fix: broadcastActorUpdate was silently failing due to Fedify API mismatch

ctx.getActor() only exists on RequestContext (inside HTTP handlers), not
on the base Context returned by createContext(). Extracted actor-building
logic into shared buildPersonActor() helper used by both the dispatcher
and broadcastActorUpdate(). Profile link attachments now propagate to
remote instances via Update(Person) activity.

index.js

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import express from "express";
 
-import { setupFederation } from "./lib/federation-setup.js";
+import { setupFederation, buildPersonActor } from "./lib/federation-setup.js";
 import {
   createFedifyMiddleware,
 } from "./lib/federation-bridge.js";
@@ -690,9 +690,15 @@ export default class ActivityPubEndpoint {
         { handle, publicationUrl: this._publicationUrl },
       );
 
-      // Retrieve the full actor from the dispatcher (same object remote
+      // Build the full actor object (same as what the dispatcher serves).
-      // servers will get when they re-fetch the actor URL)
+      // Note: ctx.getActor() only exists on RequestContext, not the base
-      const actor = await ctx.getActor(handle);
+      // Context returned by createContext(), so we use the shared helper.
+      const actor = await buildPersonActor(
+        ctx,
+        handle,
+        this._collections,
+        this.options.actorType,
+      );
       if (!actor) {
         console.warn("[ActivityPub] broadcastActorUpdate: could not build actor");
         return;

lib/federation-setup.js

@@ -142,74 +142,7 @@ export function setupFederation(options) {
 
         if (identifier !== handle) return null;
 
-        const profile = await getProfile(collections);
+        return buildPersonActor(ctx, identifier, collections, actorType);
-        const keyPairs = await ctx.getActorKeyPairs(identifier);
-
-        const personOptions = {
-          id: ctx.getActorUri(identifier),
-          preferredUsername: identifier,
-          name: profile.name || identifier,
-          url: profile.url ? new URL(profile.url) : null,
-          inbox: ctx.getInboxUri(identifier),
-          outbox: ctx.getOutboxUri(identifier),
-          followers: ctx.getFollowersUri(identifier),
-          following: ctx.getFollowingUri(identifier),
-          liked: ctx.getLikedUri(identifier),
-          featured: ctx.getFeaturedUri(identifier),
-          featuredTags: ctx.getFeaturedTagsUri(identifier),
-          endpoints: new Endpoints({ sharedInbox: ctx.getInboxUri() }),
-          manuallyApprovesFollowers:
-            profile.manuallyApprovesFollowers || false,
-        };
-
-        if (profile.summary) {
-          personOptions.summary = profile.summary;
-        }
-
-        if (profile.icon) {
-          personOptions.icon = new Image({
-            url: new URL(profile.icon),
-            mediaType: guessImageMediaType(profile.icon),
-          });
-        }
-
-        if (profile.image) {
-          personOptions.image = new Image({
-            url: new URL(profile.image),
-            mediaType: guessImageMediaType(profile.image),
-          });
-        }
-
-        if (keyPairs.length > 0) {
-          personOptions.publicKey = keyPairs[0].cryptographicKey;
-          personOptions.assertionMethods = keyPairs.map((k) => k.multikey);
-        }
-
-        if (profile.attachments?.length > 0) {
-          personOptions.attachments = profile.attachments.map(
-            (att) =>
-              new PropertyValue({
-                name: att.name,
-                value: formatAttachmentValue(att.value),
-              }),
-          );
-        }
-
-        if (profile.alsoKnownAs?.length > 0) {
-          personOptions.alsoKnownAs = profile.alsoKnownAs.map(
-            (u) => new URL(u),
-          );
-        }
-
-        if (profile.createdAt) {
-          personOptions.published = Temporal.Instant.from(profile.createdAt);
-        }
-
-        // Actor type from profile overrides config default
-        const profileActorType = profile.actorType || actorType;
-        const ResolvedActorClass = actorTypeMap[profileActorType] || ActorClass;
-
-        return new ResolvedActorClass(personOptions);
       },
     )
     .mapHandle((_ctx, username) => {
@@ -678,6 +611,90 @@ async function getProfile(collections) {
   return doc || {};
 }
 
+/**
+ * Build the Person/Service/Organization actor object from the stored profile.
+ * Used by both the actor dispatcher (for serving the actor to federation
+ * requests) and broadcastActorUpdate() (for sending Update activities).
+ *
+ * @param {object} ctx - Fedify context (base Context or RequestContext)
+ * @param {string} identifier - Actor handle (e.g. "rick")
+ * @param {object} collections - MongoDB collections
+ * @param {string} [defaultActorType="Person"] - Fallback actor type
+ * @returns {Promise<import("@fedify/fedify").Actor|null>}
+ */
+export async function buildPersonActor(
+  ctx,
+  identifier,
+  collections,
+  defaultActorType = "Person",
+) {
+  const actorTypeMap = { Person, Service, Application, Organization, Group };
+  const profile = await getProfile(collections);
+  const keyPairs = await ctx.getActorKeyPairs(identifier);
+
+  const personOptions = {
+    id: ctx.getActorUri(identifier),
+    preferredUsername: identifier,
+    name: profile.name || identifier,
+    url: profile.url ? new URL(profile.url) : null,
+    inbox: ctx.getInboxUri(identifier),
+    outbox: ctx.getOutboxUri(identifier),
+    followers: ctx.getFollowersUri(identifier),
+    following: ctx.getFollowingUri(identifier),
+    liked: ctx.getLikedUri(identifier),
+    featured: ctx.getFeaturedUri(identifier),
+    featuredTags: ctx.getFeaturedTagsUri(identifier),
+    endpoints: new Endpoints({ sharedInbox: ctx.getInboxUri() }),
+    manuallyApprovesFollowers: profile.manuallyApprovesFollowers || false,
+  };
+
+  if (profile.summary) {
+    personOptions.summary = profile.summary;
+  }
+
+  if (profile.icon) {
+    personOptions.icon = new Image({
+      url: new URL(profile.icon),
+      mediaType: guessImageMediaType(profile.icon),
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (profile.image) {
+    personOptions.image = new Image({
+      url: new URL(profile.image),
+      mediaType: guessImageMediaType(profile.image),
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (keyPairs.length > 0) {
+    personOptions.publicKey = keyPairs[0].cryptographicKey;
+    personOptions.assertionMethods = keyPairs.map((k) => k.multikey);
+  }
+
+  if (profile.attachments?.length > 0) {
+    personOptions.attachments = profile.attachments.map(
+      (att) =>
+        new PropertyValue({
+          name: att.name,
+          value: formatAttachmentValue(att.value),
+        }),
+    );
+  }
+
+  if (profile.alsoKnownAs?.length > 0) {
+    personOptions.alsoKnownAs = profile.alsoKnownAs.map((u) => new URL(u));
+  }
+
+  if (profile.createdAt) {
+    personOptions.published = Temporal.Instant.from(profile.createdAt);
+  }
+
+  const profileActorType = profile.actorType || defaultActorType;
+  const ResolvedActorClass = actorTypeMap[profileActorType] || Person;
+
+  return new ResolvedActorClass(personOptions);
+}
+
 /**
  * Import a PKCS#8 PEM private key using Web Crypto API.
  * Fedify's importPem only handles PKCS#1, but Node.js crypto generates PKCS#8.

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub",
-  "version": "1.1.13",
+  "version": "1.1.17",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub",
-      "version": "1.1.13",
+      "version": "1.1.17",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@fedify/express": "^1.10.3",

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-activitypub",
-  "version": "1.1.17",
+  "version": "1.1.18",
   "description": "ActivityPub federation endpoint for Indiekit via Fedify. Adds full fediverse support: actor, inbox, outbox, followers, following, syndication, and Mastodon migration.",
   "keywords": [
     "indiekit",