How to Connect Your Mastodon Account

Connect your Mastodon profile to Viraly to schedule posts across the fediverse. Mastodon is a decentralized social network with many different servers (instances), and Viraly supports them all.

Before You Begin

To connect your Mastodon profile to Viraly, you will need:

• A Mastodon account on any instance
• To know which Mastodon server your account is on (e.g., mastodon.social)

Connecting Your Mastodon Account

Step 1: Start the Connection

1. From your Viraly dashboard, navigate to My Social Sets in the top-right user dropdown menu. Click on the social set where you want to add your Mastodon account, or create a new social set.

2. Click the + New Social Profile button and select Mastodon from the list of available platforms.

Step 2: Choose Your Mastodon Server

3. Select the Mastodon server where your account is hosted

Viraly includes quick-select buttons for popular instances:

• mastodon.social — The flagship Mastodon server
• mastodon.world — General-purpose global community
• mas.to — Privacy-focused instance
• mastodon.online — Official secondary server
• techhub.social — Technology-focused community

If your server isn’t listed, see Using a Custom Instance below.

4. Click Authenticate with Mastodon

Step 3: Authorize Viraly

5. You will be redirected to your Mastodon server’s authorization page
6. If you’re not already logged in, log in to your Mastodon account
7. Review the permissions Viraly is requesting (read and write access)
8. Click Authorize to grant access

Step 4: Select Your Profile

9. After authorizing, you will be redirected back to Viraly
10. Your Mastodon profile will appear in the account picker
11. Select your profile and click Connect

Connection Complete

Your Mastodon profile is now connected. You will see it displayed as username@instance (e.g., yourname@mastodon.social) in your social profiles list.

Using a Custom Instance

If your Mastodon server isn’t in the quick-select list, you can enter it manually:

1. In the server selection dialog, look for the custom server option
2. Enter your server’s domain (e.g., fosstodon.org or hachyderm.io)
3. Click Authenticate with Mastodon

Viraly supports any Mastodon-compatible instance, including:

• Standard Mastodon servers
• Forks like Hometown
• Compatible platforms like Pleroma or Akkoma

Note: When connecting to a new instance for the first time, Viraly automatically registers itself with that server. This may take a few extra seconds.

Troubleshooting

“Mastodon server is not reachable” Error

This error means Viraly couldn’t connect to the Mastodon instance. Check that:

• The server domain is spelled correctly
• The server is online and accessible
• You’re entering just the domain (e.g., mastodon.social) without https://

Authorization Page Not Loading

If the Mastodon authorization page doesn’t load:

• Check your internet connection
• Try disabling browser extensions that might block popups
• Make sure you’re selecting the correct server for your account

Wrong Account Connected

If you connected the wrong account, you can disconnect and try again:

1. Click on the connected Mastodon profile in Viraly
2. Click Disconnect
3. Start the connection process again
4. Make sure you’re logged into the correct Mastodon account before authorizing

Permissions Required

Viraly requests read and write permissions to:

• Post toots on your behalf
• Upload media attachments
• Read your profile information

These permissions are required for scheduling posts. Viraly will never post without your explicit action.

Account Shows as Unavailable

If your Mastodon profile shows as “Unavailable” in the account picker, it means the profile is already connected to either this or another Viraly account. Each Mastodon profile can only be connected to one Viraly account.
See our detailed guide: Why is my social profile listed as “Unavailable”?