created the follows model

app/Http/Controllers/AP/APInboxController.php

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ namespace App\Http\Controllers\AP;
 use App\Models\User;
 use App\Models\Actor;
 use App\Models\Activity;
+use App\Models\Follow;
 
 use App\Types\TypeActor;
 use App\Types\TypeActivity;
@@ -50,6 +51,12 @@ class APInboxController extends Controller
         // there's no follows model, it'll be handled with the activity model
         $act = Activity::create ($activity);
 
+        $follow = Follow::create ([
+            "activity_id" => $act->id,
+            "actor" => $actor->id,
+            "object" => $target->id,
+        ]);
+
         // TODO: Users should be able to manually check this
         $accept_activity = TypeActivity::craft_accept ($act);
         $response = TypeActivity::post_activity ($accept_activity, $target, $actor);

app/Http/Controllers/AP/APOutboxController.php

@@ -3,19 +3,21 @@
 namespace App\Http\Controllers\AP;
 
 use App\Models\Note;
+use App\Models\NoteAttachment;
 use App\Models\User;
 use App\Models\Actor;
-use App\Types\TypeNote;
 use App\Models\Activity;
 use App\Models\Instance;
+use App\Models\Follow;
 
 use App\Types\TypeActor;
 use App\Types\TypeActivity;
+
+use App\Types\TypeNote;
 use App\Actions\ActionsPost;
 
 use Illuminate\Http\Request;
 
-use App\Models\NoteAttachment;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
 use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
@@ -152,6 +154,12 @@ class APOutboxController extends Controller
         $follow_activity = TypeActivity::craft_follow ($user->actor ()->first (), $object_actor);
         $response = TypeActivity::post_activity ($follow_activity, $user->actor ()->first (), $object_actor);
 
+        $follow = Follow::create ([
+            "activity_id" => $follow_activity->id,
+            "actor" => $user->actor ()->first ()->id,
+            "object" => $object_actor->id,
+        ]);
+
         if ($response->getStatusCode () < 200 || $response->getStatusCode () >= 300)
             return response ()->json ([ "error" => "failed to post activity" ], 500);
 

app/Models/Follow.php

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
+
+class Follow extends Model
+{
+    protected $fillable = [
+        "activity_id",
+        "actor",
+        "object"
+    ];
+}

app/Models/User.php

@@ -75,44 +75,51 @@ class User extends Authenticatable
 
     public function mutual_friends ()
     {
-        $followers = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")->where ("object", '"' . $this->actor->actor_id . '"')->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
+        $followers = Follow::where ("actor", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("object")->toArray ();
-        $following = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")->where ("actor", $this->actor->actor_id)->pluck ("object")->toArray ();
+        $following = Follow::where ("object", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
 
-        return array_intersect ($followers, $following);
+        $mutuals = array_intersect ($followers, $following);
+        $actors = [];
+
+        foreach ($mutuals as $id)
+        {
+            $actors[] = Actor::where ("id", $id)->first ()->actor_id;
+        }
+
+        return $actors;
     }
 
     public function received_requests ()
     {
-        // users following me, where I am the object and I retrieve the actors
+        // users following me, that I am not following them
-        $following = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")
+        $followers = Follow::where ("object", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
-            ->where ("object", '"' . $this->actor->actor_id . '"') // i am the object being followed
+        $following = Follow::where ("actor", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("object")->toArray ();
-            ->pluck ("actor")
-            ->map (fn ($actor) => json_encode ($actor, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES))
-            ->toArray ();
 
-        // users i am following, where I am the actor and I retrieve the objects
+        $diff = array_diff ($followers, $following);
-        $followers = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")
-            ->whereIn ("object", $following) // actors
-            ->where ("actor", $this->actor->actor_id) // following me
-            ->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
 
-        return array_diff ($following, $followers);
+        $actors = [];
+        foreach ($diff as $id)
+        {
+            $actors[] = Actor::where ("id", $id)->first ()->actor_id;
+        }
+        return $actors;
     }
 
     public function sent_requests ()
     {
-        // users i am following, where I am the actor and I retrieve the objects
+        // users i am following
-        $followers = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")
+        $followers = Follow::where ("actor", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("object")->toArray ();
-            ->where ("actor", $this->actor->actor_id) // actors I follow
+        $following = Follow::where ("object", $this->actor->id)->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
-            ->pluck ("object")->toArray ();
 
-        // users following me, where I am the object and I retrieve the actors
+        $diff = array_diff ($followers, $following);
-        $following = Activity::where ("type", "Follow")
-            ->whereIn ("actor", $followers) // actors
-            ->where ("object", '"' . $this->actor->actor_id . '"') // that following me
-            ->pluck ("actor")->toArray ();
 
-        return array_diff ($followers, $following);
+        $actors = [];
+        foreach ($diff as $id)
+        {
+            $actors[] = Actor::where ("id", $id)->first ()->actor_id;
+        }
+
+        return $actors;
     }
 
     public function feed ()

database/migrations/2025_01_04_151745_create_follows_table.php

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::create('follows', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->id();
+
+            $table->foreignId ("activity_id")->constrained()->onDelete("cascade");
+            $table->foreignId ("actor")->constrained("actors")->onDelete("cascade");
+            $table->foreignId ("object")->constrained("actors")->onDelete("cascade");
+
+            $table->timestamps();
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::dropIfExists('follows');
+    }
+};