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Migrating to Blacksky PDS: Complete Guide

Complete guide to migrating your Bluesky account to Blacksky's infrastructure. Covers migration tools, step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting, and how to use Blacksky services without migrating.

About Blacksky

Blacksky is communal infrastructure for the atproto network, built on the vision of making communal practices of mutual aid a normal practice. All code is open source and operates with complete transparency.

Important: Blacksky as a community exists across multiple PDSs (Personal Data Servers) — this is intentional and by design.

Who Can Use Blacksky Services?

blacksky.app - For Blacksky Community Members Only

blacksky.app is exclusively for members of the Blacksky community. This PDS has specific membership requirements and is reserved for Black folks building communal infrastructure.

⚠️ Warning: Anyone else using a blacksky.app handle will receive a warning at first and then a suspension.

Alternative PDSs for Everyone

Blacksky Algorithms also operates two other PDSs that are open to anyone:

  • myatproto.social - Open to all

  • cryptoanarchy.network - Open to all

These servers run on the same infrastructure as blacksky.app and are maintained by the same team, but are available for anyone to use regardless of background.

Other Community Options

Additional community-run PDSs you might consider:

How to Use Blacksky (Without Migrating)

You don't need to migrate your account to use Blacksky's features:

Option 1: Use the Web App

  • Visit blacksky.community

  • Log in with your existing account

  • No migration required

  • Gets you around age verification and geolocation restrictions

  • Blacksky moderation and feeds are built in

Option 2: Use the Mobile App When logging into the official Bluesky app:

  1. Change the "Hosting Provider" (above username field) to https://blacksky.app

  2. Then log in as normal

Migration Guide

If you want to move your account hosting to one of Blacksky's PDSs, follow these steps:

What Migration Does

  • Moves your account hosting from Bluesky PBC to Blacksky (or another PDS)

  • Puts you under Blacksky's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy instead of Bluesky's

  • You keep all your followers, follows, posts, and data

  • You can change your handle (e.g., from name.bsky.social to name.blacksky.app)

Migration Tools

Two tools are available for migration:

  1. tektite.cc - Built and maintained by the Blacksky team

  2. pdsmoover.com - Alternative option with additional troubleshooting tools

Step-by-Step Migration

  1. Choose Your New Handle

    • For Blacksky community members: username.blacksky.app

    • For everyone else: username.myatproto.social or username.cryptoanarchy.network

  2. Go to Migration Tool

  3. Enter Account Information

    • Old handle: Your current handle (e.g., alice.bsky.social)

    • New handle: Your desired new handle (e.g., alice.blacksky.app)

    • ⚠️ Important: Type these out manually, don't copy/paste (invisible characters can cause issues)

  4. Advanced Options (if needed)

    • If migration fails to complete when using pdsmoover.com, click "Advanced Options"

    • Uncheck "create account"

    • Try again

  5. Complete Migration

    • Follow the prompts

    • Wait for the migration to complete

For a video guide on these steps, check out Sharpie's post here.

Post-Migration Steps

Fix Old Account Issues

If people can't reply to you after migration:

  1. Visit pdsmoover.com/turnoff.html

  2. Log in with your old account credentials

  3. Deactivate the old account properly

Fix Missing Images

If images from before your migration aren't showing or you're having issues editing your profile:

  1. Visit missing.pdsmoover.com

  2. Follow the instructions to backfill your images

Change Your Handle Domain

If you want to switch between handle options (blacksky.app, myatproto.social, cryptoanarchy.network) or use your own custom domain:

  1. Visit blacksky.community

  2. Log in to your account

  3. Navigate to settings

  4. Change your handle to any of the available options or a domain you own

Troubleshooting

"Can't create account" or "Handle already exists"

  • Click "Advanced Options" when migrating

  • Uncheck "create account"

  • Complete the migration

Images not loading after migration

People can't reply to your posts

Migration tool showing errors

  • Make sure you typed handles manually (no copy/paste)

  • Check for typos in old or new handle

  • Old handle format: name.bsky.social

  • New handle format: name.blacksky.app (or myatproto.social, cryptoanarchy.network)

Need more help?

Features & Resources

Blacksky Features

  • Web App: blacksky.community

  • Built-in Moderation: Blacksky's moderation is baked into the web app

  • Core Feeds: Blacksky feeds are default

  • Privacy: No public list of Blacksky members, building private spaces

  • Open Source: All code is transparent (GitHub)

  • Feature Requests: Use our democratic deliberation tool (People's Assembly)

  • Bug Reports: We track issues in Github

Getting Involved

Additional Notes

  • No invite codes required - Open signups available

  • Network-wide connection - Although you're on the Blacksky server, you can still speak with folks on Bluesky and they can still see and interact with you

  • Multiple options - You can use just the web app, just migrate, or both

  • Rate limits - Blacksky has rate limits to prevent abuse

  • No geolocation tracking - Blacksky doesn't do specific geolocation tracking

Last Updated: October 2025

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