@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ Introduction
The Matrix specification is still evolving: the APIs are not yet frozen
and this document is in places a work in progress or stale. We have made every
effort to clearly flag areas which are still being finalised.
We're publishing it at this point because it's complete enough to be more than
useful and provide a canonical reference to how Matrix is evolving. Our end
goal is to mirror WHATWG's `Living Standard
@ -34,10 +33,9 @@ Matrix is a set of open APIs for open-federated Instant Messaging (IM), Voice
over IP (VoIP) and Internet of Things (IoT) communication, designed to create
and support a new global real-time communication ecosystem. The intention is to
provide an open decentralised pubsub layer for the internet for securely
persisting and publishing/subscribing JSON objects.
This specification is the ongoing result of standardising the APIs used by the
various components of the Matrix ecosystem to communicate with one another.
persisting and publishing/subscribing JSON objects. This specification is the
ongoing result of standardising the APIs used by the various components of the
Matrix ecosystem to communicate with one another.
The principles that Matrix attempts to follow are:
@ -214,10 +212,8 @@ which have the form::
There is exactly one room ID for each room. Whilst the room ID does contain a
domain, it is simply for globally namespacing room IDs. The room does NOT
reside on the domain specified. Room IDs are not meant to be human readable.
They are case-sensitive.
The following conceptual diagram shows an `` m.room.message `` event being sent to
the room `` !qporfwt:matrix.org `` ::
They are case-sensitive. The following conceptual diagram shows an
`` m.room.message `` event being sent to the room `` !qporfwt:matrix.org `` ::
{ @alice:matrix.org } { @bob:domain.com }
| ^
@ -258,11 +254,13 @@ the room ``!qporfwt:matrix.org``::
Federation maintains *shared data structures* per-room between multiple home
servers. The data is split into `` message events `` and `` state events `` .
`` Message events `` describe transient 'once-off' activity in a room such as an
instant messages, VoIP call setups, file transfers, etc. They generally describe
communication activity.
Message events:
These describe transient 'once-off' activity in a room such as an
instant messages, VoIP call setups, file transfers, etc. They generally
describe communication activity.
`` State events `` describe updates to a given piece of persistent information
State events:
These describe updates to a given piece of persistent information
('state') related to a room, such as the room's name, topic, membership,
participating servers, etc. State is modelled as a lookup table of key/value
pairs per room, with each key being a tuple of `` state_key `` and `` event type `` .
@ -273,13 +271,11 @@ preceding and including a given event in the graph. Where events describe the
same state, a merge conflict algorithm is applied. The state resolution
algorithm is transitive and does not depend on server state, as it must
consistently select the same event irrespective of the server or the order the
events were received in.
Events are signed by the originating server (the signature includes the parent
relations, type, depth and payload hash) and are pushed over federation to the
participating servers in a room, currently using full mesh topology. Servers may
also request backfill of events over federation from the other servers
participating in a room.
events were received in. Events are signed by the originating server (the
signature includes the parent relations, type, depth and payload hash) and are
pushed over federation to the participating servers in a room, currently using
full mesh topology. Servers may also request backfill of events over federation
from the other servers participating in a room.
Room Aliases
@ -324,12 +320,10 @@ Users in Matrix are identified via their matrix user ID (MXID). However,
existing 3rd party ID namespaces can also be used in order to identify Matrix
users. A Matrix "Identity" describes both the user ID and any other existing IDs
from third party namespaces *linked* to their account.
Matrix users can *link* third-party IDs (3PIDs) such as email addresses, social
network accounts and phone numbers to their user ID. Linking 3PIDs creates a
mapping from a 3PID to a user ID. This mapping can then be used by Matrix
users in order to discover the MXIDs of their contacts.
In order to ensure that the mapping from 3PID to user ID is genuine, a globally
federated cluster of trusted "Identity Servers" (IS) are used to verify the 3PID
and persist and replicate the mappings.
@ -410,6 +404,10 @@ dedicated API. The API is symmetrical to managing Profile data.
API Standards
-------------
.. TODO
Need to specify any HMAC or access_token lifetime/ratcheting tricks
We need to specify capability negotiation for extensible transports
The mandatory baseline for communication in Matrix is exchanging JSON objects
over HTTP APIs. HTTPS is mandated as the baseline for server-server
(federation) communication. HTTPS is recommended for client-server
@ -417,20 +415,11 @@ communication, although HTTP may be supported as a fallback to support basic
HTTP clients. More efficient optional transports for client-server
communication will in future be supported as optional extensions - e.g. a
packed binary encoding over stream-cipher encrypted TCP socket for
low-bandwidth/low-roundtrip mobile usage.
.. TODO
We need to specify capability negotiation for extensible transports
For the default HTTP transport, all API calls use a Content-Type of
`` application/json `` . In addition, all strings MUST be encoded as UTF-8.
Clients are authenticated using opaque `` access_token `` strings (see
`Client Authentication`_ for details), passed as a query string parameter on
all requests.
.. TODO
Need to specify any HMAC or access_token lifetime/ratcheting tricks
low-bandwidth/low-roundtrip mobile usage. For the default HTTP transport, all
API calls use a Content-Type of `` application/json `` . In addition, all strings
MUST be encoded as UTF-8. Clients are authenticated using opaque
`` access_token `` strings (see `Client Authentication`_ for details), passed as a
query string parameter on all requests.
Any errors which occur at the Matrix API level MUST return a "standard error
response". This is a JSON object which looks like::