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Initial base for an "Integrations API"
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# MSC0000: Integrations API | ||
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"Integration managers" are applications that help clients bring integrations (bridges, bots, widgets, etc) | ||
to users. This can be for things like setting up an IRC bridge or adding a Giphy bot to the room. Integration | ||
managers have been popularized by Riot, however other clients also have support for concept as well although | ||
to a lesser extent. | ||
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Integration managers are important to the Matrix ecosystem as they help abstract away the underlying integration | ||
and allow providers of the integratiosn to manage access to them. For example, there are multiple XMPP bridges | ||
available in the Matrix ecosystem and an integration manager is in the best position to handle the different APIs | ||
each exposes, generalizing the API exposed to clients. Similarly, the integration manager could charge for access | ||
to specific integrations such as sticker packs or per-user access to a bridge. | ||
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This proposal introduces a new Matrix API: the "Integrations API" (or "Integrations Specification") which covers | ||
how integration managers and integrations themselves cooperate with clients. Typically these kinds of extensions | ||
to Matrix would be put into the Client-Server API, however the integration manager is not typically the same as | ||
the user's homeserver and is therefore ideal to be specified indepdently. | ||
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## Glossary | ||
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Due to the introduction of a new API, some common terminology is to be established: | ||
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An **Integration Manager** (or *Integrations Manager*, or simply *Manager*) is an application which assists users | ||
and/or clients in setting up *Integrations*. | ||
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**Integrations** are something the *Integration Manager* exposes, such as *Bots*, *Bridges*, and *Widgets*. | ||
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A **Bot** is typically a Matrix user which provides a utility service, such as Github Notifications or reaction | ||
GIFs. | ||
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A **Bridge** is typically an Application Service which proxies events between Matrix and a 3rd party platform, | ||
such as IRC. Bridges may also operate in a single direction and have other features like *Puppeting*, which are | ||
not covered here. For information on the various types of bridging, please see the | ||
[reference guide](https://matrix.org/docs/guides/types-of-bridging.html). | ||
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**Widgets** are embedded web applications in a Matrix client. These are split into two types: **Account Widgets** | ||
and **Room Widgets**. *Account Widgets* are specific to a particular Matrix user and not shared with other users | ||
whereas *Room Widgets* are shared with the members of the room they reside in. | ||
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A **Trusted Integration Manager** is an *Integration Manager* which the client has deemed trustworthy by its own | ||
criteria. For example, this may be defined as being known as an account widget, discovered by .well-known, or | ||
being set in the client's configuration. By proxy, an **Untrusted Integration Manager** is the opposite. | ||
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The **Integration Manager API** is the set of HTTP endpoints which clients can use to interact with a given | ||
*Integration Manager*. | ||
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The **Widget API** is the set of `postMessage` APIs which are used for clients and *Widgets* to communicate with | ||
each other when embedded. | ||
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The **Integrations API** is the set of both the *Integration Manager API* and *Widget API* as well as any other | ||
details which affect *Widgets* or *Integration Managers* and their interactions with clients. | ||
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## Proposal | ||
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A new Integrations API be introduced into Matrix which consists of the components listed in this proposal. | ||
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**Components**: | ||
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* API Standards (see later section of this proposal) | ||
* Discovery | ||
* MSC not yet defined | ||
* Widgets | ||
* Includes [MSC1236](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/1236) | ||
* MSC for extensions and alterations not yet defined | ||
* ***TODO: MSC for each or group them by subject?*** | ||
* The first version of the Widget API is to be `0.1.0`, with the existing `0.0.x` versions being flagged as | ||
development versions which are otherwise unspecified. | ||
* Authentication in integration managers | ||
* MSC not yet defined | ||
* Integration manager specific APIs | ||
* MSC and scope not yet defined | ||
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***TODO: Define where paid integrations, OAuth, etc all fit if at all.*** | ||
***TODO: Finalize what goes into this spec.*** | ||
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## Proposed API standards | ||
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All HTTP APIs in this specification must consume and produce JSON unless otherwise indicated. Errors emitted by | ||
these APIs should follow the standard error responses defined by other APIs in Matrix. Some common error responses | ||
implementations may encounter are: | ||
* `403` `{"errcode":"M_UNKNOWN_TOKEN","error":"Invalid token"}` | ||
* `400` `{"errcode":"M_MISSING_PARAM","error":"Missing 'matrix_server_name'"}` | ||
* `400` `{"errcode":"M_INVALID_PARAM","error":"'matrix_server_name' must be a string"}` | ||
* `400` `{"errcode":"M_NOT_FOUND","error":"The sharable URL did not resolve to a pack"}` | ||
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## Tradeoffs | ||
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Specifying a whole new set of APIs means introducing another complex system into Matrix, potentially causing | ||
confusion or concerns about the architecture of Matrix or its implementations. It is believed by the author that | ||
having a dedicated set of APIs for this system within Matrix is important to reduce the burden on homeserver | ||
authors and to support client authors in their ambitions to grow Matrix through bridges, bots, etc. | ||
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It is also questionable if integration managers should be a concept within Matrix as the APIs which clients would | ||
be interacting with can be generically exposed by the integrations themselves without the need for a manager. The | ||
manager's role in this specification is to provide clients with the opportunity to quickly get themselves connected | ||
with the larger Matrix ecossytem without adding the burden of designing their own interface. The majority of the | ||
APIs are defined such that a client is able to put their own UI on top of the manager instead of embedding that | ||
manager if desired by the client. | ||
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## Potential issues | ||
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Clients which support today's ecosystem of integration managers have a lot of work to do to support this proposal | ||
in all its parts. In addition, integration managers themselves have a decent amount of work in order to become | ||
compliant. The exercise of this proposal is not to make development harder for the projects in the ecosystem, but | ||
to standardize on a set of APIs which bridge the gap between managers while also patching inadequacies in the current | ||
systems. | ||
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## Security considerations | ||
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Each proposal which branches off this proposal has its own set of security considerations. As a whole, clients are | ||
expected to make decisions on which integration managers are trusted, and integration managers are encouraged to do | ||
the same with clients and integrations. | ||
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## Conclusion / TLDR | ||
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Add a new API specification for interactions between integrations and clients. APIs for interactions between the | ||
integrations and managers is undefined and left as an implementation detail. |