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ActivityPub Message Browser

The ActivityPub Message Browser Module

The built-in activity_pub_msg_list module provides a scrollable, paginated list of messages (Notes) received from the Fediverse. It supports multiple view modes, lazy-loading of additional pages as the user scrolls, and navigation to a message viewer or thread view.

:information_source: ActivityPub must be enabled and the ActivityPub Web Handler must be configured for messages to appear.

View Modes

The browser can be opened in one of the following modes by passing mode via extraArgs:

Mode extraArgs.mode Description
Federated federated All Notes received in the shared inbox. (default)
Local local Notes sent by users on this system.
Timeline timeline Notes from a specific actor. Requires extraArgs.actorId.
Mentions mentions Notes that mention the current user.
Thread thread All Notes in a single thread/context. Requires extraArgs.contextId.

Example — launching the browser in Mentions mode from a menu action:

{
    action: @menu:activityPubMsgBrowser
    extraArgs: {
        mode: mentions
    }
}

Config Block

| Key | Required | Description | |—–|———-|————-| | art.main | :+1: | Art spec for the main browser screen. | | dateTimeFormat | :-1: | moment.js format string for message timestamps. am/pm are collapsed to a/p. Defaults to MM/DD hh:mma (12-char output). | | attIndicator | :-1: | Single character shown in the attachment column. Defaults to *. | | likeIndicator | :-1: | Single character shown as the like indicator in TL10+ views. Defaults to ♥ (CP437 0x03). | | boostIndicator | :-1: | Single character shown as the boost indicator in TL10+ views. Defaults to ▲ (CP437 0x1E). | | viewerMenu | :-1: | Menu name to push when opening a message. Defaults to activityPubMsgViewer. | | threadMenu | :-1: | Menu name to push when opening a thread. Defaults to actPubThread. |

Example:

activityPubMsgBrowser: {
    desc: ActivityPub Message Browser
    module: ./activitypub/activity_pub_msg_list
    config: {
        art: {
            main: activitypub_msg_browser
        }
        dateTimeFormat: "MM/DD hh:mma"
        attIndicator: "@"
    }
    // ...
}

Theming

MCI 1 — %VM1 Message List

Each row in the list provides the following itemFormat / focusItemFormat fields:

Field Description
from Sender handle in @user@host form. Full length, truncate with {from:<16.16}.
subject Message subject/summary. Prefixed with [CW] for content-warned posts, re: for replies.
date Formatted timestamp string (see dateTimeFormat).
likes Like count as a string; empty string when zero (blank-if-zero in right-justified formats).
boosts Boost count as a string; empty string when zero.
att Attachment indicator character, or a space when no attachment.
hasAttachment Boolean true/false.
noteId Internal ActivityPub Note ID (URL).
contextId Thread context/conversation ID, if present.
inReplyTo ID of the parent Note, if this is a reply.
text Pre-built fallback display string (fixed 71-char layout). Used when itemFormat is not set in the theme.

Example itemFormat in theme.hjson:

activityPubMsgBrowser: {
    0: {
        mci: {
            VM1: {
                itemFormat:      "|00|07{from:<16.16} {subject:<33.33} {date:<12.12} {likes:>2} {boosts:>2} {att}"
                focusItemFormat: "|00|15{from:<16.16} {subject:<33.33} {date:<12.12} {likes:>2} {boosts:>2} {att}"
            }
        }
    }
}

MCI 10+ — Custom Views

%TL10, %TL11, etc. may be placed in the art and configured in the menu’s config block using infoFormat## keys (e.g. infoFormat10). The following properties are available:

Property Description
modeLabel Current mode name: Federated, Local, Timeline, Mentions, or Thread.
msgCount Current number of loaded messages (as a string).
attIndicator Configured attachment indicator character.
likeIndicator Configured like indicator character.
boostIndicator Configured boost indicator character.

Example:

activityPubMsgBrowser: {
    config: {
        infoFormat10: "{modeLabel} ({msgCount} messages)"
    }
}

Action Keys

The following keys are handled by the listKeyPressed menu method, which should be assigned via actionKeys in form 0:

Key(s) Action
return, space Open the selected message in the viewer.
b Boost (announce) the selected message.
l Like the selected message.
r Reply to the selected message.
t, + Open the thread containing the selected message.
down arrow Move focus to the next message.
up arrow Move focus to the previous message.
page down Scroll list down one page.
page up Scroll list up one page.

Menu config example:

activityPubMsgBrowser: {
    form: {
        0: {
            mci: {
                VM1: {
                    focus: true
                }
            }
            actionKeys: [
                {
                    keys: ["return", "space", "b", "l", "r", "t", "+", "down arrow", "up arrow", "page up", "page down"]
                    action: @method:listKeyPressed
                }
                {
                    keys: ["escape", "q", "shift + q"]
                    action: @systemMethod:prevMenu
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

Lazy Loading

The browser fetches messages in pages of 25. When the focused row comes within 5 entries of the end of the loaded list, the next page is automatically fetched and appended — no user action is required.

Thread mode (mode: thread) loads all messages in the thread at once and does not paginate.

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