matrix-spec-proposals/proposals/1929-admin-contact.md

# MSC1929 Homeserver Admin Contact and Support page

Currently, contacting a homeserver admin is difficult because you need to have insider knowledge
of who the admin actually is. This proposal aims to fix that by specifying a way to add contact details
of admins, as well as a link to a support page for users who are having issues with the service.

This proposal aims to fix https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/484

## Proposal

The proposal suggests adding a new endpoint: `https://{hostname}/.well-known/matrix/support`,
where `hostname` is the server name, without the port number.  This is the same as what is used
when performing server discovery.

The response format should be:

```json5
{
    "contacts": [
        {
            "matrix_id": "@admin:domain.tld",
            "email_address": "admin@domain.tld",
            "role": "m.role.admin"
        },
        {
            "email_address": "security@domain.tld",
            "role": "m.role.security"
        }
    ],
    "support_page": "https://domain.tld/support.html"
}
```

The `contacts` array is optional, but recommended.

The `matrix_id` and `email_address` do NOT need to have the same domain as the homeserver. It is expected that
an admin will have a "backup" contact address if the server is down, like an email or alternative mxid on a different homeserver.

Entries may have a `matrix_id` OR an `email_address`, but at least one MUST be specified.

`role` is an informal description of what the address(es) are used for. The only two specified in this
proposal are `m.role.admin` and `m.role.security`.

 - `m.role.admin` is a catch-all user for any queries.
 - `m.role.security` is intended for sensitive requests

A value for `role` MUST be specified. Custom values are permitted using the
[common namespaced identifier format](https://spec.matrix.org/v1.8/appendices/#common-namespaced-identifier-grammar).

`support_page` is an optional property to specify an affiliated page of the homeserver to give users help
specific to the homeserver, like extra login/registration steps.

At least one valid key should be provided. This means `contacts` should have at least one entry, or the `support_page` should be defined. An empty object is not considered valid, however both `contacts `and `support_page` may be specified together.

## Alternative solutions

Hardcode a given user localpart that should be used as an admin address.
 - The account would need to either internally redirect messages intended for @admin:domain.tld to another account(s)
 - OR require an admin to regularly sign into this special account to check for messages. Neither of which is useful.

Specify the same content inside a homeserver endpoint, rather than use `.well-known`.
 - This requires the homeserver to be up or responsive, which might be not very useful if trying to report issues with
   connectivity.

Use vCards.
 - vCards would add bloat, as the vast majority of a vcards contents is not useful for contacting an admin.

## Security considerations

If the host is compromised, any information could be specified in the well known file which may direct users to send
sensitive information to a malicious user.