#6655·lemmy

[Bug]: Federation worker stuck - activities not processed beyond ID 37575

Author: TealkCreated Aug 25, 2026Updated Sep 1, 2026
Labelsbugarea: federation

Requirements

  • Is this a bug report? For questions or discussions use https://lemmy.ml/c/lemmy_support or the matrix chat.
  • Did you check to see if this issue already exists?
  • Is this only a single bug? Do not put multiple bugs in one issue.
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  • Is this a backend issue? Use the lemmy-ui repo for UI / frontend issues.

Summary

Federation is broken in both directions:

  • Outbound: Posts/comments created don't reach other instances
  • Inbound: Comments from other instances don't arrive on subscribed communities

Federation worker appears stuck, with all 3709 federated instances blocked at the same last_successful_id.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a new post on the instance
  2. Check on other instances (lemmy.ml, etc) - post doesn't appear
  3. Wait for comments from other instances on subscribed communities
  4. Observe that comments never arrive, but new posts occasionally do

Technical Details

  • Last sent_activity ID: 37608 (hasn't increased for hours despite ongoing activity)
  • federation_queue_state shows all 3709 instances stuck at last_successful_id = 37575
  • Inbox endpoint receives POST requests but comments aren't processed/stored
  • Federate worker logs show only DB query operations, no actual activity sending
  • Problem started suddenly ~9 days ago (2026-08-16)
  • Both inbound AND outbound stopped simultaneously - suggests centralized bottleneck
  • Persists with both single container and horizontal scaling setup

Version

0.19.20

Lemmy Instance URL

rollenspiel.forum