fedipod 1.42.0 → 1.44.0

package/README.md

@@ -34,6 +34,16 @@ This README is about the `FediPod BrowserAgent`. There are also a number of [oth
 
 From now on, anyone can open your profile at `https://fedipod.net/@handle@provider`, signed in or not.
 
+## Getting a forum
+
+The same page makes a forum. Choose **A forum** as the first thing on it. A
+forum has a pod of its own, so make a new pod for it at your provider (or
+sign in with one that holds nothing else), then give the forum a handle, a
+name and its categories, and the address at fedipod.net you will moderate it
+as. fedipod.net runs the forum from then on; nothing runs on your machine.
+Its page is at `https://bb.fedipod.net/<handle>/` and its address is
+`@handle@fedipod.net`, with one address per category.
+
 ## What you can do
 
 There are two clients, both served by fedipod.net:
@@ -141,6 +151,12 @@ not change.
 - [FediPod Groups](groups.md): hosting a discussion group of Fediverse and Bluesky users from a pod.
 - [FediPod Gateway](gateway.md): A thin, always-on door running on Netlify or any small host that provides a middleman between a pod and the single-user agents. (only needed with `BrowserAgent` and `DeviceAgent`)
 
+There are two ways to run FediPod: in a browser at a Gateway such as
+fedipod.net, with nothing installed, or as a Gateway of your own, deployed
+from this repository ([netlify/README.md](netlify/README.md)). Cloning the
+repository and running it is not one of them: `npm start` only says so. The
+DeviceAgent is deprecated; nothing new is built for it.
+
 
 ## Acknowledgements
 

package/lib/core/deliver.mjs

@@ -61,9 +61,14 @@ export class Deliverer {
   // passive: signing-only (viewer-mode agents) — no queue drain timer, so a
   // read-only agent never mutates shared delivery state. startQueue() flips
   // it live when a viewer is promoted to active.
+  // defer: nothing is sent now; every delivery goes on the queue, signed, for
+  // drainQueue() to make. For a process with seconds to answer — a door
+  // placing a post as it lands — which records what to send and leaves the
+  // sending to the run it starts.
   constructor({ store, keyId, rsaPrivate, actorId = null, edPrivate = null, proofKeyId = null,
-    log = console.log, passive = false, onGone = null }) {
+    log = console.log, passive = false, defer = false, onGone = null }) {
     this.store = store;
+    this.defer = defer;
     // Called after followers at a gone inbox are dropped: the agent republishes
     // its followers collection.
     this.onGone = onGone;
@@ -205,6 +210,7 @@ export class Deliverer {
     // Proved before anything else, so the copy that goes on the queue is the
     // copy that was signed — a retry days later must not post a bare activity.
     const signed = await this.proofed(activity);
+    if (this.defer) { this._enqueue({ inbox, activity: signed, attempts: 0, nextAt: Date.now() }); return; }
     if (this._queueIfCooling(inbox, signed)) return;
     const [result] = await this.deliverManyNow([{ inbox, activity: signed }]);
     await this._settle(inbox, signed, result);
@@ -273,6 +279,10 @@ export class Deliverer {
     // by the next.
     const targets = [...new Set(inboxes)].filter((inbox) => !this._blockedInbox(inbox))
       .map((inbox) => ({ inbox, activity: signed }));
+    if (this.defer) {
+      for (const t of targets) this._enqueue({ inbox: t.inbox, activity: signed, attempts: 0, nextAt: Date.now() });
+      return;
+    }
     for (let i = 0; i < targets.length; i += this.batchSize) {
       const chunk = targets.slice(i, i + this.batchSize).filter((t) => !this._queueIfCooling(t.inbox, signed));
       if (!chunk.length) continue;

package/lib/core/intake/group.mjs

@@ -171,6 +171,16 @@ export async function amplify(intake, noteId, { approved = false, activity = nul
     serial: intake.serial++,
     audience: intake.urls.actor,
   });
+  // What the group is about to carry is what the group's conversation holds.
+  // A forum places the post in its topic here, BEFORE the carry: the topic is
+  // what the category vouches for (FEP-7888), and a place that will not take
+  // the post — a locked topic — answers false and nothing is carried. Both
+  // the Announce and what its author sent: a forum reads the author's own
+  // activity — the name they gave the topic they were opening is on that one.
+  if (intake.onCarry) {
+    const placed = await intake.onCarry({ noteId, actor: s.actor, activity: act, sent: activity });
+    if (placed === false) { intake.log(`not amplified — ${noteId} has no place here`); return; }
+  }
   await intake.deliverer.deliverToAll(inboxes, act);
   // Marked carried before recorded: a failed outbox write costs one missing
   // entry, a failed status write would carry the same post twice.
@@ -180,17 +190,6 @@ export async function amplify(intake, noteId, { approved = false, activity = nul
   if (!intake.config.private) await intake.publisher.recordOutbox(act);
   intake.store.setPending(intake.store.getPending().filter(p => p.noteId !== noteId));
   intake.log(`amplified ${noteId} → ${inboxes.length} inbox(es)`);
-  // What the group carried is what the group's conversation holds. A forum
-  // places the post in its topic here — after the carry, so only what the
-  // category vouched for is in the topic (FEP-7888 ownership). Its failure
-  // never undoes the carry.
-  if (intake.onCarried) {
-    // Both: what the group said (the Announce) and what its author sent. A
-    // forum reads the author's own activity — the name they gave the topic
-    // they were opening is on that one, and on no other.
-    await intake.onCarried({ noteId, actor: s.actor, activity: act, sent: activity })
-      .catch(e => intake.log(`after the carry of ${noteId}: ${e.message}`));
-  }
   // The same carry, shown natively to the group's Bluesky followers.
   await intake.bskyGroup?.mirrorCarry(s)
     .catch(e => intake.log(`bluesky mirror of the carry failed: ${e.message}`));

package/lib/gateway/copy.mjs

@@ -149,9 +149,12 @@ export async function holds(kv, h, holder) {
 export class CopyStorage {
   // `podNames`: which of the pod-only documents to list (all, by default). The
   // gateway's own agents need only the key.
-  constructor(kv, handle, { holder, pod = null, onRefused = null, podNames = null }) {
+  // `fence`: the copy whose lease decides who may write this one. A forum's
+  // categories are fenced by the forum's copy, since one lease runs the forum.
+  constructor(kv, handle, { holder, pod = null, onRefused = null, podNames = null, fence = null }) {
     this.kv = kv;
     this.h = account(handle);
+    this.fence = fence ? account(fence) : this.h;
     this.holder = holder;
     this.pod = pod;
     this.onRefused = onRefused;
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ export class CopyStorage {
 
   // A refusal is an answer, not a hiccup: the lease is someone else's.
   async _fenced() {
-    if (await holds(this.kv, this.h, this.holder)) return null;
+    if (await holds(this.kv, this.fence, this.holder)) return null;
     this.onRefused?.();
     return { ok: false, retry: false, why: 'another agent holds this account now', lost: true };
   }

package/lib/gateway/front-core.mjs

@@ -740,11 +740,6 @@ async function route(request, ctx) {
     return { status: 200, headers: { 'content-type': 'text/javascript' }, body: ctx.authBundle };
   }
 
-  // The installer:  curl -fsSL https://<host>/install | sh
-  if (pathname === '/install') {
-    if (!ctx.installScript) return notFound();
-    return { status: 200, headers: { 'content-type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' }, body: ctx.installScript };
-  }
 
   // WebFinger: acct:<handle>@<host> → the fronted actor. This is what makes
   // @name@fedipod.net a real handle the fediverse can look up.
@@ -804,23 +799,47 @@ async function route(request, ctx) {
   const CLOSED = 'this address is closed';
 
   // Inbox: verify at the door, forward to the user's pod inbox. This is the
-  // gateway, per user.
+  // gateway, per user. A forum's own page posts here from its own host, so the
+  // door answers a browser's preflight and carries the open origin; a delivery
+  // needs no credential, and a browser sends none across origins.
   if (up.rest === 'ap/inbox/' || up.rest === 'ap/inbox') {
+    const doorCors = {
+      'access-control-allow-origin': '*',
+      'access-control-allow-methods': 'POST, OPTIONS',
+      'access-control-allow-headers': 'Content-Type',
+      'access-control-max-age': '86400',
+    };
+    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') return { status: 204, headers: { ...doorCors, allow: 'POST, OPTIONS' }, body: null };
     if (request.method !== 'POST') return { status: 405, headers: {}, body: '' };
-    if (movedBase) { console.log(`door @${up.handle}: delivery → 410 (moved)`); return gone(); }
-    if (closed) { console.log(`door @${up.handle}: delivery → 410 (closed)`); return gone({}, CLOSED); }
+    if (movedBase) { console.log(`door @${up.handle}: delivery → 410 (moved)`); return gone(doorCors); }
+    if (closed) { console.log(`door @${up.handle}: delivery → 410 (closed)`); return gone(doorCors, CLOSED); }
     const policy = await policyFor(rec, ctx.fetchImpl || fetch);
     const standing = await accountState(ctx, up.handle, rec);
     // A browser account's mail waits here while its app is closed (held-mail.mjs).
     const held = holdsMail(ctx, rec) && !(await isPresent(ctx, up.handle));
-    const { status, reason, content, bytes, type, notifies } = await handleDelivery(request, identFor(rec, policy),
+    const { status, reason, content, bytes, type, notifies, name, raw, receipt } = await handleDelivery(request, identFor(rec, policy),
       { podPut: held ? holdingPut(ctx, up.handle, rec) : (u, b, ct) => ctx.podPut(up.handle, u, b, ct),
         fetchImpl: ctx.fetchImpl, paused: standing.paused });
     // One line per delivery, so "did it arrive at the door" has an answer.
     console.log(`door @${up.handle}: delivery → ${status} (${reason}${held && status === 202 ? ', held' : ''})`);
     if (status === 202 && content) await noteReceived(ctx, up.handle, rec, bytes);
     if (held && status === 202) await afterHeld(ctx, up.handle, rec, { type, notifies });
-    return { status, headers: {}, body: '' };
+    // A forum fedipod.net keeps: the delivery is placed now, in this request,
+    // and the run that carries it is started. Whatever could not be placed
+    // here is still in the inbox for that run.
+    if (status === 202 && name && ctx.forum?.isForumRow(rec) && rec.keeper) {
+      const placed = await ctx.forum.placeAtDoor(ctx, up.handle, rec, { name, raw, receipt })
+        .catch((e) => ({ placed: false, why: e.message }));
+      console.log(`door @${up.handle}: ${placed.placed ? 'placed' : `not placed (${placed.why})`}`);
+      // Placed means written on the pod: the edge's copies of the category's
+      // and the forum's documents go, so the page that posted reads it back.
+      if (placed.placed) {
+        const tags = [`u-${up.handle}`, ...(placed.forum && placed.forum !== up.handle ? [`u-${placed.forum}`] : [])];
+        await ctx.purge?.(tags).catch((e) => console.log(`purge @${up.handle}: ${e?.message || e}`));
+      }
+      if (placed.forum && ctx.startKeeper) await ctx.startKeeper(placed.forum).catch((e) => console.log(`keeper @${placed.forum}: not started (${e.message})`));
+    }
+    return { status, headers: doorCors, body: '' };
   }
 
   // Outbox: the owner's own post, from any client that speaks ActivityPub

package/lib/gateway/front-pages.mjs

@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 // front-pages.mjs — the front's pages and the files they load, read from
 // beside this package: the opt-in page, the roster, the notices page, the
-// new-account page, each page's own script, the sign-in library and the
-// installer. A file that is not there comes back null, and the route it
-// feeds answers 404.
+// root page, each page's own script and the sign-in library. A file that is
+// not there comes back null, and the route it feeds answers 404.
 
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -26,6 +25,5 @@ export function frontPages() {
     noticesPage: readOrNull('notices.html'),
     authBundle: readOrNull('solid-oidc-client.js'),
     pageScripts,
-    installScript: readOrNull('install.sh'),
   };
 }

package/lib/gateway/gateway-core.mjs

@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ export async function handleDelivery(request, ident, { podPut, fetchImpl = fetch
   if (!okA) return { status: 502, reason: 'pod inbox write failed' };
   if (receipt) await inbox.writeReceiptBeside(podPut, ident.inboxUrl, hash, receipt);
   return { status: 202, reason: v.verified ? 'verified' : 'buffered-unverified', content, bytes: Buffer.byteLength(raw),
-    type: activity.type, notifies: notifies(activity, ident) };
+    type: activity.type, notifies: notifies(activity, ident), name: hash, raw, receipt };
 }
 
 // The outbox door: the owner's own post, taken on their behalf.

package/lib/gateway/held-mail.mjs

@@ -166,8 +166,18 @@ export async function routeKeeperApi(request, pathname, ctx, deps) {
   const next = { ...rec };
   if (on) next.keeper = { webId: ctx.keeperWebId, at: new Date().toISOString() };
   else delete next.keeper;
+  // A forum's category names the forum it belongs to, so a delivery to the
+  // category finds the forum's copy and lease.
+  if (typeof body.forum === 'string' && /^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]{0,60}$/u.test(body.forum)) next.forum = body.forum;
   await ctx.putDirectory(handle, next);
   console.log(`keeper @${handle}: ${on ? 'on' : 'off'}, at the owner's word`);
+  // A forum's own row turned on starts its first run now: the run makes the
+  // copies, mints the keys a new forum has none of, and publishes its actors,
+  // so there is a forum to read before anyone posts to it. Its categories'
+  // rows are turned on before it (setup.mjs in the forum package).
+  if (on && next.kind === 'application' && ctx.forum?.isForumRow(next) && ctx.startKeeper) {
+    await ctx.startKeeper(handle).catch((e) => console.log(`keeper @${handle}: not started (${e.message})`));
+  }
   return j(200, { ok: true, handle, kept: on, keeper: ctx.keeperWebId || null });
 }
 

package/lib/gateway/keeper.mjs

@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ export { keeperSession };
  * drain reads it, as before.
  */
 export async function keepOnce(ctx, handle, rec, { log = console.log, session = null } = {}) {
+  // A forum, or one of its categories, is run whole by the forum's own code
+  // (ctx.forum: the forum package's gateway module), not by an account's.
+  if (ctx.forum?.isForumRow(rec)) return ctx.forum.keepOnce(ctx, handle, rec, { log, session });
   const say = (m) => log(`keeper @${handle}: ${m}`);
   const at = await reachAccount(ctx, handle, rec, { log, session });
   if (at.skipped) return { skipped: at.skipped };

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "fedipod",
-  "version": "1.42.0",
+  "version": "1.44.0",
   "description": "Standalone single-actor ActivityPub agent whose wire face, RDF truth and state all live on a Solid pod (CSS). Bundles a Phanpy UI and a Mastodon client-API facade.",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",
@@ -51,11 +51,11 @@
     "gateway.md"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "start": "node bin/fedipod.mjs up",
+    "start": "node scripts/start.mjs",
     "install-service": "node bin/fedipod.mjs install-service",
     "uninstall-service": "node bin/fedipod.mjs uninstall-service",
     "prepublishOnly": "npm test",
-    "test": "node claude/smoke-tests/agent-smoke.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/front-hard-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/copy-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/copy-mode-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/masto-gateway-test.mjs && node scripts/check-pod-calls.mjs && node scripts/verify-ui.mjs && node --test packages/fedipod-bb/test/*.test.mjs && node scripts/check-sizes.mjs",
+    "test": "node claude/smoke-tests/agent-smoke.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/front-hard-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/copy-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/copy-mode-test.mjs && node claude/smoke-tests/masto-gateway-test.mjs && node scripts/check-pod-calls.mjs && node scripts/verify-ui.mjs && node packages/fedipod-bb/scripts/link-fedipod.mjs && node --test packages/fedipod-bb/test/*.test.mjs claude/smoke-tests/forum-signup-form.test.mjs && node scripts/check-sizes.mjs",
     "verify-ui": "node scripts/verify-ui.mjs",
     "build:sw": "node scripts/build-app.mjs --entry web/app/sw-src.mjs --out web/app/dist/sw.js",
     "build:boot": "node scripts/build-app.mjs --entry web/app/boot.mjs --out web/app/dist/boot.js",

package/run-agent.mjs

@@ -52,22 +52,17 @@ export async function startAgent({
   handle = null,
 } = {}) {
   fs.mkdirSync(home, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
-  // A home can hold a FORUM rather than a person or a group: same profiles
-  // directory, same unit, same startup — a different thing to run. Its
-  // credential says so, and running the agent over it would publish a person
-  // where a forum lives.
-  // The forum package is beside this file in a checkout and absent from an
-  // installed fedipod; a home that holds a forum needs it, a person's does not.
-  let forum = null;
+  // A home can hold a FORUM rather than a person or a group; its credential
+  // says so. A forum is run by its own package (`fedipod-bb start`), and
+  // running this agent over its home would publish a person where a forum
+  // lives.
   try {
-    forum = await import('./packages/fedipod-bb/src/run.mjs');
-  } catch (e) {
-    if (e?.code !== 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND') throw e;
-  }
-  if (forum?.isForumHome(home)) {
-    console.log(`[bb:${port}] this home holds a forum — running it`);
-    return forum.runForum({ home, port, log: (...a) => console.log(`[bb:${port}]`, ...a) });
-  }
+    const cred = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(home, 'credential.json'), 'utf8'));
+    if (String(cred.root || '').replace(/\/$/u, '') === 'fedipod-bb') {
+      console.error(`${home} holds a forum — run it with: fedipod-bb start --home ${home}`);
+      process.exit(2);
+    }
+  } catch { /* no credential yet, or not a forum */ }
   // connect() sets this from pod state a moment later, but the browser may
   // already be opening — seed it from what setup recorded so the named origin
   // works from the first request.

package/scripts/check-netlify-bundles.mjs

@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'fn-bundles-'));
 let fails = 0;
 const check = (ok, msg) => { console.log(`${ok ? 'PASS' : 'FAIL'}  ${msg}`); if (!ok) fails++; };
 try {
+  // The forum the front names (netlify/forum-support.mjs) imports fedipod by
+  // name; in this checkout that must be the checkout itself, or the bundle
+  // carries a registry copy beside the Gateway's own code.
+  execFileSync(process.execPath, [path.join(root, 'packages/fedipod-bb/scripts/link-fedipod.mjs')], { cwd: root, stdio: 'inherit' });
   execFileSync('netlify', ['functions:build', '--src', path.join(root, 'netlify/functions'), '--functions', path.join(tmp, 'zips')],
     { cwd: root, stdio: 'ignore' });
   const manifest = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmp, 'zips/manifest.json'), 'utf8'));

package/scripts/check-pod-calls.mjs

@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ if (!failures) pass('every in-scope caller reaches the pod through a named opera
   try {
     const { frontPages } = await import('fedipod/front-pages');
     const pages = frontPages();
-    const missing = ['signupPage', 'runPage', 'adminPage', 'noticesPage', 'authBundle', 'installScript'].filter((k) => !pages[k])
+    const missing = ['signupPage', 'runPage', 'adminPage', 'noticesPage', 'authBundle'].filter((k) => !pages[k])
       .concat(Object.entries(pages.pageScripts).filter(([, v]) => !v).map(([k]) => k));
     if (missing.length) { fail(`frontPages() is missing ${missing.join(', ')}`); bad++; }
   } catch (e) { fail(`frontPages(): ${e.message}`); bad++; }

package/scripts/start.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// start.mjs — what `npm start` says in this repository. Nothing starts here:
+// FediPod runs in a browser at a Gateway, and a Gateway is deployed, not
+// started. Until 2026-09-28 `npm start` started the DeviceAgent, which is
+// deprecated and opened a setup page asking for a pod password.
+console.log(`FediPod is not started from this directory.
+
+  In a browser:        open a Gateway such as https://fedipod.net and create an
+                       account. Nothing is installed.
+  A Gateway of your own:  deploy this repository to Netlify — netlify/README.md
+  A pod server with FediPod built in:  packages/fedipod-server/README.md
+  A forum:             packages/fedipod-bb/README.md, or "A forum" on a
+                       Gateway's sign-up page
+`);

package/web/app/boot.mjs

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 //   Returning:    fedipodSignin({ address }) — redirect to the pod's login.
 //   On every load: fedipodOnLoad() — finish a redirect, or restore, then boot.
 import { signUp, moveIn, readAccount, handleProblem } from './signup.mjs';
+import { signUpForum, forumsOffered } from './signup-forum.mjs';
+import { categoriesFrom, moderatorFrom } from './forum-form.mjs';
 import { podRootPath, chosenRoot } from '../../lib/core/place.mjs';
 import * as podActor from '../../lib/pod/actor.mjs';
 import * as podState from '../../lib/pod/state.mjs';
@@ -134,6 +136,14 @@ window.fedipodSignup = async ({ onStep, ...answers }) => {
   await signUp(answers, { session, onStep, frontOrigin: location.origin });
   await bootWorker({ reset: true });
 };
+// A forum, on the pod the person just made for it (signup-forum.mjs): written
+// on the pod, its addresses taken here, this site named its keeper. No agent
+// boots here; the forum runs at this site from its first run on.
+window.fedipodForumSignup = async ({ onStep, ...answers }) => {
+  const session = await getSession();
+  if (!session) throw new Error("Sign in at the forum's pod first.");
+  return signUpForum(answers, { session, onStep, frontOrigin: location.origin });
+};
 // An account whose address lives at another gateway, moving here: the pod's
 // part (signup.mjs moveIn), then a boot under the new ids, which finishes
 // the move by telling the old gateway and the followers (gateway-move.mjs).
@@ -462,6 +472,9 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
     $('container').placeholder = podRootPath(signedPod);
     $('container-field').hidden = !!moveFrom;
     $('movein-note').hidden = !moveFrom;
+    // What was being made was chosen before the pod's login; the page came
+    // back fresh from it.
+    try { const m = sessionStorage.getItem('fedipod:making'); if (m) for (const r of f().making) r.checked = r.value === m; } catch { /* storage blocked */ }
     if (moveFrom) {
       $('movein-from').textContent = moveFrom.address;
       if (!f().handle.value) f().handle.value = moveFrom.config.handle;
@@ -499,7 +512,10 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   // from the signed-in pod, not guessed from the provider.
   const pathPod = () => { try { return new URL(signedPod).pathname !== '/'; } catch { return false; } };
   // A move between gateways is an address at a gateway: no choice either.
-  const shape = () => ((pathPod() || moveFrom) ? 'front' : f().shape.value);
+  // What is being made: a person's account, or a forum (offered only where
+  // this site hosts forums). A forum's address is always at this site.
+  const making = () => (forumsOffered() && f().making?.value === 'forum' ? 'forum' : 'account');
+  const shape = () => ((pathPod() || moveFrom || making() === 'forum') ? 'front' : f().shape.value);
   const answers = () => ({ handle: f().handle.value.trim().toLowerCase(), shape: shape(), container: f().container.value.trim() });
   // Where the data will be, in full, as the person types.
   const previewPlace = () => {
@@ -516,10 +532,30 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   // The shape choice is fixed for a path pod, and open for a host-root pod.
   // A path pod has no choice to make: the radios go away and the note says why.
   const applyShape = () => {
-    const fixed = pathPod() || !!moveFrom;
+    const fixed = pathPod() || !!moveFrom || making() === 'forum';
     for (const r of f().shape) { if (fixed) r.checked = r.value === 'front'; }
     $('shape-group').hidden = fixed;
-    $('shape-hint').hidden = !fixed || !!moveFrom;   // a move explains itself in its own note
+    $('shape-hint').hidden = !fixed || !!moveFrom || making() === 'forum';   // a move and a forum explain themselves
+  };
+  // The forum's fields show for a forum; the person's container and address
+  // choices go, and the words say what is being made.
+  const applyMaking = () => {
+    const forum = making() === 'forum';
+    $('making-hint').hidden = !forum;
+    $('forum-fields').hidden = !forum;
+    $('container-field').hidden = forum || !!moveFrom;
+    $('identity-legend').textContent = forum ? 'Your forum' : 'Your Fediverse Identity';
+    $('handle-label').textContent = forum ? 'Forum handle' : 'Fediverse handle';
+    $('handle-hint').textContent = forum
+      ? `The name in the forum's address, @handle@${location.host}. This is permanent. Letters, digits, and hyphens only.`
+      : 'The name in your Fediverse address. This is permanent. Letters, digits, and hyphens only.';
+    $('handle').placeholder = forum ? "the handle part of the forum's address: @HANDLE@server" : 'the handle part of your address: @HANDLE@server';
+    $('signed-pod-label').textContent = forum ? "The forum's pod" : 'Your pod';
+    $('addr-label').textContent = forum ? "The forum's address" : 'Your Fediverse address';
+    $('after-hint').textContent = forum
+      ? "The handle, the categories' short names and the pod cannot be changed afterwards. Everything else you set on the forum's settings page."
+      : 'The handle and the pod cannot be changed afterwards. Everything else — display name, bio, pictures — you set later in the client.';
+    $('submit').textContent = forum ? 'Create the forum' : moveFrom ? 'Move your account here' : 'Create your Fediverse account';
   };
   const applyMode = () => {
     const existing = f().mode.value === 'existing';
@@ -529,8 +565,10 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
     $('register-link').href = url || '#';
     $('register-link').textContent = providerHost() ? `Create your pod at ${providerHost()}` : 'Create your pod at your provider';
   };
-  for (const el of $('form').elements) for (const evt of ['input', 'change']) el.addEventListener(evt, () => { applyMode(); applyShape(); previewAddr(); previewPlace(); });
+  for (const el of $('form').elements) for (const evt of ['input', 'change']) el.addEventListener(evt, () => { applyMode(); applyMaking(); applyShape(); previewAddr(); previewPlace(); });
   applyMode();
+  $('making-group').hidden = !forumsOffered();
+  applyMaking();
 
   // Step machine: one screen at a time, each gated by its own validation.
   const STEP_IDS = ['step-1', 'step-2'];
@@ -538,7 +576,7 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   const goStep = (n) => {
     STEP_IDS.forEach((id, i) => { $(id).hidden = i !== n - 1; });
     $('err-1').textContent = ''; $('form-error').textContent = '';
-    if (n === 2) { applyShape(); previewAddr(); previewPlace(); $('index-ask').hidden = true; }
+    if (n === 2) { applyMaking(); applyShape(); previewAddr(); previewPlace(); $('index-ask').hidden = true; }
     if (FOCUS[n]) $(FOCUS[n]).focus();
   };
   const validateStep1 = () => {
@@ -547,6 +585,12 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   };
   const validateStep2 = () => {
     const hp = window.fedipodHandleProblem(f().handle.value.trim().toLowerCase());
+    if (making() === 'forum') {
+      if (hp) return `Forum handle: ${hp}`;
+      if (!f().forumName.value.trim()) return 'Forum name: a name is required.';
+      try { categoriesFrom(f().categories.value); moderatorFrom(f().moderator.value, location.origin); } catch (e) { return e.message; }
+      return null;
+    }
     if (hp) return `Fediverse handle: ${hp}`;
     if (!moveFrom) {
       const where = chosenRoot(signedPod, f().container.value).problem;
@@ -561,6 +605,7 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   $('to-2').addEventListener('click', async () => {
     const e = validateStep1(); if (e) { $('err-1').textContent = e; return; }
     $('err-1').textContent = ''; $('to-2').disabled = true;
+    try { sessionStorage.setItem('fedipod:making', making()); } catch { /* storage blocked */ }
     try { await window.fedipodPodLogin({ issuer: providerUrl() }); }
     catch (err) { $('err-1').textContent = err.message || String(err); $('to-2').disabled = false; }
   });
@@ -578,15 +623,28 @@ if (typeof document !== 'undefined') (async () => {
   const LABELS = { pod: 'Checking your pod', keys: 'Making your signing key', gateway: 'Connecting your mail door',
     place: 'Recording where your account lives' };
   const MOVE_LABELS = { pod: 'Reading your account on your pod', gateway: 'Taking your address here', keys: 'Moving your key and account record' };
+  const FORUM_LABELS = { pod: "Checking the forum's pod", write: 'Writing the forum on its pod', attach: 'Taking its addresses here', keep: 'Making this site its keeper' };
   // Run the setup. `createIndex` is the person's yes to a new public type index.
   const run = async (createIndex = false) => {
     const a = { ...answers(), ...(createIndex ? { createIndex: true } : {}) };
     $('pane-form').hidden = true; $('running').hidden = false;
-    $('running-title').textContent = 'Setting up…'; $('run-error').textContent = ''; $('run-actions').hidden = true;
+    $('running-title').textContent = 'Setting up…'; $('run-error').textContent = ''; $('run-actions').hidden = true; $('run-done').hidden = true;
     const steps = $('steps'); steps.textContent = ''; const mark = {};
-    const labels = moveFrom ? MOVE_LABELS : LABELS;
+    const forum = making() === 'forum';
+    const labels = forum ? FORUM_LABELS : moveFrom ? MOVE_LABELS : LABELS;
     const onStep = (k, st) => { if (!mark[k]) { const li = document.createElement('li'); steps.appendChild(li); mark[k] = li; } mark[k].textContent = (st === 'ok' ? '✓ ' : st === 'running' ? '… ' : '') + (labels[k] || k); };
     try {
+      if (forum) {
+        const made = await window.fedipodForumSignup({ handle: a.handle, name: f().forumName.value, categories: f().categories.value,
+          moderator: f().moderator.value, onStep });
+        try { sessionStorage.removeItem('fedipod:making'); } catch { /* storage blocked */ }
+        // The forum's page, read through this site; its first run publishes
+        // the forum within the minute.
+        $('running-title').textContent = `Your forum is ready: ${made.address}`;
+        $('run-done-link').href = `${location.origin}/bb/?forum=${encodeURIComponent(made.handle)}`;
+        $('run-done').hidden = false;
+        return;
+      }
       if (moveFrom) await window.fedipodMoveIn({ handle: a.handle, onStep });
       else await window.fedipodSignup({ ...a, onStep });
       location.href = '/admin/client/';