I’ve started rolling out an AT Protocol PDS — personal data server — for new Micro.blog users. In the Bluesky world, a PDS is what stores your posts, follows, photos, and other data from apps. In the same way that creating an account on Micro.blog automatically gives you a fediverse handle, I wanted people to be able to create a Micro.blog account and have everything they needed to sign into Bluesky.
If you’re already using Bluesky, there aren’t currently any advantages to using Micro.blog’s PDS. We run the PDS reference implementation, with various new UI bits in the Micro.blog frontend for managing your account. You won’t even see the PDS option if you already have Bluesky cross-posting configured for your blog.
I’ve updated the account page so that both fediverse and atmosphere settings feel at home together:
I’m inspired by all the developer activity in the atmosphere. Everything from blogging apps like Leaflet and Pckt, to photo sharing, even puzzles. All of these apps store data on the PDS and require no changes to work with Micro.blog.
Domain names have always been a fundamental part of Micro.blog. When new users opt to use Micro.blog’s PDS, their domain name becomes their Bluesky handle. They can then immediately sign into Bluesky with their own domain name without creating an account on Bluesky. It feels a little like using IndieAuth to sign in with your blog.
It’s early and I’m not entirely sure where all of this is going. But ever since Bluesky added support for an external PDS, it has felt like a missing piece in Micro.blog hosting. I’m happy to fill that in and see what happens.
