Atproto Protocol: Future of Bluesky and Decentralized Social Media

Expanding the ATProto Ecosystem: New Developments for Bluesky and Beyond

The process of developing new applications utilizing ATProto, the foundational protocol for Bluesky’s social network and an increasing number of other platforms, is becoming increasingly streamlined.

During the ATmosphere conference, a gathering of the ATProto community held in Seattle, Paul Frazee, Bluesky’s CTO, revealed upcoming advancements for the protocol. These improvements are designed to empower developers and facilitate the creation of more applications, thereby expanding the ecosystem’s reach.

OAuth Support: Simplified and Secure Authentication

A significant addition on the horizon is the integration of OAuth, a widely used authentication standard. Developers are currently testing this feature, although it remains in a preliminary phase. OAuth will enable developers to establish user accounts for their applications within the AT Protocol infrastructure.

Furthermore, it will provide essential tools for managing user sessions and gaining insight into fundamental account information.

For end-users, OAuth will facilitate easier and more secure logins to applications. Instead of creating unique passwords specifically for each app within Bluesky’s settings, users will have the option to sign in using OAuth.

This mirrors the common practice of logging in with accounts from major tech companies like Google or Apple. However, discussions are ongoing regarding the optimal presentation of this user interface, with consideration given to whether “Bluesky” should be prominently featured in the branding. Bluesky is envisioned as one application among many within the ATProto ecosystem, and the branding should reflect this open, interoperable nature.

Lexicon Publishing: Defining Data Structures

Another key change involves the ability to directly publish lexicons – or schemas – onto the AT Protocol. These lexicons define the structure of data records. This capability is crucial for the development of novel application types.

As developers broaden the ecosystem, lexicons will be utilized for diverse applications, such as recipe sharing, event scheduling, and location services.

When an application encounters an unfamiliar record, it can resolve the lexicon definition through a DNS-like lookup process to understand the data’s structure. This resource sharing will also reduce the need for developers to independently define unique lexicons, allowing them to leverage existing schemas created by the ATProto community.

Future Enhancements: Privacy, Encryption, and Relays

Later this year, the Bluesky team will initiate work on mechanisms for handling privately shared data. This is essential for implementing features requiring data privacy, such as bookmarking functionality.

Users are also expressing interest in end-to-end encryption, similar to that found in platforms like Signal and WhatsApp. Frazee indicated that progress in this area may be accelerated by the ongoing development of MLS, a security layer being promoted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

“Significant interest in MLS has emerged across various technology stacks, including the web,” Frazee stated. “We are optimistic that it could substantially expedite the advancement of encryption within ATProto.”

Further developments include improvements to relays – components of the AT Protocol infrastructure that provide a continuous stream of network data. By removing the requirement for relays to maintain complete archives, operating a relay will become more cost-effective and scalable.

Plans are also underway to enhance the user experience surrounding account migrations, and to support migrations *to* Bluesky’s servers, in addition to the current ability to migrate *away* from them.

This report was contributed by TechCrunch from the ATmosphere Conference in Seattle.