FEP-9091: Export Actor Service Endpoint (#353)

Reviewed-on: https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fep/pulls/353 Co-authored-by: Dmitri Zagidulin <dzagidulin@gmail.com> Co-committed-by: Dmitri Zagidulin <dzagidulin@gmail.com>
2026-08-05 11:46:04 +00:00 · 2024-07-11 22:14:54 +00:00
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+{
+  "@context": {
+    "@protected": true,
+    "Export": "https://w3id.org/fep/9091#Export"
+  }
+}
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+---
+slug: "9091"
+authors: Dmitri Zagidulin <@dmitri@social.coop>
+status: DRAFT
+dateReceived: 2024-07-08
+discussionsTo: https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/fep-9091-export-actor-service-endpoint/4354
+---
+# FEP-9091: Export Actor Service Endpoint
+
+## Summary
+
+This FEP defines an API endpoint used to initiate the "Export Actor" operation.
+The output and semantics of the _result_ of the export operation is out of scope, and left
+to subsequent FEPs.
+The endpoint only specifies how to _start_ the operation, and by extension, how to tell if
+a given Actor's server supports this operation.
+
+## Data Model: Export Service Endpoint
+
+Conforming ActivityPub Actor profiles MUST specify their export API endpoints using the
+`service` descriptor property (inspired by the 
+[DID Core Services](https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/#services) section, and used in other
+FEPs such as [FEP-e3e9: Actor Relative URLs][FEP-e3e9]):
+
+* The expanded `type` of the service descriptor object MUST be `https://w3id.org/fep/9091#Export` (see example below).
+* The `service` property MUST NOT contain more than one node with the `#Export` type.
+    - If a client encounters multiple service descriptor objects with type ending in
+      `#Export`, the client SHOULD just use the first entry.
+
+### Example Actor Profile with Export Service Endpoint
+
+```js
+{
+  "@context": [
+    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
+    "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1"
+  ],
+  "id": "https://alice-personal-site.example/actor",
+  "type": "Person",
+  "name": "Alice",
+  "service": [{
+    "id": "https://alice-personal-site.example/actor#export",
+    "type": "https://w3id.org/fep/9091#Export",
+    "serviceEndpoint": "https://alice-personal-site.example/actor/accountExport"
+  }]
+}
+```
+
+## Protocol: Initiating the Export Actor Operation
+
+If a client conforming to this FEP wishes to start the 'Export Actor' process, such as to
+create a backup of the Actor profile, its private key material, and all content associated
+with this actor, the client MUST perform the following steps:
+
+1. Fetch the Actor profile object.
+2. Locate the `service` description object with the expanded `type` equal to `https://w3id.org/fep/9091#Export`.
+3. Locate the corresponding `serviceEndpoint` URL, in that description object.
+
+    * If no such service description item exists, this means that the server hosting the
+      Actor's profile does not support this operation.
+
+4. The client makes an HTTP `POST` to the URL in the `serviceEndpoint` to initiate the
+   export operation.
+
+    * The client MUST include appropriate authorization credentials that indicate that
+      it is authorized to perform this operation (that it's authorized to receive the
+      highly private result of account export). The exact format of these authorization
+      credentials is out of scope of this FEP.
+
+### Example Request and Response
+
+Example synchronous request (with an empty body) and response:
+
+```http
+POST /actor/accountExport HTTP/1.1
+Host: alice-personal-site.example
+Authorization: Bearer ....
+Accept: application/x-tar
+Content-Length: 0
+```
+
+```http
+HTTP/1.1 200 OK
+Content-type: application/x-tar
+Transfer-Encoding: chunked
+
+<binary data of the resulting .tar file>
+```
+
+## References
+
+* [FEP-e3e9: Actor Relative URLs][FEP-e3e9]
+
+* Christine Lemmer Webber, Jessica Tallon, [ActivityPub][AP], 2018
+* S. Bradner, Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels, 1997
+* Manu Sporny, Dave Longley, Markus Sabadell, Drummond Reed, Orie Steele,  Christopher Allen, [Decentralized Identifiers][DID] (DIDs) v1.0, 2022
+
+[AP]: https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/
+[DID]: https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/
+[FEP-e3e9]: https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fep/src/branch/main/fep/e3e9/fep-e3e9.md
+
+## Copyright
+
+CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
+
+To the extent possible under law, the authors of this Fediverse Enhancement
+Proposal have waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.