Simple Toot

This is a Bash script designed to automate the process of sending welcoming messages to new users on a Mastodon instance. It utilizes the Mastodon API to send these messages.

Prerequisites

• Bash: Ensure you have Bash installed on your system.
• Curl: Used for making HTTP requests.
• jq: A lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor. You'll need this to parse JSON responses.
• Access to a Mastodon Instance: You'll need access to a Mastodon instance to utilize this script.

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://codeberg.org/RollenspielMonster/simple-toot.git
   

2. Navigate to the cloned directory:

   cd simple-toot
   

3. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x toot.sh
   

4. Update the configuration variables in the script:

   • TOOL_NAME: The name of your tool.
   • SERVER: The Mastodon instance's domain.
   • CONFIG_PATH: The directory where configuration files will be stored.

Usage

1. Run the script:

   ./toot.sh
   

2. Follow the on-screen instructions to authorize the tool to use your Mastodon account.

3. The script will send welcome messages to new users on your Mastodon instance.

Running with Systemd Timer

To schedule the execution of the script using a systemd timer to run every 5 minutes, follow these steps:

1. Create a Systemd Service File:

   Create a file named simple-toot.service in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory with the following content:

   [Unit]
   Description=Mastodon simple-toot service
   
   [Service]
   Type=oneshot
   User=root
   WorkingDirectory=/path/to
   ExecStart=/path/to/toot.sh
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

   Replace /path/to/toot.sh with the actual path to your script.

2. Create a Systemd Timer File:

   Create a file named simple-toot.timer in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory with the following content:

   [Unit]
   Description=Run Simple Toot Script every 5 minutes
   
   [Timer]
   OnCalendar=*:0/5
   Unit=simple-toot.service
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=timers.target
   

3. Enable and Start the Timer:

   Run the following commands to enable and start the timer:

   sudo systemctl enable simple-toot.timer
   sudo systemctl start simple-toot.timer
   

   This will start executing your script every 5 minutes.

4. Verify Timer Status:

   To check the status of the timer, use:

   sudo systemctl status simple-toot.timer
   

   This command will show whether the timer is active and when it is next scheduled to run.

Note

• Ensure to replace /path/to with the actual path to your script in both the service and timer files.
• Adjust the OnCalendar parameter in the timer file if you wish to change the interval at which the script runs.

Important Notes

• Ensure you have read and understand the Mastodon instance's policies regarding automated actions and spam prevention.
• It's recommended to run this script in a controlled environment to avoid unexpected behavior.
• This script assumes you have administrative privileges on the Mastodon instance.
• Make sure to review and adjust visibility settings (-F "visibility=unlisted") in the send_toot function as per your instance's policies.

Disclaimer

This script is provided as-is without any guarantees. Use it at your own risk.

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.