Aggregator Setup Scripts#

This directory contains scripts to help you set up and register your aggregator with Coves instances.

Overview#

Aggregators are automated services that post content to Coves communities. They are similar to Bluesky's feed generators and labelers. To use aggregators with Coves, you need to:

1. Create a PDS account for your aggregator (gets you a DID)
2. Prove you own a domain via .well-known/atproto-did
3. Register with a Coves instance
4. Create a service declaration record

These scripts automate this process for you.

Prerequisites#

• Domain ownership: You must own a domain where you can host the .well-known/atproto-did file
• Web server: Ability to serve static files over HTTPS
• Tools: curl, jq (for JSON processing)
• Account: Email address for creating the PDS account

Quick Start#

Interactive Setup (Recommended)#

Run the scripts in order:

# Make scripts executable
chmod +x *.sh

# Step 1: Create PDS account
./1-create-pds-account.sh

# Step 2: Generate .well-known file
./2-setup-wellknown.sh

# Step 3: Register with Coves (after uploading .well-known)
./3-register-with-coves.sh

# Step 4: Create service declaration
./4-create-service-declaration.sh

Automated Setup Example#

For a reference implementation of automated setup, see the Kagi News aggregator at aggregators/kagi-news/scripts/setup.sh.

The Kagi script shows how to automate all 4 steps (with the manual .well-known upload step in between).

Script Reference#

1-create-pds-account.sh#

Purpose: Creates a PDS account for your aggregator

Prompts for:

• PDS URL (default: https://bsky.social)
• Handle (e.g., mynewsbot.bsky.social)
• Email
• Password

Outputs:

• aggregator-config.env - Configuration file with DID and credentials
• Prints your DID and access tokens

Notes:

• Keep the config file secure! It contains your credentials
• The PDS automatically generates a DID:PLC for you
• You can use any PDS service, not just bsky.social

2-setup-wellknown.sh#

Purpose: Generates the .well-known/atproto-did file for domain verification

Prompts for:

• Your domain (e.g., rss-bot.example.com)

Outputs:

• .well-known/atproto-did - File containing your DID
• nginx-example.conf - Example nginx configuration
• apache-example.conf - Example Apache configuration

Manual step required: Upload the .well-known directory to your web server. The file must be accessible at:

https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/atproto-did

Verify it works:

curl https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/atproto-did
# Should return your DID (e.g., did:plc:abc123...)

3-register-with-coves.sh#

Purpose: Registers your aggregator with a Coves instance

Prompts for:

• Coves instance URL (default: https://api.coves.social)

Prerequisites:

• .well-known/atproto-did must be accessible from your domain
• Scripts 1 and 2 must be completed

What it does:

1. Verifies your .well-known/atproto-did is accessible
2. Calls social.coves.aggregator.register XRPC endpoint
3. Coves verifies domain ownership
4. Inserts your aggregator into the users table

Outputs:

• Updates aggregator-config.env with Coves instance URL
• Prints registration confirmation

4-create-service-declaration.sh#

Purpose: Creates the service declaration record in your repository

Prompts for:

• Display name (e.g., "RSS News Aggregator")
• Description
• Source URL (GitHub repo, etc.)
• Maintainer DID (optional)

What it does:

1. Creates a social.coves.aggregator.service record at at://your-did/social.coves.aggregator.service/self
2. Jetstream consumer will index this into the aggregators table
3. Communities can now discover and authorize your aggregator

Outputs:

• Updates aggregator-config.env with record URI and CID
• Prints record details

Configuration File#

After running the scripts, you'll have an aggregator-config.env file with:

AGGREGATOR_DID="did:plc:..."
AGGREGATOR_HANDLE="mynewsbot.bsky.social"
AGGREGATOR_PDS_URL="https://bsky.social"
AGGREGATOR_EMAIL="bot@example.com"
AGGREGATOR_PASSWORD="..."
AGGREGATOR_ACCESS_JWT="..."
AGGREGATOR_REFRESH_JWT="..."
AGGREGATOR_DOMAIN="rss-bot.example.com"
COVES_INSTANCE_URL="https://api.coves.social"
SERVICE_DECLARATION_URI="at://did:plc:.../social.coves.aggregator.service/self"
SERVICE_DECLARATION_CID="..."

Use this in your aggregator code to authenticate and post.

What Happens Next?#

After completing all 4 steps:

1. Your aggregator is registered in the Coves instance's users table
2. Your service declaration is indexed in the aggregators table (takes a few seconds)
3. Community moderators can now authorize your aggregator for their communities
4. Once authorized, your aggregator can post to those communities

Creating an Authorization#

Authorizations are created by community moderators, not by aggregators. The moderator writes a social.coves.aggregator.authorization record to their community's repository.

See docs/aggregators/SETUP_GUIDE.md for more information on the authorization process.

Posting to Communities#

Once authorized, your aggregator can post using:

curl -X POST https://api.coves.social/xrpc/social.coves.community.post.create \
  -H "Authorization: DPoP $AGGREGATOR_ACCESS_JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "communityDid": "did:plc:...",
    "post": {
      "text": "Your post content",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-15T12:00:00Z"
    }
  }'

Troubleshooting#

Error: "DomainVerificationFailed"#

• Verify .well-known/atproto-did is accessible: curl https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/atproto-did
• Check the content matches your DID exactly (no extra whitespace)
• Ensure HTTPS is working (not HTTP)
• Check CORS headers if accessing from browser

Error: "AlreadyRegistered"#

• You've already registered this DID with this Coves instance
• This is safe to ignore if you're re-running the setup

Error: "DIDResolutionFailed"#

• Your DID might be invalid or not found in the PLC directory
• Verify your DID exists: curl https://plc.directory/<your-did>
• Wait a few seconds and try again (PLC directory might be propagating)

Service declaration not appearing#

• Wait 5-10 seconds for Jetstream consumer to index it
• Check the Jetstream logs for errors
• Verify the record was created: Check your PDS at at://your-did/social.coves.aggregator.service/self

Example: Kagi News Aggregator#

For a complete reference implementation, see the Kagi News aggregator at aggregators/kagi-news/.

The Kagi aggregator includes an automated setup script at aggregators/kagi-news/scripts/setup.sh that demonstrates how to:

• Automate the entire registration process
• Use environment variables for configuration
• Handle errors gracefully
• Integrate the setup into your aggregator project

This shows how you can package scripts 1-4 into a single automated flow for your specific aggregator.

Security Notes#

• Never commit aggregator-config.env to version control
• Store credentials securely (use environment variables or secret management)
• Rotate access tokens regularly
• Use HTTPS for all API calls
• Validate community authorization before posting

More Information#

• Aggregator Setup Guide
• Aggregator PRD
• atProto Identity Guide
• Coves Communities PRD

Support#

If you encounter issues:

1. Check the troubleshooting section above
2. Review the full documentation in docs/aggregators/
3. Open an issue on GitHub with:
   • Which script failed
   • Error message
   • Your domain (without credentials)