Serverless Social Media Markov Bot

A serverless bot that generates and posts content using Markov chain text generation across multiple social media platforms (Mastodon, Bluesky). Built using Cloudflare Workers.

Features

Content Generation

• Generates unique social media content using Markov chains
• Configurable parameters for content generation
• Filters out excluded words and phrases
• 30% random posting probability

Multi-Platform Support

• Posts to Mastodon
• Posts to Bluesky
• Extensible for additional platforms

AI-Powered Reply Generation

• Generates witty, contextual replies using ChatGPT
• Supports both Mastodon and Bluesky post URLs
• Smart reply behavior:
  • Always replies to first interaction in a thread
  • 30% chance to reply to subsequent interactions
  • Skips replies containing excluded words
  • Won't reply to posts older than 24 hours
  • Avoids replying to its own posts
• Test endpoint for trying replies before posting
• Configurable response style and tone

Configuration

Required Environment Variables

• MASTODON_API_URL - Your Mastodon instance URL
• MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN - Mastodon API access token
• BLUESKY_API_URL - Bluesky API URL (default: https://bsky.social)
• BLUESKY_USERNAME - Your Bluesky username
• BLUESKY_PASSWORD - Your Bluesky app password
• OPENAI_API_KEY - Your OpenAI API key (required for reply generation)

Optional Environment Variables

• MASTODON_SOURCE_ACCOUNTS - Mastodon accounts to source content from
• BLUESKY_SOURCE_ACCOUNTS - Bluesky accounts to source content from
• EXCLUDED_WORDS - Words to exclude from generated content and replies
• DEBUG_MODE - When set to 'true', prevents actual posting and enables detailed logging
• DEBUG_LEVEL - Debug log level (verbose/info/error)
• MARKOV_STATE_SIZE - Markov chain state size (default: 2)
• MARKOV_MIN_CHARS - Minimum characters in generated post (default: 100)
• MARKOV_MAX_CHARS - Maximum characters in generated post (default: 280)
• MARKOV_MAX_TRIES - Maximum attempts to generate valid post (default: 100)

Debug Mode

The bot includes a comprehensive debug mode that allows you to test functionality without actually posting to social media platforms.

Enabling Debug Mode

You can enable debug mode in one of three ways:

1. In .dev.vars for local development:

   DEBUG_MODE=true

2. In wrangler.toml for development and testing:

   [vars]
   DEBUG_MODE = "true"

3. In Cloudflare Dashboard for production:

   • Go to Workers & Pages > Your Worker > Settings > Variables
   • Add DEBUG_MODE with value true

What Debug Mode Does

When DEBUG_MODE is set to 'true':

• No actual posts will be made to any platform
• Detailed logs show what would have been posted
• Reply tracking still works to prevent duplicate debug logs
• All other functionality (notifications, reply generation) works normally

This is useful for:

• Testing reply generation
• Verifying post content before going live
• Debugging notification processing
• Testing rate limit handling

Debug Logs

With debug mode enabled, you'll see detailed logs like:

Debug mode: Would post to Bluesky: [post content]
Debug mode: Would reply to Mastodon post: [reply content]

Local Development

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Create a .dev.vars file with your environment variables:

   MASTODON_API_URL=https://your.mastodon.instance
   MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token
   BLUESKY_API_URL=https://bsky.social
   BLUESKY_USERNAME=your.username
   BLUESKY_PASSWORD=your_app_password
   MASTODON_SOURCE_ACCOUNTS=@user@instance
   [email protected]
   DEBUG_MODE=true    # Start with debug mode enabled for safety
   DEBUG_LEVEL=verbose
   OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key

3. Start the development server:

   wrangler dev

API Endpoints

• POST /run - Execute the bot (30% chance to post)
• POST /upload-tweets - Upload source content
• GET /upload-tweets - Get source content count
• POST /test-reply - Test AI-powered reply generation
• POST /check-replies - Check for and process new replies

Deployment

1. Configure your environment variables in Cloudflare:

   wrangler secret put MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN
   # Repeat for other secrets

2. Deploy to Cloudflare Workers:

   wrangler deploy

Behavior

• The bot has a 30% chance of posting each time it runs
• When posting, it will attempt to post to both Mastodon and Bluesky
• Generated content is based on source content from specified accounts
• Content is filtered to remove excluded words
• Debug logs show the random percentage and whether a post was attempted

Development

• Written in JavaScript
• Uses Cloudflare Workers for serverless execution
• Stores source content in Cloudflare KV
• Implements Markov chain text generation
• Supports multiple social media platforms

Reply Behavior

The bot uses the following criteria to determine when to reply:

1. First Interactions

   • Always replies to the first interaction in a thread
   • Helps establish initial engagement

2. Subsequent Interactions

   • 30% chance to reply to follow-up messages
   • Prevents excessive back-and-forth conversations

3. Content Filtering

   • Skips replies containing words from EXCLUDED_WORDS
   • Won't reply to its own posts
   • Ignores posts older than 24 hours

4. Debug Mode

   • Set DEBUG_MODE=true to see detailed decision logging
   • Helpful for understanding reply behavior

Testing Guide

Testing Reply Generation

There are several ways to test the reply functionality:

1. Using the Test Endpoint

   # Create test-payload.json with your test data
   {
     "postUrl": "https://bsky.app/profile/username.bsky.social/post/postid",
     "replyContent": "Your test reply content here"
   }
   
   # Test reply generation
   curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8787/test-reply \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data-binary "@test-payload.json"

2. Testing Live Reply Behavior

   # First, make the bot post something
   curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8787/run
   
   # Then reply to that post from another account
      
   # Finally, trigger reply checking
   curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8787/check-replies

3. Debug Mode Testing

   # Enable debug mode in .dev.vars
   DEBUG_MODE=true
   DEBUG_LEVEL=verbose
   
   # Run the reply checker to see detailed logs
   curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8787/check-replies

Testing Different Scenarios

1. First Reply Testing

   • Post something from the bot
   • Reply to it from another account
   • Run /check-replies - bot should always respond

2. Subsequent Reply Testing

   • Continue the conversation
   • Run /check-replies multiple times
   • Bot should respond ~30% of the time

3. Content Filter Testing

   # Add test words to .dev.vars
   EXCLUDED_WORDS=test,spam,ignore
   
   # Reply to bot with these words
   # Bot should skip these replies

4. Age Limit Testing

   • Reply to an old post (>24h)
   • Bot should skip these replies

5. Self-Reply Testing

   • Reply to the bot's post using the bot's account
   • Bot should skip these replies

Troubleshooting

1. Check Logs

   • Enable verbose logging:

     DEBUG_MODE=true
     DEBUG_LEVEL=verbose

   • Look for "Processing notification" and "Reply decision" messages

2. Common Issues

   • API authentication errors: Check credentials in .dev.vars
   • Missing replies: Verify notification fetching is working
   • Unexpected behavior: Check debug logs for decision reasoning

3. Testing Environment

   • Use wrangler dev for local testing
   • Create test accounts on both platforms
   • Keep test-payload.json in .gitignore

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details