How to use:
The url must be the hostname only, NO SLASHES, like this: lemmy.dbzer0.com, don't use https://, don't append a slash afterwards (lemmy.dbzer0.com/), only the hostname including the subdomain if it has it (in this case, lemmy).
If the instance has blocked the IP address from the server, or it is stuck and its API is not working correctly, it returns "Not a Lemmy instance" (I am too busy to fix this right now).
If the url is not formatted in a way it can process it, it will say Invalid URL. Better processing can come in the future. I won't be updating it now.
- URL: https://federation-checker.vercel.app/
- Source code: https://github.com/lemmygod/federation-checker
In the backend, it just scrapes https://fba.ryona.agency/?domain={url} and uses the api https://{instance}/api/v3/federated_instances
PRs welcome.
Honestly it works better when deployed locally in a development environment. I think Vercel's IP address is just blocked by cloudflare and other blacklists that stop automated stuff? Idk. Can check back in a few days.
There's good reason as a regular Lemmy user. To properly interact with a remote community you need the instance of the community linked on your sign-in instance and you need your sign-in instance linked on the remote instance.
For example if I sign in on lemmy.ml and I want to interact with a community local to beehaw.org, I have to go to beehaw.org/instances and check lemmy.ml is linked. Then I have to go to lemmy.ml/instances and check beehaw.org is linked. It's kind of an unruly task with the /instances lists as large as they are so a tool to check that for you is very useful.
No you don't. Unless an instance is explicitly blocked, linking is automatic and happens as soon as you start interacting with another instance.
The purpose is not to link, but to know whether it's linked. Sometimes you wanna know if your recipient is gonna be getting your messages before you send them. Sometimes you wanna know if the email provider you're signing up to can even get emails from Gmail before singing up to it.
As I said, linking is automatic. You don't need to know if something is linked as it is automatically linked as soon as you want.
And gmail is an exceptionally bad example as they spamblock just about anyone other that a few others that are too big to block. And they do so for pure business reasons as they want you to switch to gmail.
And I said, the purpose is not to link. Linking is not the purpose. It has nothing to do with the purpose.
The purpose is to interact. This tool checks if you can interact. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't, simple as that. If you want to interact but the instance you're considering can't, then you put it in your back pocket and keep looking.
Yeah bad example. It's more like you have a sniper's rifle and you wanna see if you can pop a head or whether that head is vaccinated against the exact brand of bullet that you're carrying. Except instead of bullet it's a comment, and instead of head it's a post that you wanna comment on.
Okay, let me say not blocked. Yes linking is automatic, but if an instance appears in the linked column, it can't appear in the blocked column. You want to check that neither instance is blocked, which is the same as saying both instances are linked.