Hi Matthew, Le lundi 9 novembre 2026, 12:53:53 heure normale d’Europe centrale Matthew Wild a écrit :
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!).
It's not duplicating it, it's based on other features and fixes the issues with XEP-0214. Yes there are others, you can read the introduction, they are all quoted with their issues.
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.
The ability to delete uploaded data is very much required, even if we put legal aside, that's why this problem has been solved already.
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.
Please read it. Most of it is optional. You just need a node, it's re-using existing mechanism (like file-metadata), and you don't even have to show the metadata if it's a problem for your use case (you can either return an empty file-metadata, or simplify not accept get on the node). From a client point of view, all mechanisms are already implemented (needed for PEP, OMEMO, etc). It's a simple item delete, and other devices notification is done automatically following normal pubsub mechanism.
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.
They do compete, XEP-0498 has a dedicated node to delete uploaded file, we'll end-up with another incompatible way, which means another feature to maintain, clients inconsistencies, and also the way you are proposing is only working for HTTP Uploaded files, while XEP-0498 has not such limitation. Sure for the file sharing component I'm maintaining, I can add yet another mechanism for deletion, and convert it (so file deletion events are properly handled), but it an extra feature to maintain. How how can my other devices be even notified of file deletion with your proposal, I haven't seen any mechanism for that, did I miss something ?
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.
Another issue, it that it's modifying a stable spec for an experimental feature, it will be a mess if there are changes to do on this (following feedback for instance). It should a least be proposed as an alternative spec. Regards, Goffi