Are these real live posts?

Yes. They stream from Bluesky's public firehose the moment they're posted, so it's genuinely real-time.

Is the content filtered?

Yes, on a best-effort basis. A built-in blocklist drops posts with slurs or explicit terms and hides replies, but live public posts can still be unpredictable.

Does it need an account or key?

No. Bluesky's Jetstream firehose is public and key-less; the saver only needs an internet connection.

Can I focus it on a topic?

Yes. Enter a filter word and only posts containing it will stream through.

Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

What is the AT Protocol?

It is an open protocol for social applications, in which user data is held in signed repositories that can move between hosts. Bluesky is the best-known app built on it.

What is the difference between the firehose and Jetstream?

The firehose is a CBOR-encoded stream with signed repository data, while Jetstream re-publishes events as simple JSON and lets clients filter by collection or account.

Will a deleted post still show up?

It can. A post that was visible when it arrived may be deleted later, and the delete event does not recall what has already been displayed.

Bluesky Firehose Screensaver

The Bluesky Firehose screensaver streams the live public firehose of Bluesky posts past you in real time from the key-less Jetstream feed, with a built-in content filter. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Bluesky Firehose screensaver works

The saver opens a live connection to Bluesky's Jetstream — the public firehose of posts as they're created — with no key or account.

Each new post flows up the screen with its text and a relative timestamp.

A built-in content filter drops posts that match a word blocklist, hides replies by default, and you can narrow it to a keyword.

If the connection drops it reconnects automatically, so the feed keeps flowing.

Bluesky and the AT Protocol's public stream

Bluesky is a social network built on the AT Protocol, an open protocol for social applications in which each account's data lives in a signed repository that can move between hosts. Relays subscribe to many hosts and merge their changes into one combined stream, the firehose. The firehose is delivered over WebSockets as CBOR-encoded messages and carries verifiable signatures, so consumers can check data without asking the original host.

Jetstream is a service that consumes that firehose and re-publishes it as plain JSON, with filtering by record collection or by account (DID). That makes it much easier for lightweight clients. Bluesky runs public Jetstream instances, and the project is open source. The stream contains every kind of record change, such as posts, likes and follows; this display shows posts only.

A live public feed means unreviewed text from strangers, shown unranked, so there is no sense of what is popular or important. Deletions travel through the stream as delete operations, so a post can disappear from the network after it has been shown here. Any content filter is a best-effort measure and cannot catch everything.

A worked example

Posts rise from the bottom the instant they're written somewhere on Bluesky — a thought, a joke, a link — a real-time window onto the social web's chatter. Type a filter word and only posts mentioning it stream through.

Settings & tips

Filter by word shows only posts containing your word (leave blank for everything).
Hide replies keeps the feed to top-level posts.
Accent recolours the highlights.

Frequently asked questions

Are these real live posts?: Yes. They stream from Bluesky's public firehose the moment they're posted, so it's genuinely real-time.
Is the content filtered?: Yes, on a best-effort basis. A built-in blocklist drops posts with slurs or explicit terms and hides replies, but live public posts can still be unpredictable.
Does it need an account or key?: No. Bluesky's Jetstream firehose is public and key-less; the saver only needs an internet connection.
Can I focus it on a topic?: Yes. Enter a filter word and only posts containing it will stream through.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
What is the AT Protocol?: It is an open protocol for social applications, in which user data is held in signed repositories that can move between hosts. Bluesky is the best-known app built on it.
What is the difference between the firehose and Jetstream?: The firehose is a CBOR-encoded stream with signed repository data, while Jetstream re-publishes events as simple JSON and lets clients filter by collection or account.
Will a deleted post still show up?: It can. A post that was visible when it arrived may be deleted later, and the delete event does not recall what has already been displayed.

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