How to Federate Mastodon With Friendica: Cross-Protocol Notes

Mastodon and Friendica are both part of the Fediverse but use different underlying software. Mastodon is built on the ActivityPub protocol as a microblogging platform. Friendica supports multiple protocols including ActivityPub, Diaspora, and OStatus. This means cross-federation between the two is possible but not always seamless. This article explains the exact steps to connect accounts on both platforms and what content types transfer correctly.

How ActivityPub Federation Works Between Mastodon and Friendica

ActivityPub is the core protocol that lets Mastodon and Friendica exchange posts, likes, boosts, and follows. When both platforms support ActivityPub, they can talk to each other directly. Friendica also supports the Diaspora protocol and OStatus for legacy compatibility, but for modern federation with Mastodon, ActivityPub is the recommended method.

Mastodon sends and receives activities such as Create, Like, Announce, and Follow. Friendica treats these as standard Fediverse events. However, Friendica supports richer content types than Mastodon. For example, Friendica events, polls, and photo albums may not display fully on Mastodon. Mastodon shows a text-only version or a link to the original post on Friendica.

What Content Transfers Correctly

Standard text posts with images transfer correctly. Mastodon shows images inline. Friendica shows images inline as well. Likes, boosts, and replies federate both ways. Direct messages between Mastodon and Friendica do not work reliably. Friendica sends private messages as ActivityPub direct messages, but Mastodon may not display them in the standard Direct Messages view.

What Content Does Not Transfer

Friendica events, polls, and photo albums are not fully supported in Mastodon. Mastodon shows a link to the original Friendica post. Friendica polls appear as text with options. Mastodon users cannot vote in Friendica polls. Friendica also supports threaded conversations that Mastodon may flatten into a single thread.

Steps to Connect a Mastodon Account to Friendica

1. Find the Friendica user’s full handle
   Ask the Friendica user for their full Fediverse handle. The format is @username@friendica.instance. For example, @alice@friendica.social. You cannot search by display name alone.
2. Open the Mastodon search bar
   In Mastodon, click the search icon on the left navigation bar. Paste the full Friendica handle into the search field. Press Enter.
3. Select the remote account
   Mastodon shows the Friendica user’s profile in search results. Click the profile card. The profile page loads with a Follow button.
4. Click Follow
   Click the Follow button. Mastodon sends an ActivityPub Follow activity to the Friendica instance. The Friendica user receives a follow request notification.
5. Wait for acceptance
   If the Friendica user has automatic follow acceptance enabled, the follow completes instantly. If not, the user must approve the request from their Friendica notifications panel.

Steps to Connect a Friendica Account to Mastodon

1. Find the Mastodon user’s full handle
   Ask the Mastodon user for their full handle. The format is @username@mastodon.instance. For example, @bob@mastodon.social.
2. Open the Friendica search bar
   In Friendica, click the search icon at the top of the page. Paste the full Mastodon handle into the search field. Press Enter.
3. Select the remote account
   Friendica shows the Mastodon user’s profile in search results. Click the profile card. The profile page loads with a Follow button.
4. Click Follow
   Click the Follow button. Friendica sends an ActivityPub Follow activity to the Mastodon instance. The Mastodon user receives a follow request notification.
5. Wait for acceptance
   If the Mastodon user has automatic follow acceptance enabled, the follow completes instantly. Otherwise, the user must approve the request from their Mastodon notifications or followers list.

Common Issues When Federating Mastodon With Friendica

Friendica User Not Found in Mastodon Search

If Mastodon cannot find the Friendica user, verify that the handle is typed correctly. The handle must include the full domain. Also check that the Friendica instance has not blocked the Mastodon instance. Instance blocking prevents cross-federation. Contact the Friendica administrator to check the blocklist.

Posts From Friendica Appear as Links on Mastodon

This happens when the Friendica post contains unsupported content such as a poll or event. Mastodon cannot render these natively and shows a link to the original post. The Friendica user can repost the content as a plain text and image post to avoid this.

Likes and Boosts Not Appearing on Friendica

If Mastodon likes or boosts do not appear on Friendica, check that both instances have ActivityPub enabled. Friendica may need to have the ActivityPub addon activated. Go to Friendica admin panel and verify that the ActivityPub addon is enabled. Restart the Friendica web server after enabling.

Mastodon vs Friendica: Federation Feature Comparison

Item	Mastodon	Friendica
Core protocol	ActivityPub only	ActivityPub, Diaspora, OStatus
Content types supported	Text, images, polls	Text, images, polls, events, photo albums, audio
Direct messages	Supported within Mastodon	Supported with ActivityPub relay
Poll voting across protocols	Yes between Mastodon instances	No – Mastodon users cannot vote in Friendica polls
Event federation	Not supported	Supported natively

Mastodon is best for microblogging with short text and images. Friendica is better for longer posts with rich media. Choose the platform based on the content type you want to share. Both platforms federate basic text and image posts without issues.

You can now connect a Mastodon account to Friendica and follow users across both platforms. Start by searching for a remote user using their full handle. If you encounter missing content, check the instance blocklists and protocol addon status. For richer federation, Friendica users should post plain text and image content when interacting with Mastodon followers.