As a technologist, I’m always drawn to platforms where innovation and adoption intersect. Recently, I’ve noticed a growing migration of tech folks from Twitter/X to BlueSky.

I was intrigued by the platform’s decentralized nature and its potential for reshaping social media, I decided to explore a new angle: automating BlueSky interactions with a custom-built .NET SDK. This led to the creation of BlueSky.NET, a library designed to make it easier for developers to integrate with the BlueSky API. Today, I’m excited to announce the project, share my experience authoring the SDK, and offer a glimpse into what’s next.

https://github.com/qonqio/bluesky.net

NET SDK for BlueSky. Contribute to qonqio/bluesky.net development by creating an account on GitHub. github.com

Why Automate BlueSky?

With so many people moving to BlueSky, I saw an opportunity to dive into the platform and understand its decentralized infrastructure. Automation can open doors to creative use cases — whether it’s building bots, managing content, or experimenting with data retrieval. I wanted to create a library that not only simplifies this process for .NET developers but also serves as a tool for exploring BlueSky’s potential as a programmable platform. Building BlueSky.NET

The journey began with a simple goal: create a library that’s easy to use, comprehensive, and adheres to .NET’s best practices. BlueSky’s API is still evolving, so part of the challenge was working with documentation that’s actively in flux. Here’s a quick walkthrough of the core features I built into the library.

The library is lightweight and adheres to .NET Standard, ensuring compatibility across a variety of .NET implementations. To integrate it into your project, you’ll eventually be able to install it via NuGet (stay tuned for the package’s release!). For now, you can manually include the library in your solution.

Core Features

DID Retrieval

Every BlueSky account is associated with a Decentralized Identifier (DID). With BlueSky.NET, you can retrieve your DID with just a few lines of code:

var didResponse = await client.GetDidAsync("your-handle");
Console.WriteLine($"Your DID: {didResponse.Did}");

Session Management

Authentication is streamlined through the CreateSessionAsync method. You can authenticate using your handle and password, and the library will return an access token:

var sessionRequest = new CreateSessionRequest
{
    Identifier = "your-handle",
    Password = "your-password"
};

var sessionResponse = await client.CreateSessionAsync(sessionRequest);
Console.WriteLine($"Access Token: {sessionResponse.AccessJwt}");

Content Posting

The CreatePostAsync method allows you to post updates to BlueSky effortlessly:

var postResponse = await client.CreatePostAsync("Hello, BlueSky!");
Console.WriteLine($"Post URI: {postResponse.Uri}");

These features form the foundation of the SDK, making it a versatile tool for developers looking to automate and experiment with BlueSky.

Challenges and Learnings

One of the biggest hurdles in building BlueSky.NET was navigating the decentralized architecture of BlueSky. Unlike traditional APIs, BlueSky’s decentralized model required a different approach to session management and data retrieval. I didn’t get the “DID” thing at first. I tried to use it like any other REST API.

Balancing simplicity with flexibility was another challenge — I wanted the library to be approachable for beginners while still offering extensibility for advanced users. I’ll continue to expand this in the future by adding more capabilities into the SDK.

What’s Next?

I plan to publish the BlueSky.NET library on NuGet soon, making it accessible to the broader .NET community. I’m also exploring new features, such as support for media uploads and enhanced error logging, to expand its functionality. If you’re interested in contributing, I’ve made the repository open-source, and I welcome pull requests and feedback.

Conclusion

BlueSky.NET represents a convergence of my curiosity about decentralized Social Media platforms and my passion for software development and automation. With so many technologists transitioning to BlueSky, I saw an opportunity to create something meaningful for developers in the ecosystem. Whether you’re building a bot, managing content, or simply experimenting, I hope this SDK helps you unlock new possibilities on BlueSky. Follow the project on @blueskydotnet.bsky.social and stay tuned for updates! You might see an occasional “Beep, Beep, Boop” if I happen to be running my Integration Tests!!! You can follow me on @markti.bsky.social as well.

As always, your feedback is invaluable. Let me know how you’re using the library and what features you’d like to see next. Let’s automate the future of social media together.