atbbs 0.5.1

Decentralized bulletin boards on atproto.

@bbs

Bulletin boards on atproto. Web app and terminal client.

Features

• Web and terminal: Use it in your browser or dial in from a TUI.
• Serverless: Run a BBS straight from your atproto account. No hosting required.
• Replies and quotes: Flat threads with inline quoting.
• Attachments: Upload files to threads and replies.
• Messages: Know when someone replies to your thread or quotes you.
• Moderation: Ban users, hide posts, manage your boards.
• Discovery: Browse BBSes from across the network.

Quick start

TUI (recommended)

Requires Python 3.14+ and uv.

uv tool install atbbs
atbbs                  # launch TUI
atbbs dial aly.codes   # dial a BBS directly
atbbs serve            # start the web server
atbbs --help           # see all options

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/alyraffauf/atbbs.git
cd atbbs
uv sync
uv run atbbs

Web app (Docker)

docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -v atbbs-data:/data -e PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain.com ghcr.io/alyraffauf/atbbs:latest

Or with Docker Compose:

git clone https://github.com/alyraffauf/atbbs.git
cd atbbs
docker compose up -d

Visit http://localhost:8000.

Web app (from source)

git clone https://github.com/alyraffauf/atbbs.git
cd atbbs
uv sync
just dev

Architecture

atbbs has no backend database for content. All BBS data lives in atproto repos:

• Sysop records: xyz.atboards.site, xyz.atboards.board, xyz.atboards.news
• User records: xyz.atboards.thread, xyz.atboards.reply

The web app and TUI query existing network infrastructure:

• Slingshot — cached record and identity fetching
• Constellation — backlink index for discovering threads and replies
• UFOs — BBS discovery feed

Configuration

On first run, atbbs generates:

• secrets.json — app secret key and OAuth client signing key
• atbbs.db — SQLite database for OAuth sessions

Web app (Docker): Set ATBBS_DATA_DIR to control where these are stored (default: /data). Set PUBLIC_URL to your domain for OAuth callbacks.

Web app (CLI): Use atbbs serve --data-dir and --public-url to configure. Defaults to the platform data directory and http://{host}:{port}.

TUI: Data is stored in ~/.local/share/atbbs/ (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/atbbs/ (macOS), or %APPDATA%/atbbs/ (Windows).

License

AGPL-3.0