Hubzilla Timeline and History

15 Years of Innovation

Hubzilla and its predecessors are pioneers of the fediverse, bringing cutting-edge features and innovation to decentralized social media. This includes tireless work from fediverse pioneer Mike Macgirvin, Hubzilla head developer Mario Vavti, as well as many many other contributors.

Hubzilla traces its roots to 2010 with the release of Mistpark created by Mike Macgirvin, and became an independent project in 2012, being called Red and then Red Matrix before being called Hubzilla. The Hubzilla community took over the project in early 2015, and the Hubzilla Association was created in 2023.

This is a team effort, with lots of contributors, both from within and without Hubzilla. Special thanks to other platforms, such as (streams), Forte, and others who collaborate, innovate, and cross-pollinate.

This timeline contains highlights only and is not a complete history.

Major Milestones

Hubzilla website redesigned (in progress).
15 Year Anniversary
Hubzilla 10 released.
- Implementation of Conversation Containers over ActivityPub, which helps backfill threaded conversations so you see the entire conversation, as well as provide additional moderation tools. Initially implemented by (streams) and Hubzilla.
FEP-171b: Conversation Containers and related specifications are submitted as Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEPs), special thanks to silverpill.
Hubzilla 9 released.
FEP-61cf: The OpenWebAuth Protocol, which provides federated single sign on, was submitted as a Fediverse Enhancement Proposal (FEP), special thanks to FenTiger and silverpill.
Hubzilla Association established.
Hubzilla 8 released.
Hubzilla 7.8 released.
- Update to bootstrap version 5.2 which implements CSS variables
Hubzilla 7 released.
Hubzilla 6.2 released.
- Make Hubzilla installable as a Progressive Web App (PWA) in supported browsers.
- Updated to Bootstrap 5.
Hubzilla 6 released.
- Implemented desktop notifications.
Hubzilla 5 released.
- Implemented Zot6 as the primary protocol. ActivityPub and Diaspora continue to be supported as optional protocols.
- Implemented calendar syncing between clones, using DAV and nomadic identity.
- Introduced polls.
Turned magic-auth into OpenWebAuth based on old, but still viable standards.
Hubzilla 4 released.
- Re-implemented the Zot Protocol to use ActivityStreams2 content (version 6 of Zot, known as Zot6).
ActivityPub spec finalised.
Hubzilla 3 released.
Mastodon converts to ActivityPub.
Demonstrated e-commerce in the fediverse.
First ever demonstration of ActivityPub posts and comments federating (NextCloud made these claims, but used ActivityStreams and not actually ActivityPub).
Hubzilla 2 released.
Implemented private groups.
Mastodon arrives in the fediverse.
Provided (sanitised) inline SVG support over the fediverse, allowing quick doodles and drawings in posts/comments.
Renamed from Red Matrix to Hubzilla.
Mike Macgirvin stepped down as active coordinator for the project in early 2015 and turned management over to the community.
Implemented dynamic groups. ("Send this post to male German connections only" or "only send to folks who are using the Diaspora protocol")
Browser-to-browser encryption arrives in the fediverse. E2EE framework completed. We don't provide E2EE ourselves because we're not at the endpoint.
Renamed from Red to Red Matrix.
Turned all file storage into access controlled WebDAV nodes so you could upload private media through drag-drop from any device.
Created the Zot Protocol to encrypt all fediverse communications over the wire and expose as little meta-data as possible, while fully supporting Nomadic Identity.
Work begins on Red. This rewrite uses Free Friendika and Friendica Red as a base. Red is considered to be a fork of the MIT licensed versions of Friendika and Friendica.
Federated/connected the fediverse and WordPress (posts and comments in both directions).
Friendika was renamed Friendica, and Free Friendika was renamed Friendica Red (sometimes referred to as just Red).*
The Friendika project split into two, with an MIT Licensed version and an AGPL licensed version. The MIT licensed version was briefly called Free Friendika, and the AGPL version continued to use the name Friendika.*
Started work on fediverse Nomadic Identity after nearly half the known network suddenly vanished in the space of a week when some high profile large sites shut down with little or no warning and with no migration ability. Migration is half the solution - it is still subject to unannounced shutdowns.
Brought Facebook (unwillingly) into the fediverse. Shout-out to Tobias for helping with Twitter.
Renamed from Mistpark to Friendika.
Federated with all the things - including "connections" with RSS and email, Diaspora, Status.Net, and cross-posting to lots of open providers via plugins.
Provided access controlled assets and services in the fediverse - including media
Created federated single sign-on across decentralised fediverse nodes (providing fully decentralised access control)
Brought circles/aspects to the fediverse. (Before Diaspora or Google+).
Brought quoted posts to the fediverse.
Brought comment controls to the fediverse.
Brought directory services to the fediverse.
Brought the concepts of permission and consent to the fediverse.
Brought direct messages (DMs) and groups to the fediverse. (Prior to this they did not federate).
Launched as Mistpark.
After leaving Facebook, Mike Macgirvin started work on a federated social media server using common server technology.

Events are listed in reverse chronological order. Some events may have happened concurrently.

*There were a lot of name changes in 2010 and 2011. We have included a simplified version of events to make it easier to follow.

Some entries are only mentioned as a point of reference.