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Mastodon

Interact with Mastodon API

Overview

The Mastodon node's Get Hashtag Timeline operation retrieves a timeline of public posts (statuses) from a specified Mastodon instance that contain a particular hashtag. This is useful for monitoring social conversations, trends, or topics related to specific hashtags on Mastodon.

Typical use cases include:

  • Tracking brand mentions or campaign hashtags in real-time.
  • Aggregating content around events or topics of interest.
  • Filtering posts with media attachments or from local/remote users only.

For example, you could use this node to fetch the latest 20 posts tagged with #n8n from the Mastodon instance at mastodon.social, optionally filtering to only show posts with images or videos.

Properties

Name Meaning
Mastodon URL The URL of the Mastodon instance to connect to (e.g., https://mastodon.social).
Hashtag The hashtag to get the timeline for (without the # symbol).
Additional Fields Optional filters and parameters to refine the timeline results:
Local Only: Show only statuses from local users.
Remote Only: Show only statuses from remote users.
Media Only: Show only statuses with media attachments.
Any Hashtags: Return statuses containing any of these additional tags.
All Hashtags: Return statuses containing all of these additional tags.
None Hashtags: Return statuses containing none of these additional tags.
Max ID: Return results older than this status ID.
Since ID: Return results newer than this status ID.
Min ID: Return results immediately newer than this status ID.
Limit: Maximum number of results to return (up to 40).

Output

The output consists of an array of JSON objects, each representing a Mastodon status (post) matching the hashtag timeline query. Each JSON object contains detailed information about the status, such as:

  • Content text
  • Author account details
  • Media attachments (if any)
  • Timestamps
  • Visibility and privacy settings
  • Reblogs and replies

If media attachments are present, they are included within the status data but the node does not output separate binary data fields.

Dependencies

  • Requires an API authentication token credential configured in n8n to access the Mastodon API.
  • Needs the URL of the target Mastodon instance.
  • The node depends on the Mastodon REST API endpoints for fetching timelines by hashtag.

Troubleshooting

  • Common issues:

    • Incorrect Mastodon instance URL may cause connection failures.
    • Missing or invalid API authentication token will result in authorization errors.
    • Requesting more than the maximum allowed limit (40) may be rejected by the API.
    • Using conflicting filters like both "Local Only" and "Remote Only" simultaneously might yield no results.
  • Error messages:

    • "The operation "hashtag" for resource "timeline" is not implemented!" — indicates a misconfiguration or unsupported operation; verify the selected operation.
    • Network or timeout errors — check internet connectivity and Mastodon instance availability.
    • Authorization errors — ensure the API token is valid and has required permissions.

Links and References

Discussion