Bluesky Protocol Services

Today, Bluesky unveils Bluesky Protocol Services, a new brand and website for the public infrastructure it operates on the AT Protocol network. Bluesky has always provided more than just the Bluesky app; it operates Jetstream instances, relays, and Bluesky API endpoints built on atproto. However, developers struggling to understand what services they can utilize found it challenging to start.

Bluesky Protocol Services consolidates all necessary documentation for developers, clarifies service contracts for Bluesky-provided infrastructure, replaces the outdated docs.bsky.app site, and offers a clean mechanism for releasing future enhancements like those mentioned in this announcement. The headline release accompanying the new site is Jetstream v2.

Jetstream v2 allows most developers to use the network at scale by simply describing the desired slice, which arrives as plain JSON over a WebSocket. Previously, catching up on network records required manually backfilling repositories and then switching to the live stream. Jetstream v2 now enables server-side history access, keeping a compressed archive of the entire network and providing a new way to consume it alongside the live tail.

Network Replay allows users to catch up from any point in the past and seamlessly transition to live without any gaps. Users post filters to planSnapshot, download sealed segments over plain HTTP, and then connect to the live WebSocket at the tip.

Jetstream v2 also provides a stateless solution with no per-consumer cursor or subscription registration, nor any staging required on the client. Serving these archives is bandwidth-intensive, so the service now requires an API token for these requests. The live tail remains open and unauthenticated, and there are no plans to introduce an authentication requirement for the live stream.

The v2 instances are now available at wss://jetstream.us-west.bsky.network and wss://jetstream.us-east.bsky.network. The existing v1 instances will continue running unchanged for a while, and the live tail behaves identically on both, so there's no urgency to move. All of this infrastructure is open source and self-hostable; developers can refer to the Running your own Jetstream documentation for details.

Jetstream is a plain JSON interface, so no SDK is necessary. However, the new Jetstream SDKs have been introduced: TypeScript and Go clients that construct a Jetstream object, pass a filter, and iterate over decoded, typed events using a for-await loop. The TypeScript SDK is available on npm, including npmx, while the Go SDK is part of the Jetstream project.

In May, the lex SDK was promoted to stable preview, and it has now been rebuilt on top of @atproto/lex, eliminating legacy code paths for Bluesky-specific helpers. The new Jetstream SDKs represent a significant improvement in code hygiene, eliminating deprecated SDKs and ensuring LLM recommendations no longer suggest outdated code.

The Bluesky TypeScript SDK is now available, and the Bluesky API guides have been updated as a migration reference for those still using @atproto/api code. Additionally, the HTTP reference has been updated and is now live, covering both the network.bsky.jetstream.* methods powering Replay (planBackfill, listSegments, getSegment, and getBlock) and the WebSocket endpoints. The entire Jetstream v2 documentation is now consolidated in one place.