
- Create my post as normal, but don’t address it to the community initially.
- Announce my own post making sure I address it to the community.
I guess that might show up as me boosting my own post on some instances (tooting my own horn? Horning my own toot?), which I would feel ashamed of.
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If I do need to wrap it an Announce, then I think I will need to do the following based on how it works on my end.
- Create my post as normal, but don’t address it to the community initially.
- Announce my own post making sure I address it to the community.
I guess that might show up as me boosting my own post on some instances (tooting my own horn? Horning my own toot?), which I would feel ashamed of.
mradcliffe@nokoto.org no, Lemmy doesn't check the root for an Application actor (and as you discovered, NodeBB doesn't send one either, and we federate with Lemmy fine.)
Can you share a sample Create you're sending Lemmy? You should only need to have the group actor ID in
toorcc, and probablyas:Publicsomewhere in there too. -
If I do need to wrap it an Announce, then I think I will need to do the following based on how it works on my end.
- Create my post as normal, but don’t address it to the community initially.
- Announce my own post making sure I address it to the community.
I guess that might show up as me boosting my own post on some instances (tooting my own horn? Horning my own toot?), which I would feel ashamed of.
>Is that necessary? I could not find that in the Federation documentation.
The error message says that server expects an
Announceactivity. But yes, group's inbox should also accept replies wrapped inCreate, as well asLikes. -
>Is that necessary? I could not find that in the Federation documentation.
The error message says that server expects an
Announceactivity. But yes, group's inbox should also accept replies wrapped inCreate, as well asLikes.silverpill@mitra.social the group's inbox should, if the post is in local category, but what if it's a post in a remote category? It doesn't ever make it over to the remote server...
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I have not been able to successfully post to a Lemmy instance either as a post or a comment. A cryptic error message is returned where the error is unknown and the message is a generic message:
{"error":"unknown","message":"data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities"}From my logs, it seems this is happening:
- I make a valid ActivityPub request with the audience of a community (or cc a user).
- Lemmy makes an ActivityPub request back at me at
/. - My web site does not handle ActivityPub at
/, and responds with atext/plainerror message. This is default behavior in Drupal. - Lemmy rejects my request with a 400 response with the error message above.
I tested other instances by making the following get request to the root of each instance (thank you, Daniel Sternberg for maintaining curl):
curl -v -H "Accept: application/activity+json" -H "Content-Type: application/activity+json" <url>- With the following results
- Lemmy returns an Application Actor.
- Misskey returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Mastodon returns a 406 response in
application/json. - NodeBB returns
text/html. - GoToSocial returns a 406 response in
application/json. - Mitra returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Pixelfed returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Peertube returns an empty 406 response.
My hypothesis is that Lemmy is rejecting the request because I return
text/plainand/or it cannot handle a response with that content type.To test that I am working on changing the default behavior. I will need to dynamically add a route based on
system.site.page.frontand return a 406 response in JSON. This is simple enough. If my hypothesis is correct, I can also make a merge request into drupal/activitypub module, which would have the same problem. If not, then I’ll need to go digging further.Hi, I had a look at the activities sent from your account. Looks like the only problem is that you are missing a
@contextfield. After adding that it parses just fine. What you serve from/is irrelevant, that one is completely optional. -
Hi, I had a look at the activities sent from your account. Looks like the only problem is that you are missing a
@contextfield. After adding that it parses just fine. What you serve from/is irrelevant, that one is completely optional.nutomic oh that's interesting, does Lemmy do JSON-LD validation? I didn't think it would.
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I have not been able to successfully post to a Lemmy instance either as a post or a comment. A cryptic error message is returned where the error is unknown and the message is a generic message:
{"error":"unknown","message":"data did not match any variant of untagged enum AnnouncableActivities"}From my logs, it seems this is happening:
- I make a valid ActivityPub request with the audience of a community (or cc a user).
- Lemmy makes an ActivityPub request back at me at
/. - My web site does not handle ActivityPub at
/, and responds with atext/plainerror message. This is default behavior in Drupal. - Lemmy rejects my request with a 400 response with the error message above.
I tested other instances by making the following get request to the root of each instance (thank you, Daniel Sternberg for maintaining curl):
curl -v -H "Accept: application/activity+json" -H "Content-Type: application/activity+json" <url>- With the following results
- Lemmy returns an Application Actor.
- Misskey returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Mastodon returns a 406 response in
application/json. - NodeBB returns
text/html. - GoToSocial returns a 406 response in
application/json. - Mitra returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Pixelfed returns a 200 response in
text/html. - Peertube returns an empty 406 response.
My hypothesis is that Lemmy is rejecting the request because I return
text/plainand/or it cannot handle a response with that content type.To test that I am working on changing the default behavior. I will need to dynamically add a route based on
system.site.page.frontand return a 406 response in JSON. This is simple enough. If my hypothesis is correct, I can also make a merge request into drupal/activitypub module, which would have the same problem. If not, then I’ll need to go digging further.Actually I was wrong, there is a context so thats fine. The problem is that
audienceshould be a simple string but you are sending an error, thats why it fails. Anyway that field is optional, so you can leave it out and put the community intoorccinstead.julian No but still the field is mandatory (mainly because that hasnt caused any problems so far).
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@julian Many of the hashtags that I use are not for discovery or not only. They are also or exclusively there to trigger filters.
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I feel like this is the right time to mention https://xkcd.com/927/
You're very right here. There are tons of IM services. "Why introduce another one?" is a reasonable question
But I don't see it in those terms because we're not creating a new network. This is adding features to network we already have
I'll still use Signal. And Apple Messages
And I'd also like to talk privately with people here, as well. There is room for both.
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Don't forget NodeBB is also based off of groups! We've increased support for it in 2025 and it's continuing to be our core focus into 2026.
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That giant pile of hashtags and you don't use #ActivityPub? 😂
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Yes, agreed. I know I said this before, but can't find it:
One important goal is to make a solid, consistent client-side API - something like what C2S was intended to be. That would enable interchangeable clients for mobile/desktop/etc that work with any server.. and greatly increase the trust factor.
I'm only good at making web apps, so that's what Emissary's first client will be. But there will be space for others to build on top of this work.
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@🌴 Seph 💭 👾 Fun fact: Hubzilla (which my post and this comment come from) has a feed reader, too. But Hubzilla is the most powerful and feature-rich Fediverse server software out there. So if Friendica is overkill for you already...
#FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Friendica #Hubzilla #FeedReader
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@jupiter_rowland I do wish Friendica wasn't the only one with a feed reader, as Friendica is overkill for my needs most days.
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@benpate @bonfire @swf @sovtechfund The weak point will be wherever you host the webserver. If a court or corrupt official orders them to install something bad, perhaps a backdoor, that is an issue.
