Matrix is an ambitious new ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and
VoIP[1].
VoIP[1]. The basics you need to know to get up and running are:
- Chatrooms look like ``#matrix:matrix.org`` or ``#test:localhost:8080``
- Matrix user IDs look like ``@matthew:matrix.org`` (although in the future
you will normally refer to yourself and others using a 3PID: email
address, phone number, etc rather than manipulating matrix user IDs)
<ascii diagram showing trapezium>
To get up and running:
- To simply play with an **existing** homeserver you can
just go straight to http://matrix.org/alpha.
- To run your own **private** homeserver on localhost:8080, install synapse
with ``python setup.py develop --user`` and then run one with
``python synapse/app/homeserver.py``
- To run your own webclient:
``cd webclient; python -m SimpleHTTPServer`` and hit http://localhost:8000
in your web browser (a recent Chrome, Safari or Firefox for now,
please...)
- To quickly run a **public** homeserver that can exchange messages with
other homeservers and participate in the overall Matrix federation, open
up port 8080 and run ``python synapse/app/homeserver.py --host
machine.my.domain.name``. Then come join ``#matrix:matrix.org`` and
say hi! :)
About Matrix
============
Matrix specifies a set of pragmatic RESTful HTTP JSON APIs as an open standard,
providing:
Matrix specifies a set of pragmatic RESTful HTTP JSON APIs for VoIP and IM as an
open standard, providing:
- Creating and managing fully distributed chat rooms with no
single points of control or failure
- Eventually-consistent cryptographically secure[2] synchronisation of room
state across a global open network of federated servers and services
state across a global open network of federated servers and services
- Sending and receiving extensible messages in a room with (optional)
end-to-end encryption[3]
- Inviting, joining, leaving, kicking, banning room members
@ -57,74 +88,6 @@ Thanks for trying Matrix!
[3] End-to-end encryption is currently in development
Quick Start
===========
The basics you need to know about Matrix are:
- Chatrooms look like ``#matrix:matrix.org`` or ``#test:localhost:8080``
- Matrix user IDs look like ``@matthew:matrix.org`` (although in the future
you will normally refer to yourself and others using a 3PID: email
address, phone number, etc rather than manipulating matrix user IDs)
- To simply play with an **existing** homeserver (e.g. matrix.org), you can
just go straight to http://matrix.org/alpha, specify a homeserver
(defaults to matrix.org) and sign up and use it. (Sign-up security is
currently work-in-progress)
- To run your own **private** homeserver on localhost:8080, install synapse
with ``python setup.py develop --user`` and then run one with
``python synapse/app/homeserver.py``
- To run your own webclient:
``cd webclient; python -m SimpleHTTPServer`` and hit http://localhost:8000
in your web browser (a recent Chrome, Safari or Firefox for now,
please...)
- For now, register some accounts like ``@testing:localhost:8080`` from
different browsers, join a room like ``#test:localhost:8080`` and have a
play.
- To quickly run a **public** homeserver that can exchange messages with
other homeservers and participate in the overall Matrix federation, open
up port 8080 and run ``python synapse/app/homeserver.py --host
machine.my.domain.name``. Then come join ``#matrix:matrix.org`` and
say hi! :)
Directory Structure
===================
::
.
├── cmdclient Basic CLI python Matrix client
├── demo Scripts for running standalone Matrix demos
├── docs All doc, including the draft Matrix API spec
│ ├── client-server The client-server Matrix API spec
│ ├── model Domain-specific elements of the Matrix API spec
│ ├── server-server The server-server model of the Matrix API spec
│ └── sphinx The internal API doc of the Synapse homeserver
├── experiments Early experiments of using Synapse's internal APIs
├── graph Visualisation of Matrix's distributed message store
├── synapse The reference Matrix homeserver implementation
│ ├── api Common building blocks for the APIs
│ │ ├── events Definition of state representation Events
│ │ └── streams Definition of streamable Event objects
│ ├── app The __main__ entry point for the homeserver
│ ├── crypto The PKI client/server used for secure federation
│ │ └── resource PKI helper objects (e.g. keys)
│ ├── federation Server-server state replication logic
│ ├── handlers The main business logic of the homeserver
│ ├── http Wrappers around Twisted's HTTP server & client
│ ├── rest Servlet-style RESTful API
│ ├── storage Persistence subsystem (currently only sqlite3)
│ │ └── schema sqlite persistence schema
│ └── util Synapse-specific utilities
├── tests Unit tests for the Synapse homeserver
└── webclient Basic AngularJS Matrix web client
Homeserver Installation
=======================
@ -151,6 +114,12 @@ may need to also run:
$ sudo apt-get install python-pip
$ sudo pip install --upgrade setuptools
If you get errors about ``sodium.h`` being missing, you may also need to
manually install a newer PyNaCl via pip as setuptools installs an old one. Or
you can check PyNaCl out of git directly (https://github.com/pyca/pynacl) and
installing it. Installing PyNaCl using pip may also work (remember to remove any
other versions installed by setuputils in, for example, ~/.local/lib).
This will run a process of downloading and installing into your
user's .local/lib directory all of the required dependencies that are
@ -168,8 +137,8 @@ This should end with a 'PASSED' result::
PASSED (successes=143)
Running The Synapse Homeserver
==============================
Setting up Federation
=====================
In order for other homeservers to send messages to your server, it will need to
be publicly visible on the internet, and they will need to know its host name.
@ -215,7 +184,7 @@ Running a Demo Federation of Homeservers
If you want to get up and running quickly with a trio of homeservers in a
private federation (``localhost:8080``, ``localhost:8081`` and
``localhost:8082``) which you can then point a demo webclient at, simply run::
``localhost:8082``) which you can then access through the webclient running at http://localhost:8080. Simply run::
$ demo/start.sh
@ -279,8 +248,8 @@ as the primary means of identity and E2E encryption is not complete. As such,
we're not yet running an identity server in public.
How does it all work?!
======================
Where's the spec?!
==================
For now, please go spelunking in the ``docs/`` directory to find out.
@ -298,8 +267,3 @@ Building internal API documentation::
$ python setup.py build_sphinx
Troubleshooting
===============
fatal error: sodium.h: No such file or directory
There is a bug in PyNaCl 0.2.3 which can cause the module to fail to import. The bug is fixed in HEAD so you can work around it by checking PyNaCl out of git directly (https://github.com/pyca/pynacl) and installing it. Installing PyNaCl using pip may also work (remember to remove any other versions installed by setuputils in, for example, ~/.local/lib).
Matthew Hodgson
10 years ago