Federation

How slides are shared and discovered across Fediverse instances.

What is Federation?

Federation allows independent Cosmoslide instances to communicate and share content using ActivityPub. Each instance operates independently while participating in the larger Fediverse network.

Content Distribution

When a slide is published:

• Locally - Stored in the local database, visible to local users
• Remotely - Delivered to followers on other instances via ActivityPub

Discovery

Following Users

When you follow someone on another instance:

1. Your instance sends a Follow activity
2. Their future slides are delivered to your instance
3. You see their slides in your timeline

Timelines

• Home - Slides from users you follow (local and remote)
• Local - Only slides from your instance
• Federated - Slides from all known instances

[TODO] Content Caching

When your instance receives a remote slide:

• Metadata - Cached locally (title, description, author)
• PDF File - Remains on the origin instance

The PDF is fetched directly from the hosting instance when viewed.

[TODO] Visibility

Different visibility levels affect federation:

• Public - Federated to all instances
• Unlisted - Federated but not in public timelines
• Followers-only - Only sent to approved followers

Moderation

Instance administrators can:

• [TODO] Block instances to prevent communication
• [TODO] Moderate content from remote instances
• [TODO] Enforce local moderation policies