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Interact with Mastodon API

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Overview

The node interacts with the Mastodon API, specifically to retrieve the full conversation context of a given status (post) on a Mastodon instance. The "Get Context" operation under the "Status" resource fetches the thread context for a specified status ID, including its ancestors (previous replies) and descendants (replies to it). This is useful for understanding the full conversation around a particular post.

Common scenarios include:

  • Displaying the entire conversation thread related to a specific status.
  • Analyzing discussion depth or engagement by fetching reply chains.
  • Moderation tools that need to review all related posts in a thread.

Practical example: Given a status ID from a Mastodon instance, you can retrieve the entire thread either as separate ancestor/descendant arrays, a flat chronological list, or a nested tree structure, depending on your needs.

Properties

Name Meaning
Mastodon URL The base URL of the Mastodon instance to connect to (e.g., https://mastodon.social).
Status ID The unique identifier of the status whose full thread context you want to retrieve.
Additional Options Collection of optional parameters:
- Include Private Statuses Whether to include private statuses in the context. Requires appropriate read permissions (read:statuses scope).
- Max Depth Maximum depth of reply threads to retrieve. When authenticated, this can be unlimited. Default is 20.
- Return Format How to format the returned conversation data. Options are:
• Structured (Ancestors/Descendants): Separate arrays for ancestors and descendants.
• Flat Thread: All statuses in chronological order as a flat array.
• Tree Structure: Nested thread tree showing hierarchy.

Output

The output JSON contains the conversation context of the specified status, formatted according to the chosen return format:

  • Structured: Two separate arrays named ancestors and descendants, each containing statuses representing previous replies and subsequent replies respectively.
  • Flat Thread: A single flat array of all statuses in chronological order, representing the entire thread linearly.
  • Tree Structure: A nested JSON object representing the thread as a tree, where each status may have child replies embedded within it.

This allows flexible consumption of the conversation data depending on downstream processing or display requirements.

No binary data output is involved in this operation.

Dependencies

  • Requires an authenticated connection to a Mastodon instance via an OAuth2 API credential providing necessary scopes (including read:statuses if private statuses are to be included).
  • The node requires the Mastodon instance URL to be specified.
  • Proper network access to the Mastodon instance's API endpoint.

Troubleshooting

  • Common Issues:

    • Invalid or missing Status ID: The node will fail if the provided status ID does not exist or is malformed.
    • Insufficient permissions: Including private statuses requires the OAuth token to have the read:statuses scope; otherwise, private statuses won't be accessible.
    • Incorrect Mastodon URL: If the URL is incorrect or the instance is unreachable, the request will fail.
    • Exceeding max depth without authentication: Unauthenticated requests may be limited in how deep the thread context can be retrieved.

  • Error Messages:

    • "The operation "context" for resource "status" is not implemented!": Indicates a misconfiguration or unsupported operation; ensure correct resource and operation names.
    • Network or authentication errors will typically propagate from the Mastodon API and should be resolved by verifying credentials and connectivity.

  • Resolutions:

    • Verify the Status ID is correct and exists on the target instance.
    • Ensure the OAuth2 credential has the required scopes.
    • Confirm the Mastodon URL is valid and reachable.
    • Adjust max depth or authenticate to increase retrieval limits.

Links and References

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