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Mastodon is afree, open-source social network server based onActivityPub where users can follow friends and discover new ones. On Mastodon, users can publish anything they want: links, pictures, text, and video. All Mastodon servers are interoperable as a federated network (users on one server can seamlessly communicate with users from another one, including non-Mastodon software that implements ActivityPub!)

• Project homepage 🐘
• Donate to support development 🎁
  • View sponsors
• Blog 📰
• Documentation 📚
• Official container image 🚢

Part of the Fediverse. Based on open standards, with no vendor lock-in. - the network goes beyond just Mastodon; anything that implements ActivityPub is part of a broader social network known asthe Fediverse. You can follow and interact with users on other servers (including those running different software), and they can follow you back.

Real-time, chronological timeline updates - updates of people you're following appear in real-time in the UI.

Media attachments - upload and view images and videos attached to the updates. Videos with no audio track are treated like animated GIFs; normal videos loop continuously.

Safety and moderation tools - Mastodon includes private posts, locked accounts, phrase filtering, muting, blocking, and many other features, along with a reporting and moderation system.

OAuth2 and a straightforward REST API - Mastodon acts as an OAuth2 provider, and third party apps can use the REST and Streaming APIs. This results in arich app ecosystem with a variety of choices!

• Ruby on Rails powers the REST API and other web pages.
• PostgreSQL is the main database.
• Redis andSidekiq are used for caching and queueing.
• Node.js powers the streaming API.
• React.js andRedux are used for the dynamic parts of the interface.
• BrowserStack supports testing on real devices and browsers. (This project is tested with BrowserStack)
• Chromatic provides visual regression testing. (This project is tested with Chromatic)

• Ruby 3.2+
• PostgreSQL 13+
• Redis 6.2+
• Node.js 20+

This repository includes deployment configurations forDocker and docker-compose, as well as for other environments like Heroku and Scalingo. For Helm charts, reference themastodon/chart repository. Astandalone installation guide is available in the main documentation.

Mastodon isfree, open-source software licensed underAGPLv3. We welcome contributions and help from anyone who wants to improve the project.

You should read the overallCONTRIBUTING guide, which covers our development processes.

You should also read and understand theCODE OF CONDUCT that enables us to maintain a welcoming and inclusive community. Collaboration begins with mutual respect and understanding.

You can learn about setting up a development environment in theDEVELOPMENT documentation.

If you would like to help with translations 🌐 you can do so onCrowdin.

Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Eugen Rochko (+mastodon authors)

Licensed under GNU Affero General Public License as stated in theLICENSE:

Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Eugen Rochko & other Mastodon contributorsThis program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it underthe terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the FreeSoftware Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) anylater version.This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUTANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESSFOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for moredetails.You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License alongwith this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/