diff --git a/src/activitypub/notes.js b/src/activitypub/notes.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79bfd73603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/activitypub/notes.js
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const winston = require('winston');
+
+const db = require('../database');
+const posts = require('../posts');
+
+const activitypub = module.parent.exports;
+const Notes = module.exports;
+
+// todo: when asserted, notes aren't added to a global sorted set
+// also, db.exists call is probably expensive
+Notes.assert = async (uid, input) => {
+	// Ensures that each note has been saved to the database
+	await Promise.all(input.map(async (item) => {
+		const id = activitypub.helpers.isUri(item) ? item : item.id;
+		const key = `post:${id}`;
+		const exists = await db.exists(key);
+		winston.verbose(`[activitypub/notes.assert] Asserting note id ${id}`);
+
+		let postData;
+		if (!exists) {
+			winston.verbose(`[activitypub/notes.assert] Not found, saving note to database`);
+			const object = activitypub.helpers.isUri(item) ? await activitypub.get(uid, item) : item;
+			postData = await activitypub.mocks.post(object);
+			if (postData) {
+				await db.setObject(key, postData);
+			}
+		}
+	}));
+};
+
+Notes.getParentChain = async (uid, input) => {
+	// Traverse upwards via `inReplyTo` until you find the root-level Note
+	const id = activitypub.helpers.isUri(input) ? input : input.id;
+
+	const chain = new Set();
+	const traverse = async (uid, id) => {
+		const exists = await db.exists(`post:${id}`);
+		if (exists) {
+			const { toPid, timestamp } = await posts.getPostFields(id, ['toPid', 'timestamp']);
+			chain.add({ id, timestamp });
+			if (toPid) {
+				await traverse(uid, toPid);
+			}
+		} else {
+			let object = await activitypub.get(uid, id);
+			object = await activitypub.mocks.post(object);
+			if (object) {
+				chain.add({ id, timestamp: object.timestamp });
+				if (object.hasOwnProperty('toPid') && object.toPid) {
+					await traverse(uid, object.toPid);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	};
+
+	await traverse(uid, id);
+	return chain;
+};
+
+Notes.assertTopic = async (uid, id) => {
+	// Given the id of any post, traverses up (and soon, down) to cache the entire threaded context
+	const chain = Array.from(await Notes.getParentChain(uid, id));
+	const tid = chain[chain.length - 1].id;
+
+	const sorted = chain.sort((a, b) => a.timestamp - b.timestamp);
+	const [ids, timestamps] = [
+		sorted.map(n => n.id),
+		sorted.map(n => n.timestamp),
+	];
+
+	await db.sortedSetAdd(`topicRemote:${tid}`, timestamps, ids);
+	await Notes.assert(uid, chain);
+
+	return tid;
+};
+
+Notes.getTopicPosts = async (tid, uid, start, stop) => {
+	const pids = await db.getSortedSetRange(`topicRemote:${tid}`, start, stop);
+	return await posts.getPostsByPids(pids, uid);
+};
diff --git a/src/controllers/activitypub/index.js b/src/controllers/activitypub/index.js
index 201216b365..41721ac28d 100644
--- a/src/controllers/activitypub/index.js
+++ b/src/controllers/activitypub/index.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const helpers = require('../helpers');
 const Controller = module.exports;
 
 Controller.profiles = require('./profiles');
+Controller.topics = require('./topics');
 
 Controller.getActor = async (req, res) => {
 	// todo: view:users priv gate
diff --git a/src/controllers/activitypub/topics.js b/src/controllers/activitypub/topics.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..212844462f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/controllers/activitypub/topics.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const user = require('../../user');
+const topics = require('../../topics');
+
+const { notes } = require('../../activitypub');
+// const helpers = require('../helpers');
+// const pagination = require('../../pagination');
+
+const controller = module.exports;
+
+controller.get = async function (req, res, next) {
+	const tid = await notes.assertTopic(req.uid, req.query.resource);
+
+	let postIndex = parseInt(req.params.post_index, 10) || 1;
+	const [
+		// userPrivileges,
+		settings,
+		// topicData,
+	] = await Promise.all([
+		// privileges.topics.get(tid, req.uid),
+		user.getSettings(req.uid),
+		// topics.getTopicData(tid),
+	]);
+
+	const topicData = {
+		tid,
+		postCount: 6,
+		category: {}, // todo
+	};
+
+	let currentPage = parseInt(req.query.page, 10) || 1;
+	const pageCount = Math.max(1, Math.ceil((topicData && topicData.postcount) / settings.postsPerPage));
+	const invalidPagination = (settings.usePagination && (currentPage < 1 || currentPage > pageCount));
+	if (
+		!topicData ||
+		// userPrivileges.disabled ||
+		invalidPagination// ||
+		// (topicData.scheduled && !userPrivileges.view_scheduled)
+	) {
+		return next();
+	}
+
+	if (!req.query.page) {
+		currentPage = calculatePageFromIndex(postIndex, settings);
+	}
+	if (settings.usePagination && req.query.page) {
+		const top = ((currentPage - 1) * settings.postsPerPage) + 1;
+		const bottom = top + settings.postsPerPage;
+		if (!req.params.post_index || (postIndex < top || postIndex > bottom)) {
+			postIndex = top;
+		}
+	}
+	const { start, stop } = calculateStartStop(currentPage, postIndex, settings);
+
+	topicData.posts = await notes.getTopicPosts(tid, req.uid, start, stop);
+	topicData.posts = await topics.addPostData(topicData.posts, req.uid);
+
+	res.render('topic', topicData);
+};
+
+// todo: expose from topic controller?
+function calculatePageFromIndex(postIndex, settings) {
+	return 1 + Math.floor((postIndex - 1) / settings.postsPerPage);
+}
+
+// todo: expose from topic controller?
+function calculateStartStop(page, postIndex, settings) {
+	let startSkip = 0;
+
+	if (!settings.usePagination) {
+		if (postIndex > 1) {
+			page = 1;
+		}
+		startSkip = Math.max(0, postIndex - Math.ceil(settings.postsPerPage / 2));
+	}
+
+	const start = ((page - 1) * settings.postsPerPage) + startSkip;
+	const stop = start + settings.postsPerPage - 1;
+	return { start: Math.max(0, start), stop: Math.max(0, stop) };
+}
diff --git a/src/controllers/topics.js b/src/controllers/topics.js
index 16e1cad3a7..02544c7409 100644
--- a/src/controllers/topics.js
+++ b/src/controllers/topics.js
@@ -9,11 +9,14 @@ const topics = require('../topics');
 const categories = require('../categories');
 const posts = require('../posts');
 const privileges = require('../privileges');
+const activitypub = require('../activitypub');
 const helpers = require('./helpers');
 const pagination = require('../pagination');
 const utils = require('../utils');
 const analytics = require('../analytics');
 
+const activitypubController = require('./activitypub');
+
 const topicsController = module.exports;
 
 const url = nconf.get('url');
@@ -21,6 +24,10 @@ const relative_path = nconf.get('relative_path');
 const upload_url = nconf.get('upload_url');
 
 topicsController.get = async function getTopic(req, res, next) {
+	if (req.params.topic_id === 'remote' && activitypub.helpers.isUri(req.query.resource)) {
+		return activitypubController.topics.get(req, res, next);
+	}
+
 	const tid = req.params.topic_id;
 	if (
 		(req.params.post_index && !utils.isNumber(req.params.post_index) && req.params.post_index !== 'unread') ||
diff --git a/src/routes/activitypub.js b/src/routes/activitypub.js
index 8737d7baca..1c0e0a672d 100644
--- a/src/routes/activitypub.js
+++ b/src/routes/activitypub.js
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 'use strict';
 
+/**
+ * These controllers only respond if the sender is making an json+activitypub style call (i.e. S2S-only)
+ */
+
 module.exports = function (app, middleware, controllers) {
 	const middlewares = [middleware.proceedOnActivityPub, middleware.exposeUid];