diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58ce5ed --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +# Manicito + +On [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/), one can [“follow” a hashtag](https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-follow-hashtags-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/), seeing all public posts of a hashtag in their home feed. On [Pleroma](https://pleroma.social) (and some other fedi servers), however, this isn’t possible. + +The maniacal quote-poster Manicito is a script that can help you mimic this feature — it quote-posts all posts of a given hashtag. Following a bot-account backed by Manicito is (to some degree) just like “following” a hashtag. + + + +## Usage +To quote-post everything from the hashtag #esperanto, you could run Manicito like so: +``` +$ FEDI_AUTH="yourAuthTokenHere" +$ manicito -H esperanto.history esperanto https://yourServer.here +``` + + +### Auth-key +In order to actually use Manicito, we need to find the authorization token for our fedi account. + +To find your authorization token, you can snoop through request headers in Firefox or Chromium by +navigating to `Developer Tools (F12) → Network → Headers`. Refresh your Mastodon/Pleroma page and examine a +request, looking for a header like so: + +`Authorization: Bearer $FEDI_AUTH` + +… where $FEDI_AUTH is your token. Copy it! + +Whenever you use Manicito, make sure that this token is stored in the environment variable +`$FEDI_AUTH`. + + +### History-file +However note up there the use of the `-H` parameter with `esperanto.history`. The file you pass to the `-H` parameter will be used to log all posts that have been quote-posted up until now; this helps us make sure that we don’t accidentally repost things. + +If you want to use Manicito as the basis of a hashtag-bot (regularly updating and posting), you can add it to your crontab or write a systemd service + timer. Though note that in this case you will *need* to make sure `-H` is set to a reliable and unchanging path. Otherwise, it might go haywire. + + +### Formatting +Manicito’s post template is stored in the environment variable `$MANICITO_TEMPLATE`. By default, it is something along these lines: + +``` +$USER ($USERHOST) posted about $HASHTAG: +
$(echo "$POST" | head -c 200)+``` + +You can go ahead and set the environment variable `$MANICITO_TEMPLATE` to any string you want. As you can see above, it has some shell-style variables that get substituted. They are: + +* `USER_URL` +* `USERHOST` +* `POST` +* `POST_URL` +* `HASHTAG` + + +### Compatibility +By default, Manicito attemps *quote-posting*, which is a feature that allows posts to be indirectly cited (and often prettily displayed) within other posts. This is supported by Pleroma and Misskey, but not by Mastodon. +If you are using Mastodon, you might want to use the `-Q` flag, which disables this feature. + + + +## Installation +Installing Manicito’s quite easy — just copy it into your `$PATH`! +``` +$ cp manicito ~/.local/bin/ +``` + +There, you’ve done it! + + + +## Misc. +Author: [@jadedctrl:jam.xwx.moe](https://jam.xwx.moe/users/jadedctrl) +Source: https://hak.xwx.moe/jadedctrl/manicito +License: GPLv3