Feed Patterns

Feed Patterns

Amethyst's "feed" abstraction is: a FeedFilter that decides which notes belong in a list, plus a FeedViewModel that exposes the current state reactively to the UI. Every scrollable list — home, profile, hashtag, bookmarks, notifications, DMs — is a variant of this.

When to Use This Skill

• Adding a new screen that shows a list of notes.
• Modifying an existing feed's filtering / ordering / inclusion rules.
• Investigating why a feed doesn't update after a mute/follow/bookmark change.
• Deciding whether to extend a ViewModel or write a new filter.
• Understanding the Android ⇄ Desktop sharing boundary for feeds.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ commons/.../viewmodels/  (shared, KMP)                      │
│   FeedViewModel  ◄── ListChangeFeedViewModel                │
│                 ◄── ChatroomFeedViewModel                   │
│                 ◄── MarmotGroupFeedViewModel                │
│                                                             │
│                                                             │
│ commons/.../ui/feeds/  (shared, KMP)                        │
│   IFeedFilter / FeedFilter<T>  (abstract base)              │
│   IAdditiveFeedFilter / AdditiveFeedFilter<T>               │
│   ChangesFlowFilter                                         │
│   FeedContentState, FeedState — the flow the UI collects    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
              ▲
              │ uses
              │
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ amethyst/.../ui/dal/  (Android-only additions)              │
│   AdditiveComplexFeedFilter<T, U>                           │
│   FilterByListParams                                        │
│   DefaultFeedOrder (Note/Event/Card comparators)            │
│   (FeedFilters.kt & ChangesFlowFilter.kt here are just      │
│    back-compat typealiases re-exporting commons)            │
│                                                             │
│   Concrete feeds: HomeNewThreadFeedFilter,                  │
│   HashtagFeedFilter, NotificationFeedFilter, … live in      │
│   feature folders under ui/screen/loggedIn/*/dal/           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
              ▲
              │ reads
              │
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ model/LocalCache.kt + account.<feature>.flow                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Files

Shared (commons)

commons/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/viewmodels/:

• FeedViewModel.kt — abstract class FeedViewModel(localFilter, cacheProvider). Holds a FeedContentState, subscribes to invalidation signals (from Account flows and LocalCacheFlow), re-runs the filter, and emits a new FeedState for the UI.
• ListChangeFeedViewModel.kt — specialization for feeds whose membership changes frequently (e.g. bookmarks).
• ChatroomFeedViewModel.kt — DM thread feed.
• MarmotGroupFeedViewModel.kt — NIP-29 / marmot group feed.
• LiveStreamTopZappersViewModel.kt, SearchBarState.kt, ChatNewMessageState.kt — narrower, non-feed states that share the plumbing.

Shared filter bases (commons)

commons/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/ui/feeds/:

• FeedFilter.kt — abstract class FeedFilter<T> : IFeedFilter<T>. Has feed(): List<T> (the sync query against the cache), feedKey(): String (identity used to cache), limit(), and loadTop().
• AdditiveFeedFilter.kt — abstract class AdditiveFeedFilter<T> : FeedFilter<T>(), IAdditiveFeedFilter<T>. Adds incremental updates (the "additive" part): updateListWith(oldList, newItems) runs applyFilter(newItems) and grafts accepted items onto the existing list (re-sort + take(limit())) without recomputing everything.
• ChangesFlowFilter.kt — wraps a filter with a coarse "state changed" signal so the ViewModel knows to re-query.
• FeedContentState.kt / FeedState.kt — the reactive state the UI collects.

Android DAL (additions on top)

amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/ui/dal/:

• AdditiveComplexFeedFilter.kt — abstract class AdditiveComplexFeedFilter<T, U> : FeedFilter<T>(): like AdditiveFeedFilter but the incoming items (Set<U>) are a different type than the list rows (T).
• FilterByListParams.kt — common parameters (top-nav filter, exclude muted, since/until) shared across many filters.
• DefaultFeedOrder.kt — standard comparators (createdAt desc + id tiebreaker for stable paging) for Note, Event, and Card.
• FeedFilters.kt / ChangesFlowFilter.kt — back-compat typealiases re-exporting the commons classes; don't add logic here.

Concrete filters (Home, Hashtag, Profile, Bookmark, Notifications, Communities, etc.) live in feature dal/ subfolders under amethyst/.../ui/screen/loggedIn/*/ — each extends FeedFilter, AdditiveFeedFilter, or AdditiveComplexFeedFilter. Desktop has its own in desktopApp/.../feeds/DesktopFeedFilters.kt.

Adding a New Feed

1. Define the filter. Extend AdditiveFeedFilter<Note> (or plain FeedFilter<Note> if additivity doesn't matter; AdditiveComplexFeedFilter<T, U> if incoming items differ in type from list rows). Implement:
   • feedKey() — stable identity (e.g. hashtag name, account pubkey).
   • feed() — synchronous scan over LocalCache / Account state producing an ordered list.
   • limit() — pagination hint.
   • If additive: applyFilter(collection: Set<Note>): Set<Note> and sort(collection: Set<Note>): List<Note>.
2. Pick or write a ViewModel. If the feed's membership shifts often (bookmarks, notifications), extend ListChangeFeedViewModel. Otherwise FeedViewModel.
3. Wire invalidation. The ViewModel must observe the right Account flows + LocalCacheFlow so it re-queries when state changes.
4. Render. In the composable, collect viewModel.feedState.feedContent and render with a LazyColumn { items(..., key = { it.id }) { NoteCompose(it) } }.
5. Subscribe to relays. Most feeds also need a Subscribable to fetch historical events. See the relay-client skill.

Filter Sharing (Android vs Desktop)

• The filter base classes (FeedFilter, AdditiveFeedFilter, ChangesFlowFilter) and feed state (FeedContentState) are in commons/.../ui/feeds/ — shared. ViewModels are in commons/.../viewmodels/ — shared.
• The concrete filters are platform-local: Android's in amethyst/.../ui/screen/loggedIn/*/dal/, Desktop's in desktopApp/.../feeds/. amethyst/.../ui/dal/ keeps Android-only helpers (AdditiveComplexFeedFilter, FilterByListParams, DefaultFeedOrder) plus back-compat typealiases.
• When porting a feed, share the concrete filter only if both platforms need identical inclusion rules.

Gotchas

• Never scan LocalCache from a composable. Always go through a FeedFilter + FeedViewModel, which does it on a background dispatcher and debounces invalidation.
• feedKey() is used as a cache key. Two different semantic feeds must produce different keys, otherwise their state cross-contaminates.
• Additive updates must stay consistent with the full recompute. If applyFilter accepts a note that feed() wouldn't include, UX drifts.
• Paging isn't free — use limit() and since/until in FilterByListParams rather than trimming a giant scan.
• Notifications feed is special — it inspects the follow/mute state (account.kind3FollowList.flow, account.hiddenUsers) and LocalCache deletions to hide muted/deleted content; always run through the FilterByListParams exclusion paths rather than filtering post-hoc.

References

• references/feed-filter-composition.md — step-by-step for adding a feed.
• references/viewmodel-base-classes.md — inheritance graph for the FeedViewModel family.
• Complements: account-state (where the data lives), relay-client (how to subscribe), compose-expert (how to render).