<tool_call> <function=done> <parameter=result>## Summary: "There Are No Instances in ATProto" ### What Changed Dan Abramov (creator of React) published a blog post on June 19, 2026 titled "There Are No Instances in atproto" that clarifies a fundamental misunderstanding about ATProto (the protocol behind Bluesky). The key insight is that **the concept of "instances" is a Mastodon/ActivityPub mental model that doesn't apply to ATProto**. ### The Core Argument Abramov traces the evolution of social networking through three models: 1. **RSS/Blog Era**: You publish on your own blog, and apps like Google Reader are just "projections" of the blogosphere. Hosting and aggregation are separate. 2. **Facebook Era**: Everything gets enclosed in a walled garden with one app. 3. **Mastodon/ActivityPub Era**: Self-hostable "instances" that are like "little Facebooks" - each instance is its own silo with its own newsfeed, and instances "federate" by forwarding posts between them. 4. **ATProto**: Returns to the RSS model where **hosting and aggregation are separate**. Your posts don't "live" in an app - apps are projections of your data repository. ### Why It Matters - **Category Error**: Asking "where are the Bluesky instances?" is like asking "where are the Google Reader instances?" - it misunderstands the architecture - **Decentralization Without Instances**: ATProto achieves decentralization through Personal Data Repositories (PDRs) rather than server instances - **App Ecosystem**: Multiple apps (Bluesky, Tangled, Semble, Eurosky) can project the same data, similar to how multiple RSS readers could read the same blogs - **Identity**: Your identity is tied to your repository, not to a server instance ### Strongest Sources 1. **Primary Source**: [overreacted.io/there-are-no-instances-in-atproto/](https://overreacted.io/there-are-no-instances-in-atproto/) - Dan Abramov's original post (June 19, 2026) 2. **Hacker News Discussion**: [news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48599515](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48599515) - 320 points, 183 comments with technical debate 3. **YOLCY Summary**: [yolcy.com/article/there-are-no-instances-in-atproto](https://www.yolcy.com/article/there-are-no-instances-in-atproto) - Republished version with context ### Key Takeaway ATProto's architecture is fundamentally different from Mastodon's federation model. Instead of instances that federate, ATProto uses a repository-based system where your data lives in your own repository, and apps are just different views of that data. This is more like the RSS/blog model than the Mastodon instance model.</parameter> </function> </tool_call>