Install the Toolkit

This guide shows you how to install the Django ActivityPub Toolkit in your Django project.

Prerequisites

You need:

• Python 3.9 or higher
• Django 4.2.23 or higher
• A Django project to add federation to

Installation

Install the package using pip:

pip install django-activitypub-toolkit

Or add it to your requirements.txt:

django-activitypub-toolkit>=0.0.2

Add to Django Project

Add the toolkit to your INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    # Your existing apps
    'blog',  # example
    'accounts',  # example
    # Add the toolkit
    'activitypub',
]

Configure Federation Settings

Add basic federation configuration to your settings:

FEDERATION = {
    'DEFAULT_URL': 'http://localhost:8000',  # Change for production
    'SOFTWARE_NAME': 'YourAppName',
    'SOFTWARE_VERSION': '1.0.0',
}

For production, use your actual domain:

FEDERATION = {
    'DEFAULT_URL': 'https://yourdomain.com',
    'SOFTWARE_NAME': 'YourAppName',
    'SOFTWARE_VERSION': '1.0.0',
}

Run Migrations

Create the database tables for federation:

python manage.py migrate activitypub

This creates tables for:

• References (URI pointers)
• Context models (federation data)
• Notifications (incoming activities)
• Domains and accounts

Verify Installation

Start your Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

The toolkit is now installed and ready for configuration. Next, see Configure the Toolkit to set up your federation settings.