PixelFed Project Structure

The federated photo sharing platform. A robust Laravel application that leverages the full power of the PHP ecosystem to build a decentralized, media-centric social network.

Updated 2025-12-30

#pixelfed #laravel #php #vuejs #activitypub #federation #social-network

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Project Directory

pixelfed/

app/

Laravel Application Source

Models/

Domain entities

Services/

Business & Fediverse logic

Jobs/

Async pipelines

Http/

Controllers & Middleware

resources/

Frontend Assets

assets/js/components/

Vue.js components

views/

Blade templates

routes/

API & Web route definitions

database/migrations/

Schema definitions

composer.json

package.json

Repository Info

Repository-pixelfed/pixelfed
Stars-10k+
License-AGPL-3.0
Last Analyzed-December 2025

Tech Stack

Backend-Laravel 12 (PHP 8.4+)
Frontend-Vue.js + Blade
Database-PostgreSQL / MySQL
Cache/Queue-Redis + Horizon
Protocol-ActivityPub
Media-FFmpeg integration

Architecture Notes

PixelFed is a 'Service-Oriented Monolith' built on **Laravel**. It makes heavy use of Laravel's built-in features like **Jobs** and **Queues** to handle complex, multi-step processes (Pipelines) for image optimization and ActivityPub delivery. The codebase is organized into specialized services within app/Services/, ensuring that the core logic for the Fediverse remains decoupled from the HTTP layer.

Key Directories

app/Services/-The brain of PixelFed. Contains specialized logic for ActivityPub delivery, Webfinger lookups, and image processing.
app/Jobs/-Handles background processing. PixelFed uses a 'Pipeline' pattern where one job can trigger a sequence of actions (e.g., Optimize Image -> Create Post -> Broadcast to Followers).
resources/assets/js/-The home of the modern, interactive frontend. Built with Vue.js, these components handle the SPA-like features of the web interface.

Why This Structure?

PixelFed is one of the most sophisticated Laravel applications in the open-source world. It demonstrates how to build a high-performance, federated application using modern PHP patterns.

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