Create a utility to send notifications to an inbox

[RubenVerborgh]

I suggest the creation of a JavaScript/TypeScript utility for sending LDNs. Here is a suggested plan of action:

• [ ] Make a simple utility that sends a yo
• [ ] Make it accessible from the command line
  • [ ] Taking sender and destination as parameter
  • [ ] Allowing sender to be set in a configuration file
• [ ] Extend the utility to be able so send data with different shapes
  • [ ] Using either ShEx or SHACL
  • [ ] Allow an arbitrary shape to be passed as parameter
  • [ ] Make it easy to fill out shapes from the command line

[Dexagod]

Some questions

• Should the ability be present to send notifications without the user authenticating itself?
  • Currently i use the auth.fetch() method to post notifications, although this should also be possible with a regular POST request?
  • This could also be useful in the case that there are public inboxes -> does this even exist? that can be read by everyone.
• Should the sender always be specified in the notification?
  • This could for example be done using a creator predicate, or using the activitystreams 2.0 model by wrapping the notification (see code example)
  • This makes it possible to let user / services set their own actor as jsonld in the config file, to attach any useful information they want to attach to the actor in the wrapper of every notification

"@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
"summary": "Alice sent a notification to Bob, with Carol in CC and Dennis in BCC",
"actor": { 
  "@id": http://alice.example.org",
  "@type": "Person" // (Or Service, ... in the case of a service. See link down below. This can be set in the config file)
"object": { WRAPPED NOTIFICATION } ,
"target": "http://bob.example.org",
"cc: [ "http://carol.example.org" ]
"bcc": [ "http://dennis.example.org" ]

see the available actor types in activitystreams 2.0```

• To make shapes easy to use, it might make sense to require them to be passed via files when on the command line?
  • Or maybe to use a simple template based on the activitystreams2.0 model?
  • solid-notifications -u alice.example.org -p passwd -i example.org bob.example.org {type: Note, content: "Hey, long time no see"
  • results in:

"@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
"actor": http://alice.example.org",
"object": { WRAPPED NOTIFICATION } ,
"target": "http://bob.example.org",

• Should version 1 include authorization headers on the request?
  • if so, exactly which token should be added :p (I am not sure how to approach this, as there are multiple tokens in the auth object)