Delegation Extension

Delegation lets a user’s actions be shown under another user’s name.

• Delegator: The user that actions are shown as.
• Delegate: The user that performs the actions.

Definition

The Delegation extension uses an ID of pub.versia:delegation.

If the extension is present, exactly one of the fields MUST be specified:

{
    // ...
    "type": "User",
    "id": "0345pq3gy8004",
    // ...
    "extensions": {
        "pub.versia:delegation": {
            "delegator": "versia.example.com:033vprjgf8002"
        }
    }
}

{
    // ...
    "type": "User",
    "id": "033vprjgf8002",
    // ...
    "extensions": {
        "pub.versia:delegation": {
            "allowed_delegates": [
                "versia.example:0345pq3gy8004"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Behavior

Any actions or entities created by the delegate SHOULD be attributed to the delegator user in clients transparently to end-users (e.g. showing the delegator user’s name and avatar). This allows for a form of “consensual impersonation” that is authorized by the delegators and delegates.

This is useful as a way to centralize all of a user’s many “alt accounts” into a single, unified feed.

If a User names a delegator that cannot be fetched, or that does not list them in allowed_delegates, instances MUST show the User’s actions as their own. Instances SHOULD check again whenever they refetch either User, so that a withdrawn delegation stops applying.

Delegation only changes who an action is shown as. It grants no rights over the other user’s entities: each user’s entities are still hosted, changed and deleted by their own instance. That instance MAY let delegates ask it to act, which is outside this specification.