Representing the cause of an activity

[evan@activitypub.space]

In Activity Streams 2.0, we can represent the result of an activity using the result property. Here, when the actor accepts a Follow activity, the result is that the follower is added to the actor's followers collection.

{
   "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
   "id": "https://social.example/accept/12931",
   "type": "Accept",
   "actor": "https://social.example/person/24405",
   "to": ["as:Public", "https://other.example/person/21356"],
   "object": {
      "id": "https://other.example/follow/30360",
      "type": "Follow",
      "to": ["as:Public", "https://social.example/person/24405"],
      "actor": "https://other.example/person/21356",
      "object": "https://social.example/person/24405"
   },
   "result": {
       "id": "https://social.example/add/11066",
       "type": "Add",
       "actor": "https://social.example/person/24405",
       "to": ["as:Public", "https://other.example/person/21356"],
       "object": "https://other.example/person/21356",
       "target": "https://social.example/person/24405/followers"
   }
}

My question is: how can the Add activity refer to the activity that caused it? I don't think we have a standard property for this. My best guess right now is context or maybe instrument, neither of which seems ideal. I think an extension inverse property, like resultOf, might be the best option.

[sivy@hachyderm.io]

@evan hi Evan, I think we would need some examples of what you consider a cause to be in order to develop this idea further

[sivy@hachyderm.io]

@evan@activitypub.space @evan@cosocial.ca i.e. can another activity be considered a cause which raises the question of whether an activity stream stream can be considered a network graph delivered overtime

[sivy@hachyderm.io]

@evan I don’t know just random driving thoughts

[evan@activitypub.space]

sivy@hachyderm.io I used an example in my original post! The result property describes this relationship.

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-result

Here are a few more:

• When an actor arrives at a place, the actor updates their own location
• When an actor likes an object, the actor adds the object to their liked collection
• When an actor unfollows someone, the actor removes that someone from their following collection

So, I see it particularly useful for the side-effects defined by ActivityPub, but there may be other good uses.

[sivy@hachyderm.io]

@evan this is what happens when you read the fedi at stoplights.

I'd think some kind of link to the "triggering" activity in the result.

(I'm speaking from a very old and rusty memory of AP, but)

Is a result an activity? Can it live on it's own? If not, it seems like a processor can make the assumption that object → result? Otherwise, a link to the triggering activity by id could work. But what to call that link? <shrugs>

[evan@activitypub.space]

Dagnabbit. Here's a comment from 11 years ago on this topic!

https://github.com/w3c/activitystreams/issues/20#issuecomment-58034202