Version 0.1.1 of XEP-0484 (Fast Authentication Streamlining Tokens)
has been released.
Abstract:
This specification defines a token-based method to streamline
authentication in XMPP, allowing fully authenticated stream
establishment within a single round-trip.
Changelog:
* Link to latest draft version (09) of the HT SASL mechanism. (lnj)
URL: https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0484.html
Note: The information in the XEP list at https://xmpp.org/extensions/
is updated by a separate automated process and may be stale at the
time this email is sent. The XEP documents linked herein are up-to-
date.
The current contact implementation is lacking, which causes having lots of fragmentation and duplicates in contacts. Here are some scenarios:
* XEP proposal1: meta contacts. A single person John Doe has multiple accounts doe1(a)ex1.com, doe2(a)ex2.com, doe3(a)ex3.com ... It would make more sense to have an "extended contact" or a "meta contact" that combines all of these addresses.
* XEP proposal2: once meta contact is implemented, it would be desirable to have a field for a personal note. For example, this is available in Slack and Discord. In 2020 there was an XMPP sprint for "studying Discord and bringing its interesting features" (https://wiki.xmpp.org/web/Sprints/2020_November_Online), and I think this is an interesting and useful feature.
* XEP proposal3: better contact integration. The contacts data on XMPP apps of Android is very isolated from the rest of apps. All other messaging apps interact well with the device contacts and phone numbers, except for XMPP because it doesn't use phone numbers as identifiers. But once we have XEP proposal2 and we can add personal notes, we can also add a field for phone numbers for contacts that would make it more interoperable with device contacts that are identified with phone numbers.
For these 3 proposals, I was moving point by point to explain the motive behind the next proposal which actually combines all of the three previous points.
* XEP proposal4: vCard compatible contacts. The vCard standards solves all three points since it 1) accepts multiple phone numbers and emails, 2) Include note, birthday, company and other miscellaneous fields, and 3) are supported natively by phone contacts. As of vCard v4, it has XML property which "is used if the vCard was encoded in XML (xCard standard) and the XML document contained elements which are not part of the xCard standard."
* XEP proposal5: once vCard standard is supported, it would be easy to have XMPP as a WebDav server. Android app like Conversation have access to all contact information and can easily sync contact information with phone contacts.
* XEP proposal6: It remains to clarify how XMPP clients deal with contacts that have no XMPP handle. Signal chose the position of not showing them in app at all. WhatApp prepares an SMS to invite them. This might be left to the client, but as a Slidge gateway user, it would be convenient to check phone numbers as a username handle for the current server. E.g: if a phone number is +18884440000, client would check the main gateway servers setup by users +18884440000(a)example.org, +18884440000(a)whatsapp.example.org, and +18884440000(a)telegram.example.org. If non of these exist, then the client can proceed with inviting them to XMPP.. As for the security, a simple disclaimer like: "XMPP found these gateway users but couldn't verify their ownership" should suffice.
* XEP proposal7: contact-related features might need revision like XEP-0140 (contact groups), as this is implemented in vCard too.
When using gateways that create many users (e.g: https://slidge.im), XMPP clients are spammed with subscription and invitation requests. It would be useful for users to set a policy that rejects any incoming request and only manually approve subscriptions and invitations.
XEP-0402 only describes bookmarks as a single category, but it is useful to have different categories within bookmarks. This is similar to Telegram's "Folders" features where one can organize different chats within specific areas of life: e.g:
1. Work
2. Friends
3. Family
4. and so on...
Version 1.2.2 of XEP-0107 (User Mood) has been released.
Abstract:
This specification defines a payload format for communicating
information about user moods, such as whether a person is currently
happy, sad, angry, or annoyed. The payload format is typically
transported using the personal eventing protocol, a profile of XMPP
publish-subscribe specified in XEP-0163.
Changelog:
Fixed typo (XEP Editor (dg))
URL: https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0107.html
Note: The information in the XEP list at https://xmpp.org/extensions/
is updated by a separate automated process and may be stale at the
time this email is sent. The XEP documents linked herein are up-to-
date.
Version 0.1.0 of XEP-0491 (WebXDC) has been released.
Abstract:
This document defines an XMPP protocol extension to communicate WebXDC
widgets and their state updates.
Changelog:
* Promoted to Experimental (XEP Editor: dg)
URL: https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0491.html
Note: The information in the XEP list at https://xmpp.org/extensions/
is updated by a separate automated process and may be stale at the
time this email is sent. The XEP documents linked herein are up-to-
date.
Version 1.1.1 of XEP-0153 (vCard-Based Avatars) has been released.
Abstract:
This document provides historical documentation of a vCard-based
protocol for exchanging user avatars.
Changelog:
XEP-0054 says “Email addresses MUST be contained in a <USERID>
element”. (egp)
URL: https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0153.html
Note: The information in the XEP list at https://xmpp.org/extensions/
is updated by a separate automated process and may be stale at the
time this email is sent. The XEP documents linked herein are up-to-
date.
I have setup the membership application Wiki page for the application
period Q3 2024
Applications are encouraged from developers and others who are actively
involved in the Jabber/XMPP community. To apply, create a page about
yourself on the Wiki:
https://wiki.xmpp.org/web/Membership_Applications_Q3_2024
If you don't have a wiki account, send your full name, preferred
nickname and email address to me or one of the other Sysops:
https://wiki.xmpp.org/web/Sysops
Apply now!!!
Thanks,
Alex
The XMPP Extensions Editor has received a proposal for a new XEP.
Title: WebXDC
Abstract:
This document defines an XMPP protocol extension to communicate WebXDC
widgets and their state updates.
URL: https://xmpp.org/extensions/inbox/webxdc.html
The Council will decide in the next two weeks whether to accept this
proposal as an official XEP.
