# PixelFed: Federated Image Sharing
[](#backers)
[](#sponsors)
PixelFed is a federated social image sharing platform, similar to Instagram.
Federation is done using the [ActivityPub ](https://activitypub.rocks/ ) protocol,
which is used by [Mastodon ](http://joinmastodon.org/ ), [PeerTube ](https://joinpeertube.org/en/ ),
[Pleroma ](https://pleroma.social/ ), and more. Through ActivityPub PixelFed can share
and interact with these platforms, as well as other instances of PixelFed.
**_Please note this is alpha software, not recommended for production use,
and federation is not supported yet._**
PixelFed is very early into the development stage. If you would like to have a
permanent instance with minimal breakage, **do not use this software until
there is a stable release**. The following setup instructions are intended for
testing and development.
## Requirements
- PHP >= 7.1.3 (7.2+ recommended for stable version)
- MySQL >= 5.7, Postgres (MariaDB and sqlite are not supported yet)
- Redis
- Composer
- GD or ImageMagick
- OpenSSL PHP Extension
- PDO PHP Extension
- Mbstring PHP Extension
- Tokenizer PHP Extension
- XML PHP Extension
- Ctype PHP Extension
- JSON PHP Extension
- JpegOptim
- Optipng
- Pngquant 2
- SVGO
- Gifsicle
## Installation
This guide assumes you have NGINX/Apache installed, along with the dependencies.
Those will not be covered in these early docs.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed.git
cd pixelfed
composer install
cp .env.example .env
```
**Edit .env file with proper values**
```bash
php artisan key:generate
```
```bash
php artisan storage:link
php artisan migrate
php artisan horizon
```
## Communication
The ways you can communicate on the project are below. Before interacting, please
read through the [Code Of Conduct ](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md ).
* IRC: #pixelfed on irc.freenode.net ([#freenode_#pixelfed:matrix.org through
Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#freenode_#pixelfed:matrix.org)
* Project on Mastodon: [@pixelfed@mastodon.social ](https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed )
* E-mail: [hello@pixelfed.org ](mailto:hello@pixelfed.org )
## Support
The lead maintainer is on Patreon! You can become a Patron at
https://www.patreon.com/dansup
### Contributors
This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute.
< a href = "https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/graphs/contributors" > < img src = "https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528/contributors.svg?width=890&button=false" / > < / a >
### Backers
Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [[Become a backer ](https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528#backer )]
< a href = "https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528#backers" target = "_blank" > < img src = "https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528/backers.svg?width=890" > < / a >
### Sponsors
Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [[Become a sponsor ](https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528#sponsor )]
< a href = "https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528/sponsor/0/website" target = "_blank" > < img src = "https://opencollective.com/pixelfed-528/sponsor/0/avatar.svg" > < / a >
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