45 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
Matrix.to
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Matrix.to is a simple stateless privacy-protecting URL redirecting service,
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which lets users share links to entities in the Matrix.org ecosystem without
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being tied to any specific app. This lets users choose their own favourite
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Matrix client to participate in conversations rather than being forced to use
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the same app as whoever sent the link.
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Matrix.to preserves user privacy by not sharing any information about the links
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being followed with the Matrix.to server - the redirection is calculated
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entirely clientside using JavaScript, and the link details is hidden behind a
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fragment to avoid web clients leaking it to the server.
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Matrix.to links are designed to be human-friendly, both for reading and
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constructing, and are essentially a compatibility step in the journey towards a
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ubiquitous mx:// URL scheme (see https://matrix.org/jira/browse/SPEC-5).
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Anyone is welcome to host their own version of the Matrix.to app - Matrix.to is
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**not** a single point of failure on the Matrix ecosystem; if the matrix.to
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deployment ever failed, users could trivially copy the room/user/message details
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out of the URLs and follow them manually, or change the hostname to point at an
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alternative deployment of the service. The Matrix.to service could also be
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hosted in an immutable/signed environment such as IPFS to further increase its
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availability and avoid tampering.
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The matrix.to URL scheme is:
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| Entity type: | Example URL |
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|--------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| Rooms: | https://matrix.to/#/#matrix:matrix.org |
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| Rooms by ID: | https://matrix.to/#/!cURbafjkfsMDVwdRDQ:matrix.org |
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| Users: | https://matrix.to/#/@matthew:matrix.org |
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| Messages: | https://matrix.to/#/#matrix:matrix.org/$1448831580433WbpiJ:jki.re |
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The #/ component is optional, and exists to avoid leaking the target URL to the
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server hosting matrix.to. https://matrix.to/@matthew:matrix.org works too, and
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provides better legibility at the expense of privacy.
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Note that linking to rooms by ID should only be used for rooms to which the target
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user has been invited: these links cannot be assumed to work for all visitors.
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(Technically the # and @ in the URL fragment should probably be escaped, but in
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practice for legibility we bend the rules and include it verbatim)
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