App/docs/activitypub/ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_README.md

ActivityPub Testing Guide

Complete guide for testing ActivityPub federation in Solar Network.

📚 Documentation Files

File	Description	Size
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_INDEX.md	START HERE - Master guide with overview	12K
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKSTART.md	Quick reference for common tasks	7K
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_GUIDE.md	Comprehensive testing scenarios (10 parts)	19K
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKREF.md	Command and query reference	8K
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_HELPER_API.md	Helper API for programmatic testing	12K
ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_RESULTS_TEMPLATE.md	Template to track test results	10K

🚀 Quick Start

Option A: One-Command Setup (Recommended)

# 1. Run setup script
./setup-activitypub-test.sh

# 2. Run validation
./test-activitypub.sh

# 3. Start Solar Network
cd DysonNetwork.Sphere
dotnet run

Option B: Manual Setup

1. Read: ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKSTART.md
2. Configure: Copy .env.testing.example to .env and adjust
3. Follow: Step-by-step in ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_GUIDE.md

🎯 What You Can Test

With Self-Hosted Instance

• ✅ WebFinger discovery
• ✅ Actor profile retrieval
• ✅ Follow relationships (bidirectional)
• ✅ Post federation (Solar → Mastodon)
• ✅ Content reception (Mastodon → Solar)
• ✅ Like interactions
• ✅ Reply threading
• ✅ HTTP signature verification
• ✅ Content deletion

With Real Instance

• ✅ Public domain setup (via ngrok or VPS)
• ✅ Federation with public instances (mastodon.social, etc.)
• ✅ Real-world compatibility testing
• ✅ Performance under real load

📋 Testing Workflow

Day 1: Basic Functionality

• Setup test environment
• Test WebFinger and Actor endpoints
• Verify HTTP signatures
• Test basic follow/unfollow

Day 2: Content Federation

• Test post creation and delivery
• Test content reception
• Test media attachments
• Test content warnings

Day 3: Interactions

• Test likes (both directions)
• Test replies and threading
• Test boosts/announces
• Test undo activities

Day 4: Real Instance

• Set up public domain
• Test with mastodon.social
• Test with other instances
• Verify cross-instance compatibility

Day 5: Edge Cases

• Test error handling
• Test failed deliveries
• Test invalid signatures
• Test malformed activities

🛠️ Setup Scripts

Script	Purpose
setup-activitypub-test.sh	One-command setup of Mastodon + Solar Network
test-activitypub.sh	Quick validation of core functionality

Both scripts are executable (chmod +x).

🔧 Configuration

Required Tools

• ✅ Docker (for Mastodon)
• ✅ .NET 10 SDK (for Solar Network)
• ✅ PostgreSQL client (psql)
• ✅ curl (for API testing)

Quick Setup

# 1. Install dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install docker.io docker-compose postgresql-client curl jq

# 2. Run setup
./setup-activitypub-test.sh

# 3. Validate
./test-activitypub.sh

📊 Progress Tracking

Use the template to track your testing progress:

# Copy the template
cp ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_RESULTS_TEMPLATE.md my-test-results.md

# Edit as you test
nano my-test-results.md

🐛 Troubleshooting

Quick Fixes

Mastodon won't start:

# Check logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.mastodon-test.yml logs -f

# Restart containers
docker compose -f docker-compose.mastodon-test.yml restart

Can't reach Solar Network:

# Check if running
curl http://solar.local:5000

# Check /etc/hosts
cat /etc/hosts | grep solar.local

Activities not arriving:

# Check database
psql -d dyson_network -c "SELECT * FROM fediverse_activities;"

# Check logs
dotnet run --project DysonNetwork.Sphere | grep -i activitypub

For detailed troubleshooting, see ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_GUIDE.md Part 5.

📖 Learning Path

For Developers

1. Read ACTIVITYPUB_IMPLEMENTATION.md to understand the architecture
2. Read ACTIVITYPUB_SUMMARY.md to see what's implemented
3. Follow test scenarios in ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_GUIDE.md
4. Use helper API in ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_HELPER_API.md for testing

For Testers

1. Start with ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKSTART.md
2. Use command reference in ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKREF.md
3. Track results with ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_RESULTS_TEMPLATE.md
4. Report issues with details from logs

🎓 Success Criteria

Minimum Viable

• WebFinger works
• Actor profile valid
• Follow relationships work
• Posts federate correctly
• HTTP signatures verified

Production Ready

• Activity queue with retry
• Rate limiting
• Monitoring/alerting
• Admin interface
• Instance blocking
• Content moderation

🚨 Common Pitfalls

Don't Forget

• ✅ Update /etc/hosts with both instances
• ✅ Run migrations before testing
• ✅ Check both instances are accessible
• ✅ Verify PostgreSQL is running
• ✅ Check logs when something fails

Watch Out For

• ❌ Using localhost instead of solar.local
• ❌ Forgetting to restart after config changes
• ❌ Not waiting for Mastodon to start (2-5 minutes)
• ❌ Ignoring CORS errors in browser testing
• ❌ Testing with deleted/invisible posts

📚 Additional Resources

Official Specs

• ActivityPub W3C
• ActivityStreams
• HTTP Signatures

Community Guides

• Mastodon Federation
• Federation Testing

Tools

• ActivityPub Playground
• FediTest

🆘 Support

If you encounter issues:

1. Check logs (both Solar Network and Mastodon)
2. Review troubleshooting section in the guide
3. Validate against success criteria
4. Check database state with queries
5. Review implementation docs

✨ Next Steps

After testing with self-hosted instance:

1. Get a public domain or use ngrok
2. Update ActivityPub:Domain in appsettings.json
3. Test with public Mastodon instances
4. Add more ActivityPub features (queue, retry, etc.)
5. Implement admin interface
6. Add monitoring and metrics

📞 File Reference

All files are in the root of the DysonNetwork project:

DysonNetwork/
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_INDEX.md          # Start here!
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKSTART.md     # Quick reference
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_GUIDE.md        # Full guide
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_QUICKREF.md      # Commands
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_HELPER_API.md    # Test API
├── ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_RESULTS_TEMPLATE.md
├── setup-activitypub-test.sh            # Setup script
├── test-activitypub.sh                  # Test script
└── .env.testing.example                 # Config template

Documentation files (for reference):

DysonNetwork/
├── ACTIVITYPUB_IMPLEMENTATION.md         # How it's implemented
├── ACTIVITYPUB_SUMMARY.md                # Feature summary
└── ACTIVITYPUB_PLAN.md                   # Original plan

---

Start here: ACTIVITYPUB_TESTING_INDEX.md

Good luck with your testing! 🚀