On Mon, 9 Nov 2026 at 08:13, Goffi <goffi@goffi.org> wrote:
Are you aware that there is already a way to delete uploaded files with XEP-0498 (https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0498.html#well-known)?
Yes, I'm aware of XEP-0498, and also XEP-0214 which it partially duplicates (and there are probably others!). The ability to delete uploaded data is effectively a legal requirement in many jurisdictions. On services I host, which currently implement the (practically universal) XEP-0363, that deletion is currently a manual process where the customer has to submit a support request so the file can be manually deleted on the server side. I think that XEP-0363 (or any XEP which allows uploading and storing files somewhere) is incomplete without support for deletion on today's internet. Implementing XEP-0498 was not in my plans. I don't have anything against it existing, but it seems a lot more advanced than what ordinary messengers need, and it depends on pubsub, etc. I don't even know what that would look like. Some Prosody file upload backends don't even support listing files. Even implementing deletion is going to be a hurdle for some of them, requiring changes. As I wrote in my initial email, I don't think the two protocols need to compete. This is just filling a gap in XEP-0363 that should have been filled since the beginning. XEP-0498, XEP-0214 and similar XEPs provide more advanced mechanisms for file management, and I think they have their place. But I don't currently have a need for them and the additional complexity and dependencies they introduce. If all the client devs who currently support XEP-0363 today actually do signal that they would prefer to implement XEP-0498, then I'd look further into that. Regards, Matthew