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MSC1929: Homeserver Admin Contact and Support page (#1929)
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* Create 1929-admin-contact.md

* Update 1929-admin-contact.md

* recommended

* clarify backup contact address

* Update 1929-admin-contact.md

* s/mxid/matrix_id/

* s/email/email_address/

* Update proposals/1929-admin-contact.md

Co-Authored-By: Hubert Chathi <[email protected]>

* Cleanup

* Clarify hostname in endpoint definition.

Co-authored-by: Hubert Chathi <[email protected]>

* Fix contact formatting

Co-authored-by: Travis Ralston <[email protected]>

* Update admins -> contacts

Co-authored-by: Travis Ralston <[email protected]>

* Mark that role is required and namespaced.

* Use `m.` prefix

* Apply suggestions from code review

---------

Co-authored-by: Hubert Chathi <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Travis Ralston <[email protected]>
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# MSC1929 Homeserver Admin Contact and Support page

Currently, contacting a homeserver admin is difficult because you need to have insider knowledge
of who the admin actually is. This proposal aims to fix that by specifying a way to add contact details
of admins, as well as a link to a support page for users who are having issues with the service.

This proposal aims to fix https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/484

## Proposal

The proposal suggests adding a new endpoint: `https://{hostname}/.well-known/matrix/support`,
where `hostname` is the server name, without the port number. This is the same as what is used
when performing server discovery.

The response format should be:

```json5
{
"contacts": [
{
"matrix_id": "@admin:domain.tld",
"email_address": "[email protected]",
"role": "m.role.admin"
},
{
"email_address": "[email protected]",
"role": "m.role.security"
}
],
"support_page": "https://domain.tld/support.html"
}
```

The `contacts` array is optional, but recommended.

The `matrix_id` and `email_address` do NOT need to have the same domain as the homeserver. It is expected that
an admin will have a "backup" contact address if the server is down, like an email or alternative mxid on a different homeserver.

Entries may have a `matrix_id` OR an `email_address`, but at least one MUST be specified.

`role` is an informal description of what the address(es) are used for. The only two specified in this
proposal are `m.role.admin` and `m.role.security`.

- `m.role.admin` is a catch-all user for any queries.
- `m.role.security` is intended for sensitive requests

Implementors may use custom values for role for other purposes, but it's suggested
that the value be namespaced to prevent collisions. A value for `role` MUST be specified.

`support_page` is an optional property to specify a affiliated page of the homserver to give users help
specific to the homeserver, like extra login/registration steps.

At least one valid key should be provided. This means `contacts` should have at least one entry, or the `support_page` should be defined. An empty object is not considered valid, however both `contacts `and `support_page` may be specified together.

## Alternative solutions

Hardcode a given user localpart that should be used as an admin address.
- The account would need to either internally redirect messages intended for @admin:domain.tld to another account(s)
- OR require an admin to regularly sign into this special account to check for messages. Neither of which is useful.

Specify the same content inside a homeserver endpoint, rather than use `.well-known`.
- This requires the homeserver to be up or responsive, which might be not very useful if trying to report issues with
connectivity.

Use vCards.
- vCards would add bloat, as the vast majority of a vcards contents is not useful for contacting an admin.

## Security considerations

If the host is compromised, any information could be specified in the well known file which may direct users to send
sensitive information to a malicious user.

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