Bonfire Networks
P2P Platform
Community
Details
License AGPL-3.0 (with some components under other open licenses; ActivityPub library released separately)
Dev Status 🔬 Beta
Dev Status Detail Released (v1.0.0-beta / v1.0.1 social alpha, active development)
Owner Bonfire Networks (online collective) — led by Mayel de Borniol and team
Governing Body None (Bonfire Networks online collective; no formal governing body)
Country International (distributed team, EU-focused)
Start Year 2020
Stack Elixir (Phoenix, LiveView, Surface UI components); modular extension architecture with context modules, LiveHandlers; Oban for job processing; Meili for search indexing
Funding NGI grants (NLnet) + donations (Open Collective)
Last Investigated Mar 9, 2026
P2P Platform Attributes
Origins Ecosystem/SDK (framework for building federated apps with modular extensions)
Database PostgreSQL
Query Language GraphQL + SQL (PostgreSQL); Elixir Ecto queries
Data Formats ActivityStreams 2.0 (JSON-LD) for federation + custom internal formats; ValueFlows vocabulary for economic activities
Collaborative Live Editing Supported (LiveView enables real-time features; Phoenix PubSub for live updates)
Rich Text Editing Supported (in Bonfire Social; rich text editor in post composition)
Mobile Support In development (LiveViewNative experimentation for native mobile)
Web Support Yes (LiveView-based web interface; Surface UI components)
Native Apps N/A (web-first; native app support planned via LiveViewNative)
Terms Self-hosting + free public instances + paid hosting services; AGPL-3.0
Funds Multiple NGI grants: NGI0 Discovery (Feb 2021-Oct 2022), NGI0 Entrust Federated Groups (Oct 2022-Feb 2025), NGI0 Entrust Framework (2023+); Open Collective donations
Based On ActivityPub (extends with custom modular ActivityPub library); ValueFlows for economic coordination
P2P Architecture Federated (ActivityPub server-to-server); not pure P2P; modular federation with MRF (Message Rewrite Facility) policies for content filtering
Development Tools Modular extensions system (mix-and-match Elixir extensions for social, coordination, economic features); GraphQL API; reusable ActivityPub library (activity_pub Hex package); LiveView + Surface UI framework; bonfire_ui_valueflows reusable components; comprehensive developer documentation
Deployment Options Self-hosting (Docker, NixOS, Guix); managed hosting services; multiple 'flavours' (social, coordination, community, cooperation) for different use cases
Authentication & Identity ActivityPub-based actor identities (WebFinger discovery); OAuth support; fine-grained Circles and Boundaries system for role-based access control (RBAC); per-user, per-circle permission definitions
Storage Model PostgreSQL database (local instance) + federated ActivityPub content; Meili search index for full-text search; Waffle for file/media management
Interoperability ActivityPub federation (compatible with Mastodon, PeerTube, Mobilizon, Pleroma, etc.); ValueFlows vocabulary for economic interoperability; ForgeFed participation planned; reusable ActivityPub library usable by other Elixir projects; MRF policies for federation filtering
Social Graph Yes (comprehensive social graph with Circles for grouping contacts, Boundaries for fine-grained permissions, follows, federated groups across instances, roles and governance; ValueFlows for economic relationships and reciprocal value flows)
Relationships
How this tool connects to other tools and organizations, from relationships reviewed by the OpenHaven data steward. They describe how projects connect, not how good they are.
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