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FediFetcher for Mastodon

This GitHub repository provides a simple script that can pull missing posts into Mastodon using the Mastodon API. FediFetcher has no further dependencies, and can be run as either a GitHub Action, as a scheduled cron job, or a pre-packaged container. Here is what FediFetcher can do:

  1. It can pull missing remote replies to posts that are already on your server into your server. It can
    1. fetch missing replies to posts that users on your instance have already replied to,
    2. fetch missing replies to the most recent posts in your home timeline,
    3. fetch missing replies to your bookmarks.
  2. It can also backfill profiles on your instance. In particular it can
    1. fetch missing recent posts from users that you have recently followed,
    2. fetch missing recent posts form users that have recently followed you,
    3. fetch missing recent posts form users that have recently sent you a follow request.

Each part of this script is fully configurable, and you can completely disable parts that you are not interested in.

FediFetcher will store posts it has already pulled in, as well as profiles it has already backfilled on disk, to prevent re-fetching the same info in subsequent executions.

Be aware, that this script may run for a very long time. This is particularly true, the first time this script runs, and/or if you enable all parts of this script. You should ensure that you take steps to prevent multiple overlapping executions of this script, as that will lead to unpleasant results.

Setup

You can run FediFetcher either as a GitHub Action, as a scheduled cron job on your local machine/server, or from a pre-packed container.

1) Get the required access token:

Regardless of how you want to run FediFetcher, you must first get an access token:

  1. In Mastodon go to Preferences > Development > New Application
    1. give it a nice name
    2. Enable the required scopes for your options. See below for details, but if you want to use all parts of this script, you'll need these scopes: read:search, read:statuses, read:follows, read:bookmarks, and admin:read:accounts
    3. Save
    4. Copy the value of Your access token

2.1) Configure and run the GitHub Action

To run FediFetcher as a GitHub Action:

  1. Fork this repository
  2. Add your access token:
    1. Go to Settings > Secrets and Variables > Actions
    2. Click New Repository Secret
    3. Supply the Name ACCESS_TOKEN and provide the Token generated above as Secret
  3. Provide the required environment variables, to configure your Action:
    1. Go to Settings > Environments
    2. Click New Environment
    3. Provide the name Mastodon
    4. Add environment variables to configure your action as described below.
  4. Finally go to the Actions tab and enable the action. The action should now automatically run approximately once every 10 min.

Keep in mind that the schedule event can be delayed during periods of high loads of GitHub Actions workflow runs.

2.2) Run FediFetcher locally as a cron job

If you want to, you can of course also run FediFetcher locally as a cron job:

  1. To get started, clone this repository.
  2. Install requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt
  3. Then simply run this script like so: python find_posts.py --access-token=<TOKEN> --server=<SERVER> etc. (Read below, or run python find_posts.py -h to get a list of all options)

When using a cronjob, we are using file based locking to avoid multiple overlapping executions of the script. The timeout period for the lock can be configured using --lock-hours.

If you are running FediFetcher locally, my recommendation is to run it manually once, before turning on the cron job: The first run will be significantly slower than subsequent runs, and that will help you prevent overlapping during that first run.

2.3) Run FediFetcher from a container

FediFetcher is also available in a pre-packaged container, FediFetcher - Thank you @nikdoof.

  1. Pull the container from ghcr.io, using Docker or your container tool of choice: docker pull ghcr.io/nanos/FediFetcher:latest
  2. Run the container, passing the command line arguments like running the script directly: docker run -it ghcr.io/nanos/FediFetcher:latest --access-token=<TOKEN> --server=<SERVER>

The same rules for running this as a cron job apply to running the container: don't overlap any executions.

Persistent files are stored in /app/artifacts within the container, so you may want to map this to a local folder on your system.

An example Kubernetes CronJob for running the container is included in the examples folder.

Configuration options

Please see below for a list of configuration options. Use the 'Environment Variable Name' if you are running FediFetcher has a GitHub Action, otherwise use the 'Command line flag'.

Environment Variable Name Command line flag Required? Notes
-- --access-token Yes The access token. If using GitHub action, this needs to be provided as a Secret called ACCESS_TOKEN
MASTODON_SERVER --server Yes The domain only of your mastodon server (without https:// prefix) e.g. mstdn.thms.uk.
HOME_TIMELINE_LENGTH --home-timeline-length No Provide to fetch remote replies to posts in the API-Key owner's home timeline. Determines how many posts we'll fetch replies for. (An integer number, e.g. 200)
REPLY_INTERVAL_IN_HOURS --reply-interval-in-hours No Provide to fetch remote replies to posts that have received replies from users on your own instance. Determines how far back in time we'll go to find posts that have received replies. (An integer number, e.g. 24.) Requires an access token with admin:read:accounts
USER --user See Notes Required together with MAX_FOLLOWERS or MAX_FOLLOWINGS: The username of the user whose followers or followings you want to backfill (e.g. michael for the user @michael@thms.uk).
MAX_FOLLOWINGS --max-followings No Provide to backfill profiles for your most recent followings. Determines how many of your last followings you want to backfill. (An integer number, e.g. 80. Ensure you also provide USER).
MAX_FOLLOWERS --max-followers No Provide to backfill profiles for your most recent followers. Determines how many of your last followers you want to backfill. (An integer number, e.g. 80. Ensure you also provide USER).
MAX_FOLLOW_REQUESTS --max-follow-requests No Provide to backfill profiles for the API key owner's most recent pending follow requests. Determines how many of your last follow requests you want to backfill. (An integer number, e.g. 80.). Requires an access token with read:follows scope.
MAX_BOOKMARKS --max-bookmarks No Provide to fetch remote replies to any posts you have bookmarked. Determines how many of your bookmarks you want to get replies to. (An integer number, e.g. 80.). Requires an access token with read:bookmarks scope.
HTTP_TIMEOUT --http-timeout No The timeout for any HTTP requests to the Mastodon API in seconds. Defaults to 5.
-- --lock-hours No Determines after how many hours a lock file should be discarded. Not relevant when running the script as GitHub Action, as concurrency is prevented using a different mechanism.
ON_START --on-start No Optionally provide a callback URL that will be pinged when processing is starting. A query parameter rid={uuid} will automatically be appended to uniquely identify each execution. This can be used to monitor your script using a service such as healthchecks.io.
ON_DONE --on-done No Optionally provide a callback URL that will be called when processing is finished. A query parameter rid={uuid} will automatically be appended to uniquely identify each execution. This can be used to monitor your script using a service such as healthchecks.io.
ON_FAIL --on-fail No Optionally provide a callback URL that will be called when processing has failed. A query parameter rid={uuid} will automatically be appended to uniquely identify each execution. This can be used to monitor your script using a service such as healthchecks.io.

Required Access Token Scopes

  • For all actions, your access token must include these scopes:
    • read:search
    • read:statuses
  • If you are supplying REPLY_INTERVAL_IN_HOURS / --reply-interval-in-hours you must additionally enable this scope:
    • admin:read:accounts
  • If you are supplying MAX_FOLLOW_REQUESTS / --max-follow-requests you must additionally enable this scope:
    • read:follows
  • If you are supplying MAX_BOOKMARKS / --max-bookmarks you must additionally enable this scope:
    • read:bookmarks

Acknowledgments

The original inspiration of this script, as well as parts of its implementation are taken from Abhinav Sarkar. Thank you Abhinav!