**Update regarding corporate sponsors: we are open to sponsorship arrangements with organizations that align with our values; see the conditions below**
**GoToSocial is still [BETA SOFTWARE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Beta)**. It is already deployable and useable, and it federates cleanly with many other Fediverse servers (not yet all). However, many things are not yet implemented, and there are plenty of bugs! We left alpha stage around September/October 2024, and we intend to exit beta some time around 2026.
Documentation is at [docs.gotosocial.org](https://docs.gotosocial.org). You can skip straight to the API documentation [here](https://docs.gotosocial.org/en/latest/api/swagger/).
To build from source, check the [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) file.
GoToSocial provides a lightweight, customizable, and safety-focused entryway into the [Fediverse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse), and is comparable to (but distinct from) existing projects such as [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/), [Pleroma](https://pleroma.social/), [Friendica](https://friendi.ca), and [PixelFed](https://pixelfed.org/).
If you've ever used something like Twitter or Tumblr (or even Myspace!) GoToSocial will probably feel familiar to you: You can follow people and have followers, you make posts which people can favourite and reply to and share, and you scroll through posts from people you follow using a timeline. You can write long posts or short posts, or just post images, it's up to you. You can also, of course, block people or otherwise limit interactions that you don't want by posting just to your friends.
**GoToSocial does NOT use recommendation algorithms or collect data about you to suggest content or 'improve your experience'**. The timeline is chronological: whatever you see at the top of your timeline is there because it's *just been posted*, not because it's been selected as interesting (or controversial) based on your personal profile.
GoToSocial is not designed for 'must-follow' influencers with tens of thousands of followers, and it's not designed to be addictive. Your timeline and your experience are shaped by who you follow and how you interact with people, not by metrics of engagement!
Because GoToSocial uses [ActivityPub](https://activitypub.rocks/), you can hang out not just with people on your home server, but with people all over the [Fediverse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse), seamlessly.
Federation means that your home server is part of a network of servers all over the world that all communicate using the same protocol. Your data is no longer centralized on one company's servers, but resides on your own server and is shared — as you see fit — across a resilient web of servers run by other people.
This federated approach also means that you aren't beholden to arbitrary rules from some gigantic corporation potentially thousands of miles away. Your server has its own rules and culture; your fellow server residents are your neighbors; you will likely get to know your server admins and moderators, or be an admin yourself.
GoToSocial advocates for many small, weird, specialist servers where people can feel at home, rather than a few big and generic ones where one person's voice can get lost in the crowd.
This project sprang up in February/March 2021 out of a dissatisfaction with the safety + privacy features of other Federated microblogging/social media applications, and a desire to implement something a little different.
We made our first Alpha release in November 2021. We left Alpha and entered Beta in September/October 2024.
For a detailed view on what's implemented and what's not, and progress made towards [stable release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Stable_release), please see [the roadmap document](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/ROADMAP.md).
The Mastodon API has become the de facto standard for client communication with federated servers, so GoToSocial has implemented and extended the API with custom functionality.
GoToSocial offers public, unlisted/unlocked, followers-only, and direct posts (slide in DMs! -- with consent).
### Reply controls
GoToSocial lets you choose who can reply to your posts, via [interaction policies](https://docs.gotosocial.org/en/latest/user_guide/settings/#default-interaction-policies). You can choose to let anyone reply to your posts, let only your friends reply, and more.
Sometimes you only want to talk to people you share an instance with. GoToSocial supports this via local-only posting, which ensures that your post stays on your instance only. (Local-only posting is currently dependent on client support.)
GoToSocial lets you opt-in to exposing your profile as an RSS feed, so that people can subscribe to your public feed without missing a post.
### Rich text formatting
With GoToSocial, you can write posts using the popular, easy-to-use Markdown markup language, which lets you produce rich HTML posts with support for blockquotes, syntax-highlighted code blocks, lists, inline links, and more.
Users can [choose from a variety of fun themes](https://docs.gotosocial.org/en/latest/user_guide/settings/#select-theme) for their profile, or even write their own [custom CSS](https://docs.gotosocial.org/en/latest/user_guide/settings/#custom-css).
GoToSocial uses only about 200-300MiB of RAM, and requires very little CPU power, so it plays nice with single-board computers, old laptops and tiny $5/month VPSes.
- Import and export allow lists and deny lists. Subscribe to community-created block lists (think Ad blocker, but for federation!) (feature still in progress).
- HTTP signature authentication: GoToSocial requires [HTTP Signatures](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-cavage-http-signatures-12) when sending and receiving messages, to ensure that your messages can't be tampered with and your identity can't be forged.
GoToSocial supports [OpenID Connect (OIDC)](https://openid.net/connect/) identity providers, meaning you can integrate it with existing user management services like [Auth0](https://auth0.com/), [Gitlab](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/integration/openid_connect_provider.html), etc., or run your own and hook GtS up to that (we recommend [Dex](https://dexidp.io/)).
Instead, like Matrix.org's [Synapse](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse) project, it provides a relatively generic backend server implementation, some beautiful static pages for profiles and posts, and a [well-documented API](https://docs.gotosocial.org/en/latest/api/swagger/).
On top of this API, web developers are encouraged to build any front-end implementation or mobile application that they wish, whether Tumblr-like, Facebook-like, Twitter-like, or something else entirely.
Since GoToSocial is still in beta, there are plenty of bugs. We use [GitHub issues](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Abug) to track these.
Since every ActivityPub server implementation has a slightly different interpretation of the protocol, some servers don't quite federate properly with GoToSocial yet. We're tracking these issues [in this project](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/projects/4). Eventually, we want to make sure that any implementation that can federate nicely with Mastodon should also be able to federate with GoToSocial.
The Docker image `superseriousbusiness/gotosocial:latest` will always correspond to the latest stable release. Since this tag is overwritten frequently, you may want to use Docker CLI flag `--pull always` to ensure that you always have the most up-to-date image every time you run using this tag. Alternatively, run `docker pull superseriousbusiness/gotosocial:latest` manually just before use.
Please be warned that you do so at your own risk! We try to keep main working properly, but we make absolutely no guarantees. Take a stable release instead if you're unsure.
To run from main using Docker, use the `snapshot` Docker tag. The Docker image `superseriousbusiness/gotosocial:snapshot` will always correspond to the latest commit on main. Since this tag is overwritten frequently, you may want to use Docker CLI flag `--pull always` to ensure that you always have the most up-to-date image every time you run using this tag. Alternatively, run `docker pull superseriousbusiness/gotosocial:snapshot` manually just before use.
To run from main using a binary release, download the appropriate .tar.gz file for your architecture from our [self-hosted Minio S3 repository](https://minio.s3.superseriousbusiness.org/browser/gotosocial-snapshots).
Snapshot binary releases in the S3 bucket are keyed by Github commit hash. To get the latest one, sort by Last Modified, or check out the list of commits [here](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/commits/main), copy the SHA of the latest one, and paste it in the Minio console filter. Snapshot binary releases are expired after 28 days, to keep our hosting costs down.
Instructions for building GoToSocial from source are in the [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) file.
- [YunoHost GoToSocial Packaging](https://github.com/YunoHost-Apps/gotosocial_ynh) by [OniriCorpe](https://github.com/OniriCorpe).
- [Ansible Playbook (MASH)](https://github.com/mother-of-all-self-hosting/mash-playbook): The playbook supports a many services, including GoToSocial. [Documentation](https://github.com/mother-of-all-self-hosting/mash-playbook/blob/main/docs/services/gotosocial.md)
- [GoToSocial Helm Chart](https://github.com/fSocietySocial/charts/tree/main/charts/gotosocial) by [0hlov3](https://github.com/0hlov3).
You would like to contribute to GtS? Great! ❤️❤️❤️ Check out the issues page to see if there's anything you intend to jump in on, and read the [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) file for guidelines and setting up your dev environment.
For questions and comments, you can [join our Matrix space](https://matrix.to/#/#gotosocial-space:superseriousbusiness.org) at `#gotosocial-space:superseriousbusiness.org`. This is the quickest way to reach the devs. You can also mail [admin@gotosocial.org](mailto:admin@gotosocial.org).
For bugs and feature requests, please check to see if there's [already an issue](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/issues), and if not, open one or use one of the above channels to make a request (if you don't have a Github account).
- [buckket/go-blurhash](https://github.com/buckket/go-blurhash); used for generating image blurhashes. [GPL-3.0 License](https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-3.0-only.html).
- [mitchellh/mapstructure](https://github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure); Go interface => struct parsing. [MIT License](https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html).
- [modernc.org/sqlite](https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite); cgo-free port of SQLite. [Other License](https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite/-/blob/master/LICENSE).
- [superseriousbusiness/oauth2](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/oauth2) forked from [go-oauth2/oauth2](https://github.com/go-oauth2/oauth2); OAuth server framework and token handling. [MIT License](https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html).
- [tdewolff/minify](https://github.com/tdewolff/minify); HTML minification for Markdown-submitted posts. [MIT License](https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html).
Sloth logo by [Anna Abramek](https://abramek.art/).
<arel="license"href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"><imgalt="Creative Commons License"style="border-width:0"src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png"/></a><br/>The GoToSocial sloth mascot is licensed under a <arel="license"href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.
The Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License license applies specifically to the following files and subdirectories of this repository:
**Update regarding corporate sponsors: we are open to sponsorship arrangements with organizations that align with our values; see the conditions below**
If you would like to donate to GoToSocial to keep the lights on during development, [you can do so via our OpenCollective page](https://opencollective.com/gotosocial#support)!
 
If you prefer, we also have an account on LiberaPay! You can find that [right here](https://liberapay.com/GoToSocial/).
Crowdfunded donations to our OpenCollective and Liberapay accounts go towards paying the core team, paying server costs, and paying for GtS art, design, and other bits and bobs.
GoToSocial is open to sponsorship arrangements with organizations that align with our values. To show our thanks for your support, we will display your logo, website, and a short tagline on the repository and documentation. The following caveats apply to sponsorships:
1. GoToSocial project direction will always remain 100% in the hands of the core team, and will never be dictated or influenced by corporate sponsorship. This is non-negotiable. Corporations are of course free of course to suggest / request features in the same manner as any other user, but they are not given special treatment.
2. Corporate sponsorship is dependent on your organization meeting our team's ethical guidelines. These are not a concrete set of rules but instead boil down to "is your company causing harm?". For example, those in the defense industry need not apply as the simple answer to that question is, "yes!".
If after reading this you are still interested in supporting us, that is wonderful! Please reach out to us at admin@gotosocial.org to further discuss :)
Combined with the above crowdfunding sources, 2023 Alpha development of GoToSocial was funded by a 50,000 EUR grant from the [NGI0 Entrust Fund](https://nlnet.nl/entrust/), via [NLnet](https://nlnet.nl/). See [here](https://nlnet.nl/project/GoToSocial/#ack) for more details. The successful grant application is archived [here](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/archive/nlnet/2022-next-generation-internet-zero.md).
2024 Beta development of GoToSocial is being funded by an additional 50,000 EUR grant from the [NGI0 Entrust Fund](https://nlnet.nl/entrust/), via [NLnet](https://nlnet.nl/).
GoToSocial is free software, licensed under the [GNU AGPL v3 LICENSE](https://github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/blob/main/LICENSE). We encourage forking and changing the code, hacking around with it, and experimenting.
See [here](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.html) for the differences between AGPL versus GPL licensing, and [here](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html) for FAQ's about GPL licenses, including the AGPL.
If you modify the GoToSocial source code, and run that modified code in a way that's accessible over a network, you *must* make your modifications to the source code available following the guidelines of the license:
> \[I\]f you modify the Program, your modified version must prominently offer all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source of your version by providing access to the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge, through some standard or customary means of facilitating copying of software.
