Install fedify with Homebrew, scoop

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• fedify

Project history

The GitHub repository was created in March 2024, and the package README describes Fedify as a TypeScript library for building federated server apps powered by ActivityPub and related standards. Its goal is to remove ActivityPub boilerplate so application authors can focus on product behavior.

Fedify's README lists core protocol features including Activity Vocabulary types, WebFinger client and server support, HTTP Signatures and HTTP Message Signatures, Object Integrity Proofs, NodeInfo, webhooks, Mastodon interoperability, framework integrations, and a CLI for testing and debugging.

By 2026 the project had active 2.x release lines and a large monorepo package list spanning web framework integrations, database drivers, relays, testing, vocab tooling, and the CLI. The official README also lists corporate and individual sponsors, which is a useful adoption signal for a young infrastructure project.

Adoption history

Fedify arrived during renewed developer interest in ActivityPub and the fediverse. Its README explicitly names Mastodon, Lemmy, Pixelfed, and PeerTube as recognizable networks in that ecosystem, and it packages the hard federation pieces for developers who do not want to implement the protocol stack from scratch.

The supplied package facts show the CLI packaged by Homebrew and Scoop. That is narrow compared with old Unix utilities, but significant for a young TypeScript project: it means the CLI is intended as a developer workstation tool, not just an npm library subcommand.

How it is used

Developers use Fedify as an application framework and use the fedify CLI for testing and debugging federation behavior. The monorepo also includes packages for creating new projects, framework integration, storage backends, vocabulary generation, and ActivityPub-specific test support.

The CLI matters because federation bugs are often protocol and interoperability bugs rather than ordinary local code bugs. A dedicated toolchain gives developers a way to inspect, test, and debug ActivityPub behavior while building a service.

Why package nerds care

Fedify is package-nerd interesting because it represents a modern protocol framework being distributed through both JavaScript registries and system package managers. The Homebrew formula turns a TypeScript fediverse toolchain into a normal terminal command.

It also sits in a fast-moving standards-adjacent space. Its dependency surface includes W3C ActivityPub, WebFinger, HTTP Message Signatures, NodeInfo, and fediverse interoperability, so metadata accuracy helps distinguish it from generic web frameworks.

Timeline

• 2024: Fedify GitHub repository created.
• 2026: Fedify 2.3.x release line active.
• 2026: README lists a broad monorepo with core, CLI, framework integrations, database drivers, relay, testing, and vocabulary packages.

Related projects

• ActivityPub and Activity Vocabulary are the core W3C standards Fedify builds on.
• Mastodon, Lemmy, Pixelfed, and PeerTube are fediverse projects Fedify names as familiar parts of the ecosystem.
• Hollo is related through the project's fediverse account domain and Fedify ecosystem visibility.

Sources

• https://github.com/fedify-dev/fedify
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fedify-dev/fedify/main/packages/fedify/README.md
• https://fedify.dev/cli
• https://api.github.com/repos/fedify-dev/fedify
• https://api.github.com/repos/fedify-dev/fedify/releases
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/fedify