Because #BotsInSpace is shutting down (😢) I'm looking for a new home for my bots.
I have an RSS feed which posts to BlueSky…
And I have Bridgy which converts BSky to Fediverse…
So… Welcome @openbenches.org !
(This is an experiment. Feedback welcome. I might try self-hosting. Not sure yet. I don't know how to move followers across.)
Thinking about this further… I would like your advice and wisdom on how I should self-host my many bots.
All one one sub-domain?
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
Separate sub-domain for each?
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
Buy a new domain for each?
(LOL nope!)
Something else?
(What?)
Thinking about creating a Mastodon instance only for automated accounts.
Wouldn't have to deal with replies, following accounts, or anything complicated.
I even had a comedy name picked out for it - but someone beat me to it.
OK! Want to self-host your own bots now #BotsInSpace is going away?
I've made the *simplest* possible server just for you!
https://gitlab.com/edent/activity-bot/
Upload two files to your server (index.php and .htaccess), fill in a couple of details, and… that's it!
This is designed for write-only bots. It isn't interactive, it won't store or reply to messages sent to it, but it will post hashtags, links, mentions, and images.
You can see the sample bot @bot
Feedback very welcome!
@Edent @bot with your context (see: you made it), how easy do you think it would be to modify the php file to allow multiple bots on one server
ie @[email protected] and @[email protected]
I will accept "go and look at the php file yourself and figure it out" as an acceptable answer :]
@Edent ooh, intriguing
I'm running an entire separate Mastodon at the moment for my bot and my vps Does Not Like It
@Edent @zuzak I just put my bots as separate accounts on my @gotosocial instance, and the load is negligible. I use python3-mastodon to post because it was readily usable (with a backported patch for bullseye) for this (not a fan of python3). Initial setup I do with a browser, and a trivial SQL command to enable the "this account is a bot" flag.
Upside: Markdown formatting and longer posts.
@Edent @bot oh this is really cool! I did a PHP version as well but it's more files haha
https://github.com/greg-kennedy/phpActivityPub
it's sort of the PHP version of dariusk's minimal node one https://github.com/dariusk/express-activitypub
supports multiple bots, you create one through its "admin" interface and it gives you an API key, which you then include in cURL calls to let the "bot" make posts
@Edent @bot (I have a testbed in action at https://greg-kennedy.com/phpAP but none of these are actually posting much of anything)
see also @TestAccount
@Edent
If I use a "See more posts on bot.viii.fi" or "Open original page" link on its profile page on my instance, I get what looks like raw json. Could that redirect to the root page instead?
@Edent Some bizarre code in there.
Terence Eden
alifeee
Nate Vack 🍴
Sjors Rijsdam
Autumn Rivers
Marcus Noble
Philippa Cowderoy
Will Richardson
zuzak
mirabilos
Greg
Andy Piper
Pete Prodoehl 🍕
Curtis Wilcox
danbri
Jochie 👨🏻💻🏳️🌈
alice
Oriel Jutty 
in_array( $inbox_message["actor"], $followers_ids ) ? $from_follower = true: $from_follower = false;
Removing the duplicated code, this is just
$from_follower = in_array( $inbox_message["actor"], $followers_ids ) ? true : false;
And ... ? true : false is redundant, leaving:
$from_follower = in_array( $inbox_message["actor"], $followers_ids );
@Disputatore messages are stored in several places.
1) The user who sends the message usually retains a copy.
2) The recipient's server receives a copy (and can choose to save it or not).
3) Anyone following the sender will usually receive a copy of all their messages.
I could save a copy of mentions. But that comes with increased disk space, having to handle deletions, and risk that someone will store abusive content on your server.
@Disputatore no. But the data is still on your server whether you like it or not.
If you're happy with that risk, feel free to fork it.
@Edent While there are still bots posting on there, the server is running an old version of Mastodon, and the admin hasn't posted in a while.
I'd also love to support the creative botmaking community somehow, so I'm looking into whether a GoToSocial server would make more sense/be cheaper to run. GTS seems to have pretty good compatibility with Mastodon's API.
The botsin.space Mastodon server has been a huge part of the fediverse, and while it's sad it's being retired, I trust that the creative botmaking community will continue to thrive. "So, given two choices -- asking for more donations so I can pay for more hardware to keep the instance running, or retiring it and encouraging people to support more community-oriented instances, I'll choose the second option every time." https://muffinlabs.com/posts/2024/10/29/10-29-rip-botsin-space/ #BotsInSpace #bots #CreativeBots
Okay, systems are up and running for https://botsinbox.net. Bot accounts can be bought through my ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/archdog for $1/month/bot. Feedback is _very much_ welcome and wanted! Currently limiting the number of slots until I'm completely confident in how it'll scale.
@julian Nice! And the pricing seems fair!
@arch Do you, uh, offer bulk discount?
@arch Nice!
Well I am still thinking about what makes the most sense for me, but will definitely keep this in mind, thank you!
In the meantime, I added a link to your post to https://botwiki.org/resources/fediverse-bots/#bot-instances, if that's alright. (Or let me know if there's a better page to link to.)
Cogito Ergo Disputo
Stefan Bohacek
CTD
db0
jsonarray
Julian Fietkau
Arch 
Graham Downs