How to Build a Simple ActivityPub Reminder Bot in Python

AmaseCocoa @cocoa@hackers.pub

This tutorial will guide you through building a simple ActivityPub bot using Python. The bot will listen for mentions and, when it receives a message in a specific format, it will schedule and send a reminder back to the user after a specified delay.

For example, if a user mentions the bot with a message like "@reminder@your.host.com 10m check the oven", the bot will reply 10 minutes later with a message like "🔔 Reminder for @user: check the oven".

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you will need Python 3.10+ and the following libraries:

  • apkit[server]: A powerful toolkit for building ActivityPub applications in Python. We use the server extra, which includes FastAPI-based components.
  • uvicorn: An ASGI server to run our FastAPI application.
  • cryptography: Used for generating and managing the cryptographic keys required for ActivityPub.
  • uv: An optional but recommended fast package manager.

You can install these dependencies using uv or pip.

# Initialize a new project with uv
uv init

# Install dependencies
uv add "apkit[server]" uvicorn cryptography

Project Structure

The project structure is minimal, consisting of a single Python file for our bot's logic.

.
├── main.py
└── private_key.pem
  • main.py: Contains all the code for the bot.
  • private_key.pem: The private key for the bot's Actor. This will be generated automatically on the first run.

Code Walkthrough

Our application logic can be broken down into the following steps:

  1. Imports and Configuration: Set up necessary imports and basic configuration variables.
  2. Key Generation: Prepare the cryptographic keys needed for signing activities.
  3. Actor Definition: Define the bot's identity on the Fediverse.
  4. Server Initialization: Set up the apkit ActivityPub server.
  5. Data Storage: Implement a simple in-memory store for created activities.
  6. Reminder Logic: Code the core logic for parsing reminders and sending notifications.
  7. Endpoint Definitions: Create the necessary web endpoints (/actor, /inbox, etc.).
  8. Activity Handlers: Process incoming activities from other servers.
  9. Application Startup: Run the server.

Let's dive into each section of the main.py file.

1. Imports and Configuration

First, we import the necessary modules and define the basic configuration for our bot.

# main.py

import asyncio
import logging
import re
import uuid
import os
from datetime import timedelta, datetime

# Imports from FastAPI, cryptography, and apkit
from fastapi import Request, Response
from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import rsa
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization as crypto_serialization

from apkit.config import AppConfig
from apkit.server import ActivityPubServer
from apkit.server.types import Context, ActorKey
from apkit.server.responses import ActivityResponse
from apkit.models import (
    Actor, Application, CryptographicKey, Follow, Create, Note, Mention, Actor as APKitActor, OrderedCollection,
)
from apkit.client import WebfingerResource, WebfingerResult, WebfingerLink
from apkit.client.asyncio.client import ActivityPubClient

# --- Logging Setup ---
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# --- Basic Configuration ---
HOST = "your.host.com"  # Replace with your domain
USER_ID = "reminder"      # The bot's username

Make sure to replace your.host.com with the actual domain where your bot will be hosted. These values determine your bot's unique identifier (e.g., @reminder@your.host.com).

2. Key Generation and Persistence

ActivityPub uses HTTP Signatures to secure communication between servers. This requires each actor to have a public/private key pair. The following code generates a private key and saves it to a file if one doesn't already exist.

# main.py (continued)

# --- Key Persistence ---
KEY_FILE = "private_key.pem"

# Load the private key if it exists, otherwise generate a new one
if os.path.exists(KEY_FILE):
    logger.info(f"Loading existing private key from {KEY_FILE}.")
    with open(KEY_FILE, "rb") as f:
        private_key = crypto_serialization.load_pem_private_key(f.read(), password=None)
else:
    logger.info(f"No key file found. Generating new private key and saving to {KEY_FILE}.")
    private_key = rsa.generate_private_key(public_exponent=65537, key_size=2048)
    with open(KEY_FILE, "wb") as f:
        f.write(private_key.private_bytes(
            encoding=crypto_serialization.Encoding.PEM,
            format=crypto_serialization.PrivateFormat.PKCS8,
            encryption_algorithm=crypto_serialization.NoEncryption()
        ))

# Generate the public key from the private key
public_key_pem = private_key.public_key().public_bytes(
    encoding=crypto_serialization.Encoding.PEM,
    format=crypto_serialization.PublicFormat.SubjectPublicKeyInfo
).decode('utf-8')

3. Actor Definition

Next, we define the bot's Actor. The Actor is the bot's identity in the ActivityPub network. We use the Application type, as this entity is automated.

# main.py (continued)

# --- Actor Definition ---
actor = Application(
    id=f"https://{HOST}/actor",
    name="Reminder Bot",
    preferredUsername=USER_ID,
    summary="A bot that sends you reminders. Mention me like: @reminder 5m Check the oven",
    inbox=f"https://{HOST}/inbox",      # Endpoint for receiving activities
    outbox=f"https://{HOST}/outbox",    # Endpoint for sending activities
    publicKey=CryptographicKey(
        id=f"https://{HOST}/actor#main-key",
        owner=f"https://{HOST}/actor",
        publicKeyPem=public_key_pem
    )
)

4. Server Initialization

We initialize the ActivityPubServer from apkit, providing it with a function to retrieve our Actor's keys for signing outgoing activities.

# main.py (continued)

# --- Key Retrieval Function ---
async def get_keys_for_actor(identifier: str) -> list[ActorKey]:
    """Returns the key for a given Actor ID."""
    if identifier == actor.id:
        return [ActorKey(key_id=actor.publicKey.id, private_key=private_key)]
    return []

# --- Server Initialization ---
app = ActivityPubServer(apkit_config=AppConfig(
    actor_keys=get_keys_for_actor  # Register the key retrieval function
))

5. In-Memory Storage and Cache

To serve created activities, we need to store them somewhere. For simplicity, this example uses a basic in-memory dictionary as a store and a cache. In a production application, you would replace this with a persistent database (like SQLite or PostgreSQL) and a proper cache (like Redis).

# main.py (continued)

# --- In-memory Store and Cache ---
ACTIVITY_STORE = {} # A simple dict to store created activities
CACHE = {}          # A cache for recently accessed activities
CACHE_TTL = timedelta(minutes=5) # Cache expiration time (5 minutes)

6. Reminder Parsing and Sending Logic

This is the core logic of our bot. The parse_reminder function uses a regular expression to extract the delay and message from a mention, and send_reminder schedules the notification.

# main.py (continued)

# --- Reminder Parsing Logic ---
def parse_reminder(text: str) -> tuple[timedelta | None, str | None, str | None]:
    """Parses reminder text like '5m do something'."""
    # ... (implementation omitted for brevity)

# --- Reminder Sending Function ---
async def send_reminder(ctx: Context, delay: timedelta, message: str, target_actor: APKitActor, original_note: Note):
    """Waits for a specified delay and then sends a reminder."""
    logger.info(f"Scheduling reminder for {target_actor.id} in {delay}: '{message}'")
    await asyncio.sleep(delay.total_seconds()) # Asynchronously wait
    
    logger.info(f"Sending reminder to {target_actor.id}")
    
    # Create the reminder Note
    reminder_note = Note(...)
    # Wrap it in a Create activity
    reminder_create = Create(...)
    
    # Store the created activities
    ACTIVITY_STORE[reminder_note.id] = reminder_note
    ACTIVITY_STORE[reminder_create.id] = reminder_create
    
    # Send the activity to the target actor's inbox
    keys = await get_keys_for_actor(f"https://{HOST}/actor")
    await ctx.send(keys, target_actor, reminder_create)
    logger.info(f"Reminder sent to {target_actor.id}")

7. Endpoint Definitions

We define the required ActivityPub endpoints. Since apkit is built on FastAPI, we can use standard FastAPI decorators. The main endpoints are:

  • Webfinger: Allows users on other servers to discover the bot using an address like @user@host. This is a crucial first step for federation.
  • /actor: Serves the bot's Actor object, which contains its profile information and public key.
  • /inbox: The endpoint where the bot receives activities from other servers. apkit handles this route automatically, directing activities to the handlers we'll define in the next step.
  • /outbox: A collection of the activities created by the bot. but this returns placeholder collection.
  • /notes/{note_id} and /creates/{create_id}: Endpoints to serve specific objects created by the bot, allowing other servers to fetch them by their unique ID.

Here is the code for defining these endpoints:

# main.py (continued)

# The inbox endpoint is handled by apkit automatically.
app.inbox("/inbox")

@app.webfinger()
async def webfinger_endpoint(request: Request, acct: WebfingerResource) -> Response:
    """Handles Webfinger requests to make the bot discoverable."""
    if not acct.url:
        # Handle resource queries like acct:user@host
        if acct.username == USER_ID and acct.host == HOST:
            link = WebfingerLink(rel="self", type="application/activity+json", href=actor.id)
            wf_result = WebfingerResult(subject=acct, links=[link])
            return JSONResponse(wf_result.to_json(), media_type="application/jrd+json")
    else:
        # Handle resource queries using a URL
        if acct.url == f"https://{HOST}/actor":
            link = WebfingerLink(rel="self", type="application/activity+json", href=actor.id)
            wf_result = WebfingerResult(subject=acct, links=[link])
            return JSONResponse(wf_result.to_json(), media_type="application/jrd+json")
    return JSONResponse({"message": "Not Found"}, status_code=404)

@app.get("/actor")
async def get_actor_endpoint():
    """Serves the bot's Actor object."""
    return ActivityResponse(actor)

@app.get("/outbox")
async def get_outbox_endpoint():
    """Serves a collection of the bot's sent activities."""
    items = sorted(ACTIVITY_STORE.values(), key=lambda x: x.id, reverse=True)
    outbox_collection = OrderedCollection(
        id=actor.outbox,
        totalItems=len(items),
        orderedItems=items
    )
    return ActivityResponse(outbox_collection)

@app.get("/notes/{note_id}")
async def get_note_endpoint(note_id: uuid.UUID):
    """Serves a specific Note object, with caching."""
    note_uri = f"https://{HOST}/notes/{note_id}"
    
    # Check cache first
    if note_uri in CACHE and (datetime.now() - CACHE[note_uri]["timestamp"]) < CACHE_TTL:
        return ActivityResponse(CACHE[note_uri]["activity"])
        
    # If not in cache, get from store
    if note_uri in ACTIVITY_STORE:
        activity = ACTIVITY_STORE[note_uri]
        # Add to cache before returning
        CACHE[note_uri] = {"activity": activity, "timestamp": datetime.now()}
        return ActivityResponse(activity)
        
    return Response(status_code=404) # Not Found

@app.get("/creates/{create_id}")
async def get_create_endpoint(create_id: uuid.UUID):
    """Serves a specific Create activity, with caching."""
    create_uri = f"https://{HOST}/creates/{create_id}"
    
    if create_uri in CACHE and (datetime.now() - CACHE[create_uri]["timestamp"]) < CACHE_TTL:
        return ActivityResponse(CACHE[create_uri]["activity"])
        
    if create_uri in ACTIVITY_STORE:
        activity = ACTIVITY_STORE[create_uri]
        CACHE[create_uri] = {"activity": activity, "timestamp": datetime.now()}
        return ActivityResponse(activity)
        
    return Response(status_code=404)

8. Activity Handlers

We use the @app.on() decorator to define handlers for specific activity types posted to our inbox.

  • on_follow_activity: Automatically accepts Follow requests.
  • on_create_activity: Parses incoming Create activities (specifically for Note objects) to schedule reminders.
# main.py (continued)

# Handler for Follow activities
@app.on(Follow)
async def on_follow_activity(ctx: Context):
    """Automatically accepts follow requests."""
    # ... (implementation omitted for brevity)

# Handler for Create activities
@app.on(Create)
async def on_create_activity(ctx: Context):
    """Parses mentions to schedule reminders."""
    activity = ctx.activity
    # Ignore if it's not a Note
    if not (isinstance(activity, Create) and isinstance(activity.object, Note)):
        return Response(status_code=202)

    note = activity.object
    
    # Check if the bot was mentioned
    is_mentioned = any(
        isinstance(tag, Mention) and tag.href == actor.id for tag in (note.tag or [])
    )
    
    if not is_mentioned:
        return Response(status_code=202)

    # ... (Parse reminder text)
    delay, message, time_str = parse_reminder(command_text)

    # If parsing is successful, schedule the reminder as a background task
    if delay and message and sender_actor:
        asyncio.create_task(send_reminder(ctx, delay, message, sender_actor, note))
        reply_content = f"<p>✅ OK! I will remind you in {time_str}.</p>"
    else:
        # If parsing fails, send usage instructions
        reply_content = "<p>🤔 Sorry, I didn\'t understand. Please use the format: `@reminder [time] [message]`.</p><p>Example: `@reminder 10m Check the oven`</p>"

    # ... (Create and send the reply Note)

9. Running the Application

Finally, we run the application using uvicorn.

# main.py (continued)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import uvicorn
    logger.info("Starting uvicorn server...")
    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8000)

How to Run the Bot

  1. Set the HOST and USER_ID variables in main.py to match your environment.

  2. Run the server from your terminal:

    uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

  3. Your bot will be running at http://0.0.0.0:8000.

Now you can mention your bot from anywhere in the Fediverse (e.g., @reminder@your.host.com) to set a reminder.

Next Steps

This tutorial covers the basics of creating a simple ActivityPub bot. Since it only uses in-memory storage, all reminders will be lost on server restart. Here are some potential improvements:

  • Persistent Storage: Replace the in-memory ACTIVITY_STORE with a database like SQLite or PostgreSQL.
  • Robust Task Queuing: Use a dedicated task queue like Celery with a Redis or RabbitMQ broker to ensure reminders are not lost if the server restarts.
  • Advanced Commands: Add support for more complex commands, such as recurring reminders.

We hope this guide serves as a good starting point for building your own ActivityPub applications!

https://fedi-libs.github.io/apkit/

https://github.com/fedi-libs/apkit

https://github.com/AmaseCocoa/activitypub-reminder-bot

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