IMPORTANT NOTE
I no longer maintain diaspora-el; please check:
I'm still waiting for a decent diaspora* API to show up.
Happy hacking!
I've been working on this for a couple of weeks and learned a lot... A few things that were useful:
1. learn how skeletons work (learned be reading sgml-mode); it permits in a very
fluid way to insert all the markdown that one needs
2. font-lock: learned from reading emacs-muse-mode, markdown-mode
3. learn how to make key-bindings (copied from html-mode)
4. one can keep a local copy of the different posts by saving it on a .diaspora
file (see take-notes-mode or remeber-mode)
It is a good thing tha all of this is free software so that can study it and share it with anyone.
Screenshot
Here is a screenshot
Usage
key-bindings
C-c C-c Prefix Command
C-c 1 diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-1
C-c 2 diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-2
C-c 3 diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-3
C-c 4 diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-4
C-c l diaspora-toogle-highlight
C-c p diaspora-post-this-buffer
C-c C-c - diaspora-markdown-insert-horizontal-rule
C-c C-c b diaspora-markdown-insert-bold-text
C-c C-c e diaspora-markdown-insert-emph-text
C-c C-c h diaspora-markdown-insert-link
C-c C-c i diaspora-markdown-insert-image
C-c C-c l diaspora-markdown-insert-unordered-list
C-c C-c m diaspora-markdown-mention-user
posting
- M-x
diaspora-posto-to - write
- C-c p
read stream
- M-x
diaspora-get-entry-stream
The code
You can grab the code at github: diaspora.el
Of course there is still a lot to be done. But that's a start.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Christian Giménez cnngimenez@joinsdiaspora.com for suppling the
functions for the streaming part.
Cheers.
Source code
;;; diaspora.el --- Simple Emacs-based client for diaspora* ;; Author: Tiago Charters de Azevedo <tca@diale.org> ;; Maintainer: Tiago Charters de Azevedo <tca@diale.org> ;; Created: Jan 16, 2012 ;; Version: .0 ;; Keywords: diaspora* ;; URL: http://diale.org/diaspora.html ;; Copyright (c) 2011 Tiago Charters de Azevedo, Christian Giménez ;; ;; This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify ;; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by ;; the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) ;; any later version. ;; ;; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, ;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of ;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the ;; GNU General Public License for more details. ;; ;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License ;; along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software ;; Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA ;; 02110-1301, USA. ;;; Commentary: ;; A diaspora* client for emacs (require 'url) (require 'url-http) (require 'json) (require 'font-lock) (defconst diaspora-el-version ".0" "This version of diaspora*-el.") (defgroup diaspora nil "A mode for diaspora* stream view and posting." :group 'applications) ;;; User variable: (defcustom diaspora-pod "joinsdiaspora.com" "Diaspora* pod." :type 'string :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-mode-hook nil "Functions run upon entering `diaspora-mode'." :type 'hook :options '(flyspell-mode turn-on-auto-fill markdown-mode) :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-username nil "Username to use for connecting to diaspora. If nil, you will be prompted." :type '(choice (const :tag "Ask" nil) (string)) :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-password nil "Password to use for connecting to diaspora. If nil, you will be prompted." :type '(choice (const :tag "Ask" nil) (string)) :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-sign-in-url "https://joindiaspora.com/users/sign_in" "URL used to signing in." :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-status-messages-url "https://joindiaspora.com/status_messages" "URL used to update diaspora status messages." :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-entry-stream-url "https://joindiaspora.com/stream.json" "JSON version of the entry stream(the main stream)." :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-entry-file-dir "~/public_html/diaspora.posts/" "Directory where to save posts made to diaspora*." :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-data-file "~/.diaspora" "Name of the file do save posts made to diaspora*." :type 'file :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-header-post "## " "Header for each post:" :type 'string :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-footer-post "#diaspora-el" "Footer for each post." :type 'string :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-save-after-posting t "*Non-nil means automatically save after posting." :type 'boolean :group 'diaspora) ;;; Internal Variables: ;(defvar diaspora-auth-token nil (defvar diaspora-stream-buffer "*diaspora stream*" "The name of the diaspora stream buffer.") (defvar diaspora-post-buffer "*diaspora post*" "The name of the diaspora post buffer.") ;;; User Functions: ;; (defun diaspora-create-file-post () ;; (interactive) ;; (read-from-minibuffer "Find file: " ;; nil nil nil 'diaspora-post-file-name) ;; (let ((post-buffer (get-buffer-create (car diaspora-post-file-name)))) ;; (switch-to-buffer post-buffer) ;; (diaspora-mode))) ;; Posting (defun diaspora-post-to () (interactive) (get-buffer-create diaspora-post-buffer) (switch-to-buffer diaspora-post-buffer) (diaspora-date) (insert diaspora-footer-post) (goto-char (point-min)) (insert diaspora-header-post) (diaspora-mode)) (defun diaspora-ask () "Ask for username and password if `diaspora-username' and `diaspora-password' has not been setted." (unless (and diaspora-username diaspora-password) (read-from-minibuffer "username: " (car diaspora-username) nil nil 'diaspora-username) (read-from-minibuffer "password: " (car diaspora-password) nil nil 'diaspora-password))) (defun diaspora-authenticity-token (url) "Get the authenticity token." (let ((url-request-method "POST") (url-request-extra-headers '(("Content-Type" . "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"))) (url-request-data (mapconcat (lambda (arg) (concat (url-hexify-string (car arg)) "=" (url-hexify-string (cdr arg)))) (list (cons "user[username]" (car diaspora-username)) (cons "user[password]" (car diaspora-password)) (cons "user[remember_me]" "1")) "&"))) (url-retrieve url 'diaspora-find-auth-token))) (defun diaspora-find-auth-token (&optional status) "Find the authenticity token." (save-excursion (goto-char (point-min)) (search-forward-regexp "<meta name=\"csrf-token\" content=\"\\(.*\\)\"/>") (setq diaspora-auth-token (match-string-no-properties 1))) diaspora-auth-token) (defun diaspora-post (post &optional id) (let ((url-request-method "POST") (url-request-extra-headers '(("Content-Type" . "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"))) (url-request-data (mapconcat (lambda (arg) (concat (url-hexify-string (car arg)) "=" (url-hexify-string (cdr arg)))) (list (cons "user[username]" (car diaspora-username)) (cons "user[password]" (car diaspora-password)) (cons "status_message[text]" post) (cons "user[remember_me]" "1") (cons "authenticity_token" diaspora-auth-token) (cons "commit" "Sign in") (cons "aspect_ids[]" "public")) "&"))) (url-retrieve diaspora-status-messages-url (lambda (arg) (kill-buffer (current-buffer)))))) (defun diaspora-post-this-buffer () (interactive) (diaspora-ask) (message (concat "Getting authenticity token...")) (message (concat "done: " diaspora-auth-token)) (diaspora-authenticity-token diaspora-sign-in-url) (message (concat "done: " diaspora-auth-token)) (diaspora-post (buffer-string)) (diaspora-post-append-to-file) (kill-buffer)) ;, Streaming (defun diaspora-show-stream (status &optional new-buffer-name) "Show what was recieved in a new buffer. If new-buffer-name is given then, the new buffer will have that name, if not, the buffer called \"Diáspora Stream\" will be re-used or created if needed." ;; new-buffer-name has been given? if not, use `diaspora-stream-buffer´ as name. (unless new-buffer-name (setq new-buffer-name diaspora-stream-buffer)) (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create new-buffer-name)) (text (buffer-string)) (buf-kill (current-buffer))) ;; copy text and switch (switch-to-buffer buffer) (insert text) ;; kill the http buffer (kill-buffer buf-kill))) (defun diaspora-get-url-entry-stream (url) "Get the Diáspora URL and leave it in a new buffer." (let ((url-request-extra-headers '(("Content-Type" . "application/x-www-form-urlencoded") ("Accept-Language" . "en") ("Accept-Charset" . "UTF-8")))) (url-retrieve-synchronously url))) (defun diaspora-get-entry-stream () "Show the entry stream. First look for the JSON file at `diaspora-entry-stream-url' and then parse it. I expect to be already logged in. Use `diaspora' for log-in." (interactive) (diaspora-ask) (diaspora-authenticity-token diaspora-sign-in-url) ;; Get the authenticity token (let ((buff (diaspora-get-url-entry-stream diaspora-entry-stream-url))) (with-current-buffer buff ;; Delete the HTTP header... (goto-char (point-min)) (search-forward "\n\n") (delete-region (point-min) (match-beginning 0)) ;; Parse JSON... (diaspora-parse-json)) ;; Delete HTTP Buffer (kill-buffer buff))) (defun diaspora-show-message (parsed-message &optional buffer) "Show a parsed message in a given buffer." (with-current-buffer buffer (let ( (name (cdr (assoc 'name (assoc 'author parsed-message)))) (diaspora_id (cdr (assoc 'diaspora_id (assoc 'author parsed-message)))) (text (cdr (assoc 'text parsed-message))) (date (cdr (assoc 'created_at parsed-message))) (amount-comments (cdr (assoc 'comments_count parsed-message))) (amount-likes (cdr (assoc 'likes_count parsed-message)))) (insert (format "---\n%s(%s):\n%s\n\n" name diaspora_id text)))) (diaspora-mode)) (defun diaspora-get-entry-stream-tag (tag) "Get stream of tag. Just an idea... needs working." (let ((buff (diaspora-get-url-entry-stream (concat "https://joindiaspora.com/tags/" tag ".json")))) (with-current-buffer buff (goto-char (point-min)) (search-forward "\n\n") (delete-region (point-min) (match-beginning 0)) (diaspora-parse-json)) (kill-buffer buff))) (defun diaspora-parse-json (&optional status) "Parse de JSON entry stream." (goto-char (point-min)) (let ((lstparsed (cdr (assoc 'posts (json-read)))) (buff (get-buffer-create diaspora-stream-buffer))) (switch-to-buffer buff) (let ((le (length lstparsed))) ;; Show all elements (dotimes (i le) (diaspora-show-message (aref lstparsed i) buff))))) (defsubst diaspora-date () "Date string." (interactive) (insert "\n\n#" (format-time-string "%Y%m%d") " ")) (defun diaspora-post-append-to-file () ;; Based on take-notes.el/remember.el (with-temp-buffer (insert-buffer diaspora-post-buffer) (insert "\n" "---" "\n") (if (find-buffer-visiting diaspora-data-file) (let ((post-text (buffer-string))) (set-buffer (get-file-buffer diaspora-data-file)) (save-excursion (goto-char (point-min)) (insert post-text) (insert "\n") (when diaspora-save-after-posting (save-buffer))) (append-to-file (point-min) (point-max) diaspora-data-file))))) ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (defvar diaspora-mode-map (let ((diaspora-mode-map (make-sparse-keymap))) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c4" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-4) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c3" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-3) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c2" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-2) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c1" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-1) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-cl" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-unordered-list) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-ce" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-emph-text) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-cb" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-bold-text) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-c-" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-horizontal-rule) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-ch" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-link) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-ci" 'diaspora-markdown-insert-image) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-c\C-cm" ' diaspora-markdown-mention-user) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-cp" 'diaspora-post-this-buffer) (define-key diaspora-mode-map "\C-cl" 'diaspora-toogle-highlight) ; not implemente yet diaspora-mode-map) "Keymap based on html-mode") (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-1 "Headline 1." "Text: " "# " str \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-2 "Headline 2." "Text: " "## " str \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-3 "Headline 3." "Text: " "### " str \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-headline-4 "Headline 4." "Text: " "#### " str \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-unordered-list "Unordered list." "Text: " "* " str \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-emph-text "Emphasis." "Text: " "*" str "*") (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-bold-text "Bold." "Text: " "**" str "**") (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-horizontal-rule "Horizontal rule tag." nil "---" \n \n) (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-link "Link" "Text: " "[" str "](http://" _ ")") (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-insert-image "Image with URL." "Text: " "![" str "](http://" _ ")") (define-skeleton diaspora-markdown-mention-user "Mention user." "User: " "@{" str ";" _ (concat "@" diaspora-pod "}")) ;; Font lock (defgroup diaspora-faces nil "Faces used in diaspora Mode" :group 'diaspora :group 'faces) (defcustom diaspora-regex-image "\\(!?\\[[^]]*?\\]\\)\\(([^\\)]*)\\)" "Regular expression for a [text](file) or an image link ." :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-user-entry "^[a-zA-Z0-9_\s-]*([a-zA-Z0-9_\s-]*@[a-zA-Z0-9\s-]*\.[a-zA-Z0-9\s-]*)" "Regular expression for user entry." :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-tag "#\\([a-zA-Z0-9_]\\)+" "Regular expression for a tag." :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-header-1 "^\\(# \\)\\(.*?\\)\\($\\| #+$\\)" "Regular expression for level 1" :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-header-2 "^\\(## \\)\\(.*?\\)\\($\\| #+$\\)" "Regular expression for level 2" :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-header-3 "^\\(### \\)\\(.*?\\)\\($\\| #+$\\)" "Regular expression for level 3" :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defcustom diaspora-regex-header-4 "^\\(#### \\)\\(.*?\\)\\($\\| #+$\\)" "Regular expression for level 4" :type 'regexp :group 'diaspora) (defconst diaspora-regex-code "\\(^\\|[^\\]\\)\\(\\(`\\{1,2\\}\\)\\([^ \\]\\|[^ ]\\(.\\|\n[^\n]\\)*?[^ \\]\\)\\3\\)" "Regular expression for matching inline code fragments.") (defconst diaspora-regex-bold "\\(^\\|[^\\]\\)\\(\\([*_]\\{2\\}\\)\\(.\\|\n[^\n]\\)*?[^\\ ]\\3\\)" "Regular expression for matching bold text.") (defconst diaspora-regex-emph "\\(^\\|[^\\]\\)\\(\\([*_]\\)\\([^ \\]\\3\\|[^ ]\\(.\\|\n[^\n]\\)*?[^\\ ]\\3\\)\\)" "Regular expression for matching emph text.") (defconst diaspora-regex-email "<\\(\\sw\\|\\s_\\|\\s.\\)+@\\(\\sw\\|\\s_\\|\\s.\\)+>" "Regular expression for matching inline email addresses.") (defconst diaspora-regex-blockquote "^>.*$" "Regular expression for matching blockquote lines.") (defconst diaspora-regex-hr "^\\(\\*[ ]?\\*[ ]?\\*[ ]?[\\* ]*\\|-[ ]?-[ ]?-[--- ]*\\)$" "Regular expression for matching markdown horizontal rules.") (defvar diaspora-header-face-1 'diaspora-header-face-1 "Face name to use for level-1 headers.") (defvar diaspora-header-face-2 'diaspora-header-face-2 "Face name to use for level-2 headers.") (defvar diaspora-header-face-3 'diaspora-header-face-3 "Face name to use for level-3 headers.") (defvar diaspora-header-face-4 'diaspora-header-face-4 "Face name to use for level-4 headers.") (defvar diaspora-url-face 'diaspora-url-face "Face name to use for URLs.") (defvar diaspora-link-face 'diaspora-link-face "Face name to use for links.") (defvar diaspora-emph-face 'diaspora-emph-face "Face name to use for links.") (defvar diaspora-bold-face 'diaspora-bold-face "Face name to use for links.") (defvar diaspora-emph-face 'diaspora-emph-face "Face name to use for links.") (defvar diaspora-inline-code-face 'diaspora-inline-code-face "Face name to use for inline code.") (defvar diaspora-blockquote-face 'diaspora-blockquote-face "Face name to use for blockquote text.") (defface diaspora-inline-code-face '((t :inherit font-lock-constant-face)) "Face for inline code." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-blockquote-face '((t :inherit font-lock-doc-face)) "Face for blockquote sections." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-header-face '((t :inherit font-lock-function-name-face :weight bold)) "Base face for headers." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-header-face-1 '((t :inherit diaspora-header-face)) "Face for level-1 headers." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-header-face-2 '((t :inherit diaspora-header-face)) "Face for level-2 headers." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-header-face-3 '((t :inherit diaspora-header-face)) "Face for level-3 headers." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-header-face-4 '((t :inherit diaspora-header-face)) "Face for level-4 headers." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-link-face '((t :inherit font-lock-keyword-face)) "Face for links." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-url-face '((t :inherit font-lock-string-face)) "Face for URLs." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-emph-face '((t :inherit font-lock-variable-name-face :italic t)) "Face for italic text." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-bold-face '((t :inherit font-lock-variable-name-face :bold t)) "Face for bold text." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defface diaspora-link-face '((t :inherit font-lock-keyword-face)) "Face for links." :group 'diaspora-faces) (defvar diaspora-mode-font-lock-keywords (list (cons diaspora-regex-blockquote 'diaspora-blockquote-face) (cons diaspora-regex-user-entry 'diaspora-header-face-1) (cons diaspora-regex-header-1 'diaspora-header-face-1) (cons diaspora-regex-header-2 'diaspora-header-face-2) (cons diaspora-regex-header-3 'diaspora-header-face-3) (cons diaspora-regex-header-4 'diaspora-header-face-4) (cons diaspora-regex-hr 'diaspora-header-face-1) (cons diaspora-regex-image '((1 diaspora-link-face t) (2 diaspora-url-face t))) (cons diaspora-regex-bold '(2 diaspora-bold-face)) (cons diaspora-regex-emph '(2 diaspora-emph-face)) (cons diaspora-regex-code '(2 diaspora-inline-code-face)) (cons diaspora-regex-email 'diaspora-link-face) (cons diaspora-regex-tag 'diaspora-url-face)) "Syntax highlighting for diaspora files.") ;; Mode (defun diaspora-show-version () "Show the version number in the minibuffer." (interactive) (message "diaspora.el, version %s" diaspora-el-version)) ;;;###autoload (define-derived-mode diaspora-mode text-mode "diaspora" "Major mode for output from \\[diaspora*]." (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-defaults) '(diaspora-mode-font-lock-keywords)) (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-multiline) t) (use-local-map diaspora-mode-map) (run-hooks 'diaspora-mode-hook)) (provide 'diaspora) ;;; diaspora.el ends here
Created: NaN
Last updated: 16-02-2026 [16:02]
For attribution, please cite this page as:
Charters, T., "diaspora(dot)el -- Simple Emacs-based client for diaspora*": https://nexp.pt/diaspora.html (16-02-2026 [16:02])
(cc-by-sa) Tiago Charters - tiagocharters@nexp.pt
