trails/openspec/specs/public-profiles/spec.md

public-profiles Specification

Purpose

Profile pages at /users/:username, including the locked-account model (private profiles render a stub for non-followers), per-route visibility (public / unlisted / private) and the social-share metadata (Open Graph) that public pages emit. The drilldown collection routes (/users/:username/followers and /users/:username/following) and the access rule that gates them live in social-follows — this spec links to them but does not duplicate the rule.

Requirements

Requirement: Public profile page

The Journal SHALL serve a profile page at /users/:username for any user who exists. The render SHALL depend on the viewer relationship to the profile owner:

• If the username does not exist, return HTTP 404.
• If the owner's profile_visibility = 'public', render the full profile (display name, handle, follower/following counts, public routes, public activities) regardless of who is viewing.
• If the owner's profile_visibility = 'private', render a stub page (header + handle + counts + lock badge) for non-owner viewers who do NOT have an accepted follow relation. Render the full profile for the owner themselves and for accepted followers.

The page SHALL display follower and following counts (always, regardless of stub vs. full). The counts SHALL link into /users/:username/followers and /users/:username/following only when the viewer is permitted to see the underlying lists (per social-follows); otherwise they render as plain text. For signed-in viewers other than the owner, the page SHALL render a Follow button whose label depends on the relation: "Follow" against a public profile with no relation, "Request to follow" against a private profile with no relation, "Requested" (cancellable) when a Pending request exists, "Unfollow" when an accepted relation exists.

Scenario: Logged-out visitor views a public profile

• WHEN an unauthenticated visitor navigates to /users/:username for a user whose profile_visibility is public
• THEN the page renders the full profile (display name, handle, counts, public routes, public activities)

Scenario: Logged-out visitor views a private profile

• WHEN an unauthenticated visitor navigates to /users/:username for a user whose profile_visibility is private
• THEN the page returns HTTP 200 and renders the stub layout — header with display name, handle, and counts; a 🔒 "Private" badge; a body block with "This profile is private" and a sign-in prompt; no routes or activities are rendered

Scenario: Signed-in visitor views a private profile they don't follow

• WHEN a signed-in user other than the owner navigates to /users/:username for a private profile, with no follow row OR a Pending follow row
• THEN the page returns 200 and renders the stub layout, plus a Follow button (or Pending indicator) so the viewer can request access

Scenario: Signed-in viewer with accepted follow sees full private profile

• WHEN a signed-in user with an accepted follow against a private user navigates to that user's profile
• THEN the page returns 200 and renders the full profile — same as a public profile would render — plus an Unfollow button

Scenario: Owner sees their own profile

• WHEN a user navigates to their own /users/:username while logged in
• THEN the full profile renders regardless of profile_visibility, plus a small owner-only banner (blue "ownNote" for public profiles, amber "private/locked" explanation for private profiles), plus a link to settings; no Follow button is shown

Scenario: Profile 404 only for nonexistent users

• WHEN a visitor navigates to /users/:username for a username that does not exist
• THEN the server responds with HTTP 404

Scenario: Profile page emits social-share metadata

• WHEN any visitor loads a populated /users/:username (full or stub)
• THEN the page emits Open Graph tags (og:title, og:site_name, og:type="profile") so links shared on social platforms render a meaningful preview

Scenario: Counts degrade to plain text for viewers who can't see the lists

• WHEN a viewer who is not permitted to see the followers/following lists per social-follows (e.g. an anonymous visitor or non-follower of a private profile) loads any profile page
• THEN the follower and following counts render as plain text rather than as anchors, so the visible count doesn't surface a clickable link to a route that would 404

Requirement: Profile visibility setting (locked accounts)

Every user SHALL have an explicit profile_visibility of public or private. New accounts SHALL default to private (locked: profile is reachable but content is gated behind follow approval). Users SHALL be able to change their profile visibility from account settings at any time. private is functionally Mastodon's "locked" / "manually approves followers" — visitors see a stub with a Request-to-follow button, follows land in a Pending state, and content is only revealed to accepted followers.

Scenario: Default for a new account

• WHEN a user registers
• THEN their profile_visibility is private

Scenario: Existing user backfilled to public

• WHEN the migration that introduces profile_visibility runs against pre-existing rows
• THEN every existing user's profile_visibility is set to public, preserving current effective behavior (no surprise lock-down at deploy)

Scenario: User toggles profile to private

• WHEN a user changes their profile visibility to private in settings and saves
• THEN subsequent visitor requests to /users/:username return HTTP 200 but render a stub page (header + Request-to-follow button) with no content; existing follow rows are unaffected; new follows from anyone other than already-accepted followers are recorded as Pending

Scenario: User toggles profile back to public

• WHEN a previously-private user switches profile_visibility to public and saves
• THEN their /users/:username renders the full profile to anyone again, and any incoming follows auto-accept going forward