@bbs

Build a community from your existing account.

Tightly curated, fully portable, open by design.

Built on atproto.

Features #

• Web and terminal: Use it in your browser, dial in from a TUI, or connect via telnet.
• 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.

Install #

Requires Python 3.14+.

uv #

uv tool install atbbs

Homebrew #

brew install alyraffauf/tap/atbbs

Usage #

atbbs                  # launch TUI
atbbs dial aly.codes   # dial a BBS directly
atbbs --help           # see all options

Web app #

Docker #

docker run -d -p 8080:80 -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
PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain.com docker compose up -d

From source #

Requires Node.js and just.

git clone https://github.com/alyraffauf/atbbs.git
cd atbbs
cd web && npm install && cd ..
uv sync
just dev     # run dev server with hot reload
just fmt     # format code
just build   # build for static deploy (set PUBLIC_URL)
just docker  # build docker image

Architecture #

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

• Sysop records: xyz.atbbs.site, xyz.atbbs.board
• Moderation records: xyz.atbbs.ban, xyz.atbbs.hide
• User records: xyz.atbbs.post, xyz.atbbs.pin, xyz.atbbs.profile

The web app and TUI query existing network infrastructure:

• Slingshot — cached record and identity fetching
• Constellation — backlink index for discovering threads and replies
• Lightrail — BBS discovery via collection listing

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 PUBLIC_URL to your domain for OAuth callbacks (required).

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

License #

AGPL-3.0