Ecency Vision v4.3.7 - MetaMask, AI Assist, and a Redesigned Signup

This is one of the largest releases in Ecency Website's history. 26 PRs merged, 465 files changed, and ~19,000 lines added - introducing full MetaMask integration, AI-powered writing assistance, a completely redesigned signup experience, and dozens of quality-of-life improvements across the platform. Metamask integration allows us to attract ETH, BNB, SOL communities into Hive with easy signup and easy login, transfer and management of those crypto tokens directly inside Ecency.

MetaMask Integration

Full MetaMask support has arrived via the Hive Snap - you can now sign up, log in, sign transactions, and transfer, manage (HIVE, HBD, ETH, BNB, SOL) crypto entirely through MetaMask.

Sign Up with MetaMask

Connect your MetaMask wallet to discover your EVM (ETH, BNB) and non-EVM (SOL, BTC) addresses via the Wallet Standard protocol. The Hive Snap is installed automatically to derive your Hive keys - no seed phrases, no private key management. A minimum $1 USD balance is required on any ETH, BNB, SOL wallets to create an account.

Log In with MetaMask

One-click login: your posting key from the Hive Snap is verified against your on-chain authorities, then used to sign an auth code. No passwords to remember.

Sign Transactions with MetaMask

All Hive operations - voting, commenting, transferring, delegating - can now be signed via the Hive Snap. Your private keys never leave MetaMask.

External Transfers

A new transfer dialog lets you send ETH, BNB, and SOL directly from MetaMask, complete with gas estimation (EVM), balance validation, and block explorer links. You can view your balances inside your wallet on Ecency and you can initiate transfer of those tokens right from website with Metamask handling signing transaction.

Wallet Linking

Existing users can link their MetaMask wallets from the wallet setup page. Multi-chain public addresses are stored both on-chain and in the Ecency API for fast access. By linking Metamask into your account, you can manage other crypto tokens inside Ecency, while also having extra way to login into website without managing/handling separate private keys. This process attaches extra set of keys to your account, giving you way to login with existing keys + Metamask.

Redesigned Signup Flow

The signup experience has been completely reworked to 4 distinct options:

• Free - Email-based registration with ReCAPTCHA, no cost

• Premium - $2.99 paid account creation with QR code payment

• Wallet - MetaMask-powered signup (desktop only)

• Invited - Generate a master password and shareable link; a sponsor creates the account using HIVE fee or claimed accounts

Legacy /onboard-friend/ routes redirect automatically to the new invited flow.

AI Writing Assistant

A new AI Assist feature is now available directly in the post editor, powered by Ecency Points:

• 5 actions: Improve, Suggest Tags, Generate Title, Summarize, Check Grammar

• Word-level diff preview for content changes so you can see exactly what changed

• Points-based pricing with a free tier

• Integrated into both the TipTap and legacy editors

3Speak Embed Upload

The 3Speak video integration has been completely rewritten:

• Embed-based architecture - Videos upload via the TUS resumable protocol with server-side API key management. Your API key never reaches the browser.

• 3Speak Shorts - Upload short-form videos directly from the editor

• Custom thumbnails - Set thumbnails via the server-side proxy

• Auto-beneficiary - When your post contains a 3Speak embed, the threespeakfund beneficiary (11%) is automatically added and locked

• Post linking - After broadcast, videos are linked to your Hive post for 3Speak feed discovery

Blog Post Import

New /publish/import page for importing blog posts from external platforms:

• Supports external blogs, if you have blog in medium, blogspot or any other website/platform, you can import content into Hive

• Supports Hive frontends (ecency.com, hive.blog, peakd.com, leofinance.io, inleo.io)

• Security hardened: DNS validation, IP range blocking, redirect limits, response size caps

• Imports directly into the editor for review before publishing

Mobile Login QR

Scan a QR code to transfer your login session to the Ecency mobile app:

• Generates a secure QR with an ecency://auth-transfer URI containing session tokens

• Security warnings and a reveal button to prevent accidental exposure

• Available from the sidebar menu

• This gives Metamask users ability to login into Ecency mobile app and enjoy dedicated mobile experience. (Mobile app update coming soon with that QR format support)

Easier Direct Messages

• A new "Send Message" button on profile cards links directly to chat

• The ?dm=username URL parameter automatically starts a DM with the specified user

Improvements

Quick Sign Transactions

Removed extra confirmation dialogs from 6 wallet wizards (boost, buy/sell HIVE, promote, transfer, buy-with-HIVE). The auth upgrade modal now handles confirmation directly - 30-50% fewer clicks for active-authority operations.

Smarter Auth Upgrade

• Detects your login method and shows the right signing button (MetaMask, Keychain, HiveAuth, etc.)

• 60-second temporary active key session - sign once, perform multiple operations

• HiveSigner token optimization for keychain/MetaMask users with posting authority (faster, no popup)

Expiring Delegations

When you remove a delegation, the HP enters a 5-day cooldown before returning to your balance. You can now see these pending returns in your wallet.

Search Fixes

• Case-insensitive search queries

• Fixed null reference errors in people search results

• Safer access to profile metadata with proper fallbacks

Discover Page

Cleaner, tighter layout with better proportions and improved responsive behavior.

Community Creation

Fixed the signing flow for community creation and settings. New "Finalize Community" banner guides admins through setup.

Entry Page Listen

Significant refactoring of the text-to-speech feature with AI-powered summarization and translation support.

Profile Cover Image

More robust source detection for profile cover images.

SDK & Package Changes

@ecency/sdk (v2.0.30)

• Bad Actors Protection - Fetches the Hive watchmen bad actors list, cached for 24 hours. Enables filtering/warning against known malicious accounts.

• AI Assist Mutation - useAiAssist() hook with points-based pricing and free tier

• Verify on Alternate Node - When the primary node returns null for a post, verifies against up to 2 alternate nodes before showing 404. Guards against single-node sync lag.

• Expiring Delegations Query - getVestingDelegationExpirationsQueryOptions() for the 5-day delegation cooldown

• Broadcast Optimization - Smart HiveSigner token reuse for keychain/MetaMask users; adaptive fallback chains

@ecency/wallets (v2.0.0 - Major)

• MetaMask Discovery - Discovers EVM and non-EVM wallets via Wallet Standard protocol

• MetaMask EVM Transfer - ETH/BNB transfers with chain switching and gas estimation

• MetaMask SOL Transfer - Solana transfers via Wallet Standard, routed through Ecency's RPC proxy

• External Transfer Mutation - useExternalTransfer() hook routing to the appropriate chain

• Removed - Seed phrase generation, APT/TON/TRON chain support, memo encryption/decryption, wallet creation/import mutations. All replaced by MetaMask integration.

@ecency/render-helper (v2.4.24)

• Linkify fix - @user/permlink pattern no longer false-matches npm packages or GitHub orgs. Uses tiered pattern matching with leading / requirement.

• Safer DOM traversal - Recursive ancestor checking prevents linkification inside <code> and <pre> blocks

• Image proxy fix - Smarter detection of already-proxied URLs; direct upload URLs still get format optimization

• Odysee embed fix - Fixed Odysee video embeds

Infrastructure & Performance

Chunk Loading Recovery

New chunk-reload.js script automatically detects and recovers from stale chunk errors after deployments. Max 2 reloads per minute with sessionStorage tracking. No more broken pages after updates.

Image Proxy Fallback

New ImageFailureTracker monitors image loading failures. After 3+ unique failures, automatically switches from images.ecency.com to img.ecency.com fallback. Background probe tests the primary host periodically and switches back when recovered. We got reports from few Philippines users that our images are not loading for them, this is attempt to resolve that issue. We are waiting confirmation from Philippines users, if you are located there, please let us know if images are working now.

Font Optimization

Removed 12 bundled TTF font files (Inter, Lora, Noto Sans, Noto Serif) - ~5.9 MB savings on the initial bundle.

RPC Node Ordering

Reordered Hive RPC nodes for better reliability, with api.openhive.network moved up in priority.

Docker Deployment

• Network creation now uses || true to prevent failures on existing networks

• Added 60-second stabilization delay before pruning

• Added THREESPEAK_EMBED_API_KEY secret to all deployment regions

Sentry Improvements

Expanded iOS Safari error ignores to reduce noise from cross-origin security errors.

Floating UI Race Condition Fix

Hardened the safeAutoUpdate utility to check element connectivity before each computePosition call, closing a race window where scroll/resize events fired after element detachment.

Legal & Compliance

• Updated Terms of Service - Comprehensive rewrite, updated to March 2026, with deep-linkable section anchors

• Updated Privacy Policy - Aligned with current practices

• New Child Safety Page (/child-safety) - Dedicated child protection policies, prohibited content definitions, and reporting channels

Self-Hosted App

• Edit Post - Full post editing support with TipTap editor

• 404 Page - Proper not-found fallback

• i18n - Multi-language support expanded (7+ languages)

• Payment System - New x402 paywall middleware and payment dialog

• Multi-Tenant API - New tenant management routes for Docker/Nginx deployments

Tests

15+ new test files covering MetaMask sign flows, key management, signup paths, community finalization, image failure tracking, safe auto-update, blog import API, 3Speak beneficiaries, and more.

Breaking Changes

• Removed chains: APT (Aptos), TON, and TRON wallet support has been removed

• Removed seed phrase flow: Replaced by MetaMask integration

• 3Speak API rewrite: Old threespeak/ module replaced by threespeak-embed/ - requires THREESPEAK_EMBED_API_KEY environment variable

• Legacy onboard routes: /onboard-friend/ paths now redirect to /signup/invited/

By the Numbers

We understand some of these changes look more technical, we will be creating shorter and more easier to understand posts in coming days highlighting changes with more details and use cases.

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