John Whiteside
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John Whiteside
@whiteside.io
420 followers 380 following 1.1K posts
Building AT Explore — tinkering with the AT Protocol
👨🏻‍💻 Software Engineer | 🍕 Pizza Connoisseur
📍 Flint, Michigan

Dev: @johnwhiteside.dev
Updates: @now.whiteside.io
Signal: whiteside.io/signal

atexplore.social • whiteside.io
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whiteside.io
John Whiteside @whiteside.io · Jan 4
Over the last month or so, I wanted to learn more about the AT Protocol. I built this data explorer to learn more. Over the holidays, I finally got it into a spot where I feel comfortable sharing it.

atexplore.social
AT Explore
atexplore.social
whiteside.io
TIL: Claude Code plugins are a thing and super useful.
November 14, 2025 at 9:41 PM
whiteside.io
One of the most annoying UX patterns is disabling a button without explaining why. I see this way too often.
November 14, 2025 at 5:46 PM
whiteside.io
This is kinda cool! I used to love Vine back in the day.
November 13, 2025 at 2:53 AM
whiteside.io
Support for engagement via back links was enabled on @atexplore.social yesterday! There’s a few improvements that will be released today. I still consider backlinks a beta feature as I work to improve the experience.
atexplore.social AT Explore @atexplore.social · 5d
New in AT Explore: 🎉 We’ve added record-level engagement metrics with inline backlinks to help you dive even deeper into your data! Explore the updates in v0.11.11 and see what’s new! https://atexplore.social
November 11, 2025 at 11:22 PM
whiteside.io
Great game Lions!
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 AM
whiteside.io
I’m adding engagement numbers via back links to posts on @atexplore.social. I just need to link this into the actual records and do some more testing.
November 8, 2025 at 4:12 PM
whiteside.io
Something kinda fun I’ve been playing around with, I created an MCP that can talk to @atexplore.social , and I’ve been using it when I need some context on real data from the protocol. It’s not quite stable yet, but just something I’ve been experimenting with.
November 6, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by John Whiteside
atexplore.social
Backlinks are now live at the profile level! 🚀
It’s now easier to view records that link back to profiles. We’re working on bringing record-level backlinks next!
Screenshot of the AT Explore interface showing the “Backlinks (Beta)” tab. The screen lists sections titled “Follows,” “Blocks,” “List Memberships,” and “Post Mentions,” each displaying link and user counts. For example, “Follows” shows 183 links and 182 users, and “Blocks” shows 11 links and 11 users. The interface uses a dark theme with navigation tabs for “Collections,” “Identity,” and “Backlinks.”
November 6, 2025 at 1:20 AM
whiteside.io
I think I’m going to enable backlinks on @atexplore.social at the profile level today. Still working on record level back links.
November 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by John Whiteside
anew.social
We have a mini launch today with two new blocking features on Bridgy Fed:

1. For ATProto and ActivityPub, you can now use the "block" DM command to block multiple users at once 🙅🏼‍♂️🙅🏼🙅🏼‍♀️

2. For ActivityPub, you can now subscribe to ATProto Block Lists over the bridge 📃🚫

More in our latest blog post:
Launch: New Blocking Features on Bridgy Fed
Bridgy Fed has always had a simple way to block users over the bridge, whether the other user is bridged or not. If the user is bridged, you can use your native platform’s blocking features. If the u...
blog.anew.social
November 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
whiteside.io
I still haven’t figured out the point of AI browsers. Do they just exist to collect more data, or is there some user problem they are solving?
November 4, 2025 at 2:15 AM
whiteside.io
I finally removed the “beta” label from @atexplore.social! I feel like with the hardening work I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, it’s in a stable state now.
November 4, 2025 at 1:38 AM
whiteside.io
Still some more cleanup to do, but backlinks on @atexplore.social are close!
October 30, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by John Whiteside
nooki.me
🍖 v1.5 released - post thumbnails, comments voting and a revamped editor!

A little late on this changelog post, but better late than never 😌 We've got some fresh UI changes, post thumbnails, comments voting, a revamped editor and more!
Comment voting: You can now upvote or downvote comments! Top comments will automatically rise to the top New ‘Active’ tab on homepage: Find trending discussions faster. This tab sorts posts with the most recent activity Improved post & comment box: Redesigned for better usability! You can now insert markdown directly from the editor without typing it manually Post thumbnails: Posts with images will now show a small preview on the homepage so you can spot visual posts at a glance. General UI/UX updates: A few design tweaks across the site.
October 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
whiteside.io
Go Blue!
Large yellow block letter M with the word “MICHIGAN” in bold yellow capital letters below it on a dark blue background, representing the University of Michigan logo.
October 26, 2025 at 3:26 AM
whiteside.io
I’m working on adding back links to @atexplore.social. I have a very rough version. Shout out to @microcosm.blue for making it easier to implement.
October 25, 2025 at 9:21 PM
whiteside.io
Welp, now I have this one to play around with, too.
macrumors.bsky.social MacRumors.com @macrumors.bsky.social · 25d
OpenAI Launches 'ChatGPT Atlas' Browser to Compete with Safari and Chrome
OpenAI Launches 'ChatGPT Atlas' Browser to Compete with Safari and Chrome
OpenAI today introduced ChatGPT Atlas, a dedicated AI browser that includes ChatGPT integration. OpenAI says that the browser was designed around the question "What if you could chat with your web browser?" There is a dedicated "Ask ChatGPT" sidebar, allowing users to ask the chatbot questions directly from the browser without having to go to the ChatGPT website or app. ChatGPT will be able to do things like provide page summaries, compare products, answer questions about content on a website, edit and check code, and more, because it can see what the user is looking at. Browser memory is included for personalization purposes, and Atlas will learn more about the user over time. For searches, the browser opens with a ChatGPT-based response, but there are quick access tabs to get to traditional search results, images, and other options. The ChatGPT sidebar is meant to stay open while browsing takes place, providing a browsing companion. The new browser includes OpenAI's Operator AI agent that can take actions and complete web-based tasks like booking restaurant reservations, ordering groceries, creating purchase lists from online recipes, and filling out online forms. There is a "Cursor Chat" tool for editing writing inline in the browser. All of the standard browser features are also included, like tabs, bookmarks, history, and password integration. The design is simple and familiar, featuring a standard search window like Safari or Chrome. ChatGPT Atlas is launching on the Mac to begin with, and versions for iOS, Android, and Windows will be coming in the near future. OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas browser will compete with Apple's Safari browser and Google's Chrome browser. Safari does not have AI integration as of yet, but Chrome does. With OpenAI, Google, and also Perplexity offering AI browsers, Apple may need to integrate Siri and other AI tools into Safari in the future to keep up with the competition. ChatGPT Atlas is available on macOS starting today.Tag: OpenAI This article, "OpenAI Launches 'ChatGPT Atlas' Browser to Compete with Safari and Chrome" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
www.macrumors.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:14 PM
whiteside.io
I finally got around to writing an update on what I’ve been working on for @atexplore.social over the last couple of weeks.
Expanding Lexicons and Hardening AT Explore
Catching up on the last couple of weeks of work: new Lexicon support for Leaflet, stability improvements, some indexing experiments, and thoughts on opening up an API.
johnwhiteside.leaflet.pub
October 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
whiteside.io
I started using Comet, and I don’t think I’ve figured out the base use cases for an AI browser yet. So far, the AI features seem like solutions to problems I don’t have.
October 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
whiteside.io
This is one of those days when we’re all reminded of how reliant everything is on AWS. We need to change that.
October 20, 2025 at 4:02 PM
whiteside.io
Somebody doesn’t want me working on the laptop today.
A gray tabby kitten with dark stripes lies on a person’s lap beside an open laptop keyboard, stretching one paw across the edge while looking directly at the camera. A living room with a TV, a shelf, and trophies is visible in the background.
October 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
whiteside.io
Sad day 😔
A large above-ground swimming pool is covered with a black tarp secured by sandbags, surrounded by a white fence and a wooden deck, with trees and a cloudy sky in the background.
October 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by John Whiteside
leaflet.pub
Leaflet now has THREE custom Bluesky feeds!

- Leaflet Reader
- Leaflet Discover
- Leaflet Bluesky Follows

Read on for details + links to each!
Screenshot of Leaflet's three Bluesky feeds: Leaflet Reader, Leaflet Bluesky Follows, Leaflet Discover, each with a custom icon
October 16, 2025 at 9:05 PM
whiteside.io
Why do I keep looking at the Claude Max plan and thinking it’s not that expensive? 😬
October 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by John Whiteside
pfrazee.com
Interchangeability is what new social platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon are doing, though with different technologies and different ideas on how to do it.

When you hear talk about decentralization, it's about making the social platforms interchangeable to solve the neutrality problem.
Social platforms are not neutral
So they need to be interchangeable
pfrazee.leaflet.pub
October 16, 2025 at 9:14 PM