# Multi-instance activity backup + unified multi-site Discourse reader

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/multi-instance-activity-backup-unified-multi-site-discourse-reader/390436>\
**Category:** Feature\
**Tags:** desktop\
**Created:** [December 4, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multi-instance-activity-backup-unified-multi-site-discourse-reader/390436 "2025-12-04T17:02:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tom\_eric](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tom_eric/32/527845_2.png) [@tom\_eric](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom_eric)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multi-instance-activity-backup-unified-multi-site-discourse-reader/390436/1 "2025-12-04T17:02:15Z")

</div>

**Hi team,**

I’m running my own self-hosted Discourse instance, and I’m also active on several other Discourse communities. I’d like to request (or at least discuss) two related capabilities that currently feel hard to solve in a clean, official, and scalable way.

## 1) “Activity backup” across Discourse instances (cross-site mirroring to my own forum)

### The goal

Whenever I create a new topic (and optionally replies) on another Discourse site, I want my own Discourse instance to automatically keep a copy (or a clearly attributed mirror) so I can:

- maintain a personal archive of my participation across communities,

- search and reference my past discussions in one place,

- avoid losing history if posts/accounts disappear on other sites.

### Current problem

In practice this is difficult to do reliably **without admin-level control of the other forums** , and without creating duplicated/spammy content. Even when some workarounds exist, they are usually fragile or not standardized between sites.

### What I’m asking for

Is there any plan for an official, supported approach to “cross-instance activity backup”, such as:

- a standardized way to export/sync a user’s own authored content to another Discourse instance,

- optional mirroring of topics/replies with strong attribution and canonical links,

- a permission model that respects source-site rules (e.g., only sync what I authored and what is publicly visible).

## 2) Unified multi-site subscription & reading experience (one UI for multiple Discourse forums)

### The goal

I’d like a single interface where I can subscribe to multiple Discourse sites and view a unified stream of:

- Latest / New / Unread

- watched categories/tags across sites

- notifications, mentions, bookmarks

- ideally with per-site authentication, and the ability to open/reply/like in context

### Current problem

Today, using multiple Discourse communities means juggling many tabs and accounts. Community-made solutions can sometimes aggregate content, but they tend to be fragile, hard to scale beyond a couple sites, and not something I can rely on long term.

### What I’m asking for

Would Discourse consider an official “multi-instance reader” (web UI or app), or at least a supported framework/API pattern that enables this reliably?

## Why this matters

- It improves productivity for users active across many Discourse communities.

- It enables personal knowledge management and long-term archiving of one’s own contributions.

- An official approach could reduce fragmentation and avoid brittle workarounds.

If there are existing discussions or roadmap items related to either “cross-instance activity backup” or “multi-site unified reader,” I’d love pointers. I’d also be happy to help clarify requirements, propose an MVP, or test solutions.

Thanks!

---

_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multi-instance-activity-backup-unified-multi-site-discourse-reader/390436)._