Firehose

WordPress.com operates a Jabber (XMPP) instant messaging service on im.wordpress.com along with Pubsub (XEP-0060) on pubsub.im.wordpress.com. We publish blog posts and comments into nodes for each blog and into central nodes which represent the streams of all posts and comments. Subscribers see a high volume of notifications on these streams—much greater than one person can consume—so we call them the firehose.

While the Pubsub service is open to all, the firehose streams are access-controlled. They are designed for partners like search engines and market intelligence providers who would like to ingest a real-time stream of new WordPress.com posts and comments, plus IntenseDebate comments, the second they get published.

The firehose streams are only available via XMPP. Subscribers connect via s2s (server-to-server) or c2s (client-to-server).

Access is by subscription only, priced at $500 per month.

Please contact us at firehose-2009@wordpress.com if you are interested.

Our firehose data is also available through the Gnip real-time messaging platform.

Pubsub users interested in just a few nodes can subscribe for free using their WordPress.com credentials (username@im.wordpress.com) although there is no official support for this. Not all of XEP-0060 is implemented. The nodes cannot be browsed. They look like /blogs/andy.wordpress.com/ and /blogs/andy.wordpress.com/comments/. Jabber users are encouraged to subscribe without Pubsub.