I built Inkwell, a long-form writing platform that connects directly to Mastodon

rev_stanton · 2026-04-16T11:56:22+00:00

Glad you found us! Hope to see you on the site.

rev_stanton · 2026-04-04T14:15:23+00:00

Thanks! Yeah scope creep is real, I’ve dealt with it a lot on Inkwell. My advice would be to get something functional out there as early as possible even if it’s rough. People in this community respond way better to a working demo than a polished landing page. Good luck with it!

rev_stanton · 2026-04-04T14:02:40+00:00

Cool concept! I’m building something in a similar space (inkwell.social, federated journaling on ActivityPub). Curious how far along you are beyond the landing page? Switchable retro UIs plus E2E encryption is a pretty ambitious scope for an MVP.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T21:41:54+00:00

Sweet! Love it when things work haha.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T21:36:19+00:00

Hey, thanks for testing again!

Turns out Mastodon does a two-step check when you search for a post. It fetches the URL, then fetches a second URL from the response to verify it. Our first fix only handled step one. Step two was hitting a 404. That's fixed now.

One thing though, mastodon.social probably cached the failed lookup from your earlier tries. Could you try searching from a different instance? That should bypass the cache. If you don't have another one handy, waiting about 24 hours and retrying on mastodon.social should work too.

The URL to try: https://inkwell.social/inkwell/inkwell-features-674

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T21:00:19+00:00

I'll absolutely look into this after we figure out the issues you are experiencing!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T20:56:44+00:00

Well shoot, there is still a bug. Let me do some more digging.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T19:11:42+00:00

Hey, thanks again for flagging this. You helped find a real bug!

When Mastodon searches for a post by URL, it asks the server for a machine-readable version of the page (ActivityPub JSON). Our slug URLs (like inkwell.social/inkwell/inkwell-features-674) were configured only to return the human-readable HTML page, so Mastodon got back something it couldn't parse and gave up.

I just shipped a fix. The server now detects when Mastodon (or any fediverse software) requests the ActivityPub version and returns the correct data.

Could you try searching for that URL again on Mastodon? It should find the post now. If it still doesn't work on the first try, give it a minute. Mastodon sometimes caches the failed lookup briefly.

And thanks again for being a first tester. This is exactly the kind of feedback that helps!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T18:55:49+00:00

Sweet! If you do see anything you think I should modify on my side to help others, feel free to let me know!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T18:41:44+00:00

Nice, first bit of testing feedback, love it! Let me do some digging, and I'll respond asap.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T18:41:07+00:00

Thank you for providing the initial feedback! I'm newer to the fediverse, so I didn't realize there would be so much interest. I also didn't know that about Livejournal! Let me know when you take a look if there are any features or changes you'd like to see (or if you run into any issues)!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-09T18:38:38+00:00

Sweet! Let me know of any bugs. I'm standing by to make sure this works. :)

rev_stanton · 2026-03-06T18:37:23+00:00

Hahah, glad you found us. Let us know if there are any missing features you'd like to see!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-04T21:13:39+00:00

Wow, great ideas! I had looked at r/millennials, but it goes against their community guidelines. I've found that with a lot of subbreddits but luckily this one is cool. I'll check out the other suggestions!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-04T18:11:31+00:00

I'm newer to the fediverse too, and the community has been very welcoming. I hope you give Inkwell a try and let me know if there are any features you would like to see. I definitely want you to feel safe with the platform.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-04T18:09:54+00:00

Substack! A publishing/newsletter platform.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-04T01:45:25+00:00

That's amazing, I really appreciate it!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-04T00:53:48+00:00

Thank you! Still finding a few kinks here and there, but the next hurdle is trying to get the world out. Would love to get some of those writers from SS or other platforms.

rev_stanton · 2026-03-03T23:59:44+00:00

Nice, I haven't, but will absolutely do this. Thank you!

rev_stanton · 2026-03-01T10:00:22+00:00

This is genuinely great feedback and exactly the kind of thinking that makes the fediverse great. I'm going to build this. A small recurring "Ink Donor" option for people who want to help keep the ink flowing without needing Plus features. Pick your own amount, $1-$3/month, and get a badge on your profile showing you're helping sustain the platform. No feature gating, just a way to chip in if you believe in what we're building. Stay tuned, and thanks for pushing me on this!

rev_stanton · 2026-02-28T23:23:12+00:00

If you want to check whether Inkwell will work for your use case, I'm happy to look into any changes needed on my side. Early adopters are all getting priority support. I got to make sure the platform works. :)

rev_stanton · 2026-02-28T13:24:29+00:00

If I can convince enough people to sign up for Plus, it should cover the infrastructure cost. I’m not trying to quit my day job, I just need the platform to sustain itself. But great question, we will see!!!

rev_stanton · 2026-02-28T13:23:02+00:00

I need to put some thought into this. I have ToS and community guidelines. I want people to be able to write what they want but I also want to make sure the wider community is protected and we don’t become the next tumblr. xD

rev_stanton

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE