diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9e97331977..5ca531282d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -113,14 +113,17 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/gomail.v2 v2.0.0-20160411212932-81ebce5c23df
 	gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
-	// TODO: f3 is the way to go ?
-	lab.forgefriends.org/friendlyforgeformat/gof3 v1.0.1-0.20231016193607-59f139e6759e
 	mvdan.cc/xurls/v2 v2.5.0
 	strk.kbt.io/projects/go/libravatar v0.0.0-20191008002943-06d1c002b251
 	xorm.io/builder v0.3.13
 	xorm.io/xorm v1.3.7
 )
 
+require (
+	github.com/sethvargo/go-password v0.2.0
+	github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4
+)
+
 require (
 	cloud.google.com/go/compute v1.23.3 // indirect
 	cloud.google.com/go/compute/metadata v0.2.3 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a8e8a190fd..ce8dd011c9 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1280,7 +1280,6 @@ honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.0-20190523083050-ea95bdfd59fc/go.mod h1:rf3lG4BRIbNafJWh
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2019.2.3/go.mod h1:a3bituU0lyd329TUQxRnasdCoJDkEUEAqEt0JzvZhAg=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.3/go.mod h1:X/FiERA/W4tHapMX5mGpAtMSVEeEUOyHaw9vFzvIQ3k=
 honnef.co/go/tools v0.0.1-2020.1.4/go.mod h1:X/FiERA/W4tHapMX5mGpAtMSVEeEUOyHaw9vFzvIQ3k=
-lab.forgefriends.org/friendlyforgeformat/gof3 v1.0.1-0.20231016193607-59f139e6759e/go.mod h1:gbekmufZ+PvotlQUCw9OpcMYo4igaWDjyT70FyNGFwc=
 lukechampine.com/uint128 v1.2.0 h1:mBi/5l91vocEN8otkC5bDLhi2KdCticRiwbdB0O+rjI=
 lukechampine.com/uint128 v1.2.0/go.mod h1:c4eWIwlEGaxC/+H1VguhU4PHXNWDCDMUlWdIWl2j1gk=
 modernc.org/cc/v3 v3.40.0 h1:P3g79IUS/93SYhtoeaHW+kRCIrYaxJ27MFPv+7kaTOw=
diff --git a/models/forgefed/federationhost.go b/models/forgefed/federationhost.go
index f820a1708b..936bbbd01a 100644
--- a/models/forgefed/federationhost.go
+++ b/models/forgefed/federationhost.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package forgefed
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/timeutil"
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ type FederationHost struct {
 // Factory function for PersonID. Created struct is asserted to be valid
 func NewFederationHost(nodeInfo NodeInfo, hostFqdn string) (FederationHost, error) {
 	result := FederationHost{
-		HostFqdn: hostFqdn,
+		HostFqdn: strings.ToLower(hostFqdn),
 		NodeInfo: nodeInfo,
 	}
 	if valid, err := validation.IsValid(result); !valid {
@@ -41,6 +42,9 @@ func (host FederationHost) Validate() []string {
 	result = append(result, validation.ValidateNotEmpty(host.HostFqdn, "HostFqdn")...)
 	result = append(result, validation.ValidateMaxLen(host.HostFqdn, 255, "HostFqdn")...)
 	result = append(result, host.NodeInfo.Validate()...)
+	if host.HostFqdn != strings.ToLower(host.HostFqdn) {
+		result = append(result, fmt.Sprintf("HostFqdn has to be lower case but was: %v", host.HostFqdn))
+	}
 	if !host.LatestActivity.IsZero() && host.LatestActivity.After(time.Now().Add(10*time.Minute)) {
 		result = append(result, fmt.Sprintf("Latest Activity may not be far futurer: %v", host.LatestActivity))
 	}
diff --git a/models/forgefed/federationhost_repository.go b/models/forgefed/federationhost_repository.go
index fa9ab67c8c..37987d5720 100644
--- a/models/forgefed/federationhost_repository.go
+++ b/models/forgefed/federationhost_repository.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package forgefed
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/models/db"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/validation"
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ func GetFederationHost(ctx context.Context, ID int64) (*FederationHost, error) {
 func FindFederationHostByFqdn(ctx context.Context, fqdn string) (*FederationHost, error) {
 	host := new(FederationHost)
 	// TODO: use parameter with toLower
-	has, err := db.GetEngine(ctx).Where("host_fqdn=?", fqdn).Get(host)
+	has, err := db.GetEngine(ctx).Where("host_fqdn=?", strings.ToLower(fqdn)).Get(host)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	} else if !has {
diff --git a/models/forgefed/federationhost_test.go b/models/forgefed/federationhost_test.go
index 88eecf511a..75ddfff9dd 100644
--- a/models/forgefed/federationhost_test.go
+++ b/models/forgefed/federationhost_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,17 @@ func Test_FederationHostValidation(t *testing.T) {
 		LatestActivity: time.Now().Add(1 * time.Hour),
 	}
 	if res, _ := validation.IsValid(sut); res {
-		t.Errorf("sut should be invalid")
+		t.Errorf("sut should be invalid: Future timestamp")
+	}
+
+	sut = FederationHost{
+		HostFqdn: "hOst.do.main",
+		NodeInfo: NodeInfo{
+			Source: "forgejo",
+		},
+		LatestActivity: time.Now(),
+	}
+	if res, _ := validation.IsValid(sut); res {
+		t.Errorf("sut should be invalid: HostFqdn lower case")
 	}
 }