Fediverse ID

⸺ by Charles Iliya Krempeaux

A Fediverse ID is an identifier that conceptually is usually used to point to a person, but also can be conceptually used to point to an application, a group, a organization, a service, or any other type of entity. Here are some sample Fediverse IDs:

Resemblance With E-Mail Addresses

A Fediverse ID looks similar to an e-mail address.

The main superficial difference being that a Fediverse ID starts with an at sign (“@”) (Unicode character U+0040), but an e-mail address does not. 

	     at sign
	       ↓
	       @joeblow@example.com ← Fediverse ID
	
	        joeblow@example.com ← e-mail address
	       ↑
	  no at sign

Usage

Fediverse IDs appear in posts on the Fediverse, and are typed (something with the help of some form of autocomplete) by users.

acct URI

Part of the process of resolving a Fediverse ID transfomrs a Fediverse ID into an . (And then using that version of the Fediverse ID to make a request to .)

Here is an example: 

	     at sign
	       ↓
	       @joeblow@example.com ← Fediverse ID
	
	   acct:joeblow@example.com ← acct URI
	       ↑
	  no at sign

See Also