Microsub

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Microsub provides a standardized way for reader apps to interact with feeds. By splitting feed parsing and displaying posts into separate parts, a reader app can focus on presenting posts to the user instead of also having to parse feeds. A Microsub server manages the list of people you're following and collects their posts, and a Microsub app shows the posts to the user by fetching them from the server.

Microsub enables a client to show posts from feeds across the web and display them in a reader, without having to do any feed parsing itself. With Microsub, people can use any suitable reader to follow and read the content. Decoupling the idea of displaying posts from actually fetching remote feeds makes it simpler to build a reader, as well as makes your subscription list portable between readers.

Reader apps can also use Micropub to respond to content the user is following, for example with a like, a repost or a comment.

Microsub decouples managing subscriptions and delivering content from the presentation of that content. The Microsub server handles the actual subscription to feeds, (likely using WebSub), while providing a consistent API so that apps can present the contents of the feeds in a reader interface.

A short verbal discussion of what it does can be heard here on Aaron Parecki's Percolator podcast

Articles

Clients

Indigenous

Indigenous is a set of in-development native iOS and Android Microsub reader apps.

iOS

Indigenous for iOS is a native iOS Microsub reader app built by Eddie Hinkle

Android

Indigenous for Android is a native Android Microsub reader app built by Kristof De Jaeger

 

Monocle

Monocle is a Microsub reader web app built by Aaron Parecki. If you have a Microsub server, you can use the hosted version at https://monocle.p3k.io

monocle-timeline-view.png

Together

Together a web based Microsub reader, primarily developed by Grant Richmond. Source code at https://github.com/alltogethernow/web/ and an online at https://alltogethernow.io

together-screenshot-2019-06-19.jpg

Ekster Reader

Ekster Reader is an in-development Microsub reader, running in a browser. It connects directly to a Microsub server without its own Microsub proxy backend. For this to work you do need a Microsub server that handles CORS headers, to allow access from the browser. This also applies for the Indieauth endpoint. A version is hosted at https://reader.p83.nl/

ekster-reader.png

Microsub Notifier

microsub notifier is a Microsub client built purely to send notifications of new content in any of your Microsub channels. Built by Grant Richmond is is hosted at https://microsub-notifier.tpxl.io

(needs screenshots!)

Servers


Proxies - not entire server(s), but implements Microsub server API wrapped around existing service(s):

IndieWeb Examples

In Progress

IndieWebCamp Related Sessions

Getting Started

To use a Microsub app, your website will need to support IndieAuth and advertise a Microsub endpoint. Starting with a plain HTML home page, the steps below will walk you through getting set up so you can log in to an IndieWeb reader app.

Setting up IndieAuth

If you have WordPress or another website that has native IndieAuth support, that is your best option. Install the IndieAuth plugin in WordPress or your CMS.

If you are not using a CMS that has native IndieAuth support, you can use the steps below to delegate all the authentication to external services so that you can use it with a static site or any other project.

  • add a rel=me link to your GitHub profile
    • e.g. <a href="https://github.com/username" rel="me">username</a> on github
  • add the following tags to delegate your IndieAuth handling to indieauth.com
    • <link rel="authorization_endpoint" href="https://indieauth.com/auth">
    • <link rel="token_endpoint" href="https://tokens.indieauth.com/token">

Setting up Microsub

Libraries

Brainstorming

See Microsub-spec#Brainstorming

See Also

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