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authorWill Hunt <will@half-shot.uk>2018-07-27 12:26:52 +0100
committerWill Hunt <will@half-shot.uk>2018-07-27 12:26:52 +0100
commit46afacc215db24b128e502c2c23cc3f3205d6f70 (patch)
treeeb8bd164bcc1b49b507e4d41c900325bcbfc5a5a
parentAuth media/r0/config (diff)
parentMerge pull request #3391 from t3chguy/t3chguy/default_inviter_display_name_3pid (diff)
downloadsynapse-46afacc215db24b128e502c2c23cc3f3205d6f70.tar.xz
Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/develop' into hs/upload-limits
-rw-r--r--.travis.yml3
-rw-r--r--CHANGES.md2470
-rw-r--r--CHANGES.rst2839
-rw-r--r--MANIFEST.in1
-rw-r--r--README.rst29
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/2970.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3331.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3350.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3367.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3391.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3415.misc (renamed from changelog.d/3463.misc)0
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3460.misc (renamed from changelog.d/3464.misc)0
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3514.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3520.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3548.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3552.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3553.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3554.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3555.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3556.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3559.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3562.misc0
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3570.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3571.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3572.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3577.misc0
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3579.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3581.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3582.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3584.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3586.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3587.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3590.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3591.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3592.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3595.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3597.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3601.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3604.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3605.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3606.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3607.bugfix1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3609.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3610.feature1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3613.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3614.misc1
-rw-r--r--changelog.d/3616.misc1
-rw-r--r--docs/admin_api/register_api.rst63
-rw-r--r--docs/workers.rst4
-rw-r--r--pyproject.toml29
-rwxr-xr-xscripts/register_new_matrix_user32
-rw-r--r--setup.cfg12
-rw-r--r--synapse/__init__.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/api/auth.py160
-rw-r--r--synapse/api/filtering.py20
-rw-r--r--synapse/app/client_reader.py16
-rwxr-xr-xsynapse/app/homeserver.py19
-rw-r--r--synapse/app/synchrotron.py5
-rwxr-xr-xsynapse/app/synctl.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/config/voip.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/events/snapshot.py200
-rw-r--r--synapse/federation/federation_base.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/federation/federation_server.py11
-rw-r--r--synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py25
-rw-r--r--synapse/federation/transport/server.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/groups/attestations.py10
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/__init__.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/_base.py3
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/appservice.py5
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/device.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/federation.py265
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py38
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/message.py306
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/pagination.py265
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/profile.py9
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/room.py18
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/room_list.py6
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/room_member.py13
-rw-r--r--synapse/handlers/sync.py173
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/client.py6
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/request_metrics.py92
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/servlet.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/site.py29
-rw-r--r--synapse/metrics/background_process_metrics.py185
-rw-r--r--synapse/notifier.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py7
-rw-r--r--synapse/replication/http/send_event.py7
-rw-r--r--synapse/replication/slave/storage/receipts.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/replication/tcp/client.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py14
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/__init__.py43
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/transactions.py45
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py177
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/directory.py7
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/initial_sync.py3
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py3
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/push_rule.py10
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py17
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py41
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1_only/__init__.py3
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1_only/base.py39
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v1_only/register.py (renamed from synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py)37
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/account.py49
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/devices.py26
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py30
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/report_event.py26
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sendtodevice.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/media/v1/identicon_resource.py6
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py8
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py13
-rw-r--r--synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py5
-rw-r--r--synapse/secrets.py42
-rw-r--r--synapse/server.py22
-rw-r--r--synapse/state.py246
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/_base.py34
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/background_updates.py10
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/client_ips.py15
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/devices.py61
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py27
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/event_federation.py22
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py13
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/events.py234
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/events_worker.py64
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/push_rule.py20
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/pusher.py2
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/receipts.py25
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/roommember.py68
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/schema/delta/50/make_event_content_nullable.py92
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/event_edges.sql3
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/im.sql7
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/state.py147
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/transactions.py8
-rw-r--r--synapse/storage/user_directory.py4
-rw-r--r--synapse/streams/config.py30
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/async.py145
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py6
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py15
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/distributor.py48
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/logcontext.py176
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/metrics.py32
-rw-r--r--synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py33
-rw-r--r--synapse/visibility.py178
-rw-r--r--tests/replication/slave/storage/_base.py37
-rw-r--r--tests/replication/slave/storage/test_events.py8
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py5
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v1/test_admin.py305
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py90
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v1/test_register.py71
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py1158
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v1/utils.py115
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/__init__.py61
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_filter.py133
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_register.py211
-rw-r--r--tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py87
-rw-r--r--tests/server.py12
-rw-r--r--tests/storage/test_state.py319
-rw-r--r--tests/test_distributor.py56
-rw-r--r--tests/test_federation.py3
-rw-r--r--tests/test_server.py22
-rw-r--r--tests/test_state.py47
-rw-r--r--tests/test_visibility.py324
-rw-r--r--tests/unittest.py11
-rw-r--r--tests/util/test_limiter.py70
-rw-r--r--tests/util/test_linearizer.py78
-rw-r--r--tests/util/test_stream_change_cache.py22
-rw-r--r--tests/utils.py4
-rw-r--r--tox.ini8
168 files changed, 7514 insertions, 5623 deletions
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index a98d547978..b34b17af75 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ matrix:
     env: TOX_ENV=py36
 
   - python: 3.6
+    env: TOX_ENV=check_isort
+
+  - python: 3.6
     env: TOX_ENV=check-newsfragment
 
 install:
diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8edd158553
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2470 @@
+Synapse 0.33.0 (2018-07-19)
+===========================
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+-   Disable a noisy warning about logcontexts. ([\#3561](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3561))
+
+Synapse 0.33.0rc1 (2018-07-18)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+-   Enforce the specified API for report\_event. ([\#3316](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3316))
+-   Include CPU time from database threads in request/block metrics. ([\#3496](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3496), [\#3501](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3501))
+-   Add CPU metrics for \_fetch\_event\_list. ([\#3497](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3497))
+-   Optimisation to make handling incoming federation requests more efficient. ([\#3541](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3541))
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+-   Fix a significant performance regression in /sync. ([\#3505](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3505), [\#3521](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3521), [\#3530](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3530), [\#3544](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3544))
+-   Use more portable syntax in our use of the attrs package, widening the supported versions. ([\#3498](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3498))
+-   Fix queued federation requests being processed in the wrong order. ([\#3533](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3533))
+-   Ensure that erasure requests are correctly honoured for publicly accessible rooms when accessed over federation. ([\#3546](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3546))
+
+Misc
+----
+
+-   Refactoring to improve testability. ([\#3351](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3351), [\#3499](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3499))
+-   Use `isort` to sort imports. ([\#3463](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3463), [\#3464](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3464), [\#3540](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3540))
+-   Use parse and asserts from http.servlet. ([\#3534](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3534), [\#3535](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3535)).
+
+Synapse 0.32.2 (2018-07-07)
+===========================
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+-   Amend the Python dependencies to depend on attrs from PyPI, not attr ([\#3492](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3492))
+
+Synapse 0.32.1 (2018-07-06)
+===========================
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+-   Add explicit dependency on netaddr ([\#3488](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3488))
+
+Changes in synapse v0.32.0 (2018-07-06)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since 0.32.0rc1
+
+Synapse 0.32.0rc1 (2018-07-05)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+-   Add blacklist & whitelist of servers allowed to send events to a room via `m.room.server_acl` event.
+-   Cache factor override system for specific caches ([\#3334](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3334))
+-   Add metrics to track appservice transactions ([\#3344](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3344))
+-   Try to log more helpful info when a sig verification fails ([\#3372](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3372))
+-   Synapse now uses the best performing JSON encoder/decoder according to your runtime (simplejson on CPython, stdlib json on PyPy). ([\#3462](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3462))
+-   Add optional ip\_range\_whitelist param to AS registration files to lock AS IP access ([\#3465](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3465))
+-   Reject invalid server names in federation requests ([\#3480](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3480))
+-   Reject invalid server names in homeserver.yaml ([\#3483](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3483))
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+-   Strip access\_token from outgoing requests ([\#3327](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3327))
+-   Redact AS tokens in logs ([\#3349](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3349))
+-   Fix federation backfill from SQLite servers ([\#3355](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3355))
+-   Fix event-purge-by-ts admin API ([\#3363](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3363))
+-   Fix event filtering in get\_missing\_events handler ([\#3371](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3371))
+-   Synapse is now stricter regarding accepting events which it cannot retrieve the prev\_events for. ([\#3456](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3456))
+-   Fix bug where synapse would explode when receiving unicode in HTTP User-Agent header ([\#3470](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3470))
+-   Invalidate cache on correct thread to avoid race ([\#3473](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3473))
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+-   `doc/postgres.rst`: fix display of the last command block. Thanks to @ArchangeGabriel! ([\#3340](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3340))
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+-   Remove was\_forgotten\_at ([\#3324](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3324))
+
+Misc
+----
+
+-   [\#3332](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3332), [\#3341](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3341), [\#3347](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3347), [\#3348](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3348), [\#3356](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3356), [\#3385](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3385), [\#3446](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3446), [\#3447](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3447), [\#3467](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3467), [\#3474](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3474)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.31.2 (2018-06-14)
+=======================================
+
+SECURITY UPDATE: Prevent unauthorised users from setting state events in a room when there is no `m.room.power_levels` event in force in the room. (PR #3397)
+
+Discussion around the Matrix Spec change proposal for this change can be followed at <https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/1304>.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.31.1 (2018-06-08)
+=======================================
+
+v0.31.1 fixes a security bug in the `get_missing_events` federation API where event visibility rules were not applied correctly.
+
+We are not aware of it being actively exploited but please upgrade asap.
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   Fix event filtering in get\_missing\_events handler (PR #3371)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.31.0 (2018-06-06)
+=======================================
+
+Most notable change from v0.30.0 is to switch to the python prometheus library to improve system stats reporting. WARNING: this changes a number of prometheus metrics in a backwards-incompatible manner. For more details, see [docs/metrics-howto.rst](docs/metrics-howto.rst#removal-of-deprecated-metrics--time-based-counters-becoming-histograms-in-0310).
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   Fix metric documentation tables (PR #3341)
+-   Fix LaterGauge error handling (694968f)
+-   Fix replication metrics (b7e7fd2)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.31.0-rc1 (2018-06-04)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Switch to the Python Prometheus library (PR #3256, #3274)
+-   Let users leave the server notice room after joining (PR #3287)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   daily user type phone home stats (PR #3264)
+-   Use iter\* methods for \_filter\_events\_for\_server (PR #3267)
+-   Docs on consent bits (PR #3268)
+-   Remove users from user directory on deactivate (PR #3277)
+-   Avoid sending consent notice to guest users (PR #3288)
+-   disable CPUMetrics if no /proc/self/stat (PR #3299)
+-   Consistently use six\'s iteritems and wrap lazy keys/values in list() if they\'re not meant to be lazy (PR #3307)
+-   Add private IPv6 addresses to example config for url preview blacklist (PR #3317) Thanks to @thegcat!
+-   Reduce stuck read-receipts: ignore depth when updating (PR #3318)
+-   Put python\'s logs into Trial when running unit tests (PR #3319)
+
+Changes, python 3 migration:
+
+-   Replace some more comparisons with six (PR #3243) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   replace some iteritems with six (PR #3244) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Add batch\_iter to utils (PR #3245) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   use repr, not str (PR #3246) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Misc Python3 fixes (PR #3247) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Py3 storage/\_base.py (PR #3278) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   more six iteritems (PR #3279) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   More Misc. py3 fixes (PR #3280) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   remaining isintance fixes (PR #3281) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   py3-ize state.py (PR #3283) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   extend tox testing for py3 to avoid regressions (PR #3302) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   use memoryview in py3 (PR #3303) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+
+Bugs:
+
+-   Fix federation backfill bugs (PR #3261)
+-   federation: fix LaterGauge usage (PR #3328) Thanks to @intelfx!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.30.0 (2018-05-24)
+=======================================
+
+\'Server Notices\' are a new feature introduced in Synapse 0.30. They provide a channel whereby server administrators can send messages to users on the server.
+
+They are used as part of communication of the server policies (see `docs/consent_tracking.md`), however the intention is that they may also find a use for features such as \"Message of the day\".
+
+This feature is specific to Synapse, but uses standard Matrix communication mechanisms, so should work with any Matrix client. For more details see `docs/server_notices.md`
+
+Further Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
+
+-   Allow overriding the server\_notices user\'s avatar (PR #3273)
+-   Use the localpart in the consent uri (PR #3272)
+-   Support for putting %(consent\_uri)s in messages (PR #3271)
+-   Block attempts to send server notices to remote users (PR #3270)
+-   Docs on consent bits (PR #3268)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.30.0-rc1 (2018-05-23)
+===========================================
+
+Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
+
+-   ConsentResource to gather policy consent from users (PR #3213)
+-   Move RoomCreationHandler out of synapse.handlers.Handlers (PR #3225)
+-   Infrastructure for a server notices room (PR #3232)
+-   Send users a server notice about consent (PR #3236)
+-   Reject attempts to send event before privacy consent is given (PR #3257)
+-   Add a \'has\_consented\' template var to consent forms (PR #3262)
+-   Fix dependency on jinja2 (PR #3263)
+
+Features:
+
+-   Cohort analytics (PR #3163, #3241, #3251)
+-   Add lxml to docker image for web previews (PR #3239) Thanks to @ptman!
+-   Add in flight request metrics (PR #3252)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Remove unused update\_external\_syncs (PR #3233)
+-   Use stream rather depth ordering for push actions (PR #3212)
+-   Make purge\_history operate on tokens (PR #3221)
+-   Don\'t support limitless pagination (PR #3265)
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   Fix logcontext resource usage tracking (PR #3258)
+-   Fix error in handling receipts (PR #3235)
+-   Stop the transaction cache caching failures (PR #3255)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.1 (2018-05-17)
+=======================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Update docker documentation (PR #3222)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.0 (2018-05-16)
+=======================================
+
+Not changes since v0.29.0-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.0-rc1 (2018-05-14)
+===========================================
+
+Notable changes, a docker file for running Synapse (Thanks to @kaiyou!) and a closed spec bug in the Client Server API. Additionally further prep for Python 3 migration.
+
+Potentially breaking change:
+
+-   Make Client-Server API return 401 for invalid token (PR #3161).
+
+    This changes the Client-server spec to return a 401 error code instead of 403 when the access token is unrecognised. This is the behaviour required by the specification, but some clients may be relying on the old, incorrect behaviour.
+
+    Thanks to @NotAFile for fixing this.
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add a Dockerfile for synapse (PR #2846) Thanks to @kaiyou!
+
+Changes - General:
+
+-   nuke-room-from-db.sh: added postgresql option and help (PR #2337) Thanks to @rubo77!
+-   Part user from rooms on account deactivate (PR #3201)
+-   Make \'unexpected logging context\' into warnings (PR #3007)
+-   Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
+-   remove duplicates from groups tables (PR #3129)
+-   Improve exception handling for background processes (PR #3138)
+-   Add missing consumeErrors to improve exception handling (PR #3139)
+-   reraise exceptions more carefully (PR #3142)
+-   Remove redundant call to preserve\_fn (PR #3143)
+-   Trap exceptions thrown within run\_in\_background (PR #3144)
+
+Changes - Refactors:
+
+-   Refactor /context to reuse pagination storage functions (PR #3193)
+-   Refactor recent events func to use pagination func (PR #3195)
+-   Refactor pagination DB API to return concrete type (PR #3196)
+-   Refactor get\_recent\_events\_for\_room return type (PR #3198)
+-   Refactor sync APIs to reuse pagination API (PR #3199)
+-   Remove unused code path from member change DB func (PR #3200)
+-   Refactor request handling wrappers (PR #3203)
+-   transaction\_id, destination defined twice (PR #3209) Thanks to @damir-manapov!
+-   Refactor event storage to prepare for changes in state calculations (PR #3141)
+-   Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
+-   Use deferred.addTimeout instead of time\_bound\_deferred (PR #3127, #3178)
+-   Use run\_in\_background in preference to preserve\_fn (PR #3140)
+
+Changes - Python 3 migration:
+
+-   Construct HMAC as bytes on py3 (PR #3156) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   run config tests on py3 (PR #3159) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Open certificate files as bytes (PR #3084) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Open config file in non-bytes mode (PR #3085) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Make event properties raise AttributeError instead (PR #3102) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Use six.moves.urlparse (PR #3108) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Add py3 tests to tox with folders that work (PR #3145) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Don\'t yield in list comprehensions (PR #3150) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Move more xrange to six (PR #3151) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   make imports local (PR #3152) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   move httplib import to six (PR #3153) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Replace stringIO imports with six (PR #3154, #3168) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   more bytes strings (PR #3155) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   synapse fails to start under Twisted \>= 18.4 (PR #3157)
+-   Fix a class of logcontext leaks (PR #3170)
+-   Fix a couple of logcontext leaks in unit tests (PR #3172)
+-   Fix logcontext leak in media repo (PR #3174)
+-   Escape label values in prometheus metrics (PR #3175, #3186)
+-   Fix \'Unhandled Error\' logs with Twisted 18.4 (PR #3182) Thanks to @Half-Shot!
+-   Fix logcontext leaks in rate limiter (PR #3183)
+-   notifications: Convert next\_token to string according to the spec (PR #3190) Thanks to @mujx!
+-   nuke-room-from-db.sh: fix deletion from search table (PR #3194) Thanks to @rubo77!
+-   add guard for None on purge\_history api (PR #3160) Thanks to @krombel!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.1 (2018-05-01)
+=======================================
+
+SECURITY UPDATE
+
+-   Clamp the allowed values of event depth received over federation to be \[0, 2\^63 - 1\]. This mitigates an attack where malicious events injected with depth = 2\^63 - 1 render rooms unusable. Depth is used to determine the cosmetic ordering of events within a room, and so the ordering of events in such a room will default to using stream\_ordering rather than depth (topological\_ordering).
+
+    This is a temporary solution to mitigate abuse in the wild, whilst a long term solution is being implemented to improve how the depth parameter is used.
+
+    Full details at <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I3fi2S-XnpO45qrpCsowZv8P8dHcNZ4fsBsbOW7KABI>
+
+-   Pin Twisted to \<18.4 until we stop using the private \_OpenSSLECCurve API.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.0 (2018-04-26)
+=======================================
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   Fix quarantine media admin API and search reindex (PR #3130)
+-   Fix media admin APIs (PR #3134)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.0-rc1 (2018-04-24)
+===========================================
+
+Minor performance improvement to federation sending and bug fixes.
+
+(Note: This release does not include the delta state resolution implementation discussed in matrix live)
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add metrics for event processing lag (PR #3090)
+-   Add metrics for ResponseCache (PR #3092)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Synapse on PyPy (PR #2760) Thanks to @Valodim!
+-   move handling of auto\_join\_rooms to RegisterHandler (PR #2996) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   Improve handling of SRV records for federation connections (PR #3016) Thanks to @silkeh!
+-   Document the behaviour of ResponseCache (PR #3059)
+-   Preparation for py3 (PR #3061, #3073, #3074, #3075, #3103, #3104, #3106, #3107, #3109, #3110) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   update prometheus dashboard to use new metric names (PR #3069) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   use python3-compatible prints (PR #3074) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Send federation events concurrently (PR #3078)
+-   Limit concurrent event sends for a room (PR #3079)
+-   Improve R30 stat definition (PR #3086)
+-   Send events to ASes concurrently (PR #3088)
+-   Refactor ResponseCache usage (PR #3093)
+-   Clarify that SRV may not point to a CNAME (PR #3100) Thanks to @silkeh!
+-   Use str(e) instead of e.message (PR #3103) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Use six.itervalues in some places (PR #3106) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Refactor store.have\_events (PR #3117)
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+-   Return 401 for invalid access\_token on logout (PR #2938) Thanks to @dklug!
+-   Return a 404 rather than a 500 on rejoining empty rooms (PR #3080)
+-   fix federation\_domain\_whitelist (PR #3099)
+-   Avoid creating events with huge numbers of prev\_events (PR #3113)
+-   Reject events which have lots of prev\_events (PR #3118)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.4 (2018-04-13)
+=======================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Update canonicaljson dependency (\#3095)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3 (2018-04-11)
+======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   URL quote path segments over federation (\#3082)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc2 (2018-04-09)
+===========================================
+
+v0.27.3-rc1 used a stale version of the develop branch so the changelog overstates the functionality. v0.27.3-rc2 is up to date, rc1 should be ignored.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc1 (2018-04-09)
+===========================================
+
+Notable changes include API support for joinability of groups. Also new metrics and phone home stats. Phone home stats include better visibility of system usage so we can tweak synpase to work better for all users rather than our own experience with matrix.org. Also, recording \'r30\' stat which is the measure we use to track overal growth of the Matrix ecosystem. It is defined as:-
+
+Counts the number of native 30 day retained users, defined as:- \* Users who have created their accounts more than 30 days
+
+:   -   Where last seen at most 30 days ago
+    -   Where account creation and last\_seen are \> 30 days\"
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add joinability for groups (PR #3045)
+-   Implement group join API (PR #3046)
+-   Add counter metrics for calculating state delta (PR #3033)
+-   R30 stats (PR #3041)
+-   Measure time it takes to calculate state group ID (PR #3043)
+-   Add basic performance statistics to phone home (PR #3044)
+-   Add response size metrics (PR #3071)
+-   phone home cache size configurations (PR #3063)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Add a blurb explaining the main synapse worker (PR #2886) Thanks to @turt2live!
+-   Replace old style error catching with \'as\' keyword (PR #3000) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+-   Use .iter\* to avoid copies in StateHandler (PR #3006)
+-   Linearize calls to \_generate\_user\_id (PR #3029)
+-   Remove last usage of ujson (PR #3030)
+-   Use simplejson throughout (PR #3048)
+-   Use static JSONEncoders (PR #3049)
+-   Remove uses of events.content (PR #3060)
+-   Improve database cache performance (PR #3068)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Add room\_id to the response of rooms/{roomId}/join (PR #2986) Thanks to @jplatte!
+-   Fix replication after switch to simplejson (PR #3015)
+-   404 correctly on missing paths via NoResource (PR #3022)
+-   Fix error when claiming e2e keys from offline servers (PR #3034)
+-   fix tests/storage/test\_user\_directory.py (PR #3042)
+-   use PUT instead of POST for federating groups/m.join\_policy (PR #3070) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   postgres port script: fix state\_groups\_pkey error (PR #3072)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.2 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug which broke TCP replication between workers (PR #3015)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.1 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+Meta release as v0.27.0 temporarily pointed to the wrong commit
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.27.0-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc2 (2018-03-19)
+===========================================
+
+Pulls in v0.26.1
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug introduced in v0.27.0-rc1 that causes much increased memory usage in state cache (PR #3005)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.26.1 (2018-03-15)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where an invalid event caused server to stop functioning correctly, due to parsing and serializing bugs in ujson library (PR #3008)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc1 (2018-03-14)
+===========================================
+
+The common case for running Synapse is not to run separate workers, but for those that do, be aware that synctl no longer starts the main synapse when using `-a` option with workers. A new worker file should be added with `worker_app: synapse.app.homeserver`.
+
+This release also begins the process of renaming a number of the metrics reported to prometheus. See [docs/metrics-howto.rst](docs/metrics-howto.rst#block-and-response-metrics-renamed-for-0-27-0). Note that the v0.28.0 release will remove the deprecated metric names.
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add ability for ASes to override message send time (PR #2754)
+-   Add support for custom storage providers for media repository (PR #2867, #2777, #2783, #2789, #2791, #2804, #2812, #2814, #2857, #2868, #2767)
+-   Add purge API features, see [docs/admin\_api/purge\_history\_api.rst](docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst) for full details (PR #2858, #2867, #2882, #2946, #2962, #2943)
+-   Add support for whitelisting 3PIDs that users can register. (PR #2813)
+-   Add `/room/{id}/event/{id}` API (PR #2766)
+-   Add an admin API to get all the media in a room (PR #2818) Thanks to @turt2live!
+-   Add `federation_domain_whitelist` option (PR #2820, #2821)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Continue to factor out processing from main process and into worker processes. See updated [docs/workers.rst](docs/workers.rst) (PR #2892 - \#2904, #2913, #2920 - \#2926, #2947, #2847, #2854, #2872, #2873, #2874, #2928, #2929, #2934, #2856, #2976 - \#2984, #2987 - \#2989, #2991 - \#2993, #2995, #2784)
+-   Ensure state cache is used when persisting events (PR #2864, #2871, #2802, #2835, #2836, #2841, #2842, #2849)
+-   Change the default config to bind on both IPv4 and IPv6 on all platforms (PR #2435) Thanks to @silkeh!
+-   No longer require a specific version of saml2 (PR #2695) Thanks to @okurz!
+-   Remove `verbosity`/`log_file` from generated config (PR #2755)
+-   Add and improve metrics and logging (PR #2770, #2778, #2785, #2786, #2787, #2793, #2794, #2795, #2809, #2810, #2833, #2834, #2844, #2965, #2927, #2975, #2790, #2796, #2838)
+-   When using synctl with workers, don\'t start the main synapse automatically (PR #2774)
+-   Minor performance improvements (PR #2773, #2792)
+-   Use a connection pool for non-federation outbound connections (PR #2817)
+-   Make it possible to run unit tests against postgres (PR #2829)
+-   Update pynacl dependency to 1.2.1 or higher (PR #2888) Thanks to @bachp!
+-   Remove ability for AS users to call /events and /sync (PR #2948)
+-   Use bcrypt.checkpw (PR #2949) Thanks to @krombel!
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix broken `ldap_config` config option (PR #2683) Thanks to @seckrv!
+-   Fix error message when user is not allowed to unban (PR #2761) Thanks to @turt2live!
+-   Fix publicised groups GET API (singular) over federation (PR #2772)
+-   Fix user directory when using `user_directory_search_all_users` config option (PR #2803, #2831)
+-   Fix error on `/publicRooms` when no rooms exist (PR #2827)
+-   Fix bug in quarantine\_media (PR #2837)
+-   Fix url\_previews when no Content-Type is returned from URL (PR #2845)
+-   Fix rare race in sync API when joining room (PR #2944)
+-   Fix slow event search, switch back from GIST to GIN indexes (PR #2769, #2848)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.26.0 (2018-01-05)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.26.0-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.26.0-rc1 (2017-12-13)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add ability for ASes to publicise groups for their users (PR #2686)
+-   Add all local users to the user\_directory and optionally search them (PR #2723)
+-   Add support for custom login types for validating users (PR #2729)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Update example Prometheus config to new format (PR #2648) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   Rename redact\_content option to include\_content in Push API (PR #2650)
+-   Declare support for r0.3.0 (PR #2677)
+-   Improve upserts (PR #2684, #2688, #2689, #2713)
+-   Improve documentation of workers (PR #2700)
+-   Improve tracebacks on exceptions (PR #2705)
+-   Allow guest access to group APIs for reading (PR #2715)
+-   Support for posting content in federation\_client script (PR #2716)
+-   Delete devices and pushers on logouts etc (PR #2722)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix database port script (PR #2673)
+-   Fix internal server error on login with ldap\_auth\_provider (PR #2678) Thanks to @jkolo!
+-   Fix error on sqlite 3.7 (PR #2697)
+-   Fix OPTIONS on preview\_url (PR #2707)
+-   Fix error handling on dns lookup (PR #2711)
+-   Fix wrong avatars when inviting multiple users when creating room (PR #2717)
+-   Fix 500 when joining matrix-dev (PR #2719)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.25.1 (2017-11-17)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix login with LDAP and other password provider modules (PR #2678). Thanks to @jkolo!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.25.0 (2017-11-15)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix port script (PR #2673)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.25.0-rc1 (2017-11-14)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add is\_public to groups table to allow for private groups (PR #2582)
+-   Add a route for determining who you are (PR #2668) Thanks to @turt2live!
+-   Add more features to the password providers (PR #2608, #2610, #2620, #2622, #2623, #2624, #2626, #2628, #2629)
+-   Add a hook for custom rest endpoints (PR #2627)
+-   Add API to update group room visibility (PR #2651)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Ignore \<noscript\> tags when generating URL preview descriptions (PR #2576) Thanks to @maximevaillancourt!
+-   Register some /unstable endpoints in /r0 as well (PR #2579) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   Support /keys/upload on /r0 as well as /unstable (PR #2585)
+-   Front-end proxy: pass through auth header (PR #2586)
+-   Allow ASes to deactivate their own users (PR #2589)
+-   Remove refresh tokens (PR #2613)
+-   Automatically set default displayname on register (PR #2617)
+-   Log login requests (PR #2618)
+-   Always return is\_public in the /groups/:group\_id/rooms API (PR #2630)
+-   Avoid no-op media deletes (PR #2637) Thanks to @spantaleev!
+-   Fix various embarrassing typos around user\_directory and add some doc. (PR #2643)
+-   Return whether a user is an admin within a group (PR #2647)
+-   Namespace visibility options for groups (PR #2657)
+-   Downcase UserIDs on registration (PR #2662)
+-   Cache failures when fetching URL previews (PR #2669)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix port script (PR #2577)
+-   Fix error when running synapse with no logfile (PR #2581)
+-   Fix UI auth when deleting devices (PR #2591)
+-   Fix typo when checking if user is invited to group (PR #2599)
+-   Fix the port script to drop NUL values in all tables (PR #2611)
+-   Fix appservices being backlogged and not receiving new events due to a bug in notify\_interested\_services (PR #2631) Thanks to @xyzz!
+-   Fix updating rooms avatar/display name when modified by admin (PR #2636) Thanks to @farialima!
+-   Fix bug in state group storage (PR #2649)
+-   Fix 500 on invalid utf-8 in request (PR #2663)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.24.1 (2017-10-24)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix updating group profiles over federation (PR #2567)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.24.0 (2017-10-23)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.24.0-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.24.0-rc1 (2017-10-19)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add Group Server (PR #2352, #2363, #2374, #2377, #2378, #2382, #2410, #2426, #2430, #2454, #2471, #2472, #2544)
+-   Add support for channel notifications (PR #2501)
+-   Add basic implementation of backup media store (PR #2538)
+-   Add config option to auto-join new users to rooms (PR #2545)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Make the spam checker a module (PR #2474)
+-   Delete expired url cache data (PR #2478)
+-   Ignore incoming events for rooms that we have left (PR #2490)
+-   Allow spam checker to reject invites too (PR #2492)
+-   Add room creation checks to spam checker (PR #2495)
+-   Spam checking: add the invitee to user\_may\_invite (PR #2502)
+-   Process events from federation for different rooms in parallel (PR #2520)
+-   Allow error strings from spam checker (PR #2531)
+-   Improve error handling for missing files in config (PR #2551)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix handling SERVFAILs when doing AAAA lookups for federation (PR #2477)
+-   Fix incompatibility with newer versions of ujson (PR #2483) Thanks to @jeremycline!
+-   Fix notification keywords that start/end with non-word chars (PR #2500)
+-   Fix stack overflow and logcontexts from linearizer (PR #2532)
+-   Fix 500 error when fields missing from power\_levels event (PR #2552)
+-   Fix 500 error when we get an error handling a PDU (PR #2553)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.23.1 (2017-10-02)
+=======================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Make \'affinity\' package optional, as it is not supported on some platforms
+
+Changes in synapse v0.23.0 (2017-10-02)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.23.0-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc2 (2017-09-26)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix regression in performance of syncs (PR #2470)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc1 (2017-09-25)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add a frontend proxy worker (PR #2344)
+-   Add support for event\_id\_only push format (PR #2450)
+-   Add a PoC for filtering spammy events (PR #2456)
+-   Add a config option to block all room invites (PR #2457)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Use bcrypt module instead of py-bcrypt (PR #2288) Thanks to @kyrias!
+-   Improve performance of generating push notifications (PR #2343, #2357, #2365, #2366, #2371)
+-   Improve DB performance for device list handling in sync (PR #2362)
+-   Include a sample prometheus config (PR #2416)
+-   Document known to work postgres version (PR #2433) Thanks to @ptman!
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix caching error in the push evaluator (PR #2332)
+-   Fix bug where pusherpool didn\'t start and broke some rooms (PR #2342)
+-   Fix port script for user directory tables (PR #2375)
+-   Fix device lists notifications when user rejoins a room (PR #2443, #2449)
+-   Fix sync to always send down current state events in timeline (PR #2451)
+-   Fix bug where guest users were incorrectly kicked (PR #2453)
+-   Fix bug talking to IPv6 only servers using SRV records (PR #2462)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.22.1 (2017-07-06)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where pusher pool didn\'t start and caused issues when interacting with some rooms (PR #2342)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.22.0 (2017-07-06)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.22.0-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.22.0-rc2 (2017-07-04)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Improve performance of storing user IPs (PR #2307, #2308)
+-   Slightly improve performance of verifying access tokens (PR #2320)
+-   Slightly improve performance of event persistence (PR #2321)
+-   Increase default cache factor size from 0.1 to 0.5 (PR #2330)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug with storing registration sessions that caused frequent CPU churn (PR #2319)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.22.0-rc1 (2017-06-26)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add a user directory API (PR #2252, and many more)
+-   Add shutdown room API to remove room from local server (PR #2291)
+-   Add API to quarantine media (PR #2292)
+-   Add new config option to not send event contents to push servers (PR #2301) Thanks to @cjdelisle!
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Various performance fixes (PR #2177, #2233, #2230, #2238, #2248, #2256, #2274)
+-   Deduplicate sync filters (PR #2219) Thanks to @krombel!
+-   Correct a typo in UPGRADE.rst (PR #2231) Thanks to @aaronraimist!
+-   Add count of one time keys to sync stream (PR #2237)
+-   Only store event\_auth for state events (PR #2247)
+-   Store URL cache preview downloads separately (PR #2299)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix users not getting notifications when AS listened to that user\_id (PR #2216) Thanks to @slipeer!
+-   Fix users without push set up not getting notifications after joining rooms (PR #2236)
+-   Fix preview url API to trim long descriptions (PR #2243)
+-   Fix bug where we used cached but unpersisted state group as prev group, resulting in broken state of restart (PR #2263)
+-   Fix removing of pushers when using workers (PR #2267)
+-   Fix CORS headers to allow Authorization header (PR #2285) Thanks to @krombel!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.21.1 (2017-06-15)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug in anonymous usage statistic reporting (PR #2281)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.21.0 (2017-05-18)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.21.0-rc3
+
+Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc3 (2017-05-17)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add per user rate-limiting overrides (PR #2208)
+-   Add config option to limit maximum number of events requested by `/sync` and `/messages` (PR #2221) Thanks to @psaavedra!
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Various small performance fixes (PR #2201, #2202, #2224, #2226, #2227, #2228, #2229)
+-   Update username availability checker API (PR #2209, #2213)
+-   When purging, don\'t de-delta state groups we\'re about to delete (PR #2214)
+-   Documentation to check synapse version (PR #2215) Thanks to @hamber-dick!
+-   Add an index to event\_search to speed up purge history API (PR #2218)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix API to allow clients to upload one-time-keys with new sigs (PR #2206)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc2 (2017-05-08)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Always mark remotes as up if we receive a signed request from them (PR #2190)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where users got pushed for rooms they had muted (PR #2200)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc1 (2017-05-08)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add username availability checker API (PR #2183)
+-   Add read marker API (PR #2120)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Enable guest access for the 3pl/3pid APIs (PR #1986)
+-   Add setting to support TURN for guests (PR #2011)
+-   Various performance improvements (PR #2075, #2076, #2080, #2083, #2108, #2158, #2176, #2185)
+-   Make synctl a bit more user friendly (PR #2078, #2127) Thanks @APwhitehat!
+-   Replace HTTP replication with TCP replication (PR #2082, #2097, #2098, #2099, #2103, #2014, #2016, #2115, #2116, #2117)
+-   Support authenticated SMTP (PR #2102) Thanks @DanielDent!
+-   Add a counter metric for successfully-sent transactions (PR #2121)
+-   Propagate errors sensibly from proxied IS requests (PR #2147)
+-   Add more granular event send metrics (PR #2178)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix nuke-room script to work with current schema (PR #1927) Thanks @zuckschwerdt!
+-   Fix db port script to not assume postgres tables are in the public schema (PR #2024) Thanks @jerrykan!
+-   Fix getting latest device IP for user with no devices (PR #2118)
+-   Fix rejection of invites to unreachable servers (PR #2145)
+-   Fix code for reporting old verify keys in synapse (PR #2156)
+-   Fix invite state to always include all events (PR #2163)
+-   Fix bug where synapse would always fetch state for any missing event (PR #2170)
+-   Fix a leak with timed out HTTP connections (PR #2180)
+-   Fix bug where we didn\'t time out HTTP requests to ASes (PR #2192)
+
+Docs:
+
+-   Clarify doc for SQLite to PostgreSQL port (PR #1961) Thanks @benhylau!
+-   Fix typo in synctl help (PR #2107) Thanks @HarHarLinks!
+-   `web_client_location` documentation fix (PR #2131) Thanks @matthewjwolff!
+-   Update README.rst with FreeBSD changes (PR #2132) Thanks @feld!
+-   Clarify setting up metrics (PR #2149) Thanks @encks!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.20.0 (2017-04-11)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix joining rooms over federation where not all servers in the room saw the new server had joined (PR #2094)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.20.0-rc1 (2017-03-30)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add delete\_devices API (PR #1993)
+-   Add phone number registration/login support (PR #1994, #2055)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Use JSONSchema for validation of filters. Thanks @pik! (PR #1783)
+-   Reread log config on SIGHUP (PR #1982)
+-   Speed up public room list (PR #1989)
+-   Add helpful texts to logger config options (PR #1990)
+-   Minor `/sync` performance improvements. (PR #2002, #2013, #2022)
+-   Add some debug to help diagnose weird federation issue (PR #2035)
+-   Correctly limit retries for all federation requests (PR #2050, #2061)
+-   Don\'t lock table when persisting new one time keys (PR #2053)
+-   Reduce some CPU work on DB threads (PR #2054)
+-   Cache hosts in room (PR #2060)
+-   Batch sending of device list pokes (PR #2063)
+-   Speed up persist event path in certain edge cases (PR #2070)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where current\_state\_events renamed to current\_state\_ids (PR #1849)
+-   Fix routing loop when fetching remote media (PR #1992)
+-   Fix current\_state\_events table to not lie (PR #1996)
+-   Fix CAS login to handle PartialDownloadError (PR #1997)
+-   Fix assertion to stop transaction queue getting wedged (PR #2010)
+-   Fix presence to fallback to last\_active\_ts if it beats the last sync time. Thanks @Half-Shot! (PR #2014)
+-   Fix bug when federation received a PDU while a room join is in progress (PR #2016)
+-   Fix resetting state on rejected events (PR #2025)
+-   Fix installation issues in readme. Thanks @ricco386 (PR #2037)
+-   Fix caching of remote servers\' signature keys (PR #2042)
+-   Fix some leaking log context (PR #2048, #2049, #2057, #2058)
+-   Fix rejection of invites not reaching sync (PR #2056)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.3 (2017-03-20)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.19.3-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.3-rc2 (2017-03-13)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug in handling of incoming device list updates over federation.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.3-rc1 (2017-03-08)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add some administration functionalities. Thanks to morteza-araby! (PR #1784)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Reduce database table sizes (PR #1873, #1916, #1923, #1963)
+-   Update contrib/ to not use syutil. Thanks to andrewshadura! (PR #1907)
+-   Don\'t fetch current state when sending an event in common case (PR #1955)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix synapse\_port\_db failure. Thanks to Pneumaticat! (PR #1904)
+-   Fix caching to not cache error responses (PR #1913)
+-   Fix APIs to make kick & ban reasons work (PR #1917)
+-   Fix bugs in the /keys/changes api (PR #1921)
+-   Fix bug where users couldn\'t forget rooms they were banned from (PR #1922)
+-   Fix issue with long language values in pushers API (PR #1925)
+-   Fix a race in transaction queue (PR #1930)
+-   Fix dynamic thumbnailing to preserve aspect ratio. Thanks to jkolo! (PR #1945)
+-   Fix device list update to not constantly resync (PR #1964)
+-   Fix potential for huge memory usage when getting device that have changed (PR #1969)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.2 (2017-02-20)
+=======================================
+
+-   Fix bug with event visibility check in /context/ API. Thanks to Tokodomo for pointing it out! (PR #1929)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.1 (2017-02-09)
+=======================================
+
+-   Fix bug where state was incorrectly reset in a room when synapse received an event over federation that did not pass auth checks (PR #1892)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.0 (2017-02-04)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since RC 4.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc4 (2017-02-02)
+===========================================
+
+-   Bump cache sizes for common membership queries (PR #1879)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc3 (2017-02-02)
+===========================================
+
+-   Fix email push in pusher worker (PR #1875)
+-   Make presence.get\_new\_events a bit faster (PR #1876)
+-   Make /keys/changes a bit more performant (PR #1877)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc2 (2017-02-02)
+===========================================
+
+-   Include newly joined users in /keys/changes API (PR #1872)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc1 (2017-02-02)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add support for specifying multiple bind addresses (PR #1709, #1712, #1795, #1835). Thanks to @kyrias!
+-   Add /account/3pid/delete endpoint (PR #1714)
+-   Add config option to configure the Riot URL used in notification emails (PR #1811). Thanks to @aperezdc!
+-   Add username and password config options for turn server (PR #1832). Thanks to @xsteadfastx!
+-   Implement device lists updates over federation (PR #1857, #1861, #1864)
+-   Implement /keys/changes (PR #1869, #1872)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Improve IPv6 support (PR #1696). Thanks to @kyrias and @glyph!
+-   Log which files we saved attachments to in the media\_repository (PR #1791)
+-   Linearize updates to membership via PUT /state/ to better handle multiple joins (PR #1787)
+-   Limit number of entries to prefill from cache on startup (PR #1792)
+-   Remove full\_twisted\_stacktraces option (PR #1802)
+-   Measure size of some caches by sum of the size of cached values (PR #1815)
+-   Measure metrics of string\_cache (PR #1821)
+-   Reduce logging verbosity (PR #1822, #1823, #1824)
+-   Don\'t clobber a displayname or avatar\_url if provided by an m.room.member event (PR #1852)
+-   Better handle 401/404 response for federation /send/ (PR #1866, #1871)
+
+Fixes:
+
+-   Fix ability to change password to a non-ascii one (PR #1711)
+-   Fix push getting stuck due to looking at the wrong view of state (PR #1820)
+-   Fix email address comparison to be case insensitive (PR #1827)
+-   Fix occasional inconsistencies of room membership (PR #1836, #1840)
+
+Performance:
+
+-   Don\'t block messages sending on bumping presence (PR #1789)
+-   Change device\_inbox stream index to include user (PR #1793)
+-   Optimise state resolution (PR #1818)
+-   Use DB cache of joined users for presence (PR #1862)
+-   Add an index to make membership queries faster (PR #1867)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.7 (2017-01-09)
+=======================================
+
+No changes from v0.18.7-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.7-rc2 (2017-01-07)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix error in rc1\'s discarding invalid inbound traffic logic that was incorrectly discarding missing events
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.7-rc1 (2017-01-06)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix error in \#PR 1764 to actually fix the nightmare \#1753 bug.
+-   Improve deadlock logging further
+-   Discard inbound federation traffic from invalid domains, to immunise against \#1753
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.6 (2017-01-06)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug when checking if a guest user is allowed to join a room (PR #1772) Thanks to Patrik Oldsberg for diagnosing and the fix!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc3 (2017-01-05)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where we failed to send ban events to the banned server (PR #1758)
+-   Fix bug where we sent event that didn\'t originate on this server to other servers (PR #1764)
+-   Fix bug where processing an event from a remote server took a long time because we were making long HTTP requests (PR #1765, PR #1744)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Improve logging for debugging deadlocks (PR #1766, PR #1767)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc2 (2016-12-30)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix memory leak in twisted by initialising logging correctly (PR #1731)
+-   Fix bug where fetching missing events took an unacceptable amount of time in large rooms (PR #1734)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc1 (2016-12-29)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Make sure that outbound connections are closed (PR #1725)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.5 (2016-12-16)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix federation /backfill returning events it shouldn\'t (PR #1700)
+-   Fix crash in url preview (PR #1701)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc3 (2016-12-13)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add support for E2E for guests (PR #1653)
+-   Add new API appservice specific public room list (PR #1676)
+-   Add new room membership APIs (PR #1680)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Enable guest access for private rooms by default (PR #653)
+-   Limit the number of events that can be created on a given room concurrently (PR #1620)
+-   Log the args that we have on UI auth completion (PR #1649)
+-   Stop generating refresh\_tokens (PR #1654)
+-   Stop putting a time caveat on access tokens (PR #1656)
+-   Remove unspecced GET endpoints for e2e keys (PR #1694)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix handling of 500 and 429\'s over federation (PR #1650)
+-   Fix Content-Type header parsing (PR #1660)
+-   Fix error when previewing sites that include unicode, thanks to kyrias (PR #1664)
+-   Fix some cases where we drop read receipts (PR #1678)
+-   Fix bug where calls to `/sync` didn\'t correctly timeout (PR #1683)
+-   Fix bug where E2E key query would fail if a single remote host failed (PR #1686)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc2 (2016-11-24)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Don\'t send old events over federation, fixes bug in -rc1.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc1 (2016-11-24)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Implement \"event\_fields\" in filters (PR #1638)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Use external ldap auth pacakge (PR #1628)
+-   Split out federation transaction sending to a worker (PR #1635)
+-   Fail with a coherent error message if /sync?filter= is invalid (PR #1636)
+-   More efficient notif count queries (PR #1644)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.4 (2016-11-22)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Add workaround for buggy clients that the fail to register (PR #1632)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.4-rc1 (2016-11-14)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Various database efficiency improvements (PR #1188, #1192)
+-   Update default config to blacklist more internal IPs, thanks to Euan Kemp (PR #1198)
+-   Allow specifying duration in minutes in config, thanks to Daniel Dent (PR #1625)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix media repo to set CORs headers on responses (PR #1190)
+-   Fix registration to not error on non-ascii passwords (PR #1191)
+-   Fix create event code to limit the number of prev\_events (PR #1615)
+-   Fix bug in transaction ID deduplication (PR #1624)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.3 (2016-11-08)
+=======================================
+
+SECURITY UPDATE
+
+Explicitly require authentication when using LDAP3. This is the default on versions of `ldap3` above 1.0, but some distributions will package an older version.
+
+If you are using LDAP3 login and have a version of `ldap3` older than 1.0 it is **CRITICAL to updgrade**.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2 (2016-11-01)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.18.2-rc5
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc5 (2016-10-28)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix prometheus process metrics in worker processes (PR #1184)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc4 (2016-10-27)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix `user_threepids` schema delta, which in some instances prevented startup after upgrade (PR #1183)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc3 (2016-10-27)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Allow clients to supply access tokens as headers (PR #1098)
+-   Clarify error codes for GET /filter/, thanks to Alexander Maznev (PR #1164)
+-   Make password reset email field case insensitive (PR #1170)
+-   Reduce redundant database work in email pusher (PR #1174)
+-   Allow configurable rate limiting per AS (PR #1175)
+-   Check whether to ratelimit sooner to avoid work (PR #1176)
+-   Standardise prometheus metrics (PR #1177)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix incredibly slow back pagination query (PR #1178)
+-   Fix infinite typing bug (PR #1179)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc2 (2016-10-25)
+===========================================
+
+(This release did not include the changes advertised and was identical to RC1)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc1 (2016-10-17)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Remove redundant event\_auth index (PR #1113)
+-   Reduce DB hits for replication (PR #1141)
+-   Implement pluggable password auth (PR #1155)
+-   Remove rate limiting from app service senders and fix get\_or\_create\_user requester, thanks to Patrik Oldsberg (PR #1157)
+-   window.postmessage for Interactive Auth fallback (PR #1159)
+-   Use sys.executable instead of hardcoded python, thanks to Pedro Larroy (PR #1162)
+-   Add config option for adding additional TLS fingerprints (PR #1167)
+-   User-interactive auth on delete device (PR #1168)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix not being allowed to set your own state\_key, thanks to Patrik Oldsberg (PR #1150)
+-   Fix interactive auth to return 401 from for incorrect password (PR #1160, #1166)
+-   Fix email push notifs being dropped (PR #1169)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.1 (2016-10-05)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.18.1-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.1-rc1 (2016-09-30)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add total\_room\_count\_estimate to `/publicRooms` (PR #1133)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Time out typing over federation (PR #1140)
+-   Restructure LDAP authentication (PR #1153)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix 3pid invites when server is already in the room (PR #1136)
+-   Fix upgrading with SQLite taking lots of CPU for a few days after upgrade (PR #1144)
+-   Fix upgrading from very old database versions (PR #1145)
+-   Fix port script to work with recently added tables (PR #1146)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.0 (2016-09-19)
+=======================================
+
+The release includes major changes to the state storage database schemas, which significantly reduce database size. Synapse will attempt to upgrade the current data in the background. Servers with large SQLite database may experience degradation of performance while this upgrade is in progress, therefore you may want to consider migrating to using Postgres before upgrading very large SQLite databases
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Make public room search case insensitive (PR #1127)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix and clean up publicRooms pagination (PR #1129)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.18.0-rc1 (2016-09-16)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add `only=highlight` on `/notifications` (PR #1081)
+-   Add server param to /publicRooms (PR #1082)
+-   Allow clients to ask for the whole of a single state event (PR #1094)
+-   Add is\_direct param to /createRoom (PR #1108)
+-   Add pagination support to publicRooms (PR #1121)
+-   Add very basic filter API to /publicRooms (PR #1126)
+-   Add basic direct to device messaging support for E2E (PR #1074, #1084, #1104, #1111)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Move to storing state\_groups\_state as deltas, greatly reducing DB size (PR #1065)
+-   Reduce amount of state pulled out of the DB during common requests (PR #1069)
+-   Allow PDF to be rendered from media repo (PR #1071)
+-   Reindex state\_groups\_state after pruning (PR #1085)
+-   Clobber EDUs in send queue (PR #1095)
+-   Conform better to the CAS protocol specification (PR #1100)
+-   Limit how often we ask for keys from dead servers (PR #1114)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix /notifications API when used with `from` param (PR #1080)
+-   Fix backfill when cannot find an event. (PR #1107)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.3 (2016-09-09)
+=======================================
+
+This release fixes a major bug that stopped servers from handling rooms with over 1000 members.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.2 (2016-09-08)
+=======================================
+
+This release contains security bug fixes. Please upgrade.
+
+No changes since v0.17.2-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.2-rc1 (2016-09-05)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Start adding store-and-forward direct-to-device messaging (PR #1046, #1050, #1062, #1066)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Avoid pulling the full state of a room out so often (PR #1047, #1049, #1063, #1068)
+-   Don\'t notify for online to online presence transitions. (PR #1054)
+-   Occasionally persist unpersisted presence updates (PR #1055)
+-   Allow application services to have an optional \'url\' (PR #1056)
+-   Clean up old sent transactions from DB (PR #1059)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix None check in backfill (PR #1043)
+-   Fix membership changes to be idempotent (PR #1067)
+-   Fix bug in get\_pdu where it would sometimes return events with incorrect signature
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.1 (2016-08-24)
+=======================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Delete old received\_transactions rows (PR #1038)
+-   Pass through user-supplied content in /join/\$room\_id (PR #1039)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug with backfill (PR #1040)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.1-rc1 (2016-08-22)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add notification API (PR #1028)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Don\'t print stack traces when failing to get remote keys (PR #996)
+-   Various federation /event/ perf improvements (PR #998)
+-   Only process one local membership event per room at a time (PR #1005)
+-   Move default display name push rule (PR #1011, #1023)
+-   Fix up preview URL API. Add tests. (PR #1015)
+-   Set `Content-Security-Policy` on media repo (PR #1021)
+-   Make notify\_interested\_services faster (PR #1022)
+-   Add usage stats to prometheus monitoring (PR #1037)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix token login (PR #993)
+-   Fix CAS login (PR #994, #995)
+-   Fix /sync to not clobber status\_msg (PR #997)
+-   Fix redacted state events to include prev\_content (PR #1003)
+-   Fix some bugs in the auth/ldap handler (PR #1007)
+-   Fix backfill request to limit URI length, so that remotes don\'t reject the requests due to path length limits (PR #1012)
+-   Fix AS push code to not send duplicate events (PR #1025)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.0 (2016-08-08)
+=======================================
+
+This release contains significant security bug fixes regarding authenticating events received over federation. PLEASE UPGRADE.
+
+This release changes the LDAP configuration format in a backwards incompatible way, see PR #843 for details.
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Add federation /version API (PR #990)
+-   Make psutil dependency optional (PR #992)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix URL preview API to exclude HTML comments in description (PR #988)
+-   Fix error handling of remote joins (PR #991)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc4 (2016-08-05)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Change the way we summarize URLs when previewing (PR #973)
+-   Add new `/state_ids/` federation API (PR #979)
+-   Speed up processing of `/state/` response (PR #986)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix event persistence when event has already been partially persisted (PR #975, #983, #985)
+-   Fix port script to also copy across backfilled events (PR #982)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc3 (2016-08-02)
+===========================================
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Forbid non-ASes from registering users whose names begin with \'\_\' (PR #958)
+-   Add some basic admin API docs (PR #963)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Send the correct host header when fetching keys (PR #941)
+-   Fix joining a room that has missing auth events (PR #964)
+-   Fix various push bugs (PR #966, #970)
+-   Fix adding emails on registration (PR #968)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc2 (2016-08-02)
+===========================================
+
+(This release did not include the changes advertised and was identical to RC1)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc1 (2016-07-28)
+===========================================
+
+This release changes the LDAP configuration format in a backwards incompatible way, see PR #843 for details.
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add purge\_media\_cache admin API (PR #902)
+-   Add deactivate account admin API (PR #903)
+-   Add optional pepper to password hashing (PR #907, #910 by KentShikama)
+-   Add an admin option to shared secret registration (breaks backwards compat) (PR #909)
+-   Add purge local room history API (PR #911, #923, #924)
+-   Add requestToken endpoints (PR #915)
+-   Add an /account/deactivate endpoint (PR #921)
+-   Add filter param to /messages. Add \'contains\_url\' to filter. (PR #922)
+-   Add device\_id support to /login (PR #929)
+-   Add device\_id support to /v2/register flow. (PR #937, #942)
+-   Add GET /devices endpoint (PR #939, #944)
+-   Add GET /device/{deviceId} (PR #943)
+-   Add update and delete APIs for devices (PR #949)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Rewrite LDAP Authentication against ldap3 (PR #843 by mweinelt)
+-   Linearize some federation endpoints based on (origin, room\_id) (PR #879)
+-   Remove the legacy v0 content upload API. (PR #888)
+-   Use similar naming we use in email notifs for push (PR #894)
+-   Optionally include password hash in createUser endpoint (PR #905 by KentShikama)
+-   Use a query that postgresql optimises better for get\_events\_around (PR #906)
+-   Fall back to \'username\' if \'user\' is not given for appservice registration. (PR #927 by Half-Shot)
+-   Add metrics for psutil derived memory usage (PR #936)
+-   Record device\_id in client\_ips (PR #938)
+-   Send the correct host header when fetching keys (PR #941)
+-   Log the hostname the reCAPTCHA was completed on (PR #946)
+-   Make the device id on e2e key upload optional (PR #956)
+-   Add r0.2.0 to the \"supported versions\" list (PR #960)
+-   Don\'t include name of room for invites in push (PR #961)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix substitution failure in mail template (PR #887)
+-   Put most recent 20 messages in email notif (PR #892)
+-   Ensure that the guest user is in the database when upgrading accounts (PR #914)
+-   Fix various edge cases in auth handling (PR #919)
+-   Fix 500 ISE when sending alias event without a state\_key (PR #925)
+-   Fix bug where we stored rejections in the state\_group, persist all rejections (PR #948)
+-   Fix lack of check of if the user is banned when handling 3pid invites (PR #952)
+-   Fix a couple of bugs in the transaction and keyring code (PR #954, #955)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.1-r1 (2016-07-08)
+==========================================
+
+THIS IS A CRITICAL SECURITY UPDATE.
+
+This fixes a bug which allowed users\' accounts to be accessed by unauthorised users.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.1 (2016-06-20)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix assorted bugs in `/preview_url` (PR #872)
+-   Fix TypeError when setting unicode passwords (PR #873)
+
+Performance improvements:
+
+-   Turn `use_frozen_events` off by default (PR #877)
+-   Disable responding with canonical json for federation (PR #878)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.1-rc1 (2016-06-15)
+===========================================
+
+Features: None
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Log requester for `/publicRoom` endpoints when possible (PR #856)
+-   502 on `/thumbnail` when can\'t connect to remote server (PR #862)
+-   Linearize fetching of gaps on incoming events (PR #871)
+
+Bugs fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where rooms where marked as published by default (PR #857)
+-   Fix bug where joining room with an event with invalid sender (PR #868)
+-   Fix bug where backfilled events were sent down sync streams (PR #869)
+-   Fix bug where outgoing connections could wedge indefinitely, causing push notifications to be unreliable (PR #870)
+
+Performance improvements:
+
+-   Improve `/publicRooms` performance(PR #859)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.0 (2016-06-09)
+=======================================
+
+NB: As of v0.14 all AS config files must have an ID field.
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Don\'t make rooms published by default (PR #857)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.0-rc2 (2016-06-08)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add configuration option for tuning GC via `gc.set_threshold` (PR #849)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Record metrics about GC (PR #771, #847, #852)
+-   Add metric counter for number of persisted events (PR #841)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix \'From\' header in email notifications (PR #843)
+-   Fix presence where timeouts were not being fired for the first 8h after restarts (PR #842)
+-   Fix bug where synapse sent malformed transactions to AS\'s when retrying transactions (Commits 310197b, 8437906)
+
+Performance improvements:
+
+-   Remove event fetching from DB threads (PR #835)
+-   Change the way we cache events (PR #836)
+-   Add events to cache when we persist them (PR #840)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.16.0-rc1 (2016-06-03)
+===========================================
+
+Version 0.15 was not released. See v0.15.0-rc1 below for additional changes.
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add email notifications for missed messages (PR #759, #786, #799, #810, #815, #821)
+-   Add a `url_preview_ip_range_whitelist` config param (PR #760)
+-   Add /report endpoint (PR #762)
+-   Add basic ignore user API (PR #763)
+-   Add an openidish mechanism for proving that you own a given user\_id (PR #765)
+-   Allow clients to specify a server\_name to avoid \'No known servers\' (PR #794)
+-   Add secondary\_directory\_servers option to fetch room list from other servers (PR #808, #813)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Report per request metrics for all of the things using request\_handler (PR #756)
+-   Correctly handle `NULL` password hashes from the database (PR #775)
+-   Allow receipts for events we haven\'t seen in the db (PR #784)
+-   Make synctl read a cache factor from config file (PR #785)
+-   Increment badge count per missed convo, not per msg (PR #793)
+-   Special case m.room.third\_party\_invite event auth to match invites (PR #814)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix typo in event\_auth servlet path (PR #757)
+-   Fix password reset (PR #758)
+
+Performance improvements:
+
+-   Reduce database inserts when sending transactions (PR #767)
+-   Queue events by room for persistence (PR #768)
+-   Add cache to `get_user_by_id` (PR #772)
+-   Add and use `get_domain_from_id` (PR #773)
+-   Use tree cache for `get_linearized_receipts_for_room` (PR #779)
+-   Remove unused indices (PR #782)
+-   Add caches to `bulk_get_push_rules*` (PR #804)
+-   Cache `get_event_reference_hashes` (PR #806)
+-   Add `get_users_with_read_receipts_in_room` cache (PR #809)
+-   Use state to calculate `get_users_in_room` (PR #811)
+-   Load push rules in storage layer so that they get cached (PR #825)
+-   Make `get_joined_hosts_for_room` use get\_users\_in\_room (PR #828)
+-   Poke notifier on next reactor tick (PR #829)
+-   Change CacheMetrics to be quicker (PR #830)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.15.0-rc1 (2016-04-26)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add login support for Javascript Web Tokens, thanks to Niklas Riekenbrauck (PR #671,\#687)
+-   Add URL previewing support (PR #688)
+-   Add login support for LDAP, thanks to Christoph Witzany (PR #701)
+-   Add GET endpoint for pushers (PR #716)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Never notify for member events (PR #667)
+-   Deduplicate identical `/sync` requests (PR #668)
+-   Require user to have left room to forget room (PR #673)
+-   Use DNS cache if within TTL (PR #677)
+-   Let users see their own leave events (PR #699)
+-   Deduplicate membership changes (PR #700)
+-   Increase performance of pusher code (PR #705)
+-   Respond with error status 504 if failed to talk to remote server (PR #731)
+-   Increase search performance on postgres (PR #745)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where disabling all notifications still resulted in push (PR #678)
+-   Fix bug where users couldn\'t reject remote invites if remote refused (PR #691)
+-   Fix bug where synapse attempted to backfill from itself (PR #693)
+-   Fix bug where profile information was not correctly added when joining remote rooms (PR #703)
+-   Fix bug where register API required incorrect key name for AS registration (PR #727)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.14.0 (2016-03-30)
+=======================================
+
+No changes from v0.14.0-rc2
+
+Changes in synapse v0.14.0-rc2 (2016-03-23)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add published room list API (PR #657)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Change various caches to consume less memory (PR #656, #658, #660, #662, #663, #665)
+-   Allow rooms to be published without requiring an alias (PR #664)
+-   Intern common strings in caches to reduce memory footprint (\#666)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix reject invites over federation (PR #646)
+-   Fix bug where registration was not idempotent (PR #649)
+-   Update aliases event after deleting aliases (PR #652)
+-   Fix unread notification count, which was sometimes wrong (PR #661)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.14.0-rc1 (2016-03-14)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add event\_id to response to state event PUT (PR #581)
+-   Allow guest users access to messages in rooms they have joined (PR #587)
+-   Add config for what state is included in a room invite (PR #598)
+-   Send the inviter\'s member event in room invite state (PR #607)
+-   Add error codes for malformed/bad JSON in /login (PR #608)
+-   Add support for changing the actions for default rules (PR #609)
+-   Add environment variable SYNAPSE\_CACHE\_FACTOR, default it to 0.1 (PR #612)
+-   Add ability for alias creators to delete aliases (PR #614)
+-   Add profile information to invites (PR #624)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Enforce user\_id exclusivity for AS registrations (PR #572)
+-   Make adding push rules idempotent (PR #587)
+-   Improve presence performance (PR #582, #586)
+-   Change presence semantics for `last_active_ago` (PR #582, #586)
+-   Don\'t allow `m.room.create` to be changed (PR #596)
+-   Add 800x600 to default list of valid thumbnail sizes (PR #616)
+-   Always include kicks and bans in full /sync (PR #625)
+-   Send history visibility on boundary changes (PR #626)
+-   Register endpoint now returns a refresh\_token (PR #637)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where we returned incorrect state in /sync (PR #573)
+-   Always return a JSON object from push rule API (PR #606)
+-   Fix bug where registering without a user id sometimes failed (PR #610)
+-   Report size of ExpiringCache in cache size metrics (PR #611)
+-   Fix rejection of invites to empty rooms (PR #615)
+-   Fix usage of `bcrypt` to not use `checkpw` (PR #619)
+-   Pin `pysaml2` dependency (PR #634)
+-   Fix bug in `/sync` where timeline order was incorrect for backfilled events (PR #635)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.13.3 (2016-02-11)
+=======================================
+
+-   Fix bug where `/sync` would occasionally return events in the wrong room.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.13.2 (2016-02-11)
+=======================================
+
+-   Fix bug where `/events` would fail to skip some events if there had been more events than the limit specified since the last request (PR #570)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.13.1 (2016-02-10)
+=======================================
+
+-   Bump matrix-angular-sdk (matrix web console) dependency to 0.6.8 to pull in the fix for SYWEB-361 so that the default client can display HTML messages again(!)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.13.0 (2016-02-10)
+=======================================
+
+This version includes an upgrade of the schema, specifically adding an index to the `events` table. This may cause synapse to pause for several minutes the first time it is started after the upgrade.
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Improve general performance (PR #540, #543. \#544, #54, #549, #567)
+-   Change guest user ids to be incrementing integers (PR #550)
+-   Improve performance of public room list API (PR #552)
+-   Change profile API to omit keys rather than return null (PR #557)
+-   Add `/media/r0` endpoint prefix, which is equivalent to `/media/v1/` (PR #595)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug with upgrading guest accounts where it would fail if you opened the registration email on a different device (PR #547)
+-   Fix bug where unread count could be wrong (PR #568)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.12.1-rc1 (2016-01-29)
+===========================================
+
+Features:
+
+-   Add unread notification counts in `/sync` (PR #456)
+-   Add support for inviting 3pids in `/createRoom` (PR #460)
+-   Add ability for guest accounts to upgrade (PR #462)
+-   Add `/versions` API (PR #468)
+-   Add `event` to `/context` API (PR #492)
+-   Add specific error code for invalid user names in `/register` (PR #499)
+-   Add support for push badge counts (PR #507)
+-   Add support for non-guest users to peek in rooms using `/events` (PR #510)
+
+Changes:
+
+-   Change `/sync` so that guest users only get rooms they\'ve joined (PR #469)
+-   Change to require unbanning before other membership changes (PR #501)
+-   Change default push rules to notify for all messages (PR #486)
+-   Change default push rules to not notify on membership changes (PR #514)
+-   Change default push rules in one to one rooms to only notify for events that are messages (PR #529)
+-   Change `/sync` to reject requests with a `from` query param (PR #512)
+-   Change server manhole to use SSH rather than telnet (PR #473)
+-   Change server to require AS users to be registered before use (PR #487)
+-   Change server not to start when ASes are invalidly configured (PR #494)
+-   Change server to require ID and `as_token` to be unique for AS\'s (PR #496)
+-   Change maximum pagination limit to 1000 (PR #497)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+-   Fix bug where `/sync` didn\'t return when something under the leave key changed (PR #461)
+-   Fix bug where we returned smaller rather than larger than requested thumbnails when `method=crop` (PR #464)
+-   Fix thumbnails API to only return cropped thumbnails when asking for a cropped thumbnail (PR #475)
+-   Fix bug where we occasionally still logged access tokens (PR #477)
+-   Fix bug where `/events` would always return immediately for guest users (PR #480)
+-   Fix bug where `/sync` unexpectedly returned old left rooms (PR #481)
+-   Fix enabling and disabling push rules (PR #498)
+-   Fix bug where `/register` returned 500 when given unicode username (PR #513)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.12.0 (2016-01-04)
+=======================================
+
+-   Expose `/login` under `r0` (PR #459)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc3 (2015-12-23)
+===========================================
+
+-   Allow guest accounts access to `/sync` (PR #455)
+-   Allow filters to include/exclude rooms at the room level rather than just from the components of the sync for each room. (PR #454)
+-   Include urls for room avatars in the response to `/publicRooms` (PR #453)
+-   Don\'t set a identicon as the avatar for a user when they register (PR #450)
+-   Add a `display_name` to third-party invites (PR #449)
+-   Send more information to the identity server for third-party invites so that it can send richer messages to the invitee (PR #446)
+-   Cache the responses to `/initialSync` for 5 minutes. If a client retries a request to `/initialSync` before the a response was computed to the first request then the same response is used for both requests (PR #457)
+-   Fix a bug where synapse would always request the signing keys of remote servers even when the key was cached locally (PR #452)
+-   Fix 500 when pagination search results (PR #447)
+-   Fix a bug where synapse was leaking raw email address in third-party invites (PR #448)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc2 (2015-12-14)
+===========================================
+
+-   Add caches for whether rooms have been forgotten by a user (PR #434)
+-   Remove instructions to use `--process-dependency-link` since all of the dependencies of synapse are on PyPI (PR #436)
+-   Parallelise the processing of `/sync` requests (PR #437)
+-   Fix race updating presence in `/events` (PR #444)
+-   Fix bug back-populating search results (PR #441)
+-   Fix bug calculating state in `/sync` requests (PR #442)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc1 (2015-12-10)
+===========================================
+
+-   Host the client APIs released as r0 by <https://matrix.org/docs/spec/r0.0.0/client_server.html> on paths prefixed by `/_matrix/client/r0`. (PR #430, PR #415, PR #400)
+-   Updates the client APIs to match r0 of the matrix specification.
+    -   All APIs return events in the new event format, old APIs also include the fields needed to parse the event using the old format for compatibility. (PR #402)
+    -   Search results are now given as a JSON array rather than a JSON object (PR #405)
+    -   Miscellaneous changes to search (PR #403, PR #406, PR #412)
+    -   Filter JSON objects may now be passed as query parameters to `/sync` (PR #431)
+    -   Fix implementation of `/admin/whois` (PR #418)
+    -   Only include the rooms that user has left in `/sync` if the client requests them in the filter (PR #423)
+    -   Don\'t push for `m.room.message` by default (PR #411)
+    -   Add API for setting per account user data (PR #392)
+    -   Allow users to forget rooms (PR #385)
+-   Performance improvements and monitoring:
+    -   Add per-request counters for CPU time spent on the main python thread. (PR #421, PR #420)
+    -   Add per-request counters for time spent in the database (PR #429)
+    -   Make state updates in the C+S API idempotent (PR #416)
+    -   Only fire `user_joined_room` if the user has actually joined. (PR #410)
+    -   Reuse a single http client, rather than creating new ones (PR #413)
+-   Fixed a bug upgrading from older versions of synapse on postgresql (PR #417)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.1 (2015-11-20)
+=======================================
+
+-   Add extra options to search API (PR #394)
+-   Fix bug where we did not correctly cap federation retry timers. This meant it could take several hours for servers to start talking to ressurected servers, even when they were receiving traffic from them (PR #393)
+-   Don\'t advertise login token flow unless CAS is enabled. This caused issues where some clients would always use the fallback API if they did not recognize all login flows (PR #391)
+-   Change /v2 sync API to rename `private_user_data` to `account_data` (PR #386)
+-   Change /v2 sync API to remove the `event_map` and rename keys in `rooms` object (PR #389)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.0-r2 (2015-11-19)
+==========================================
+
+-   Fix bug in database port script (PR #387)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.0-r1 (2015-11-18)
+==========================================
+
+-   Retry and fail federation requests more aggressively for requests that block client side requests (PR #384)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.0 (2015-11-17)
+=======================================
+
+-   Change CAS login API (PR #349)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.0-rc2 (2015-11-13)
+===========================================
+
+-   Various changes to /sync API response format (PR #373)
+-   Fix regression when setting display name in newly joined room over federation (PR #368)
+-   Fix problem where /search was slow when using SQLite (PR #366)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.11.0-rc1 (2015-11-11)
+===========================================
+
+-   Add Search API (PR #307, #324, #327, #336, #350, #359)
+-   Add \'archived\' state to v2 /sync API (PR #316)
+-   Add ability to reject invites (PR #317)
+-   Add config option to disable password login (PR #322)
+-   Add the login fallback API (PR #330)
+-   Add room context API (PR #334)
+-   Add room tagging support (PR #335)
+-   Update v2 /sync API to match spec (PR #305, #316, #321, #332, #337, #341)
+-   Change retry schedule for application services (PR #320)
+-   Change retry schedule for remote servers (PR #340)
+-   Fix bug where we hosted static content in the incorrect place (PR #329)
+-   Fix bug where we didn\'t increment retry interval for remote servers (PR #343)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.1-rc1 (2015-10-15)
+===========================================
+
+-   Add support for CAS, thanks to Steven Hammerton (PR #295, #296)
+-   Add support for using macaroons for `access_token` (PR #256, #229)
+-   Add support for `m.room.canonical_alias` (PR #287)
+-   Add support for viewing the history of rooms that they have left. (PR #276, #294)
+-   Add support for refresh tokens (PR #240)
+-   Add flag on creation which disables federation of the room (PR #279)
+-   Add some room state to invites. (PR #275)
+-   Atomically persist events when joining a room over federation (PR #283)
+-   Change default history visibility for private rooms (PR #271)
+-   Allow users to redact their own sent events (PR #262)
+-   Use tox for tests (PR #247)
+-   Split up syutil into separate libraries (PR #243)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-r2 (2015-09-16)
+==========================================
+
+-   Fix bug where we always fetched remote server signing keys instead of using ones in our cache.
+-   Fix adding threepids to an existing account.
+-   Fix bug with invinting over federation where remote server was already in the room. (PR #281, SYN-392)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-r1 (2015-09-08)
+==========================================
+
+-   Fix bug with python packaging
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0 (2015-09-03)
+=======================================
+
+No change from release candidate.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc6 (2015-09-02)
+===========================================
+
+-   Remove some of the old database upgrade scripts.
+-   Fix database port script to work with newly created sqlite databases.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc5 (2015-08-27)
+===========================================
+
+-   Fix bug that broke downloading files with ascii filenames across federation.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc4 (2015-08-27)
+===========================================
+
+-   Allow UTF-8 filenames for upload. (PR #259)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc3 (2015-08-25)
+===========================================
+
+-   Add `--keys-directory` config option to specify where files such as certs and signing keys should be stored in, when using `--generate-config` or `--generate-keys`. (PR #250)
+-   Allow `--config-path` to specify a directory, causing synapse to use all \*.yaml files in the directory as config files. (PR #249)
+-   Add `web_client_location` config option to specify static files to be hosted by synapse under `/_matrix/client`. (PR #245)
+-   Add helper utility to synapse to read and parse the config files and extract the value of a given key. For example:
+
+        $ python -m synapse.config read server_name -c homeserver.yaml
+        localhost
+
+    (PR #246)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc2 (2015-08-24)
+===========================================
+
+-   Fix bug where we incorrectly populated the `event_forward_extremities` table, resulting in problems joining large remote rooms (e.g. `#matrix:matrix.org`)
+-   Reduce the number of times we wake up pushers by not listening for presence or typing events, reducing the CPU cost of each pusher.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc1 (2015-08-21)
+===========================================
+
+Also see v0.9.4-rc1 changelog, which has been amalgamated into this release.
+
+General:
+
+-   Upgrade to Twisted 15 (PR #173)
+-   Add support for serving and fetching encryption keys over federation. (PR #208)
+-   Add support for logging in with email address (PR #234)
+-   Add support for new `m.room.canonical_alias` event. (PR #233)
+-   Change synapse to treat user IDs case insensitively during registration and login. (If two users already exist with case insensitive matching user ids, synapse will continue to require them to specify their user ids exactly.)
+-   Error if a user tries to register with an email already in use. (PR #211)
+-   Add extra and improve existing caches (PR #212, #219, #226, #228)
+-   Batch various storage request (PR #226, #228)
+-   Fix bug where we didn\'t correctly log the entity that triggered the request if the request came in via an application service (PR #230)
+-   Fix bug where we needlessly regenerated the full list of rooms an AS is interested in. (PR #232)
+-   Add support for AS\'s to use v2\_alpha registration API (PR #210)
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add `--generate-keys` that will generate any missing cert and key files in the configuration files. This is equivalent to running `--generate-config` on an existing configuration file. (PR #220)
+-   `--generate-config` now no longer requires a `--server-name` parameter when used on existing configuration files. (PR #220)
+-   Add `--print-pidfile` flag that controls the printing of the pid to stdout of the demonised process. (PR #213)
+
+Media Repository:
+
+-   Fix bug where we picked a lower resolution image than requested. (PR #205)
+-   Add support for specifying if a the media repository should dynamically thumbnail images or not. (PR #206)
+
+Metrics:
+
+-   Add statistics from the reactor to the metrics API. (PR #224, #225)
+
+Demo Homeservers:
+
+-   Fix starting the demo homeservers without rate-limiting enabled. (PR #182)
+-   Fix enabling registration on demo homeservers (PR #223)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.4-rc1 (2015-07-21)
+==========================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Add basic implementation of receipts. (SPEC-99)
+-   Add support for configuration presets in room creation API. (PR #203)
+-   Add auth event that limits the visibility of history for new users. (SPEC-134)
+-   Add SAML2 login/registration support. (PR #201. Thanks Muthu Subramanian!)
+-   Add client side key management APIs for end to end encryption. (PR #198)
+-   Change power level semantics so that you cannot kick, ban or change power levels of users that have equal or greater power level than you. (SYN-192)
+-   Improve performance by bulk inserting events where possible. (PR #193)
+-   Improve performance by bulk verifying signatures where possible. (PR #194)
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add support for including TLS certificate chains.
+
+Media Repository:
+
+-   Add Content-Disposition headers to content repository responses. (SYN-150)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.3 (2015-07-01)
+======================================
+
+No changes from v0.9.3 Release Candidate 1.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.3-rc1 (2015-06-23)
+==========================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Fix a memory leak in the notifier. (SYN-412)
+-   Improve performance of room initial sync. (SYN-418)
+-   General improvements to logging.
+-   Remove `access_token` query params from `INFO` level logging.
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add support for specifying and configuring multiple listeners. (SYN-389)
+
+Application services:
+
+-   Fix bug where synapse failed to send user queries to application services.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.2-r2 (2015-06-15)
+=========================================
+
+Fix packaging so that schema delta python files get included in the package.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.2 (2015-06-12)
+======================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Use ultrajson for json (de)serialisation when a canonical encoding is not required. Ultrajson is significantly faster than simplejson in certain circumstances.
+-   Use connection pools for outgoing HTTP connections.
+-   Process thumbnails on separate threads.
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add option, `gzip_responses`, to disable HTTP response compression.
+
+Federation:
+
+-   Improve resilience of backfill by ensuring we fetch any missing auth events.
+-   Improve performance of backfill and joining remote rooms by removing unnecessary computations. This included handling events we\'d previously handled as well as attempting to compute the current state for outliers.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.1 (2015-05-26)
+======================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Add support for backfilling when a client paginates. This allows servers to request history for a room from remote servers when a client tries to paginate history the server does not have - SYN-36
+-   Fix bug where you couldn\'t disable non-default pushrules - SYN-378
+-   Fix `register_new_user` script - SYN-359
+-   Improve performance of fetching events from the database, this improves both initialSync and sending of events.
+-   Improve performance of event streams, allowing synapse to handle more simultaneous connected clients.
+
+Federation:
+
+-   Fix bug with existing backfill implementation where it returned the wrong selection of events in some circumstances.
+-   Improve performance of joining remote rooms.
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add support for changing the bind host of the metrics listener via the `metrics_bind_host` option.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.0-r5 (2015-05-21)
+=========================================
+
+-   Add more database caches to reduce amount of work done for each pusher. This radically reduces CPU usage when multiple pushers are set up in the same room.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.9.0 (2015-05-07)
+======================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Add support for using a PostgreSQL database instead of SQLite. See [docs/postgres.rst](docs/postgres.rst) for details.
+-   Add password change and reset APIs. See [Registration](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/master/specification/10_client_server_api.rst#registration) in the spec.
+-   Fix memory leak due to not releasing stale notifiers - SYN-339.
+-   Fix race in caches that occasionally caused some presence updates to be dropped - SYN-369.
+-   Check server name has not changed on restart.
+-   Add a sample systemd unit file and a logger configuration in contrib/systemd. Contributed Ivan Shapovalov.
+
+Federation:
+
+-   Add key distribution mechanisms for fetching public keys of unavailable remote home servers. See [Retrieving Server Keys](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/6f2698/specification/30_server_server_api.rst#retrieving-server-keys) in the spec.
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Add support for multiple config files.
+-   Add support for dictionaries in config files.
+-   Remove support for specifying config options on the command line, except for:
+    -   `--daemonize` - Daemonize the home server.
+    -   `--manhole` - Turn on the twisted telnet manhole service on the given port.
+    -   `--database-path` - The path to a sqlite database to use.
+    -   `--verbose` - The verbosity level.
+    -   `--log-file` - File to log to.
+    -   `--log-config` - Python logging config file.
+    -   `--enable-registration` - Enable registration for new users.
+
+Application services:
+
+-   Reliably retry sending of events from Synapse to application services, as per [Application Services](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/0c6bd9/specification/25_application_service_api.rst#home-server---application-service-api) spec.
+-   Application services can no longer register via the `/register` API, instead their configuration should be saved to a file and listed in the synapse `app_service_config_files` config option. The AS configuration file has the same format as the old `/register` request. See [docs/application\_services.rst](docs/application_services.rst) for more information.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.8.1 (2015-03-18)
+======================================
+
+-   Disable registration by default. New users can be added using the command `register_new_matrix_user` or by enabling registration in the config.
+-   Add metrics to synapse. To enable metrics use config options `enable_metrics` and `metrics_port`.
+-   Fix bug where banning only kicked the user.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.8.0 (2015-03-06)
+======================================
+
+General:
+
+-   Add support for registration fallback. This is a page hosted on the server which allows a user to register for an account, regardless of what client they are using (e.g. mobile devices).
+-   Added new default push rules and made them configurable by clients:
+    -   Suppress all notice messages.
+    -   Notify when invited to a new room.
+    -   Notify for messages that don\'t match any rule.
+    -   Notify on incoming call.
+
+Federation:
+
+-   Added per host server side rate-limiting of incoming federation requests.
+-   Added a `/get_missing_events/` API to federation to reduce number of `/events/` requests.
+
+Configuration:
+
+-   Added configuration option to disable registration: `disable_registration`.
+-   Added configuration option to change soft limit of number of open file descriptors: `soft_file_limit`.
+-   Make `tls_private_key_path` optional when running with `no_tls`.
+
+Application services:
+
+-   Application services can now poll on the CS API `/events` for their events, by providing their application service `access_token`.
+-   Added exclusive namespace support to application services API.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.7.1 (2015-02-19)
+======================================
+
+-   Initial alpha implementation of parts of the Application Services API. Including:
+    -   AS Registration / Unregistration
+    -   User Query API
+    -   Room Alias Query API
+    -   Push transport for receiving events.
+    -   User/Alias namespace admin control
+-   Add cache when fetching events from remote servers to stop repeatedly fetching events with bad signatures.
+-   Respect the per remote server retry scheme when fetching both events and server keys to reduce the number of times we send requests to dead servers.
+-   Inform remote servers when the local server fails to handle a received event.
+-   Turn off python bytecode generation due to problems experienced when upgrading from previous versions.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.7.0 (2015-02-12)
+======================================
+
+-   Add initial implementation of the query auth federation API, allowing servers to agree on whether an event should be allowed or rejected.
+-   Persist events we have rejected from federation, fixing the bug where servers would keep requesting the same events.
+-   Various federation performance improvements, including:
+    -   Add in memory caches on queries such as:
+
+        > -   Computing the state of a room at a point in time, used for authorization on federation requests.
+        > -   Fetching events from the database.
+        > -   User\'s room membership, used for authorizing presence updates.
+
+    -   Upgraded JSON library to improve parsing and serialisation speeds.
+
+-   Add default avatars to new user accounts using pydenticon library.
+-   Correctly time out federation requests.
+-   Retry federation requests against different servers.
+-   Add support for push and push rules.
+-   Add alpha versions of proposed new CSv2 APIs, including `/sync` API.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.6.1 (2015-01-07)
+=====================================
+
+-   Major optimizations to improve performance of initial sync and event sending in large rooms (by up to 10x)
+-   Media repository now includes a Content-Length header on media downloads.
+-   Improve quality of thumbnails by changing resizing algorithm.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.6.0 (2014-12-16)
+=====================================
+
+-   Add new API for media upload and download that supports thumbnailing.
+-   Replicate media uploads over multiple homeservers so media is always served to clients from their local homeserver. This obsoletes the \--content-addr parameter and confusion over accessing content directly from remote homeservers.
+-   Implement exponential backoff when retrying federation requests when sending to remote homeservers which are offline.
+-   Implement typing notifications.
+-   Fix bugs where we sent events with invalid signatures due to bugs where we incorrectly persisted events.
+-   Improve performance of database queries involving retrieving events.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.4a (2014-12-13)
+======================================
+
+-   Fix bug while generating the error message when a file path specified in the config doesn\'t exist.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.4 (2014-12-03)
+=====================================
+
+-   Fix presence bug where some rooms did not display presence updates for remote users.
+-   Do not log SQL timing log lines when started with \"-v\"
+-   Fix potential memory leak.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.3c (2014-12-02)
+======================================
+
+-   Change the default value for the content\_addr option to use the HTTP listener, as by default the HTTPS listener will be using a self-signed certificate.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.3 (2014-11-27)
+=====================================
+
+-   Fix bug that caused joining a remote room to fail if a single event was not signed correctly.
+-   Fix bug which caused servers to continuously try and fetch events from other servers.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.2 (2014-11-26)
+=====================================
+
+Fix major bug that caused rooms to disappear from peoples initial sync.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.1 (2014-11-26)
+=====================================
+
+See UPGRADES.rst for specific instructions on how to upgrade.
+
+> -   Fix bug where we served up an Event that did not match its signatures.
+> -   Fix regression where we no longer correctly handled the case where a homeserver receives an event for a room it doesn\'t recognise (but is in.)
+
+Changes in synapse 0.5.0 (2014-11-19)
+=====================================
+
+This release includes changes to the federation protocol and client-server API that is not backwards compatible.
+
+This release also changes the internal database schemas and so requires servers to drop their current history. See UPGRADES.rst for details.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Add authentication and authorization to the federation protocol. Events are now signed by their originating homeservers.
+    -   Implement the new authorization model for rooms.
+    -   Split out web client into a seperate repository: matrix-angular-sdk.
+    -   Change the structure of PDUs.
+    -   Fix bug where user could not join rooms via an alias containing 4-byte UTF-8 characters.
+    -   Merge concept of PDUs and Events internally.
+    -   Improve logging by adding request ids to log lines.
+    -   Implement a very basic room initial sync API.
+    -   Implement the new invite/join federation APIs.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   The webclient has been moved to a seperate repository.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.4.2 (2014-10-31)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Fix bugs where we did not notify users of correct presence updates.
+    -   Fix bug where we did not handle sub second event stream timeouts.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add ability to click on messages to see JSON.
+    -   Add ability to redact messages.
+    -   Add ability to view and edit all room state JSON.
+    -   Handle incoming redactions.
+    -   Improve feedback on errors.
+    -   Fix bugs in mobile CSS.
+    -   Fix bugs with desktop notifications.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.4.1 (2014-10-17)
+=====================================
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Fix bug with display of timestamps.
+
+Changes in synpase 0.4.0 (2014-10-17)
+=====================================
+
+This release includes changes to the federation protocol and client-server API that is not backwards compatible.
+
+The Matrix specification has been moved to a separate git repository: <http://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc>
+
+You will also need an updated syutil and config. See UPGRADES.rst.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Sign federation transactions to assert strong identity over federation.
+    -   Rename timestamp keys in PDUs and events from \'ts\' and \'hsob\_ts\' to \'origin\_server\_ts\'.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.3.4 (2014-09-25)
+=====================================
+
+This version adds support for using a TURN server. See docs/turn-howto.rst on how to set one up.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Add support for redaction of messages.
+    -   Fix bug where inviting a user on a remote home server could take up to 20-30s.
+    -   Implement a get current room state API.
+    -   Add support specifying and retrieving turn server configuration.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add button to send messages to users from the home page.
+    -   Add support for using TURN for VoIP calls.
+    -   Show display name change messages.
+    -   Fix bug where the client didn\'t get the state of a newly joined room until after it has been refreshed.
+    -   Fix bugs with tab complete.
+    -   Fix bug where holding down the down arrow caused chrome to chew 100% CPU.
+    -   Fix bug where desktop notifications occasionally used \"Undefined\" as the display name.
+    -   Fix more places where we sometimes saw room IDs incorrectly.
+    -   Fix bug which caused lag when entering text in the text box.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.3.3 (2014-09-22)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Fix bug where you continued to get events for rooms you had left.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add support for video calls with basic UI.
+    -   Fix bug where one to one chats were named after your display name rather than the other person\'s.
+    -   Fix bug which caused lag when typing in the textarea.
+    -   Refuse to run on browsers we know won\'t work.
+    -   Trigger pagination when joining new rooms.
+    -   Fix bug where we sometimes didn\'t display invitations in recents.
+    -   Automatically join room when accepting a VoIP call.
+    -   Disable outgoing and reject incoming calls on browsers we don\'t support VoIP in.
+    -   Don\'t display desktop notifications for messages in the room you are non-idle and speaking in.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.3.2 (2014-09-18)
+=====================================
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Fix bug where an empty \"bing words\" list in old accounts didn\'t send notifications when it should have done.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.3.1 (2014-09-18)
+=====================================
+
+This is a release to hotfix v0.3.0 to fix two regressions.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Fix a regression where we sometimes displayed duplicate events.
+    -   Fix a regression where we didn\'t immediately remove rooms you were banned in from the recents list.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.3.0 (2014-09-18)
+=====================================
+
+See UPGRADE for information about changes to the client server API, including breaking backwards compatibility with VoIP calls and registration API.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   When a user changes their displayname or avatar the server will now update all their join states to reflect this.
+    -   The server now adds \"age\" key to events to indicate how old they are. This is clock independent, so at no point does any server or webclient have to assume their clock is in sync with everyone else.
+    -   Fix bug where we didn\'t correctly pull in missing PDUs.
+    -   Fix bug where prev\_content key wasn\'t always returned.
+    -   Add support for password resets.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Improve page content loading.
+    -   Join/parts now trigger desktop notifications.
+    -   Always show room aliases in the UI if one is present.
+    -   No longer show user-count in the recents side panel.
+    -   Add up & down arrow support to the text box for message sending to step through your sent history.
+    -   Don\'t display notifications for our own messages.
+    -   Emotes are now formatted correctly in desktop notifications.
+    -   The recents list now differentiates between public & private rooms.
+    -   Fix bug where when switching between rooms the pagination flickered before the view jumped to the bottom of the screen.
+    -   Add bing word support.
+
+Registration API:
+
+:   -   The registration API has been overhauled to function like the login API. In practice, this means registration requests must now include the following: \'type\':\'m.login.password\'. See UPGRADE for more information on this.
+    -   The \'user\_id\' key has been renamed to \'user\' to better match the login API.
+    -   There is an additional login type: \'m.login.email.identity\'.
+    -   The command client and web client have been updated to reflect these changes.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.2.3 (2014-09-12)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Fix bug where we stopped sending events to remote home servers if a user from that home server left, even if there were some still in the room.
+    -   Fix bugs in the state conflict resolution where it was incorrectly rejecting events.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Display room names and topics.
+    -   Allow setting/editing of room names and topics.
+    -   Display information about rooms on the main page.
+    -   Handle ban and kick events in real time.
+    -   VoIP UI and reliability improvements.
+    -   Add glare support for VoIP.
+    -   Improvements to initial startup speed.
+    -   Don\'t display duplicate join events.
+    -   Local echo of messages.
+    -   Differentiate sending and sent of local echo.
+    -   Various minor bug fixes.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.2.2 (2014-09-06)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   When the server returns state events it now also includes the previous content.
+    -   Add support for inviting people when creating a new room.
+    -   Make the homeserver inform the room via m.room.aliases when a new alias is added for a room.
+    -   Validate m.room.power\_level events.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add support for captchas on registration.
+    -   Handle m.room.aliases events.
+    -   Asynchronously send messages and show a local echo.
+    -   Inform the UI when a message failed to send.
+    -   Only autoscroll on receiving a new message if the user was already at the bottom of the screen.
+    -   Add support for ban/kick reasons.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.2.1 (2014-09-03)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Added support for signing up with a third party id.
+    -   Add synctl scripts.
+    -   Added rate limiting.
+    -   Add option to change the external address the content repo uses.
+    -   Presence bug fixes.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Added support for signing up with a third party id.
+    -   Added support for banning and kicking users.
+    -   Added support for displaying and setting ops.
+    -   Added support for room names.
+    -   Fix bugs with room membership event display.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.2.0 (2014-09-02)
+=====================================
+
+This update changes many configuration options, updates the database schema and mandates SSL for server-server connections.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Require SSL for server-server connections.
+    -   Add SSL listener for client-server connections.
+    -   Add ability to use config files.
+    -   Add support for kicking/banning and power levels.
+    -   Allow setting of room names and topics on creation.
+    -   Change presence to include last seen time of the user.
+    -   Change url path prefix to /\_matrix/\...
+    -   Bug fixes to presence.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Reskin the CSS for registration and login.
+    -   Various improvements to rooms CSS.
+    -   Support changes in client-server API.
+    -   Bug fixes to VOIP UI.
+    -   Various bug fixes to handling of changes to room member list.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.1.2 (2014-08-29)
+=====================================
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add basic call state UI for VoIP calls.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.1.1 (2014-08-29)
+=====================================
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Fix bug that caused the event stream to not notify some clients about changes.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.1.0 (2014-08-29)
+=====================================
+
+Presence has been reenabled in this release.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -
+
+        Update client to server API, including:
+
+        :   -   Use a more consistent url scheme.
+            -   Provide more useful information in the initial sync api.
+
+    -   Change the presence handling to be much more efficient.
+    -   Change the presence server to server API to not require explicit polling of all users who share a room with a user.
+    -   Fix races in the event streaming logic.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Update to use new client to server API.
+    -   Add basic VOIP support.
+    -   Add idle timers that change your status to away.
+    -   Add recent rooms column when viewing a room.
+    -   Various network efficiency improvements.
+    -   Add basic mobile browser support.
+    -   Add a settings page.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.0.1 (2014-08-22)
+=====================================
+
+Presence has been disabled in this release due to a bug that caused the homeserver to spam other remote homeservers.
+
+Homeserver:
+
+:   -   Completely change the database schema to support generic event types.
+    -   Improve presence reliability.
+    -   Improve reliability of joining remote rooms.
+    -   Fix bug where room join events were duplicated.
+    -   Improve initial sync API to return more information to the client.
+    -   Stop generating fake messages for room membership events.
+
+Webclient:
+
+:   -   Add tab completion of names.
+    -   Add ability to upload and send images.
+    -   Add profile pages.
+    -   Improve CSS layout of room.
+    -   Disambiguate identical display names.
+    -   Don\'t get remote users display names and avatars individually.
+    -   Use the new initial sync API to reduce number of round trips to the homeserver.
+    -   Change url scheme to use room aliases instead of room ids where known.
+    -   Increase longpoll timeout.
+
+Changes in synapse 0.0.0 (2014-08-13)
+=====================================
+
+> -   Initial alpha release
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index ba6929c435..0000000000
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2839 +0,0 @@
-Synapse 0.32.2 (2018-07-07)
-===========================
-
-Bugfixes
---------
-
-- Amend the Python dependencies to depend on attrs from PyPI, not attr (`#3492 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3492>`_)
-
-
-Synapse 0.32.1 (2018-07-06)
-===========================
-
-Bugfixes
---------
-
-- Add explicit dependency on netaddr (`#3488 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3488>`_)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.32.0 (2018-07-06)
-===========================================
-No changes since 0.32.0rc1
-
-Synapse 0.32.0rc1 (2018-07-05)
-==============================
-
-Features
---------
-
-- Add blacklist & whitelist of servers allowed to send events to a room via ``m.room.server_acl`` event.
-- Cache factor override system for specific caches (`#3334 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3334>`_)
-- Add metrics to track appservice transactions (`#3344 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3344>`_)
-- Try to log more helpful info when a sig verification fails (`#3372 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3372>`_)
-- Synapse now uses the best performing JSON encoder/decoder according to your runtime (simplejson on CPython, stdlib json on PyPy). (`#3462 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3462>`_)
-- Add optional ip_range_whitelist param to AS registration files to lock AS IP access (`#3465 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3465>`_)
-- Reject invalid server names in federation requests (`#3480 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3480>`_)
-- Reject invalid server names in homeserver.yaml (`#3483 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3483>`_)
-
-
-Bugfixes
---------
-
-- Strip access_token from outgoing requests (`#3327 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3327>`_)
-- Redact AS tokens in logs (`#3349 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3349>`_)
-- Fix federation backfill from SQLite servers (`#3355 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3355>`_)
-- Fix event-purge-by-ts admin API (`#3363 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3363>`_)
-- Fix event filtering in get_missing_events handler (`#3371 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3371>`_)
-- Synapse is now stricter regarding accepting events which it cannot retrieve the prev_events for. (`#3456 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3456>`_)
-- Fix bug where synapse would explode when receiving unicode in HTTP User-Agent header (`#3470 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3470>`_)
-- Invalidate cache on correct thread to avoid race (`#3473 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3473>`_)
-
-
-Improved Documentation
-----------------------
-
-- ``doc/postgres.rst``: fix display of the last command block. Thanks to @ArchangeGabriel! (`#3340 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3340>`_)
-
-
-Deprecations and Removals
--------------------------
-
-- Remove was_forgotten_at (`#3324 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3324>`_)
-
-
-Misc
-----
-
-- `#3332 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3332>`_, `#3341 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3341>`_, `#3347 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3347>`_, `#3348 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3348>`_, `#3356 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3356>`_, `#3385 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3385>`_, `#3446 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3446>`_, `#3447 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3447>`_, `#3467 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3467>`_, `#3474 <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3474>`_
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.31.2 (2018-06-14)
-=======================================
-
-SECURITY UPDATE: Prevent unauthorised users from setting state events in a room
-when there is no ``m.room.power_levels`` event in force in the room. (PR #3397)
-
-Discussion around the Matrix Spec change proposal for this change can be
-followed at https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/1304.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.31.1 (2018-06-08)
-=======================================
-
-v0.31.1 fixes a security bug in the ``get_missing_events`` federation API
-where event visibility rules were not applied correctly.
-
-We are not aware of it being actively exploited but please upgrade asap.
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* Fix event filtering in get_missing_events handler (PR #3371)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.31.0 (2018-06-06)
-=======================================
-
-Most notable change from v0.30.0 is to switch to the python prometheus library to improve system
-stats reporting. WARNING: this changes a number of prometheus metrics in a
-backwards-incompatible manner. For more details, see
-`docs/metrics-howto.rst <docs/metrics-howto.rst#removal-of-deprecated-metrics--time-based-counters-becoming-histograms-in-0310>`_.
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* Fix metric documentation tables (PR #3341)
-* Fix LaterGauge error handling (694968f)
-* Fix replication metrics (b7e7fd2)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.31.0-rc1 (2018-06-04)
-==========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Switch to the Python Prometheus library (PR #3256, #3274)
-* Let users leave the server notice room after joining (PR #3287)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* daily user type phone home stats (PR #3264)
-* Use iter* methods for _filter_events_for_server (PR #3267)
-* Docs on consent bits (PR #3268)
-* Remove users from user directory on deactivate (PR #3277)
-* Avoid sending consent notice to guest users (PR #3288)
-* disable CPUMetrics if no /proc/self/stat (PR #3299)
-* Consistently use six's iteritems and wrap lazy keys/values in list() if they're not meant to be lazy (PR #3307)
-* Add private IPv6 addresses to example config for url preview blacklist (PR #3317) Thanks to @thegcat!
-* Reduce stuck read-receipts: ignore depth when updating (PR #3318)
-* Put python's logs into Trial when running unit tests (PR #3319)
-
-Changes, python 3 migration:
-
-* Replace some more comparisons with six (PR #3243) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* replace some iteritems with six (PR #3244) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Add batch_iter to utils (PR #3245) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* use repr, not str (PR #3246) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Misc Python3 fixes (PR #3247) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Py3 storage/_base.py (PR #3278) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* more six iteritems (PR #3279) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* More Misc. py3 fixes (PR #3280) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* remaining isintance fixes (PR #3281) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* py3-ize state.py (PR #3283) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* extend tox testing for py3 to avoid regressions (PR #3302) Thanks to @krombel!
-* use memoryview in py3 (PR #3303) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-
-Bugs:
-
-* Fix federation backfill bugs (PR #3261)
-* federation: fix LaterGauge usage (PR #3328) Thanks to @intelfx!
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.30.0 (2018-05-24)
-==========================================
-
-'Server Notices' are a new feature introduced in Synapse 0.30. They provide a
-channel whereby server administrators can send messages to users on the server.
-
-They are used as part of communication of the server policies (see ``docs/consent_tracking.md``),
-however the intention is that they may also find a use for features such
-as "Message of the day".
-
-This feature is specific to Synapse, but uses standard Matrix communication mechanisms,
-so should work with any Matrix client. For more details see ``docs/server_notices.md``
-
-Further Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
-
-* Allow overriding the server_notices user's avatar (PR #3273)
-* Use the localpart in the consent uri (PR #3272)
-* Support for putting %(consent_uri)s in messages (PR #3271)
-* Block attempts to send server notices to remote users (PR #3270)
-* Docs on consent bits (PR #3268)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.30.0-rc1 (2018-05-23)
-==========================================
-
-Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
-
-* ConsentResource to gather policy consent from users (PR #3213)
-* Move RoomCreationHandler out of synapse.handlers.Handlers (PR #3225)
-* Infrastructure for a server notices room (PR #3232)
-* Send users a server notice about consent (PR #3236)
-* Reject attempts to send event before privacy consent is given (PR #3257)
-* Add a 'has_consented' template var to consent forms (PR #3262)
-* Fix dependency on jinja2 (PR #3263)
-
-Features:
-
-* Cohort analytics (PR #3163, #3241, #3251)
-* Add lxml to docker image for web previews (PR #3239) Thanks to @ptman!
-* Add in flight request metrics (PR #3252)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Remove unused `update_external_syncs` (PR #3233)
-* Use stream rather depth ordering for push actions (PR #3212)
-* Make purge_history operate on tokens (PR #3221)
-* Don't support limitless pagination (PR #3265)
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* Fix logcontext resource usage tracking (PR #3258)
-* Fix error in handling receipts (PR #3235)
-* Stop the transaction cache caching failures (PR #3255)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.29.1 (2018-05-17)
-==========================================
-Changes:
-
-* Update docker documentation (PR #3222)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.29.0 (2018-05-16)
-===========================================
-Not changes since v0.29.0-rc1
-
-Changes in synapse v0.29.0-rc1 (2018-05-14)
-===========================================
-
-Notable changes, a docker file for running Synapse (Thanks to @kaiyou!) and a
-closed spec bug in the Client Server API. Additionally further prep for Python 3
-migration.
-
-Potentially breaking change:
-
-* Make Client-Server API return 401 for invalid token (PR #3161).
-
-  This changes the Client-server spec to return a 401 error code instead of 403
-  when the access token is unrecognised. This is the behaviour required by the
-  specification, but some clients may be relying on the old, incorrect
-  behaviour.
-
-  Thanks to @NotAFile for fixing this.
-
-Features:
-
-* Add a Dockerfile for synapse (PR #2846) Thanks to @kaiyou!
-
-Changes - General:
-
-* nuke-room-from-db.sh: added postgresql option and help (PR #2337) Thanks to @rubo77!
-* Part user from rooms on account deactivate (PR #3201)
-* Make 'unexpected logging context' into warnings (PR #3007)
-* Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
-* remove duplicates from groups tables (PR #3129)
-* Improve exception handling for background processes (PR #3138)
-* Add missing consumeErrors to improve exception handling (PR #3139)
-* reraise exceptions more carefully (PR #3142)
-* Remove redundant call to preserve_fn (PR #3143)
-* Trap exceptions thrown within run_in_background (PR #3144)
-
-Changes - Refactors:
-
-* Refactor /context to reuse pagination storage functions (PR #3193)
-* Refactor recent events func to use pagination func (PR #3195)
-* Refactor pagination DB API to return concrete type (PR #3196)
-* Refactor get_recent_events_for_room return type (PR #3198)
-* Refactor sync APIs to reuse pagination API (PR #3199)
-* Remove unused code path from member change DB func (PR #3200)
-* Refactor request handling wrappers (PR #3203)
-* transaction_id, destination defined twice (PR #3209) Thanks to @damir-manapov!
-* Refactor event storage to prepare for changes in state calculations (PR #3141)
-* Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
-* Use deferred.addTimeout instead of time_bound_deferred (PR #3127, #3178)
-* Use run_in_background in preference to preserve_fn (PR #3140)
-
-Changes - Python 3 migration:
-
-* Construct HMAC as bytes on py3 (PR #3156) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* run config tests on py3 (PR #3159) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Open certificate files as bytes (PR #3084) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Open config file in non-bytes mode (PR #3085) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Make event properties raise AttributeError instead (PR #3102) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Use six.moves.urlparse (PR #3108) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Add py3 tests to tox with folders that work (PR #3145) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Don't yield in list comprehensions (PR #3150) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Move more xrange to six (PR #3151) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* make imports local (PR #3152) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* move httplib import to six (PR #3153) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Replace stringIO imports with six (PR #3154, #3168) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* more bytes strings (PR #3155) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* synapse fails to start under Twisted >= 18.4 (PR #3157)
-* Fix a class of logcontext leaks (PR #3170)
-* Fix a couple of logcontext leaks in unit tests (PR #3172)
-* Fix logcontext leak in media repo (PR #3174)
-* Escape label values in prometheus metrics (PR #3175, #3186)
-* Fix 'Unhandled Error' logs with Twisted 18.4 (PR #3182) Thanks to @Half-Shot!
-* Fix logcontext leaks in rate limiter (PR #3183)
-* notifications: Convert next_token to string according to the spec (PR #3190) Thanks to @mujx!
-* nuke-room-from-db.sh: fix deletion from search table (PR #3194) Thanks to @rubo77!
-* add guard for None on purge_history api (PR #3160) Thanks to @krombel!
-
-Changes in synapse v0.28.1 (2018-05-01)
-=======================================
-
-SECURITY UPDATE
-
-* Clamp the allowed values of event depth received over federation to be
-  [0, 2^63 - 1].  This mitigates an attack where malicious events
-  injected with depth = 2^63 - 1 render rooms unusable.  Depth is used to
-  determine the cosmetic ordering of events within a room, and so the ordering
-  of events in such a room will default to using stream_ordering rather than depth
-  (topological_ordering).
-
-  This is a temporary solution to mitigate abuse in the wild, whilst a long term solution
-  is being implemented to improve how the depth parameter is used.
-
-  Full details at
-  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I3fi2S-XnpO45qrpCsowZv8P8dHcNZ4fsBsbOW7KABI
-
-* Pin Twisted to <18.4 until we stop using the private _OpenSSLECCurve API.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.28.0 (2018-04-26)
-=======================================
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* Fix quarantine media admin API and search reindex (PR #3130)
-* Fix media admin APIs (PR #3134)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.28.0-rc1 (2018-04-24)
-===========================================
-
-Minor performance improvement to federation sending and bug fixes.
-
-(Note: This release does not include the delta state resolution implementation discussed in matrix live)
-
-
-Features:
-
-* Add metrics for event processing lag (PR #3090)
-* Add metrics for ResponseCache (PR #3092)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Synapse on PyPy (PR #2760) Thanks to @Valodim!
-* move handling of auto_join_rooms to RegisterHandler (PR #2996) Thanks to @krombel!
-* Improve handling of SRV records for federation connections (PR #3016) Thanks to @silkeh!
-* Document the behaviour of ResponseCache (PR #3059)
-* Preparation for py3 (PR #3061, #3073, #3074, #3075, #3103, #3104, #3106, #3107, #3109, #3110) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* update prometheus dashboard to use new metric names (PR #3069) Thanks to @krombel!
-* use python3-compatible prints (PR #3074) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Send federation events concurrently (PR #3078)
-* Limit concurrent event sends for a room (PR #3079)
-* Improve R30 stat definition (PR #3086)
-* Send events to ASes concurrently (PR #3088)
-* Refactor ResponseCache usage (PR #3093)
-* Clarify that SRV may not point to a CNAME (PR #3100) Thanks to @silkeh!
-* Use str(e) instead of e.message (PR #3103) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Use six.itervalues in some places (PR #3106) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Refactor store.have_events (PR #3117)
-
-Bug Fixes:
-
-* Return 401 for invalid access_token on logout (PR #2938) Thanks to @dklug!
-* Return a 404 rather than a 500 on rejoining empty rooms (PR #3080)
-* fix federation_domain_whitelist (PR #3099)
-* Avoid creating events with huge numbers of prev_events (PR #3113)
-* Reject events which have lots of prev_events (PR #3118)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.4 (2018-04-13)
-======================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Update canonicaljson dependency (#3095)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.3 (2018-04-11)
-======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* URL quote path segments over federation (#3082)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc2 (2018-04-09)
-==========================================
-
-v0.27.3-rc1 used a stale version of the develop branch so the changelog overstates
-the functionality. v0.27.3-rc2 is up to date, rc1 should be ignored.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc1 (2018-04-09)
-=======================================
-
-Notable changes include API support for joinability of groups. Also new metrics
-and phone home stats. Phone home stats include better visibility of system usage
-so we can tweak synpase to work better for all users rather than our own experience
-with matrix.org. Also, recording 'r30' stat which is the measure we use to track
-overal growth of the Matrix ecosystem. It is defined as:-
-
-Counts the number of native 30 day retained users, defined as:-
-         * Users who have created their accounts more than 30 days
-         * Where last seen at most 30 days ago
-         * Where account creation and last_seen are > 30 days"
-
-
-Features:
-
-* Add joinability for groups (PR #3045)
-* Implement group join API (PR #3046)
-* Add counter metrics for calculating state delta (PR #3033)
-* R30 stats (PR #3041)
-* Measure time it takes to calculate state group ID (PR #3043)
-* Add basic performance statistics to phone home (PR #3044)
-* Add response size metrics (PR #3071)
-* phone home cache size configurations (PR #3063)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Add a blurb explaining the main synapse worker (PR #2886) Thanks to @turt2live!
-* Replace old style error catching with 'as' keyword (PR #3000) Thanks to @NotAFile!
-* Use .iter* to avoid copies in StateHandler (PR #3006)
-* Linearize calls to _generate_user_id (PR #3029)
-* Remove last usage of ujson (PR #3030)
-* Use simplejson throughout (PR #3048)
-* Use static JSONEncoders (PR #3049)
-* Remove uses of events.content (PR #3060)
-* Improve database cache performance (PR #3068)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Add room_id to the response of `rooms/{roomId}/join` (PR #2986) Thanks to @jplatte!
-* Fix replication after switch to simplejson (PR #3015)
-* 404 correctly on missing paths via NoResource (PR #3022)
-* Fix error when claiming e2e keys from offline servers (PR #3034)
-* fix tests/storage/test_user_directory.py (PR #3042)
-* use PUT instead of POST for federating groups/m.join_policy (PR #3070) Thanks to @krombel!
-* postgres port script: fix state_groups_pkey error (PR #3072)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.2 (2018-03-26)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug which broke TCP replication between workers (PR #3015)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.1 (2018-03-26)
-=======================================
-
-Meta release as v0.27.0 temporarily pointed to the wrong commit
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.0 (2018-03-26)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.27.0-rc2
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc2 (2018-03-19)
-===========================================
-
-Pulls in v0.26.1
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug introduced in v0.27.0-rc1 that causes much increased memory usage in state cache (PR #3005)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.26.1 (2018-03-15)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where an invalid event caused server to stop functioning correctly,
-  due to parsing and serializing bugs in ujson library (PR #3008)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc1 (2018-03-14)
-===========================================
-
-The common case for running Synapse is not to run separate workers, but for those that do, be aware that synctl no longer starts the main synapse when using ``-a`` option with workers. A new worker file should be added with ``worker_app: synapse.app.homeserver``.
-
-This release also begins the process of renaming a number of the metrics
-reported to prometheus. See `docs/metrics-howto.rst <docs/metrics-howto.rst#block-and-response-metrics-renamed-for-0-27-0>`_.
-Note that the v0.28.0 release will remove the deprecated metric names.
-
-Features:
-
-* Add ability for ASes to override message send time (PR #2754)
-* Add support for custom storage providers for media repository (PR #2867, #2777, #2783, #2789, #2791, #2804, #2812, #2814, #2857, #2868, #2767)
-* Add purge API features, see `docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst <docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst>`_ for full details (PR #2858, #2867, #2882, #2946, #2962, #2943)
-* Add support for whitelisting 3PIDs that users can register. (PR #2813)
-* Add ``/room/{id}/event/{id}`` API (PR #2766)
-* Add an admin API to get all the media in a room (PR #2818) Thanks to @turt2live!
-* Add ``federation_domain_whitelist`` option (PR #2820, #2821)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Continue to factor out processing from main process and into worker processes. See updated `docs/workers.rst <docs/workers.rst>`_ (PR #2892 - #2904, #2913, #2920 - #2926, #2947, #2847, #2854, #2872, #2873, #2874, #2928, #2929, #2934, #2856, #2976 - #2984, #2987 - #2989, #2991 - #2993, #2995, #2784)
-* Ensure state cache is used when persisting events (PR #2864, #2871, #2802, #2835, #2836, #2841, #2842, #2849)
-* Change the default config to bind on both IPv4 and IPv6 on all platforms (PR #2435) Thanks to @silkeh!
-* No longer require a specific version of saml2 (PR #2695) Thanks to @okurz!
-* Remove ``verbosity``/``log_file`` from generated config (PR #2755)
-* Add and improve metrics and logging (PR #2770, #2778, #2785, #2786, #2787, #2793, #2794, #2795, #2809, #2810, #2833, #2834, #2844, #2965, #2927, #2975, #2790, #2796, #2838)
-* When using synctl with workers, don't start the main synapse automatically (PR #2774)
-* Minor performance improvements (PR #2773, #2792)
-* Use a connection pool for non-federation outbound connections (PR #2817)
-* Make it possible to run unit tests against postgres (PR #2829)
-* Update pynacl dependency to 1.2.1 or higher (PR #2888) Thanks to @bachp!
-* Remove ability for AS users to call /events and /sync (PR #2948)
-* Use bcrypt.checkpw (PR #2949) Thanks to @krombel!
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix broken ``ldap_config`` config option (PR #2683) Thanks to @seckrv!
-* Fix error message when user is not allowed to unban (PR #2761) Thanks to @turt2live!
-* Fix publicised groups GET API (singular) over federation (PR #2772)
-* Fix user directory when using ``user_directory_search_all_users`` config option (PR #2803, #2831)
-* Fix error on ``/publicRooms`` when no rooms exist (PR #2827)
-* Fix bug in quarantine_media (PR #2837)
-* Fix url_previews when no Content-Type is returned from URL (PR #2845)
-* Fix rare race in sync API when joining room (PR #2944)
-* Fix slow event search, switch back from GIST to GIN indexes (PR #2769, #2848)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.26.0 (2018-01-05)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.26.0-rc1
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.26.0-rc1 (2017-12-13)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add ability for ASes to publicise groups for their users (PR #2686)
-* Add all local users to the user_directory and optionally search them (PR
-  #2723)
-* Add support for custom login types for validating users (PR #2729)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Update example Prometheus config to new format (PR #2648) Thanks to
-  @krombel!
-* Rename redact_content option to include_content in Push API (PR #2650)
-* Declare support for r0.3.0 (PR #2677)
-* Improve upserts (PR #2684, #2688, #2689, #2713)
-* Improve documentation of workers (PR #2700)
-* Improve tracebacks on exceptions (PR #2705)
-* Allow guest access to group APIs for reading (PR #2715)
-* Support for posting content in federation_client script (PR #2716)
-* Delete devices and pushers on logouts etc (PR #2722)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix database port script (PR #2673)
-* Fix internal server error on login with ldap_auth_provider (PR #2678) Thanks
-  to @jkolo!
-* Fix error on sqlite 3.7 (PR #2697)
-* Fix OPTIONS on preview_url (PR #2707)
-* Fix error handling on dns lookup (PR #2711)
-* Fix wrong avatars when inviting multiple users when creating room (PR #2717)
-* Fix 500 when joining matrix-dev (PR #2719)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.25.1 (2017-11-17)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix login with LDAP and other password provider modules (PR #2678). Thanks to
-  @jkolo!
-
-Changes in synapse v0.25.0 (2017-11-15)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix port script (PR #2673)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.25.0-rc1 (2017-11-14)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add is_public to groups table to allow for private groups (PR #2582)
-* Add a route for determining who you are (PR #2668) Thanks to @turt2live!
-* Add more features to the password providers (PR #2608, #2610, #2620, #2622,
-  #2623, #2624, #2626, #2628, #2629)
-* Add a hook for custom rest endpoints (PR #2627)
-* Add API to update group room visibility (PR #2651)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Ignore <noscript> tags when generating URL preview descriptions (PR #2576)
-  Thanks to @maximevaillancourt!
-* Register some /unstable endpoints in /r0 as well (PR #2579) Thanks to
-  @krombel!
-* Support /keys/upload on /r0 as well as /unstable (PR #2585)
-* Front-end proxy: pass through auth header (PR #2586)
-* Allow ASes to deactivate their own users (PR #2589)
-* Remove refresh tokens (PR #2613)
-* Automatically set default displayname on register (PR #2617)
-* Log login requests (PR #2618)
-* Always return `is_public` in the `/groups/:group_id/rooms` API (PR #2630)
-* Avoid no-op media deletes (PR #2637) Thanks to @spantaleev!
-* Fix various embarrassing typos around user_directory and add some doc. (PR
-  #2643)
-* Return whether a user is an admin within a group (PR #2647)
-* Namespace visibility options for groups (PR #2657)
-* Downcase UserIDs on registration (PR #2662)
-* Cache failures when fetching URL previews (PR #2669)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix port script (PR #2577)
-* Fix error when running synapse with no logfile (PR #2581)
-* Fix UI auth when deleting devices (PR #2591)
-* Fix typo when checking if user is invited to group (PR #2599)
-* Fix the port script to drop NUL values in all tables (PR #2611)
-* Fix appservices being backlogged and not receiving new events due to a bug in
-  notify_interested_services (PR #2631) Thanks to @xyzz!
-* Fix updating rooms avatar/display name when modified by admin (PR #2636)
-  Thanks to @farialima!
-* Fix bug in state group storage (PR #2649)
-* Fix 500 on invalid utf-8 in request (PR #2663)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.24.1 (2017-10-24)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix updating group profiles over federation (PR #2567)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.24.0 (2017-10-23)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.24.0-rc1
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.24.0-rc1 (2017-10-19)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add Group Server (PR #2352, #2363, #2374, #2377, #2378, #2382, #2410, #2426,
-  #2430, #2454, #2471, #2472, #2544)
-* Add support for channel notifications (PR #2501)
-* Add basic implementation of backup media store (PR #2538)
-* Add config option to auto-join new users to rooms (PR #2545)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Make the spam checker a module (PR #2474)
-* Delete expired url cache data (PR #2478)
-* Ignore incoming events for rooms that we have left (PR #2490)
-* Allow spam checker to reject invites too (PR #2492)
-* Add room creation checks to spam checker (PR #2495)
-* Spam checking: add the invitee to user_may_invite (PR #2502)
-* Process events from federation for different rooms in parallel (PR #2520)
-* Allow error strings from spam checker (PR #2531)
-* Improve error handling for missing files in config (PR #2551)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix handling SERVFAILs when doing AAAA lookups for federation (PR #2477)
-* Fix incompatibility with newer versions of ujson (PR #2483) Thanks to
-  @jeremycline!
-* Fix notification keywords that start/end with non-word chars (PR #2500)
-* Fix stack overflow and logcontexts from linearizer (PR #2532)
-* Fix 500 error when fields missing from power_levels event (PR #2552)
-* Fix 500 error when we get an error handling a PDU (PR #2553)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.23.1 (2017-10-02)
-=======================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Make 'affinity' package optional, as it is not supported on some platforms
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.23.0 (2017-10-02)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.23.0-rc2
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc2 (2017-09-26)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix regression in performance of syncs (PR #2470)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc1 (2017-09-25)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add a frontend proxy worker (PR #2344)
-* Add support for event_id_only push format (PR #2450)
-* Add a PoC for filtering spammy events (PR #2456)
-* Add a config option to block all room invites (PR #2457)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Use bcrypt module instead of py-bcrypt (PR #2288) Thanks to @kyrias!
-* Improve performance of generating push notifications (PR #2343, #2357, #2365,
-  #2366, #2371)
-* Improve DB performance for device list handling in sync (PR #2362)
-* Include a sample prometheus config (PR #2416)
-* Document known to work postgres version (PR #2433) Thanks to @ptman!
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix caching error in the push evaluator (PR #2332)
-* Fix bug where pusherpool didn't start and broke some rooms (PR #2342)
-* Fix port script for user directory tables (PR #2375)
-* Fix device lists notifications when user rejoins a room (PR #2443, #2449)
-* Fix sync to always send down current state events in timeline (PR #2451)
-* Fix bug where guest users were incorrectly kicked (PR #2453)
-* Fix bug talking to IPv6 only servers using SRV records (PR #2462)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.22.1 (2017-07-06)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where pusher pool didn't start and caused issues when
-  interacting with some rooms (PR #2342)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.22.0 (2017-07-06)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.22.0-rc2
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.22.0-rc2 (2017-07-04)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Improve performance of storing user IPs (PR #2307, #2308)
-* Slightly improve performance of verifying access tokens (PR #2320)
-* Slightly improve performance of event persistence (PR #2321)
-* Increase default cache factor size from 0.1 to 0.5 (PR #2330)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug with storing registration sessions that caused frequent CPU churn
-  (PR #2319)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.22.0-rc1 (2017-06-26)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add a user directory API (PR #2252, and many more)
-* Add shutdown room API to remove room from local server (PR #2291)
-* Add API to quarantine media (PR #2292)
-* Add new config option to not send event contents to push servers (PR #2301)
-  Thanks to @cjdelisle!
-
-Changes:
-
-* Various performance fixes (PR #2177, #2233, #2230, #2238, #2248, #2256,
-  #2274)
-* Deduplicate sync filters (PR #2219) Thanks to @krombel!
-* Correct a typo in UPGRADE.rst (PR #2231) Thanks to @aaronraimist!
-* Add count of one time keys to sync stream (PR #2237)
-* Only store event_auth for state events (PR #2247)
-* Store URL cache preview downloads separately (PR #2299)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix users not getting notifications when AS listened to that user_id (PR
-  #2216) Thanks to @slipeer!
-* Fix users without push set up not getting notifications after joining rooms
-  (PR #2236)
-* Fix preview url API to trim long descriptions (PR #2243)
-* Fix bug where we used cached but unpersisted state group as prev group,
-  resulting in broken state of restart (PR #2263)
-* Fix removing of pushers when using workers (PR #2267)
-* Fix CORS headers to allow Authorization header (PR #2285) Thanks to @krombel!
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.21.1 (2017-06-15)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug in anonymous usage statistic reporting (PR #2281)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.21.0 (2017-05-18)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.21.0-rc3
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc3 (2017-05-17)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add per user rate-limiting overrides (PR #2208)
-* Add config option to limit maximum number of events requested by ``/sync``
-  and ``/messages`` (PR #2221) Thanks to @psaavedra!
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Various small performance fixes (PR #2201, #2202, #2224, #2226, #2227, #2228,
-  #2229)
-* Update username availability checker API (PR #2209, #2213)
-* When purging, don't de-delta state groups we're about to delete (PR #2214)
-* Documentation to check synapse version (PR #2215) Thanks to @hamber-dick!
-* Add an index to event_search to speed up purge history API (PR #2218)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix API to allow clients to upload one-time-keys with new sigs (PR #2206)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc2 (2017-05-08)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Always mark remotes as up if we receive a signed request from them (PR #2190)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where users got pushed for rooms they had muted (PR #2200)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.21.0-rc1 (2017-05-08)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add username availability checker API (PR #2183)
-* Add read marker API (PR #2120)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Enable guest access for the 3pl/3pid APIs (PR #1986)
-* Add setting to support TURN for guests (PR #2011)
-* Various performance improvements (PR #2075, #2076, #2080, #2083, #2108,
-  #2158, #2176, #2185)
-* Make synctl a bit more user friendly (PR #2078, #2127) Thanks @APwhitehat!
-* Replace HTTP replication with TCP replication (PR #2082, #2097, #2098,
-  #2099, #2103, #2014, #2016, #2115, #2116, #2117)
-* Support authenticated SMTP (PR #2102) Thanks @DanielDent!
-* Add a counter metric for successfully-sent transactions (PR #2121)
-* Propagate errors sensibly from proxied IS requests (PR #2147)
-* Add more granular event send metrics (PR #2178)
-
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix nuke-room script to work with current schema (PR #1927) Thanks
-  @zuckschwerdt!
-* Fix db port script to not assume postgres tables are in the public schema
-  (PR #2024) Thanks @jerrykan!
-* Fix getting latest device IP for user with no devices (PR #2118)
-* Fix rejection of invites to unreachable servers (PR #2145)
-* Fix code for reporting old verify keys in synapse (PR #2156)
-* Fix invite state to always include all events (PR #2163)
-* Fix bug where synapse would always fetch state for any missing event (PR #2170)
-* Fix a leak with timed out HTTP connections (PR #2180)
-* Fix bug where we didn't time out HTTP requests to ASes  (PR #2192)
-
-
-Docs:
-
-* Clarify doc for SQLite to PostgreSQL port (PR #1961) Thanks @benhylau!
-* Fix typo in synctl help (PR #2107) Thanks @HarHarLinks!
-* ``web_client_location`` documentation fix (PR #2131) Thanks @matthewjwolff!
-* Update README.rst with FreeBSD changes (PR #2132) Thanks @feld!
-* Clarify setting up metrics (PR #2149) Thanks @encks!
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.20.0 (2017-04-11)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix joining rooms over federation where not all servers in the room saw the
-  new server had joined (PR #2094)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.20.0-rc1 (2017-03-30)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add delete_devices API (PR #1993)
-* Add phone number registration/login support (PR #1994, #2055)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Use JSONSchema for validation of filters. Thanks @pik! (PR #1783)
-* Reread log config on SIGHUP (PR #1982)
-* Speed up public room list (PR #1989)
-* Add helpful texts to logger config options (PR #1990)
-* Minor ``/sync`` performance improvements. (PR #2002, #2013, #2022)
-* Add some debug to help diagnose weird federation issue (PR #2035)
-* Correctly limit retries for all federation requests (PR #2050, #2061)
-* Don't lock table when persisting new one time keys (PR #2053)
-* Reduce some CPU work on DB threads (PR #2054)
-* Cache hosts in room (PR #2060)
-* Batch sending of device list pokes (PR #2063)
-* Speed up persist event path in certain edge cases (PR #2070)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where current_state_events renamed to current_state_ids (PR #1849)
-* Fix routing loop when fetching remote media (PR #1992)
-* Fix current_state_events table to not lie (PR #1996)
-* Fix CAS login to handle PartialDownloadError (PR #1997)
-* Fix assertion to stop transaction queue getting wedged (PR #2010)
-* Fix presence to fallback to last_active_ts if it beats the last sync time.
-  Thanks @Half-Shot! (PR #2014)
-* Fix bug when federation received a PDU while a room join is in progress (PR
-  #2016)
-* Fix resetting state on rejected events (PR #2025)
-* Fix installation issues in readme. Thanks @ricco386 (PR #2037)
-* Fix caching of remote servers' signature keys (PR #2042)
-* Fix some leaking log context (PR #2048, #2049, #2057, #2058)
-* Fix rejection of invites not reaching sync (PR #2056)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.3 (2017-03-20)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.19.3-rc2
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.3-rc2 (2017-03-13)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug in handling of incoming device list updates over federation.
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.3-rc1 (2017-03-08)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add some administration functionalities. Thanks to morteza-araby! (PR #1784)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Reduce database table sizes (PR #1873, #1916, #1923, #1963)
-* Update contrib/ to not use syutil. Thanks to andrewshadura! (PR #1907)
-* Don't fetch current state when sending an event in common case (PR #1955)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix synapse_port_db failure. Thanks to Pneumaticat! (PR #1904)
-* Fix caching to not cache error responses (PR #1913)
-* Fix APIs to make kick & ban reasons work (PR #1917)
-* Fix bugs in the /keys/changes api (PR #1921)
-* Fix bug where users couldn't forget rooms they were banned from (PR #1922)
-* Fix issue with long language values in pushers API (PR #1925)
-* Fix a race in transaction queue (PR #1930)
-* Fix dynamic thumbnailing to preserve aspect ratio. Thanks to jkolo! (PR
-  #1945)
-* Fix device list update to not constantly resync (PR #1964)
-* Fix potential for huge memory usage when getting device that have
-  changed (PR #1969)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.2 (2017-02-20)
-=======================================
-
-* Fix bug with event visibility check in /context/ API. Thanks to Tokodomo for
-  pointing it out! (PR #1929)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.1 (2017-02-09)
-=======================================
-
-* Fix bug where state was incorrectly reset in a room when synapse received an
-  event over federation that did not pass auth checks (PR #1892)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.0 (2017-02-04)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since RC 4.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc4 (2017-02-02)
-===========================================
-
-* Bump cache sizes for common membership queries (PR #1879)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc3 (2017-02-02)
-===========================================
-
-* Fix email push in pusher worker (PR #1875)
-* Make presence.get_new_events a bit faster (PR #1876)
-* Make /keys/changes a bit more performant (PR #1877)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc2 (2017-02-02)
-===========================================
-
-* Include newly joined users in /keys/changes API (PR #1872)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.19.0-rc1 (2017-02-02)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add support for specifying multiple bind addresses (PR #1709, #1712, #1795,
-  #1835). Thanks to @kyrias!
-* Add /account/3pid/delete endpoint (PR #1714)
-* Add config option to configure the Riot URL used in notification emails (PR
-  #1811). Thanks to @aperezdc!
-* Add username and password config options for turn server (PR #1832). Thanks
-  to @xsteadfastx!
-* Implement device lists updates over federation (PR #1857, #1861, #1864)
-* Implement /keys/changes (PR #1869, #1872)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Improve IPv6 support (PR #1696). Thanks to @kyrias and @glyph!
-* Log which files we saved attachments to in the media_repository (PR #1791)
-* Linearize updates to membership via PUT /state/ to better handle multiple
-  joins (PR #1787)
-* Limit number of entries to prefill from cache on startup (PR #1792)
-* Remove full_twisted_stacktraces option (PR #1802)
-* Measure size of some caches by sum of the size of cached values (PR #1815)
-* Measure metrics of string_cache (PR #1821)
-* Reduce logging verbosity (PR #1822, #1823, #1824)
-* Don't clobber a displayname or avatar_url if provided by an m.room.member
-  event (PR #1852)
-* Better handle 401/404 response for federation /send/ (PR #1866, #1871)
-
-
-Fixes:
-
-* Fix ability to change password to a non-ascii one (PR #1711)
-* Fix push getting stuck due to looking at the wrong view of state (PR #1820)
-* Fix email address comparison to be case insensitive (PR #1827)
-* Fix occasional inconsistencies of room membership (PR #1836, #1840)
-
-
-Performance:
-
-* Don't block messages sending on bumping presence (PR #1789)
-* Change device_inbox stream index to include user (PR #1793)
-* Optimise state resolution (PR #1818)
-* Use DB cache of joined users for presence (PR #1862)
-* Add an index to make membership queries faster (PR #1867)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.7 (2017-01-09)
-=======================================
-
-No changes from v0.18.7-rc2
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.7-rc2 (2017-01-07)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix error in rc1's discarding invalid inbound traffic logic that was
-  incorrectly discarding missing events
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.7-rc1 (2017-01-06)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix error in #PR 1764 to actually fix the nightmare #1753 bug.
-* Improve deadlock logging further
-* Discard inbound federation traffic from invalid domains, to immunise
-  against #1753
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.6 (2017-01-06)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug when checking if a guest user is allowed to join a room (PR #1772)
-  Thanks to Patrik Oldsberg for diagnosing and the fix!
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc3 (2017-01-05)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where we failed to send ban events to the banned server (PR #1758)
-* Fix bug where we sent event that didn't originate on this server to
-  other servers (PR #1764)
-* Fix bug where processing an event from a remote server took a long time
-  because we were making long HTTP requests (PR #1765, PR #1744)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Improve logging for debugging deadlocks (PR #1766, PR #1767)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc2 (2016-12-30)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix memory leak in twisted by initialising logging correctly (PR #1731)
-* Fix bug where fetching missing events took an unacceptable amount of time in
-  large rooms (PR #1734)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.6-rc1 (2016-12-29)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Make sure that outbound connections are closed (PR #1725)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.5 (2016-12-16)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix federation /backfill returning events it shouldn't (PR #1700)
-* Fix crash in url preview (PR #1701)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc3 (2016-12-13)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add support for E2E for guests (PR #1653)
-* Add new API appservice specific public room list (PR #1676)
-* Add new room membership APIs (PR #1680)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Enable guest access for private rooms by default (PR #653)
-* Limit the number of events that can be created on a given room concurrently
-  (PR #1620)
-* Log the args that we have on UI auth completion (PR #1649)
-* Stop generating refresh_tokens (PR #1654)
-* Stop putting a time caveat on access tokens (PR #1656)
-* Remove unspecced GET endpoints for e2e keys (PR #1694)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix handling of 500 and 429's over federation (PR #1650)
-* Fix Content-Type header parsing (PR #1660)
-* Fix error when previewing sites that include unicode, thanks to kyrias (PR
-  #1664)
-* Fix some cases where we drop read receipts (PR #1678)
-* Fix bug where calls to ``/sync`` didn't correctly timeout (PR #1683)
-* Fix bug where E2E key query would fail if a single remote host failed (PR
-  #1686)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc2 (2016-11-24)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Don't send old events over federation, fixes bug in -rc1.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.5-rc1 (2016-11-24)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Implement "event_fields" in filters (PR #1638)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Use external ldap auth pacakge (PR #1628)
-* Split out federation transaction sending to a worker (PR #1635)
-* Fail with a coherent error message if `/sync?filter=` is invalid (PR #1636)
-* More efficient notif count queries (PR #1644)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.4 (2016-11-22)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Add workaround for buggy clients that the fail to register (PR #1632)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.4-rc1 (2016-11-14)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Various database efficiency improvements (PR #1188, #1192)
-* Update default config to blacklist more internal IPs, thanks to Euan Kemp (PR
-  #1198)
-* Allow specifying duration in minutes in config, thanks to Daniel Dent (PR
-  #1625)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix media repo to set CORs headers on responses (PR #1190)
-* Fix registration to not error on non-ascii passwords (PR #1191)
-* Fix create event code to limit the number of prev_events (PR #1615)
-* Fix bug in transaction ID deduplication (PR #1624)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.3 (2016-11-08)
-=======================================
-
-SECURITY UPDATE
-
-Explicitly require authentication when using LDAP3. This is the default on
-versions of ``ldap3`` above 1.0, but some distributions will package an older
-version.
-
-If you are using LDAP3 login and have a version of ``ldap3`` older than 1.0 it
-is **CRITICAL to updgrade**.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2 (2016-11-01)
-=======================================
-
-No changes since v0.18.2-rc5
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc5 (2016-10-28)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix prometheus process metrics in worker processes (PR #1184)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc4 (2016-10-27)
-===========================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix ``user_threepids`` schema delta, which in some instances prevented
-  startup after upgrade (PR #1183)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc3 (2016-10-27)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Allow clients to supply access tokens as headers (PR #1098)
-* Clarify error codes for GET /filter/, thanks to Alexander Maznev (PR #1164)
-* Make password reset email field case insensitive (PR #1170)
-* Reduce redundant database work in email pusher (PR #1174)
-* Allow configurable rate limiting per AS (PR #1175)
-* Check whether to ratelimit sooner to avoid work (PR #1176)
-* Standardise prometheus metrics (PR #1177)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix incredibly slow back pagination query (PR #1178)
-* Fix infinite typing bug (PR #1179)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc2 (2016-10-25)
-===========================================
-
-(This release did not include the changes advertised and was identical to RC1)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.2-rc1 (2016-10-17)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Remove redundant event_auth index (PR #1113)
-* Reduce DB hits for replication (PR #1141)
-* Implement pluggable password auth (PR #1155)
-* Remove rate limiting from app service senders and fix get_or_create_user
-  requester, thanks to Patrik Oldsberg (PR #1157)
-* window.postmessage for Interactive Auth fallback (PR #1159)
-* Use sys.executable instead of hardcoded python, thanks to Pedro Larroy
-  (PR #1162)
-* Add config option for adding additional TLS fingerprints (PR #1167)
-* User-interactive auth on delete device (PR #1168)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix not being allowed to set your own state_key, thanks to Patrik Oldsberg
-  (PR #1150)
-* Fix interactive auth to return 401 from for incorrect password (PR #1160,
-  #1166)
-* Fix email push notifs being dropped (PR #1169)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.1 (2016-10-05)
-======================================
-
-No changes since v0.18.1-rc1
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.1-rc1 (2016-09-30)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add total_room_count_estimate to ``/publicRooms`` (PR #1133)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Time out typing over federation (PR #1140)
-* Restructure LDAP authentication (PR #1153)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix 3pid invites when server is already in the room (PR #1136)
-* Fix upgrading with SQLite taking lots of CPU for a few days
-  after upgrade (PR #1144)
-* Fix upgrading from very old database versions (PR #1145)
-* Fix port script to work with recently added tables (PR #1146)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.0 (2016-09-19)
-=======================================
-
-The release includes major changes to the state storage database schemas, which
-significantly reduce database size. Synapse will attempt to upgrade the current
-data in the background. Servers with large SQLite database may experience
-degradation of performance while this upgrade is in progress, therefore you may
-want to consider migrating to using Postgres before upgrading very large SQLite
-databases
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Make public room search case insensitive (PR #1127)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix and clean up publicRooms pagination (PR #1129)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.18.0-rc1 (2016-09-16)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add ``only=highlight`` on ``/notifications`` (PR #1081)
-* Add server param to /publicRooms (PR #1082)
-* Allow clients to ask for the whole of a single state event (PR #1094)
-* Add is_direct param to /createRoom (PR #1108)
-* Add pagination support to publicRooms (PR #1121)
-* Add very basic filter API to /publicRooms (PR #1126)
-* Add basic direct to device messaging support for E2E (PR #1074, #1084, #1104,
-  #1111)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Move to storing state_groups_state as deltas, greatly reducing DB size (PR
-  #1065)
-* Reduce amount of state pulled out of the DB during common requests (PR #1069)
-* Allow PDF to be rendered from media repo (PR #1071)
-* Reindex state_groups_state after pruning (PR #1085)
-* Clobber EDUs in send queue (PR #1095)
-* Conform better to the CAS protocol specification (PR #1100)
-* Limit how often we ask for keys from dead servers (PR #1114)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix /notifications API when used with ``from`` param (PR #1080)
-* Fix backfill when cannot find an event. (PR #1107)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.3 (2016-09-09)
-=======================================
-
-This release fixes a major bug that stopped servers from handling rooms with
-over 1000 members.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.2 (2016-09-08)
-=======================================
-
-This release contains security bug fixes. Please upgrade.
-
-
-No changes since v0.17.2-rc1
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.2-rc1 (2016-09-05)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Start adding store-and-forward direct-to-device messaging (PR #1046, #1050,
-  #1062, #1066)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Avoid pulling the full state of a room out so often (PR #1047, #1049, #1063,
-  #1068)
-* Don't notify for online to online presence transitions. (PR #1054)
-* Occasionally persist unpersisted presence updates (PR #1055)
-* Allow application services to have an optional 'url' (PR #1056)
-* Clean up old sent transactions from DB (PR #1059)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix None check in backfill (PR #1043)
-* Fix membership changes to be idempotent (PR #1067)
-* Fix bug in get_pdu where it would sometimes return events with incorrect
-  signature
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.1 (2016-08-24)
-=======================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Delete old received_transactions rows (PR #1038)
-* Pass through user-supplied content in /join/$room_id (PR #1039)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug with backfill (PR #1040)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.1-rc1 (2016-08-22)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add notification API (PR #1028)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Don't print stack traces when failing to get remote keys (PR #996)
-* Various federation /event/ perf improvements (PR #998)
-* Only process one local membership event per room at a time (PR #1005)
-* Move default display name push rule (PR #1011, #1023)
-* Fix up preview URL API. Add tests. (PR #1015)
-* Set ``Content-Security-Policy`` on media repo (PR #1021)
-* Make notify_interested_services faster (PR #1022)
-* Add usage stats to prometheus monitoring (PR #1037)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix token login (PR #993)
-* Fix CAS login (PR #994, #995)
-* Fix /sync to not clobber status_msg (PR #997)
-* Fix redacted state events to include prev_content (PR #1003)
-* Fix some bugs in the auth/ldap handler (PR #1007)
-* Fix backfill request to limit URI length, so that remotes don't reject the
-  requests due to path length limits (PR #1012)
-* Fix AS push code to not send duplicate events (PR #1025)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.0 (2016-08-08)
-=======================================
-
-This release contains significant security bug fixes regarding authenticating
-events received over federation. PLEASE UPGRADE.
-
-This release changes the LDAP configuration format in a backwards incompatible
-way, see PR #843 for details.
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Add federation /version API (PR #990)
-* Make psutil dependency optional (PR #992)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix URL preview API to exclude HTML comments in description (PR #988)
-* Fix error handling of remote joins (PR #991)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc4 (2016-08-05)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Change the way we summarize URLs when previewing (PR #973)
-* Add new ``/state_ids/`` federation API (PR #979)
-* Speed up processing of ``/state/`` response (PR #986)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix event persistence when event has already been partially persisted
-  (PR #975, #983, #985)
-* Fix port script to also copy across backfilled events (PR #982)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc3 (2016-08-02)
-===========================================
-
-Changes:
-
-* Forbid non-ASes from registering users whose names begin with '_' (PR #958)
-* Add some basic admin API docs (PR #963)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Send the correct host header when fetching keys (PR #941)
-* Fix joining a room that has missing auth events (PR #964)
-* Fix various push bugs (PR #966, #970)
-* Fix adding emails on registration (PR #968)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc2 (2016-08-02)
-===========================================
-
-(This release did not include the changes advertised and was identical to RC1)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.17.0-rc1 (2016-07-28)
-===========================================
-
-This release changes the LDAP configuration format in a backwards incompatible
-way, see PR #843 for details.
-
-
-Features:
-
-* Add purge_media_cache admin API (PR #902)
-* Add deactivate account admin API (PR #903)
-* Add optional pepper to password hashing (PR #907, #910 by KentShikama)
-* Add an admin option to shared secret registration (breaks backwards compat)
-  (PR #909)
-* Add purge local room history API (PR #911, #923, #924)
-* Add requestToken endpoints (PR #915)
-* Add an /account/deactivate endpoint (PR #921)
-* Add filter param to /messages. Add 'contains_url' to filter. (PR #922)
-* Add device_id support to /login (PR #929)
-* Add device_id support to /v2/register flow. (PR #937, #942)
-* Add GET /devices endpoint (PR #939, #944)
-* Add GET /device/{deviceId} (PR #943)
-* Add update and delete APIs for devices (PR #949)
-
-
-Changes:
-
-* Rewrite LDAP Authentication against ldap3 (PR #843 by mweinelt)
-* Linearize some federation endpoints based on (origin, room_id) (PR #879)
-* Remove the legacy v0 content upload API. (PR #888)
-* Use similar naming we use in email notifs for push (PR #894)
-* Optionally include password hash in createUser endpoint (PR #905 by
-  KentShikama)
-* Use a query that postgresql optimises better for get_events_around (PR #906)
-* Fall back to 'username' if 'user' is not given for appservice registration.
-  (PR #927 by Half-Shot)
-* Add metrics for psutil derived memory usage (PR #936)
-* Record device_id in client_ips (PR #938)
-* Send the correct host header when fetching keys (PR #941)
-* Log the hostname the reCAPTCHA was completed on (PR #946)
-* Make the device id on e2e key upload optional (PR #956)
-* Add r0.2.0 to the "supported versions" list (PR #960)
-* Don't include name of room for invites in push (PR #961)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix substitution failure in mail template (PR #887)
-* Put most recent 20 messages in email notif (PR #892)
-* Ensure that the guest user is in the database when upgrading accounts
-  (PR #914)
-* Fix various edge cases in auth handling (PR #919)
-* Fix 500 ISE when sending alias event without a state_key (PR #925)
-* Fix bug where we stored rejections in the state_group, persist all
-  rejections (PR #948)
-* Fix lack of check of if the user is banned when handling 3pid invites
-  (PR #952)
-* Fix a couple of bugs in the transaction and keyring code (PR #954, #955)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.1-r1 (2016-07-08)
-==========================================
-
-THIS IS A CRITICAL SECURITY UPDATE.
-
-This fixes a bug which allowed users' accounts to be accessed by unauthorised
-users.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.1 (2016-06-20)
-=======================================
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix assorted bugs in ``/preview_url`` (PR #872)
-* Fix TypeError when setting unicode passwords (PR #873)
-
-
-Performance improvements:
-
-* Turn ``use_frozen_events`` off by default (PR #877)
-* Disable responding with canonical json for federation (PR #878)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.1-rc1 (2016-06-15)
-===========================================
-
-Features: None
-
-Changes:
-
-* Log requester for ``/publicRoom`` endpoints when possible (PR #856)
-* 502 on ``/thumbnail`` when can't connect to remote server (PR #862)
-* Linearize fetching of gaps on incoming events (PR #871)
-
-
-Bugs fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where rooms where marked as published by default (PR #857)
-* Fix bug where joining room with an event with invalid sender (PR #868)
-* Fix bug where backfilled events were sent down sync streams (PR #869)
-* Fix bug where outgoing connections could wedge indefinitely, causing push
-  notifications to be unreliable (PR #870)
-
-
-Performance improvements:
-
-* Improve ``/publicRooms`` performance(PR #859)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.0 (2016-06-09)
-=======================================
-
-NB: As of v0.14 all AS config files must have an ID field.
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Don't make rooms published by default (PR #857)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.0-rc2 (2016-06-08)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add configuration option for tuning GC via ``gc.set_threshold`` (PR #849)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Record metrics about GC (PR #771, #847, #852)
-* Add metric counter for number of persisted events (PR #841)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix 'From' header in email notifications (PR #843)
-* Fix presence where timeouts were not being fired for the first 8h after
-  restarts (PR #842)
-* Fix bug where synapse sent malformed transactions to AS's when retrying
-  transactions (Commits 310197b, 8437906)
-
-Performance improvements:
-
-* Remove event fetching from DB threads (PR #835)
-* Change the way we cache events (PR #836)
-* Add events to cache when we persist them (PR #840)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.16.0-rc1 (2016-06-03)
-===========================================
-
-Version 0.15 was not released. See v0.15.0-rc1 below for additional changes.
-
-Features:
-
-* Add email notifications for missed messages (PR #759, #786, #799, #810, #815,
-  #821)
-* Add a ``url_preview_ip_range_whitelist`` config param (PR #760)
-* Add /report endpoint (PR #762)
-* Add basic ignore user API (PR #763)
-* Add an openidish mechanism for proving that you own a given user_id (PR #765)
-* Allow clients to specify a server_name to avoid 'No known servers' (PR #794)
-* Add secondary_directory_servers option to fetch room list from other servers
-  (PR #808, #813)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Report per request metrics for all of the things using request_handler (PR
-  #756)
-* Correctly handle ``NULL`` password hashes from the database (PR #775)
-* Allow receipts for events we haven't seen in the db (PR #784)
-* Make synctl read a cache factor from config file (PR #785)
-* Increment badge count per missed convo, not per msg (PR #793)
-* Special case m.room.third_party_invite event auth to match invites (PR #814)
-
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix typo in event_auth servlet path (PR #757)
-* Fix password reset (PR #758)
-
-
-Performance improvements:
-
-* Reduce database inserts when sending transactions (PR #767)
-* Queue events by room for persistence (PR #768)
-* Add cache to ``get_user_by_id`` (PR #772)
-* Add and use ``get_domain_from_id`` (PR #773)
-* Use tree cache for ``get_linearized_receipts_for_room`` (PR #779)
-* Remove unused indices (PR #782)
-* Add caches to ``bulk_get_push_rules*`` (PR #804)
-* Cache ``get_event_reference_hashes`` (PR #806)
-* Add ``get_users_with_read_receipts_in_room`` cache (PR #809)
-* Use state to calculate ``get_users_in_room`` (PR #811)
-* Load push rules in storage layer so that they get cached (PR #825)
-* Make ``get_joined_hosts_for_room`` use get_users_in_room (PR #828)
-* Poke notifier on next reactor tick (PR #829)
-* Change CacheMetrics to be quicker (PR #830)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.15.0-rc1 (2016-04-26)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add login support for Javascript Web Tokens, thanks to Niklas Riekenbrauck
-  (PR #671,#687)
-* Add URL previewing support (PR #688)
-* Add login support for LDAP, thanks to Christoph Witzany (PR #701)
-* Add GET endpoint for pushers (PR #716)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Never notify for member events (PR #667)
-* Deduplicate identical ``/sync`` requests (PR #668)
-* Require user to have left room to forget room (PR #673)
-* Use DNS cache if within TTL (PR #677)
-* Let users see their own leave events (PR #699)
-* Deduplicate membership changes (PR #700)
-* Increase performance of pusher code (PR #705)
-* Respond with error status 504 if failed to talk to remote server (PR #731)
-* Increase search performance on postgres (PR #745)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where disabling all notifications still resulted in push (PR #678)
-* Fix bug where users couldn't reject remote invites if remote refused (PR #691)
-* Fix bug where synapse attempted to backfill from itself (PR #693)
-* Fix bug where profile information was not correctly added when joining remote
-  rooms (PR #703)
-* Fix bug where register API required incorrect key name for AS registration
-  (PR #727)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.14.0 (2016-03-30)
-=======================================
-
-No changes from v0.14.0-rc2
-
-Changes in synapse v0.14.0-rc2 (2016-03-23)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add published room list API (PR #657)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Change various caches to consume less memory (PR #656, #658, #660, #662,
-  #663, #665)
-* Allow rooms to be published without requiring an alias (PR #664)
-* Intern common strings in caches to reduce memory footprint (#666)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix reject invites over federation (PR #646)
-* Fix bug where registration was not idempotent (PR #649)
-* Update aliases event after deleting aliases (PR #652)
-* Fix unread notification count, which was sometimes wrong (PR #661)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.14.0-rc1 (2016-03-14)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add event_id to response to state event PUT (PR #581)
-* Allow guest users access to messages in rooms they have joined (PR #587)
-* Add config for what state is included in a room invite (PR #598)
-* Send the inviter's member event in room invite state (PR #607)
-* Add error codes for malformed/bad JSON in /login (PR #608)
-* Add support for changing the actions for default rules (PR #609)
-* Add environment variable SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR, default it to 0.1 (PR #612)
-* Add ability for alias creators to delete aliases (PR #614)
-* Add profile information to invites (PR #624)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Enforce user_id exclusivity for AS registrations (PR #572)
-* Make adding push rules idempotent (PR #587)
-* Improve presence performance (PR #582, #586)
-* Change presence semantics for ``last_active_ago`` (PR #582, #586)
-* Don't allow ``m.room.create`` to be changed (PR #596)
-* Add 800x600 to default list of valid thumbnail sizes (PR #616)
-* Always include kicks and bans in full /sync (PR #625)
-* Send history visibility on boundary changes (PR #626)
-* Register endpoint now returns a refresh_token (PR #637)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where we returned incorrect state in /sync (PR #573)
-* Always return a JSON object from push rule API (PR #606)
-* Fix bug where registering without a user id sometimes failed (PR #610)
-* Report size of ExpiringCache in cache size metrics (PR #611)
-* Fix rejection of invites to empty rooms (PR #615)
-* Fix usage of ``bcrypt`` to not use ``checkpw`` (PR #619)
-* Pin ``pysaml2`` dependency (PR #634)
-* Fix bug in ``/sync`` where timeline order was incorrect for backfilled events
-  (PR #635)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.13.3 (2016-02-11)
-=======================================
-
-* Fix bug where ``/sync`` would occasionally return events in the wrong room.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.13.2 (2016-02-11)
-=======================================
-
-* Fix bug where ``/events`` would fail to skip some events if there had been
-  more events than the limit specified since the last request (PR #570)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.13.1 (2016-02-10)
-=======================================
-
-* Bump matrix-angular-sdk (matrix web console) dependency to 0.6.8 to
-  pull in the fix for SYWEB-361 so that the default client can display
-  HTML messages again(!)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.13.0 (2016-02-10)
-=======================================
-
-This version includes an upgrade of the schema, specifically adding an index to
-the ``events`` table. This may cause synapse to pause for several minutes the
-first time it is started after the upgrade.
-
-Changes:
-
-* Improve general performance (PR #540, #543. #544, #54, #549, #567)
-* Change guest user ids to be incrementing integers (PR #550)
-* Improve performance of public room list API (PR #552)
-* Change profile API to omit keys rather than return null (PR #557)
-* Add ``/media/r0`` endpoint prefix, which is equivalent to ``/media/v1/``
-  (PR #595)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug with upgrading guest accounts where it would fail if you opened the
-  registration email on a different device (PR #547)
-* Fix bug where unread count could be wrong (PR #568)
-
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.12.1-rc1 (2016-01-29)
-===========================================
-
-Features:
-
-* Add unread notification counts in ``/sync`` (PR #456)
-* Add support for inviting 3pids in ``/createRoom`` (PR #460)
-* Add ability for guest accounts to upgrade (PR #462)
-* Add ``/versions`` API (PR #468)
-* Add ``event`` to ``/context`` API (PR #492)
-* Add specific error code for invalid user names in ``/register`` (PR #499)
-* Add support for push badge counts (PR #507)
-* Add support for non-guest users to peek in rooms using ``/events`` (PR #510)
-
-Changes:
-
-* Change ``/sync`` so that guest users only get rooms they've joined (PR #469)
-* Change to require unbanning before other membership changes (PR #501)
-* Change default push rules to notify for all messages (PR #486)
-* Change default push rules to not notify on membership changes (PR #514)
-* Change default push rules in one to one rooms to only notify for events that
-  are messages (PR #529)
-* Change ``/sync`` to reject requests with a ``from`` query param (PR #512)
-* Change server manhole to use SSH rather than telnet (PR #473)
-* Change server to require AS users to be registered before use (PR #487)
-* Change server not to start when ASes are invalidly configured (PR #494)
-* Change server to require ID and ``as_token`` to be unique for AS's (PR #496)
-* Change maximum pagination limit to 1000 (PR #497)
-
-Bug fixes:
-
-* Fix bug where ``/sync`` didn't return when something under the leave key
-  changed (PR #461)
-* Fix bug where we returned smaller rather than larger than requested
-  thumbnails when ``method=crop`` (PR #464)
-* Fix thumbnails API to only return cropped thumbnails when asking for a
-  cropped thumbnail (PR #475)
-* Fix bug where we occasionally still logged access tokens (PR #477)
-* Fix bug where ``/events`` would always return immediately for guest users
-  (PR #480)
-* Fix bug where ``/sync`` unexpectedly returned old left rooms (PR #481)
-* Fix enabling and disabling push rules (PR #498)
-* Fix bug where ``/register`` returned 500 when given unicode username
-  (PR #513)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.12.0 (2016-01-04)
-=======================================
-
-* Expose ``/login`` under ``r0`` (PR #459)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc3 (2015-12-23)
-===========================================
-
-* Allow guest accounts access to ``/sync`` (PR #455)
-* Allow filters to include/exclude rooms at the room level
-  rather than just from the components of the sync for each
-  room. (PR #454)
-* Include urls for room avatars in the response to ``/publicRooms`` (PR #453)
-* Don't set a identicon as the avatar for a user when they register (PR #450)
-* Add a ``display_name`` to third-party invites (PR #449)
-* Send more information to the identity server for third-party invites so that
-  it can send richer messages to the invitee (PR #446)
-* Cache the responses to ``/initialSync`` for 5 minutes. If a client
-  retries a request to ``/initialSync`` before the a response was computed
-  to the first request then the same response is used for both requests
-  (PR #457)
-* Fix a bug where synapse would always request the signing keys of
-  remote servers even when the key was cached locally (PR #452)
-* Fix 500 when pagination search results (PR #447)
-* Fix a bug where synapse was leaking raw email address in third-party invites
-  (PR #448)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc2 (2015-12-14)
-===========================================
-
-* Add caches for whether rooms have been forgotten by a user (PR #434)
-* Remove instructions to use ``--process-dependency-link`` since all of the
-  dependencies of synapse are on PyPI (PR #436)
-* Parallelise the processing of ``/sync`` requests (PR #437)
-* Fix race updating presence in ``/events`` (PR #444)
-* Fix bug back-populating search results (PR #441)
-* Fix bug calculating state in ``/sync`` requests (PR #442)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.12.0-rc1 (2015-12-10)
-===========================================
-
-* Host the client APIs released as r0 by
-  https://matrix.org/docs/spec/r0.0.0/client_server.html
-  on paths prefixed by ``/_matrix/client/r0``. (PR #430, PR #415, PR #400)
-* Updates the client APIs to match r0 of the matrix specification.
-
-  * All APIs return events in the new event format, old APIs also include
-    the fields needed to parse the event using the old format for
-    compatibility. (PR #402)
-  * Search results are now given as a JSON array rather than
-    a JSON object (PR #405)
-  * Miscellaneous changes to search (PR #403, PR #406, PR #412)
-  * Filter JSON objects may now be passed as query parameters to ``/sync``
-    (PR #431)
-  * Fix implementation of ``/admin/whois`` (PR #418)
-  * Only include the rooms that user has left in ``/sync`` if the client
-    requests them in the filter (PR #423)
-  * Don't push for ``m.room.message`` by default (PR #411)
-  * Add API for setting per account user data (PR #392)
-  * Allow users to forget rooms (PR #385)
-
-* Performance improvements and monitoring:
-
-  * Add per-request counters for CPU time spent on the main python thread.
-    (PR #421, PR #420)
-  * Add per-request counters for time spent in the database (PR #429)
-  * Make state updates in the C+S API idempotent (PR #416)
-  * Only fire ``user_joined_room`` if the user has actually joined. (PR #410)
-  * Reuse a single http client, rather than creating new ones (PR #413)
-
-* Fixed a bug upgrading from older versions of synapse on postgresql (PR #417)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.1 (2015-11-20)
-=======================================
-
-* Add extra options to search API (PR #394)
-* Fix bug where we did not correctly cap federation retry timers. This meant it
-  could take several hours for servers to start talking to ressurected servers,
-  even when they were receiving traffic from them (PR #393)
-* Don't advertise login token flow unless CAS is enabled. This caused issues
-  where some clients would always use the fallback API if they did not
-  recognize all login flows (PR #391)
-* Change /v2 sync API to rename ``private_user_data`` to ``account_data``
-  (PR #386)
-* Change /v2 sync API to remove the ``event_map`` and rename keys in ``rooms``
-  object (PR #389)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.0-r2 (2015-11-19)
-==========================================
-
-* Fix bug in database port script (PR #387)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.0-r1 (2015-11-18)
-==========================================
-
-* Retry and fail federation requests more aggressively for requests that block
-  client side requests (PR #384)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.0 (2015-11-17)
-=======================================
-
-* Change CAS login API (PR #349)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.0-rc2 (2015-11-13)
-===========================================
-
-* Various changes to /sync API response format (PR #373)
-* Fix regression when setting display name in newly joined room over
-  federation (PR #368)
-* Fix problem where /search was slow when using SQLite (PR #366)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.11.0-rc1 (2015-11-11)
-===========================================
-
-* Add Search API (PR #307, #324, #327, #336, #350, #359)
-* Add 'archived' state to v2 /sync API (PR #316)
-* Add ability to reject invites (PR #317)
-* Add config option to disable password login (PR #322)
-* Add the login fallback API (PR #330)
-* Add room context API (PR #334)
-* Add room tagging support (PR #335)
-* Update v2 /sync API to match spec (PR #305, #316, #321, #332, #337, #341)
-* Change retry schedule for application services (PR #320)
-* Change retry schedule for remote servers (PR #340)
-* Fix bug where we hosted static content in the incorrect place (PR #329)
-* Fix bug where we didn't increment retry interval for remote servers (PR #343)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.1-rc1 (2015-10-15)
-===========================================
-
-* Add support for CAS, thanks to Steven Hammerton (PR #295, #296)
-* Add support for using macaroons for ``access_token`` (PR #256, #229)
-* Add support for ``m.room.canonical_alias`` (PR #287)
-* Add support for viewing the history of rooms that they have left. (PR #276,
-  #294)
-* Add support for refresh tokens (PR #240)
-* Add flag on creation which disables federation of the room (PR #279)
-* Add some room state to invites. (PR #275)
-* Atomically persist events when joining a room over federation (PR #283)
-* Change default history visibility for private rooms (PR #271)
-* Allow users to redact their own sent events (PR #262)
-* Use tox for tests (PR #247)
-* Split up syutil into separate libraries (PR #243)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-r2 (2015-09-16)
-==========================================
-
-* Fix bug where we always fetched remote server signing keys instead of using
-  ones in our cache.
-* Fix adding threepids to an existing account.
-* Fix bug with invinting over federation where remote server was already in
-  the room. (PR #281, SYN-392)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-r1 (2015-09-08)
-==========================================
-
-* Fix bug with python packaging
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0 (2015-09-03)
-=======================================
-
-No change from release candidate.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc6 (2015-09-02)
-===========================================
-
-* Remove some of the old database upgrade scripts.
-* Fix database port script to work with newly created sqlite databases.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc5 (2015-08-27)
-===========================================
-
-* Fix bug that broke downloading files with ascii filenames across federation.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc4 (2015-08-27)
-===========================================
-
-* Allow UTF-8 filenames for upload. (PR #259)
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc3 (2015-08-25)
-===========================================
-
-* Add ``--keys-directory`` config option to specify where files such as
-  certs and signing keys should be stored in, when using ``--generate-config``
-  or ``--generate-keys``. (PR #250)
-* Allow ``--config-path`` to specify a directory, causing synapse to use all
-  \*.yaml files in the directory as config files. (PR #249)
-* Add ``web_client_location`` config option to specify static files to be
-  hosted by synapse under ``/_matrix/client``. (PR #245)
-* Add helper utility to synapse to read and parse the config files and extract
-  the value of a given key. For example::
-
-    $ python -m synapse.config read server_name -c homeserver.yaml
-    localhost
-
-  (PR #246)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc2 (2015-08-24)
-===========================================
-
-* Fix bug where we incorrectly populated the ``event_forward_extremities``
-  table, resulting in problems joining large remote rooms (e.g.
-  ``#matrix:matrix.org``)
-* Reduce the number of times we wake up pushers by not listening for presence
-  or typing events, reducing the CPU cost of each pusher.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.10.0-rc1 (2015-08-21)
-===========================================
-
-Also see v0.9.4-rc1 changelog, which has been amalgamated into this release.
-
-General:
-
-* Upgrade to Twisted 15 (PR #173)
-* Add support for serving and fetching encryption keys over federation.
-  (PR #208)
-* Add support for logging in with email address (PR #234)
-* Add support for new ``m.room.canonical_alias`` event. (PR #233)
-* Change synapse to treat user IDs case insensitively during registration and
-  login. (If two users already exist with case insensitive matching user ids,
-  synapse will continue to require them to specify their user ids exactly.)
-* Error if a user tries to register with an email already in use. (PR #211)
-* Add extra and improve existing caches  (PR #212, #219, #226, #228)
-* Batch various storage request (PR #226, #228)
-* Fix bug where we didn't correctly log the entity that triggered the request
-  if the request came in via an application service (PR #230)
-* Fix bug where we needlessly regenerated the full list of rooms an AS is
-  interested in. (PR #232)
-* Add support for AS's to use v2_alpha registration API (PR #210)
-
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add ``--generate-keys`` that will generate any missing cert and key files in
-  the configuration files. This is equivalent to running ``--generate-config``
-  on an existing configuration file. (PR #220)
-* ``--generate-config`` now no longer requires a ``--server-name`` parameter
-  when used on existing configuration files. (PR #220)
-* Add ``--print-pidfile`` flag that controls the printing of the pid to stdout
-  of the demonised process. (PR #213)
-
-Media Repository:
-
-* Fix bug where we picked a lower resolution image than requested. (PR #205)
-* Add support for specifying if a the media repository should dynamically
-  thumbnail images or not. (PR #206)
-
-Metrics:
-
-* Add statistics from the reactor to the metrics API. (PR #224, #225)
-
-Demo Homeservers:
-
-* Fix starting the demo homeservers without rate-limiting enabled. (PR #182)
-* Fix enabling registration on demo homeservers (PR #223)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.4-rc1 (2015-07-21)
-==========================================
-
-General:
-
-* Add basic implementation of receipts. (SPEC-99)
-* Add support for configuration presets in room creation API. (PR  #203)
-* Add auth event that limits the visibility of history for new users.
-  (SPEC-134)
-* Add SAML2 login/registration support. (PR  #201. Thanks Muthu Subramanian!)
-* Add client side key management APIs for end to end encryption. (PR #198)
-* Change power level semantics so that you cannot kick, ban or change power
-  levels of users that have equal or greater power level than you. (SYN-192)
-* Improve performance by bulk inserting events where possible. (PR #193)
-* Improve performance by bulk verifying signatures where possible. (PR #194)
-
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add support for including TLS certificate chains.
-
-Media Repository:
-
-* Add Content-Disposition headers to content repository responses. (SYN-150)
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.3 (2015-07-01)
-======================================
-
-No changes from v0.9.3 Release Candidate 1.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.3-rc1 (2015-06-23)
-==========================================
-
-General:
-
-* Fix a memory leak in the notifier. (SYN-412)
-* Improve performance of room initial sync. (SYN-418)
-* General improvements to logging.
-* Remove ``access_token`` query params from ``INFO`` level logging.
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add support for specifying and configuring multiple listeners. (SYN-389)
-
-Application services:
-
-* Fix bug where synapse failed to send user queries to application services.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.2-r2 (2015-06-15)
-=========================================
-
-Fix packaging so that schema delta python files get included in the package.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.2 (2015-06-12)
-======================================
-
-General:
-
-* Use ultrajson for json (de)serialisation when a canonical encoding is not
-  required. Ultrajson is significantly faster than simplejson in certain
-  circumstances.
-* Use connection pools for outgoing HTTP connections.
-* Process thumbnails on separate threads.
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add option, ``gzip_responses``, to disable HTTP response compression.
-
-Federation:
-
-* Improve resilience of backfill by ensuring we fetch any missing auth events.
-* Improve performance of backfill and joining remote rooms by removing
-  unnecessary computations. This included handling events we'd previously
-  handled as well as attempting to compute the current state for outliers.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.1 (2015-05-26)
-======================================
-
-General:
-
-* Add support for backfilling when a client paginates. This allows servers to
-  request history for a room from remote servers when a client tries to
-  paginate history the server does not have - SYN-36
-* Fix bug where you couldn't disable non-default pushrules - SYN-378
-* Fix ``register_new_user`` script - SYN-359
-* Improve performance of fetching events from the database, this improves both
-  initialSync and sending of events.
-* Improve performance of event streams, allowing synapse to handle more
-  simultaneous connected clients.
-
-Federation:
-
-* Fix bug with existing backfill implementation where it returned the wrong
-  selection of events in some circumstances.
-* Improve performance of joining remote rooms.
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add support for changing the bind host of the metrics listener via the
-  ``metrics_bind_host`` option.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.0-r5 (2015-05-21)
-=========================================
-
-* Add more database caches to reduce amount of work done for each pusher. This
-  radically reduces CPU usage when multiple pushers are set up in the same room.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.9.0 (2015-05-07)
-======================================
-
-General:
-
-* Add support for using a PostgreSQL database instead of SQLite. See
-  `docs/postgres.rst`_ for details.
-* Add password change and reset APIs. See `Registration`_ in the spec.
-* Fix memory leak due to not releasing stale notifiers - SYN-339.
-* Fix race in caches that occasionally caused some presence updates to be
-  dropped - SYN-369.
-* Check server name has not changed on restart.
-* Add a sample systemd unit file and a logger configuration in
-  contrib/systemd. Contributed Ivan Shapovalov.
-
-Federation:
-
-* Add key distribution mechanisms for fetching public keys of unavailable
-  remote home servers. See `Retrieving Server Keys`_ in the spec.
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Add support for multiple config files.
-* Add support for dictionaries in config files.
-* Remove support for specifying config options on the command line, except
-  for:
-
-  * ``--daemonize`` - Daemonize the home server.
-  * ``--manhole`` - Turn on the twisted telnet manhole service on the given
-    port.
-  * ``--database-path`` - The path to a sqlite database to use.
-  * ``--verbose`` - The verbosity level.
-  * ``--log-file`` - File to log to.
-  * ``--log-config`` - Python logging config file.
-  * ``--enable-registration`` - Enable registration for new users.
-
-Application services:
-
-* Reliably retry sending of events from Synapse to application services, as per
-  `Application Services`_ spec.
-* Application services can no longer register via the ``/register`` API,
-  instead their configuration should be saved to a file and listed in the
-  synapse ``app_service_config_files`` config option. The AS configuration file
-  has the same format as the old ``/register`` request.
-  See `docs/application_services.rst`_ for more information.
-
-.. _`docs/postgres.rst`: docs/postgres.rst
-.. _`docs/application_services.rst`: docs/application_services.rst
-.. _`Registration`: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/master/specification/10_client_server_api.rst#registration
-.. _`Retrieving Server Keys`: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/6f2698/specification/30_server_server_api.rst#retrieving-server-keys
-.. _`Application Services`: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/0c6bd9/specification/25_application_service_api.rst#home-server---application-service-api
-
-Changes in synapse v0.8.1 (2015-03-18)
-======================================
-
-* Disable registration by default. New users can be added using the command
-  ``register_new_matrix_user`` or by enabling registration in the config.
-* Add metrics to synapse. To enable metrics use config options
-  ``enable_metrics`` and ``metrics_port``.
-* Fix bug where banning only kicked the user.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.8.0 (2015-03-06)
-======================================
-
-General:
-
-* Add support for registration fallback. This is a page hosted on the server
-  which allows a user to register for an account, regardless of what client
-  they are using (e.g. mobile devices).
-
-* Added new default push rules and made them configurable by clients:
-
-  * Suppress all notice messages.
-  * Notify when invited to a new room.
-  * Notify for messages that don't match any rule.
-  * Notify on incoming call.
-
-Federation:
-
-* Added per host server side rate-limiting of incoming federation requests.
-* Added a ``/get_missing_events/`` API to federation to reduce number of
-  ``/events/`` requests.
-
-Configuration:
-
-* Added configuration option to disable registration:
-  ``disable_registration``.
-* Added configuration option to change soft limit of number of open file
-  descriptors: ``soft_file_limit``.
-* Make ``tls_private_key_path`` optional when running with ``no_tls``.
-
-Application services:
-
-* Application services can now poll on the CS API ``/events`` for their events,
-  by providing their application service ``access_token``.
-* Added exclusive namespace support to application services API.
-
-
-Changes in synapse v0.7.1 (2015-02-19)
-======================================
-
-* Initial alpha implementation of parts of the Application Services API.
-  Including:
-
-  - AS Registration / Unregistration
-  - User Query API
-  - Room Alias Query API
-  - Push transport for receiving events.
-  - User/Alias namespace admin control
-
-* Add cache when fetching events from remote servers to stop repeatedly
-  fetching events with bad signatures.
-* Respect the per remote server retry scheme when fetching both events and
-  server keys to reduce the number of times we send requests to dead servers.
-* Inform remote servers when the local server fails to handle a received event.
-* Turn off python bytecode generation due to problems experienced when
-  upgrading from previous versions.
-
-Changes in synapse v0.7.0 (2015-02-12)
-======================================
-
-* Add initial implementation of the query auth federation API, allowing
-  servers to agree on whether an event should be allowed or rejected.
-* Persist events we have rejected from federation, fixing the bug where
-  servers would keep requesting the same events.
-* Various federation performance improvements, including:
-
-  - Add in memory caches on queries such as:
-
-     * Computing the state of a room at a point in time, used for
-       authorization on federation requests.
-     * Fetching events from the database.
-     * User's room membership, used for authorizing presence updates.
-
-  - Upgraded JSON library to improve parsing and serialisation speeds.
-
-* Add default avatars to new user accounts using pydenticon library.
-* Correctly time out federation requests.
-* Retry federation requests against different servers.
-* Add support for push and push rules.
-* Add alpha versions of proposed new CSv2 APIs, including ``/sync`` API.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.6.1 (2015-01-07)
-=====================================
-
-* Major optimizations to improve performance of initial sync and event sending
-  in large rooms (by up to 10x)
-* Media repository now includes a Content-Length header on media downloads.
-* Improve quality of thumbnails by changing resizing algorithm.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.6.0 (2014-12-16)
-=====================================
-
-* Add new API for media upload and download that supports thumbnailing.
-* Replicate media uploads over multiple homeservers so media is always served
-  to clients from their local homeserver.  This obsoletes the
-  --content-addr parameter and confusion over accessing content directly
-  from remote homeservers.
-* Implement exponential backoff when retrying federation requests when
-  sending to remote homeservers which are offline.
-* Implement typing notifications.
-* Fix bugs where we sent events with invalid signatures due to bugs where
-  we incorrectly persisted events.
-* Improve performance of database queries involving retrieving events.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.4a (2014-12-13)
-======================================
-
-* Fix bug while generating the error message when a file path specified in
-  the config doesn't exist.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.4 (2014-12-03)
-=====================================
-
-* Fix presence bug where some rooms did not display presence updates for
-  remote users.
-* Do not log SQL timing log lines when started with "-v"
-* Fix potential memory leak.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.3c (2014-12-02)
-======================================
-
-* Change the default value for the `content_addr` option to use the HTTP
-  listener, as by default the HTTPS listener will be using a self-signed
-  certificate.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.3 (2014-11-27)
-=====================================
-
-* Fix bug that caused joining a remote room to fail if a single event was not
-  signed correctly.
-* Fix bug which caused servers to continuously try and fetch events from other
-  servers.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.2 (2014-11-26)
-=====================================
-
-Fix major bug that caused rooms to disappear from peoples initial sync.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.1 (2014-11-26)
-=====================================
-See UPGRADES.rst for specific instructions on how to upgrade.
-
- * Fix bug where we served up an Event that did not match its signatures.
- * Fix regression where we no longer correctly handled the case where a
-   homeserver receives an event for a room it doesn't recognise (but is in.)
-
-Changes in synapse 0.5.0 (2014-11-19)
-=====================================
-This release includes changes to the federation protocol and client-server API
-that is not backwards compatible.
-
-This release also changes the internal database schemas and so requires servers to
-drop their current history. See UPGRADES.rst for details.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Add authentication and authorization to the federation protocol. Events are
-   now signed by their originating homeservers.
- * Implement the new authorization model for rooms.
- * Split out web client into a seperate repository: matrix-angular-sdk.
- * Change the structure of PDUs.
- * Fix bug where user could not join rooms via an alias containing 4-byte
-   UTF-8 characters.
- * Merge concept of PDUs and Events internally.
- * Improve logging by adding request ids to log lines.
- * Implement a very basic room initial sync API.
- * Implement the new invite/join federation APIs.
-
-Webclient:
- * The webclient has been moved to a seperate repository.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.4.2 (2014-10-31)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
- * Fix bugs where we did not notify users of correct presence updates.
- * Fix bug where we did not handle sub second event stream timeouts.
-
-Webclient:
- * Add ability to click on messages to see JSON.
- * Add ability to redact messages.
- * Add ability to view and edit all room state JSON.
- * Handle incoming redactions.
- * Improve feedback on errors.
- * Fix bugs in mobile CSS.
- * Fix bugs with desktop notifications.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.4.1 (2014-10-17)
-=====================================
-Webclient:
- * Fix bug with display of timestamps.
-
-Changes in synpase 0.4.0 (2014-10-17)
-=====================================
-This release includes changes to the federation protocol and client-server API
-that is not backwards compatible.
-
-The Matrix specification has been moved to a separate git repository:
-http://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc
-
-You will also need an updated syutil and config. See UPGRADES.rst.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Sign federation transactions to assert strong identity over federation.
- * Rename timestamp keys in PDUs and events from 'ts' and 'hsob_ts' to 'origin_server_ts'.
-
-
-Changes in synapse 0.3.4 (2014-09-25)
-=====================================
-This version adds support for using a TURN server. See docs/turn-howto.rst on
-how to set one up.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Add support for redaction of messages.
- * Fix bug where inviting a user on a remote home server could take up to
-   20-30s.
- * Implement a get current room state API.
- * Add support specifying and retrieving turn server configuration.
-
-Webclient:
- * Add button to send messages to users from the home page.
- * Add support for using TURN for VoIP calls.
- * Show display name change messages.
- * Fix bug where the client didn't get the state of a newly joined room
-   until after it has been refreshed.
- * Fix bugs with tab complete.
- * Fix bug where holding down the down arrow caused chrome to chew 100% CPU.
- * Fix bug where desktop notifications occasionally used "Undefined" as the
-   display name.
- * Fix more places where we sometimes saw room IDs incorrectly.
- * Fix bug which caused lag when entering text in the text box.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.3.3 (2014-09-22)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
- * Fix bug where you continued to get events for rooms you had left.
-
-Webclient:
- * Add support for video calls with basic UI.
- * Fix bug where one to one chats were named after your display name rather
-   than the other person's.
- * Fix bug which caused lag when typing in the textarea.
- * Refuse to run on browsers we know won't work.
- * Trigger pagination when joining new rooms.
- * Fix bug where we sometimes didn't display invitations in recents.
- * Automatically join room when accepting a VoIP call.
- * Disable outgoing and reject incoming calls on browsers we don't support
-   VoIP in.
- * Don't display desktop notifications for messages in the room you are
-   non-idle and speaking in.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.3.2 (2014-09-18)
-=====================================
-
-Webclient:
- * Fix bug where an empty "bing words" list in old accounts didn't send
-   notifications when it should have done.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.3.1 (2014-09-18)
-=====================================
-This is a release to hotfix v0.3.0 to fix two regressions.
-
-Webclient:
- * Fix a regression where we sometimes displayed duplicate events.
- * Fix a regression where we didn't immediately remove rooms you were
-   banned in from the recents list.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.3.0 (2014-09-18)
-=====================================
-See UPGRADE for information about changes to the client server API, including
-breaking backwards compatibility with VoIP calls and registration API.
-
-Homeserver:
- * When a user changes their displayname or avatar the server will now update
-   all their join states to reflect this.
- * The server now adds "age" key to events to indicate how old they are. This
-   is clock independent, so at no point does any server or webclient have to
-   assume their clock is in sync with everyone else.
- * Fix bug where we didn't correctly pull in missing PDUs.
- * Fix bug where prev_content key wasn't always returned.
- * Add support for password resets.
-
-Webclient:
- * Improve page content loading.
- * Join/parts now trigger desktop notifications.
- * Always show room aliases in the UI if one is present.
- * No longer show user-count in the recents side panel.
- * Add up & down arrow support to the text box for message sending to step
-   through your sent history.
- * Don't display notifications for our own messages.
- * Emotes are now formatted correctly in desktop notifications.
- * The recents list now differentiates between public & private rooms.
- * Fix bug where when switching between rooms the pagination flickered before
-   the view jumped to the bottom of the screen.
- * Add bing word support.
-
-Registration API:
- * The registration API has been overhauled to function like the login API. In
-   practice, this means registration requests must now include the following:
-   'type':'m.login.password'. See UPGRADE for more information on this.
- * The 'user_id' key has been renamed to 'user' to better match the login API.
- * There is an additional login type: 'm.login.email.identity'.
- * The command client and web client have been updated to reflect these changes.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.2.3 (2014-09-12)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
- * Fix bug where we stopped sending events to remote home servers if a
-   user from that home server left, even if there were some still in the
-   room.
- * Fix bugs in the state conflict resolution where it was incorrectly
-   rejecting events.
-
-Webclient:
- * Display room names and topics.
- * Allow setting/editing of room names and topics.
- * Display information about rooms on the main page.
- * Handle ban and kick events in real time.
- * VoIP UI and reliability improvements.
- * Add glare support for VoIP.
- * Improvements to initial startup speed.
- * Don't display duplicate join events.
- * Local echo of messages.
- * Differentiate sending and sent of local echo.
- * Various minor bug fixes.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.2.2 (2014-09-06)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
- * When the server returns state events it now also includes the previous
-   content.
- * Add support for inviting people when creating a new room.
- * Make the homeserver inform the room via `m.room.aliases` when a new alias
-   is added for a room.
- * Validate `m.room.power_level` events.
-
-Webclient:
- * Add support for captchas on registration.
- * Handle `m.room.aliases` events.
- * Asynchronously send messages and show a local echo.
- * Inform the UI when a message failed to send.
- * Only autoscroll on receiving a new message if the user was already at the
-   bottom of the screen.
- * Add support for ban/kick reasons.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.2.1 (2014-09-03)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
- * Added support for signing up with a third party id.
- * Add synctl scripts.
- * Added rate limiting.
- * Add option to change the external address the content repo uses.
- * Presence bug fixes.
-
-Webclient:
- * Added support for signing up with a third party id.
- * Added support for banning and kicking users.
- * Added support for displaying and setting ops.
- * Added support for room names.
- * Fix bugs with room membership event display.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.2.0 (2014-09-02)
-=====================================
-This update changes many configuration options, updates the
-database schema and mandates SSL for server-server connections.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Require SSL for server-server connections.
- * Add SSL listener for client-server connections.
- * Add ability to use config files.
- * Add support for kicking/banning and power levels.
- * Allow setting of room names and topics on creation.
- * Change presence to include last seen time of the user.
- * Change url path prefix to /_matrix/...
- * Bug fixes to presence.
-
-Webclient:
- * Reskin the CSS for registration and login.
- * Various improvements to rooms CSS.
- * Support changes in client-server API.
- * Bug fixes to VOIP UI.
- * Various bug fixes to handling of changes to room member list.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.1.2 (2014-08-29)
-=====================================
-
-Webclient:
- * Add basic call state UI for VoIP calls.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.1.1 (2014-08-29)
-=====================================
-
-Homeserver:
-    * Fix bug that caused the event stream to not notify some clients about
-      changes.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.1.0 (2014-08-29)
-=====================================
-Presence has been reenabled in this release.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Update client to server API, including:
-    - Use a more consistent url scheme.
-    - Provide more useful information in the initial sync api.
- * Change the presence handling to be much more efficient.
- * Change the presence server to server API to not require explicit polling of
-   all users who share a room with a user.
- * Fix races in the event streaming logic.
-
-Webclient:
- * Update to use new client to server API.
- * Add basic VOIP support.
- * Add idle timers that change your status to away.
- * Add recent rooms column when viewing a room.
- * Various network efficiency improvements.
- * Add basic mobile browser support.
- * Add a settings page.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.0.1 (2014-08-22)
-=====================================
-Presence has been disabled in this release due to a bug that caused the
-homeserver to spam other remote homeservers.
-
-Homeserver:
- * Completely change the database schema to support generic event types.
- * Improve presence reliability.
- * Improve reliability of joining remote rooms.
- * Fix bug where room join events were duplicated.
- * Improve initial sync API to return more information to the client.
- * Stop generating fake messages for room membership events.
-
-Webclient:
- * Add tab completion of names.
- * Add ability to upload and send images.
- * Add profile pages.
- * Improve CSS layout of room.
- * Disambiguate identical display names.
- * Don't get remote users display names and avatars individually.
- * Use the new initial sync API to reduce number of round trips to the homeserver.
- * Change url scheme to use room aliases instead of room ids where known.
- * Increase longpoll timeout.
-
-Changes in synapse 0.0.0 (2014-08-13)
-=====================================
-
- * Initial alpha release
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 97f57f443f..7076b608d4 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ include synctl
 include LICENSE
 include VERSION
 include *.rst
+include *.md
 include demo/README
 include demo/demo.tls.dh
 include demo/*.py
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 4fe54b0c90..5fdfad345f 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ We'd like to invite you to join #matrix:matrix.org (via
 https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html), run a homeserver, take a look
 at the `Matrix spec <https://matrix.org/docs/spec>`_, and experiment with the
 `APIs <https://matrix.org/docs/api>`_ and `Client SDKs
-<http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html#client-sdks>`_.
+<https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html#client-sdks>`_.
 
 Thanks for using Matrix!
 
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ Connecting to Synapse from a client
 
 The easiest way to try out your new Synapse installation is by connecting to it
 from a web client. The easiest option is probably the one at
-http://riot.im/app. You will need to specify a "Custom server" when you log on
+https://riot.im/app. You will need to specify a "Custom server" when you log on
 or register: set this to ``https://domain.tld`` if you setup a reverse proxy
 following the recommended setup, or ``https://localhost:8448`` - remember to specify the
 port (``:8448``) if not ``:443`` unless you changed the configuration. (Leave the identity
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ Security Note
 =============
 
 Matrix serves raw user generated data in some APIs - specifically the `content
-repository endpoints <http://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/latest.html#get-matrix-media-r0-download-servername-mediaid>`_.
+repository endpoints <https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/latest.html#get-matrix-media-r0-download-servername-mediaid>`_.
 
 Whilst we have tried to mitigate against possible XSS attacks (e.g.
 https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/1021) we recommend running
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ Platform-Specific Instructions
 Debian
 ------
 
-Matrix provides official Debian packages via apt from http://matrix.org/packages/debian/.
+Matrix provides official Debian packages via apt from https://matrix.org/packages/debian/.
 Note that these packages do not include a client - choose one from
 https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html (or build your own with one of our SDKs :)
 
@@ -362,6 +362,19 @@ Synapse is in the Fedora repositories as ``matrix-synapse``::
 Oleg Girko provides Fedora RPMs at
 https://obs.infoserver.lv/project/monitor/matrix-synapse
 
+OpenSUSE
+--------
+
+Synapse is in the OpenSUSE repositories as ``matrix-synapse``::
+
+    sudo zypper install matrix-synapse
+
+SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
+----------------------------
+
+Unofficial package are built for SLES 15 in the openSUSE:Backports:SLE-15 repository at
+https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/Backports:/SLE-15/standard/
+
 ArchLinux
 ---------
 
@@ -524,7 +537,7 @@ Troubleshooting Running
 -----------------------
 
 If synapse fails with ``missing "sodium.h"`` crypto errors, you may need
-to manually upgrade PyNaCL, as synapse uses NaCl (http://nacl.cr.yp.to/) for
+to manually upgrade PyNaCL, as synapse uses NaCl (https://nacl.cr.yp.to/) for
 encryption and digital signatures.
 Unfortunately PyNACL currently has a few issues
 (https://github.com/pyca/pynacl/issues/53) and
@@ -672,8 +685,8 @@ useful just for development purposes. See `<demo/README>`_.
 Using PostgreSQL
 ================
 
-As of Synapse 0.9, `PostgreSQL <http://www.postgresql.org>`_ is supported as an
-alternative to the `SQLite <http://sqlite.org/>`_ database that Synapse has
+As of Synapse 0.9, `PostgreSQL <https://www.postgresql.org>`_ is supported as an
+alternative to the `SQLite <https://sqlite.org/>`_ database that Synapse has
 traditionally used for convenience and simplicity.
 
 The advantages of Postgres include:
@@ -697,7 +710,7 @@ Using a reverse proxy with Synapse
 It is recommended to put a reverse proxy such as
 `nginx <https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_proxy_module.html>`_,
 `Apache <https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_proxy_http.html>`_ or
-`HAProxy <http://www.haproxy.org/>`_ in front of Synapse. One advantage of
+`HAProxy <https://www.haproxy.org/>`_ in front of Synapse. One advantage of
 doing so is that it means that you can expose the default https port (443) to
 Matrix clients without needing to run Synapse with root privileges.
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/2970.feature b/changelog.d/2970.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5eb928563f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/2970.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add support for the lazy_loaded_members filter as per MSC1227
diff --git a/changelog.d/3331.feature b/changelog.d/3331.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e574b9bcc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3331.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add support for the include_redundant_members filter param as per MSC1227
diff --git a/changelog.d/3350.misc b/changelog.d/3350.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3713cd6d63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3350.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove redundant checks on who_forgot_in_room
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3367.misc b/changelog.d/3367.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1f21ddea48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3367.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove unnecessary event re-signing hacks
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3391.bugfix b/changelog.d/3391.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88eeb50df2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3391.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Default inviter_display_name to mxid for email invites
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3463.misc b/changelog.d/3415.misc
index e69de29bb2..e69de29bb2 100644
--- a/changelog.d/3463.misc
+++ b/changelog.d/3415.misc
diff --git a/changelog.d/3464.misc b/changelog.d/3460.misc
index e69de29bb2..e69de29bb2 100644
--- a/changelog.d/3464.misc
+++ b/changelog.d/3460.misc
diff --git a/changelog.d/3514.bugfix b/changelog.d/3514.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..460fe24ac9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3514.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Don't generate TURN credentials if no TURN config options are set
diff --git a/changelog.d/3520.bugfix b/changelog.d/3520.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9278cb3708
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3520.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Correctly announce deleted devices over federation
diff --git a/changelog.d/3548.bugfix b/changelog.d/3548.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..38dc3b1232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3548.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Catch failures saving metrics captured by Measure, and instead log the faulty metrics information for further analysis.
diff --git a/changelog.d/3552.misc b/changelog.d/3552.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..709c3282b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3552.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Release notes are now in the Markdown format.
diff --git a/changelog.d/3553.feature b/changelog.d/3553.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77a294cb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3553.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add metrics to track resource usage by background processes
diff --git a/changelog.d/3554.feature b/changelog.d/3554.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b00397872c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3554.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add `code` label to `synapse_http_server_response_time_seconds` prometheus metric
diff --git a/changelog.d/3555.feature b/changelog.d/3555.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea4a85e0ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3555.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add support for client_reader to handle more APIs
diff --git a/changelog.d/3556.feature b/changelog.d/3556.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77a294cb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3556.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add metrics to track resource usage by background processes
diff --git a/changelog.d/3559.misc b/changelog.d/3559.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26df859e45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3559.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add config for pep8
diff --git a/changelog.d/3562.misc b/changelog.d/3562.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3562.misc
diff --git a/changelog.d/3570.bugfix b/changelog.d/3570.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cec5158a99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3570.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix potential stack overflow and deadlock under heavy load
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3571.misc b/changelog.d/3571.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8908324e68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3571.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Merge Linearizer and Limiter
diff --git a/changelog.d/3572.misc b/changelog.d/3572.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8908324e68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3572.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Merge Linearizer and Limiter
diff --git a/changelog.d/3577.misc b/changelog.d/3577.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3577.misc
diff --git a/changelog.d/3579.misc b/changelog.d/3579.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2374dc0c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3579.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Lazily load state on master process when using workers to reduce DB consumption
diff --git a/changelog.d/3581.misc b/changelog.d/3581.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2374dc0c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3581.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Lazily load state on master process when using workers to reduce DB consumption
diff --git a/changelog.d/3582.misc b/changelog.d/3582.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2374dc0c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3582.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Lazily load state on master process when using workers to reduce DB consumption
diff --git a/changelog.d/3584.misc b/changelog.d/3584.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2374dc0c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3584.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Lazily load state on master process when using workers to reduce DB consumption
diff --git a/changelog.d/3586.misc b/changelog.d/3586.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e853e2481b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3586.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixes and optimisations for resolve_state_groups
diff --git a/changelog.d/3587.misc b/changelog.d/3587.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75a3479910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3587.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Improve logging for exceptions when handling PDUs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3590.misc b/changelog.d/3590.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f1688fd0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3590.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add some measure blocks to persist_events
diff --git a/changelog.d/3591.misc b/changelog.d/3591.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f0137766a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3591.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix some random logcontext leaks.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3592.misc b/changelog.d/3592.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..60129569c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3592.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Speed up calculating state deltas in persist_event loop
diff --git a/changelog.d/3595.misc b/changelog.d/3595.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..85903504cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3595.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Attempt to reduce amount of state pulled out of DB during persist_events
diff --git a/changelog.d/3597.feature b/changelog.d/3597.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea4a85e0ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3597.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add support for client_reader to handle more APIs
diff --git a/changelog.d/3601.bugfix b/changelog.d/3601.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1678b261d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3601.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix failure to persist events over federation under load
diff --git a/changelog.d/3604.feature b/changelog.d/3604.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77a294cb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3604.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add metrics to track resource usage by background processes
diff --git a/changelog.d/3605.bugfix b/changelog.d/3605.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..786da546eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3605.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix updating of cached remote profiles
diff --git a/changelog.d/3606.misc b/changelog.d/3606.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f0137766a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3606.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix some random logcontext leaks.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3607.bugfix b/changelog.d/3607.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ad64593b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3607.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix 'tuple index out of range' error
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/3609.misc b/changelog.d/3609.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b9566d076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3609.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a documentation typo in on_make_leave_request
diff --git a/changelog.d/3610.feature b/changelog.d/3610.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77a294cb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3610.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add metrics to track resource usage by background processes
diff --git a/changelog.d/3613.misc b/changelog.d/3613.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d9378f6b49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3613.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove some redundant joins on event_edges.room_id
diff --git a/changelog.d/3614.misc b/changelog.d/3614.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..356f28471e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3614.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Stop populating events.content
diff --git a/changelog.d/3616.misc b/changelog.d/3616.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..04629faa36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3616.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Update the /send_leave path registration to use event_id rather than a transaction ID.
diff --git a/docs/admin_api/register_api.rst b/docs/admin_api/register_api.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..209cd140fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/admin_api/register_api.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+Shared-Secret Registration
+==========================
+
+This API allows for the creation of users in an administrative and
+non-interactive way. This is generally used for bootstrapping a Synapse
+instance with administrator accounts.
+
+To authenticate yourself to the server, you will need both the shared secret
+(``registration_shared_secret`` in the homeserver configuration), and a
+one-time nonce. If the registration shared secret is not configured, this API
+is not enabled.
+
+To fetch the nonce, you need to request one from the API::
+
+  > GET /_matrix/client/r0/admin/register
+
+  < {"nonce": "thisisanonce"}
+
+Once you have the nonce, you can make a ``POST`` to the same URL with a JSON
+body containing the nonce, username, password, whether they are an admin
+(optional, False by default), and a HMAC digest of the content.
+
+As an example::
+
+  > POST /_matrix/client/r0/admin/register
+  > {
+     "nonce": "thisisanonce",
+     "username": "pepper_roni",
+     "password": "pizza",
+     "admin": true,
+     "mac": "mac_digest_here"
+    }
+
+  < {
+     "access_token": "token_here",
+     "user_id": "@pepper_roni@test",
+     "home_server": "test",
+     "device_id": "device_id_here"
+    }
+
+The MAC is the hex digest output of the HMAC-SHA1 algorithm, with the key being
+the shared secret and the content being the nonce, user, password, and either
+the string "admin" or "notadmin", each separated by NULs. For an example of
+generation in Python::
+
+  import hmac, hashlib
+
+  def generate_mac(nonce, user, password, admin=False):
+
+      mac = hmac.new(
+        key=shared_secret,
+        digestmod=hashlib.sha1,
+      )
+
+      mac.update(nonce.encode('utf8'))
+      mac.update(b"\x00")
+      mac.update(user.encode('utf8'))
+      mac.update(b"\x00")
+      mac.update(password.encode('utf8'))
+      mac.update(b"\x00")
+      mac.update(b"admin" if admin else b"notadmin")
+
+      return mac.hexdigest()
diff --git a/docs/workers.rst b/docs/workers.rst
index 1d521b9ec5..c5b37c3ded 100644
--- a/docs/workers.rst
+++ b/docs/workers.rst
@@ -206,6 +206,10 @@ Handles client API endpoints. It can handle REST endpoints matching the
 following regular expressions::
 
     ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/publicRooms$
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/joined_members$
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/context/.*$
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/members$
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/state$
 
 ``synapse.app.user_dir``
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d1603b5d8b..f4d6f0c6bb 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,30 @@
 [tool.towncrier]
     package = "synapse"
-    filename = "CHANGES.rst"
+    filename = "CHANGES.md"
     directory = "changelog.d"
-    issue_format = "`#{issue} <https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/{issue}>`_"
+    issue_format = "[\\#{issue}](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/{issue}>)"
+
+    [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+        directory = "feature"
+        name = "Features"
+        showcontent = true
+
+    [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+        directory = "bugfix"
+        name = "Bugfixes"
+        showcontent = true
+
+    [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+        directory = "doc"
+        name = "Improved Documentation"
+        showcontent = true
+
+    [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+        directory = "removal"
+        name = "Deprecations and Removals"
+        showcontent = true
+
+    [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+        directory = "misc"
+        name = "Internal Changes"
+        showcontent = true
diff --git a/scripts/register_new_matrix_user b/scripts/register_new_matrix_user
index 12ed20d623..8c3d429351 100755
--- a/scripts/register_new_matrix_user
+++ b/scripts/register_new_matrix_user
@@ -26,11 +26,37 @@ import yaml
 
 
 def request_registration(user, password, server_location, shared_secret, admin=False):
+    req = urllib2.Request(
+        "%s/_matrix/client/r0/admin/register" % (server_location,),
+        headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
+    )
+
+    try:
+        if sys.version_info[:3] >= (2, 7, 9):
+            # As of version 2.7.9, urllib2 now checks SSL certs
+            import ssl
+            f = urllib2.urlopen(req, context=ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_SSLv23))
+        else:
+            f = urllib2.urlopen(req)
+        body = f.read()
+        f.close()
+        nonce = json.loads(body)["nonce"]
+    except urllib2.HTTPError as e:
+        print "ERROR! Received %d %s" % (e.code, e.reason,)
+        if 400 <= e.code < 500:
+            if e.info().type == "application/json":
+                resp = json.load(e)
+                if "error" in resp:
+                    print resp["error"]
+        sys.exit(1)
+
     mac = hmac.new(
         key=shared_secret,
         digestmod=hashlib.sha1,
     )
 
+    mac.update(nonce)
+    mac.update("\x00")
     mac.update(user)
     mac.update("\x00")
     mac.update(password)
@@ -40,10 +66,10 @@ def request_registration(user, password, server_location, shared_secret, admin=F
     mac = mac.hexdigest()
 
     data = {
-        "user": user,
+        "nonce": nonce,
+        "username": user,
         "password": password,
         "mac": mac,
-        "type": "org.matrix.login.shared_secret",
         "admin": admin,
     }
 
@@ -52,7 +78,7 @@ def request_registration(user, password, server_location, shared_secret, admin=F
     print "Sending registration request..."
 
     req = urllib2.Request(
-        "%s/_matrix/client/api/v1/register" % (server_location,),
+        "%s/_matrix/client/r0/admin/register" % (server_location,),
         data=json.dumps(data),
         headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
     )
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 9b5b75cd60..c2620be6c5 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -14,12 +14,17 @@ ignore =
     pylint.cfg
     tox.ini
 
-[flake8]
+[pep8]
 max-line-length = 90
-#  W503 requires that binary operators be at the end, not start, of lines. Erik doesn't like it.
-#  E203 is contrary to PEP8.
+#  W503 requires that binary operators be at the end, not start, of lines. Erik
+#  doesn't like it.  E203 is contrary to PEP8.
 ignore = W503,E203
 
+[flake8]
+# note that flake8 inherits the "ignore" settings from "pep8" (because it uses
+# pep8 to do those checks), but not the "max-line-length" setting
+max-line-length = 90
+
 [isort]
 line_length = 89
 not_skip = __init__.py
@@ -31,3 +36,4 @@ known_compat = mock,six
 known_twisted=twisted,OpenSSL
 multi_line_output=3
 include_trailing_comma=true
+combine_as_imports=true
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 3cde33c0d7..5c0f2f83aa 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.32.2"
+__version__ = "0.33.0"
diff --git a/synapse/api/auth.py b/synapse/api/auth.py
index 6dec862fec..073229b4c4 100644
--- a/synapse/api/auth.py
+++ b/synapse/api/auth.py
@@ -65,8 +65,9 @@ class Auth(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def check_from_context(self, event, context, do_sig_check=True):
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
         auth_events_ids = yield self.compute_auth_events(
-            event, context.prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
+            event, prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
         )
         auth_events = yield self.store.get_events(auth_events_ids)
         auth_events = {
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ class Auth(object):
                     synapse.types.create_requester(user_id, app_service=app_service)
                 )
 
-            access_token = get_access_token_from_request(
+            access_token = self.get_access_token_from_request(
                 request, self.TOKEN_NOT_FOUND_HTTP_STATUS
             )
 
@@ -239,7 +240,7 @@ class Auth(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _get_appservice_user_id(self, request):
         app_service = self.store.get_app_service_by_token(
-            get_access_token_from_request(
+            self.get_access_token_from_request(
                 request, self.TOKEN_NOT_FOUND_HTTP_STATUS
             )
         )
@@ -513,7 +514,7 @@ class Auth(object):
 
     def get_appservice_by_req(self, request):
         try:
-            token = get_access_token_from_request(
+            token = self.get_access_token_from_request(
                 request, self.TOKEN_NOT_FOUND_HTTP_STATUS
             )
             service = self.store.get_app_service_by_token(token)
@@ -544,7 +545,8 @@ class Auth(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def add_auth_events(self, builder, context):
-        auth_ids = yield self.compute_auth_events(builder, context.prev_state_ids)
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        auth_ids = yield self.compute_auth_events(builder, prev_state_ids)
 
         auth_events_entries = yield self.store.add_event_hashes(
             auth_ids
@@ -673,67 +675,101 @@ class Auth(object):
                 " edit its room list entry"
             )
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def has_access_token(request):
+        """Checks if the request has an access_token.
 
-def has_access_token(request):
-    """Checks if the request has an access_token.
+        Returns:
+            bool: False if no access_token was given, True otherwise.
+        """
+        query_params = request.args.get("access_token")
+        auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
+        return bool(query_params) or bool(auth_headers)
 
-    Returns:
-        bool: False if no access_token was given, True otherwise.
-    """
-    query_params = request.args.get("access_token")
-    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
-    return bool(query_params) or bool(auth_headers)
-
-
-def get_access_token_from_request(request, token_not_found_http_status=401):
-    """Extracts the access_token from the request.
-
-    Args:
-        request: The http request.
-        token_not_found_http_status(int): The HTTP status code to set in the
-            AuthError if the token isn't found. This is used in some of the
-            legacy APIs to change the status code to 403 from the default of
-            401 since some of the old clients depended on auth errors returning
-            403.
-    Returns:
-        str: The access_token
-    Raises:
-        AuthError: If there isn't an access_token in the request.
-    """
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_access_token_from_request(request, token_not_found_http_status=401):
+        """Extracts the access_token from the request.
 
-    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
-    query_params = request.args.get(b"access_token")
-    if auth_headers:
-        # Try the get the access_token from a "Authorization: Bearer"
-        # header
-        if query_params is not None:
-            raise AuthError(
-                token_not_found_http_status,
-                "Mixing Authorization headers and access_token query parameters.",
-                errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
-            )
-        if len(auth_headers) > 1:
-            raise AuthError(
-                token_not_found_http_status,
-                "Too many Authorization headers.",
-                errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
-            )
-        parts = auth_headers[0].split(" ")
-        if parts[0] == "Bearer" and len(parts) == 2:
-            return parts[1]
+        Args:
+            request: The http request.
+            token_not_found_http_status(int): The HTTP status code to set in the
+                AuthError if the token isn't found. This is used in some of the
+                legacy APIs to change the status code to 403 from the default of
+                401 since some of the old clients depended on auth errors returning
+                403.
+        Returns:
+            str: The access_token
+        Raises:
+            AuthError: If there isn't an access_token in the request.
+        """
+
+        auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
+        query_params = request.args.get(b"access_token")
+        if auth_headers:
+            # Try the get the access_token from a "Authorization: Bearer"
+            # header
+            if query_params is not None:
+                raise AuthError(
+                    token_not_found_http_status,
+                    "Mixing Authorization headers and access_token query parameters.",
+                    errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
+                )
+            if len(auth_headers) > 1:
+                raise AuthError(
+                    token_not_found_http_status,
+                    "Too many Authorization headers.",
+                    errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
+                )
+            parts = auth_headers[0].split(" ")
+            if parts[0] == "Bearer" and len(parts) == 2:
+                return parts[1]
+            else:
+                raise AuthError(
+                    token_not_found_http_status,
+                    "Invalid Authorization header.",
+                    errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
+                )
         else:
-            raise AuthError(
-                token_not_found_http_status,
-                "Invalid Authorization header.",
-                errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN,
+            # Try to get the access_token from the query params.
+            if not query_params:
+                raise AuthError(
+                    token_not_found_http_status,
+                    "Missing access token.",
+                    errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN
+                )
+
+            return query_params[0]
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def check_in_room_or_world_readable(self, room_id, user_id):
+        """Checks that the user is or was in the room or the room is world
+        readable. If it isn't then an exception is raised.
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[tuple[str, str|None]]: Resolves to the current membership of
+            the user in the room and the membership event ID of the user. If
+            the user is not in the room and never has been, then
+            `(Membership.JOIN, None)` is returned.
+        """
+
+        try:
+            # check_user_was_in_room will return the most recent membership
+            # event for the user if:
+            #  * The user is a non-guest user, and was ever in the room
+            #  * The user is a guest user, and has joined the room
+            # else it will throw.
+            member_event = yield self.check_user_was_in_room(room_id, user_id)
+            defer.returnValue((member_event.membership, member_event.event_id))
+        except AuthError:
+            visibility = yield self.state.get_current_state(
+                room_id, EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""
             )
-    else:
-        # Try to get the access_token from the query params.
-        if not query_params:
+            if (
+                visibility and
+                visibility.content["history_visibility"] == "world_readable"
+            ):
+                defer.returnValue((Membership.JOIN, None))
+                return
             raise AuthError(
-                token_not_found_http_status,
-                "Missing access token.",
-                errcode=Codes.MISSING_TOKEN
+                403, "Guest access not allowed", errcode=Codes.GUEST_ACCESS_FORBIDDEN
             )
-
-        return query_params[0]
diff --git a/synapse/api/filtering.py b/synapse/api/filtering.py
index 25346baa87..186831e118 100644
--- a/synapse/api/filtering.py
+++ b/synapse/api/filtering.py
@@ -113,7 +113,13 @@ ROOM_EVENT_FILTER_SCHEMA = {
         },
         "contains_url": {
             "type": "boolean"
-        }
+        },
+        "lazy_load_members": {
+            "type": "boolean"
+        },
+        "include_redundant_members": {
+            "type": "boolean"
+        },
     }
 }
 
@@ -261,6 +267,12 @@ class FilterCollection(object):
     def ephemeral_limit(self):
         return self._room_ephemeral_filter.limit()
 
+    def lazy_load_members(self):
+        return self._room_state_filter.lazy_load_members()
+
+    def include_redundant_members(self):
+        return self._room_state_filter.include_redundant_members()
+
     def filter_presence(self, events):
         return self._presence_filter.filter(events)
 
@@ -417,6 +429,12 @@ class Filter(object):
     def limit(self):
         return self.filter_json.get("limit", 10)
 
+    def lazy_load_members(self):
+        return self.filter_json.get("lazy_load_members", False)
+
+    def include_redundant_members(self):
+        return self.filter_json.get("include_redundant_members", False)
+
 
 def _matches_wildcard(actual_value, filter_value):
     if filter_value.endswith("*"):
diff --git a/synapse/app/client_reader.py b/synapse/app/client_reader.py
index b0ea26dcb4..e2c91123db 100644
--- a/synapse/app/client_reader.py
+++ b/synapse/app/client_reader.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from synapse.http.site import SynapseSite
 from synapse.metrics import RegistryProxy
 from synapse.metrics.resource import METRICS_PREFIX, MetricsResource
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage._base import BaseSlavedStore
+from synapse.replication.slave.storage.account_data import SlavedAccountDataStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.appservice import SlavedApplicationServiceStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.client_ips import SlavedClientIpStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.directory import DirectoryStore
@@ -40,7 +41,13 @@ from synapse.replication.slave.storage.registration import SlavedRegistrationSto
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.room import RoomStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.transactions import TransactionStore
 from synapse.replication.tcp.client import ReplicationClientHandler
-from synapse.rest.client.v1.room import PublicRoomListRestServlet
+from synapse.rest.client.v1.room import (
+    JoinedRoomMemberListRestServlet,
+    PublicRoomListRestServlet,
+    RoomEventContextServlet,
+    RoomMemberListRestServlet,
+    RoomStateRestServlet,
+)
 from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
@@ -52,6 +59,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.client_reader")
 
 
 class ClientReaderSlavedStore(
+    SlavedAccountDataStore,
     SlavedEventStore,
     SlavedKeyStore,
     RoomStore,
@@ -82,7 +90,13 @@ class ClientReaderServer(HomeServer):
                     resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(RegistryProxy)
                 elif name == "client":
                     resource = JsonResource(self, canonical_json=False)
+
                     PublicRoomListRestServlet(self).register(resource)
+                    RoomMemberListRestServlet(self).register(resource)
+                    JoinedRoomMemberListRestServlet(self).register(resource)
+                    RoomStateRestServlet(self).register(resource)
+                    RoomEventContextServlet(self).register(resource)
+
                     resources.update({
                         "/_matrix/client/r0": resource,
                         "/_matrix/client/unstable": resource,
diff --git a/synapse/app/homeserver.py b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
index 14e6dca522..57b815d777 100755
--- a/synapse/app/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import logging
 import os
 import sys
 
+from six import iteritems
+
 from twisted.application import service
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.web.resource import EncodingResourceWrapper, NoResource
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ from synapse.http.additional_resource import AdditionalResource
 from synapse.http.server import RootRedirect
 from synapse.http.site import SynapseSite
 from synapse.metrics import RegistryProxy
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.metrics.resource import METRICS_PREFIX, MetricsResource
 from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi
 from synapse.python_dependencies import CONDITIONAL_REQUIREMENTS, check_requirements
@@ -425,6 +428,9 @@ def run(hs):
     # currently either 0 or 1
     stats_process = []
 
+    def start_phone_stats_home():
+        return run_as_background_process("phone_stats_home", phone_stats_home)
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def phone_stats_home():
         logger.info("Gathering stats for reporting")
@@ -442,7 +448,7 @@ def run(hs):
         stats["total_nonbridged_users"] = total_nonbridged_users
 
         daily_user_type_results = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_user_type()
-        for name, count in daily_user_type_results.iteritems():
+        for name, count in iteritems(daily_user_type_results):
             stats["daily_user_type_" + name] = count
 
         room_count = yield hs.get_datastore().get_room_count()
@@ -453,7 +459,7 @@ def run(hs):
         stats["daily_messages"] = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_messages()
 
         r30_results = yield hs.get_datastore().count_r30_users()
-        for name, count in r30_results.iteritems():
+        for name, count in iteritems(r30_results):
             stats["r30_users_" + name] = count
 
         daily_sent_messages = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_sent_messages()
@@ -496,7 +502,10 @@ def run(hs):
             )
 
     def generate_user_daily_visit_stats():
-        hs.get_datastore().generate_user_daily_visits()
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "generate_user_daily_visits",
+            hs.get_datastore().generate_user_daily_visits,
+        )
 
     # Rather than update on per session basis, batch up the requests.
     # If you increase the loop period, the accuracy of user_daily_visits
@@ -505,7 +514,7 @@ def run(hs):
 
     if hs.config.report_stats:
         logger.info("Scheduling stats reporting for 3 hour intervals")
-        clock.looping_call(phone_stats_home, 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000)
+        clock.looping_call(start_phone_stats_home, 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000)
 
         # We need to defer this init for the cases that we daemonize
         # otherwise the process ID we get is that of the non-daemon process
@@ -513,7 +522,7 @@ def run(hs):
 
         # We wait 5 minutes to send the first set of stats as the server can
         # be quite busy the first few minutes
-        clock.call_later(5 * 60, phone_stats_home)
+        clock.call_later(5 * 60, start_phone_stats_home)
 
     if hs.config.daemonize and hs.config.print_pidfile:
         print (hs.config.pid_file)
diff --git a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
index 26b9ec85f2..e201f18efd 100644
--- a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
+++ b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import sync
 from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.storage.presence import UserPresenceState
-from synapse.storage.roommember import RoomMemberStore
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
@@ -81,9 +80,7 @@ class SynchrotronSlavedStore(
     RoomStore,
     BaseSlavedStore,
 ):
-    did_forget = (
-        RoomMemberStore.__dict__["did_forget"]
-    )
+    pass
 
 
 UPDATE_SYNCING_USERS_MS = 10 * 1000
diff --git a/synapse/app/synctl.py b/synapse/app/synctl.py
index 68acc15a9a..d658f967ba 100755
--- a/synapse/app/synctl.py
+++ b/synapse/app/synctl.py
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import subprocess
 import sys
 import time
 
+from six import iteritems
+
 import yaml
 
 SYNAPSE = [sys.executable, "-B", "-m", "synapse.app.homeserver"]
@@ -173,7 +175,7 @@ def main():
         os.environ["SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR"] = str(cache_factor)
 
     cache_factors = config.get("synctl_cache_factors", {})
-    for cache_name, factor in cache_factors.iteritems():
+    for cache_name, factor in iteritems(cache_factors):
         os.environ["SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR_" + cache_name.upper()] = str(factor)
 
     worker_configfiles = []
diff --git a/synapse/config/voip.py b/synapse/config/voip.py
index 3a4e16fa96..d07bd24ffd 100644
--- a/synapse/config/voip.py
+++ b/synapse/config/voip.py
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ class VoipConfig(Config):
         ## Turn ##
 
         # The public URIs of the TURN server to give to clients
-        turn_uris: []
+        #turn_uris: []
 
         # The shared secret used to compute passwords for the TURN server
-        turn_shared_secret: "YOUR_SHARED_SECRET"
+        #turn_shared_secret: "YOUR_SHARED_SECRET"
 
         # The Username and password if the TURN server needs them and
         # does not use a token
diff --git a/synapse/events/snapshot.py b/synapse/events/snapshot.py
index bcd9bb5946..368b5f6ae4 100644
--- a/synapse/events/snapshot.py
+++ b/synapse/events/snapshot.py
@@ -13,22 +13,18 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+from six import iteritems
+
 from frozendict import frozendict
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
+
 
 class EventContext(object):
     """
     Attributes:
-        current_state_ids (dict[(str, str), str]):
-            The current state map including the current event.
-            (type, state_key) -> event_id
-
-        prev_state_ids (dict[(str, str), str]):
-            The current state map excluding the current event.
-            (type, state_key) -> event_id
-
         state_group (int|None): state group id, if the state has been stored
             as a state group. This is usually only None if e.g. the event is
             an outlier.
@@ -45,38 +41,77 @@ class EventContext(object):
 
         prev_state_events (?): XXX: is this ever set to anything other than
             the empty list?
+
+        _current_state_ids (dict[(str, str), str]|None):
+            The current state map including the current event. None if outlier
+            or we haven't fetched the state from DB yet.
+            (type, state_key) -> event_id
+
+        _prev_state_ids (dict[(str, str), str]|None):
+            The current state map excluding the current event. None if outlier
+            or we haven't fetched the state from DB yet.
+            (type, state_key) -> event_id
+
+        _fetching_state_deferred (Deferred|None): Resolves when *_state_ids have
+            been calculated. None if we haven't started calculating yet
+
+        _event_type (str): The type of the event the context is associated with.
+            Only set when state has not been fetched yet.
+
+        _event_state_key (str|None): The state_key of the event the context is
+            associated with. Only set when state has not been fetched yet.
+
+        _prev_state_id (str|None): If the event associated with the context is
+            a state event, then `_prev_state_id` is the event_id of the state
+            that was replaced.
+            Only set when state has not been fetched yet.
     """
 
     __slots__ = [
-        "current_state_ids",
-        "prev_state_ids",
         "state_group",
         "rejected",
         "prev_group",
         "delta_ids",
         "prev_state_events",
         "app_service",
+        "_current_state_ids",
+        "_prev_state_ids",
+        "_prev_state_id",
+        "_event_type",
+        "_event_state_key",
+        "_fetching_state_deferred",
     ]
 
     def __init__(self):
+        self.prev_state_events = []
+        self.rejected = False
+        self.app_service = None
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def with_state(state_group, current_state_ids, prev_state_ids,
+                   prev_group=None, delta_ids=None):
+        context = EventContext()
+
         # The current state including the current event
-        self.current_state_ids = None
+        context._current_state_ids = current_state_ids
         # The current state excluding the current event
-        self.prev_state_ids = None
-        self.state_group = None
+        context._prev_state_ids = prev_state_ids
+        context.state_group = state_group
 
-        self.rejected = False
+        context._prev_state_id = None
+        context._event_type = None
+        context._event_state_key = None
+        context._fetching_state_deferred = defer.succeed(None)
 
         # A previously persisted state group and a delta between that
         # and this state.
-        self.prev_group = None
-        self.delta_ids = None
+        context.prev_group = prev_group
+        context.delta_ids = delta_ids
 
-        self.prev_state_events = None
-
-        self.app_service = None
+        return context
 
-    def serialize(self, event):
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def serialize(self, event, store):
         """Converts self to a type that can be serialized as JSON, and then
         deserialized by `deserialize`
 
@@ -92,11 +127,12 @@ class EventContext(object):
         # the prev_state_ids, so if we're a state event we include the event
         # id that we replaced in the state.
         if event.is_state():
-            prev_state_id = self.prev_state_ids.get((event.type, event.state_key))
+            prev_state_ids = yield self.get_prev_state_ids(store)
+            prev_state_id = prev_state_ids.get((event.type, event.state_key))
         else:
             prev_state_id = None
 
-        return {
+        defer.returnValue({
             "prev_state_id": prev_state_id,
             "event_type": event.type,
             "event_state_key": event.state_key if event.is_state() else None,
@@ -106,10 +142,9 @@ class EventContext(object):
             "delta_ids": _encode_state_dict(self.delta_ids),
             "prev_state_events": self.prev_state_events,
             "app_service_id": self.app_service.id if self.app_service else None
-        }
+        })
 
     @staticmethod
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def deserialize(store, input):
         """Converts a dict that was produced by `serialize` back into a
         EventContext.
@@ -122,32 +157,115 @@ class EventContext(object):
             EventContext
         """
         context = EventContext()
+
+        # We use the state_group and prev_state_id stuff to pull the
+        # current_state_ids out of the DB and construct prev_state_ids.
+        context._prev_state_id = input["prev_state_id"]
+        context._event_type = input["event_type"]
+        context._event_state_key = input["event_state_key"]
+
+        context._current_state_ids = None
+        context._prev_state_ids = None
+        context._fetching_state_deferred = None
+
         context.state_group = input["state_group"]
-        context.rejected = input["rejected"]
         context.prev_group = input["prev_group"]
         context.delta_ids = _decode_state_dict(input["delta_ids"])
+
+        context.rejected = input["rejected"]
         context.prev_state_events = input["prev_state_events"]
 
-        # We use the state_group and prev_state_id stuff to pull the
-        # current_state_ids out of the DB and construct prev_state_ids.
-        prev_state_id = input["prev_state_id"]
-        event_type = input["event_type"]
-        event_state_key = input["event_state_key"]
+        app_service_id = input["app_service_id"]
+        if app_service_id:
+            context.app_service = store.get_app_service_by_id(app_service_id)
+
+        return context
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def get_current_state_ids(self, store):
+        """Gets the current state IDs
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[dict[(str, str), str]|None]: Returns None if state_group
+            is None, which happens when the associated event is an outlier.
+        """
+
+        if not self._fetching_state_deferred:
+            self._fetching_state_deferred = run_in_background(
+                self._fill_out_state, store,
+            )
+
+        yield make_deferred_yieldable(self._fetching_state_deferred)
+
+        defer.returnValue(self._current_state_ids)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def get_prev_state_ids(self, store):
+        """Gets the prev state IDs
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[dict[(str, str), str]|None]: Returns None if state_group
+            is None, which happens when the associated event is an outlier.
+        """
+
+        if not self._fetching_state_deferred:
+            self._fetching_state_deferred = run_in_background(
+                self._fill_out_state, store,
+            )
+
+        yield make_deferred_yieldable(self._fetching_state_deferred)
 
-        context.current_state_ids = yield store.get_state_ids_for_group(
-            context.state_group,
+        defer.returnValue(self._prev_state_ids)
+
+    def get_cached_current_state_ids(self):
+        """Gets the current state IDs if we have them already cached.
+
+        Returns:
+            dict[(str, str), str]|None: Returns None if we haven't cached the
+            state or if state_group is None, which happens when the associated
+            event is an outlier.
+        """
+
+        return self._current_state_ids
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _fill_out_state(self, store):
+        """Called to populate the _current_state_ids and _prev_state_ids
+        attributes by loading from the database.
+        """
+        if self.state_group is None:
+            return
+
+        self._current_state_ids = yield store.get_state_ids_for_group(
+            self.state_group,
         )
-        if prev_state_id and event_state_key:
-            context.prev_state_ids = dict(context.current_state_ids)
-            context.prev_state_ids[(event_type, event_state_key)] = prev_state_id
+        if self._prev_state_id and self._event_state_key is not None:
+            self._prev_state_ids = dict(self._current_state_ids)
+
+            key = (self._event_type, self._event_state_key)
+            self._prev_state_ids[key] = self._prev_state_id
         else:
-            context.prev_state_ids = context.current_state_ids
+            self._prev_state_ids = self._current_state_ids
 
-        app_service_id = input["app_service_id"]
-        if app_service_id:
-            context.app_service = store.get_app_service_by_id(app_service_id)
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def update_state(self, state_group, prev_state_ids, current_state_ids,
+                     prev_group, delta_ids):
+        """Replace the state in the context
+        """
+
+        # We need to make sure we wait for any ongoing fetching of state
+        # to complete so that the updated state doesn't get clobbered
+        if self._fetching_state_deferred:
+            yield make_deferred_yieldable(self._fetching_state_deferred)
+
+        self.state_group = state_group
+        self._prev_state_ids = prev_state_ids
+        self.prev_group = prev_group
+        self._current_state_ids = current_state_ids
+        self.delta_ids = delta_ids
 
-        defer.returnValue(context)
+        # We need to ensure that that we've marked as having fetched the state
+        self._fetching_state_deferred = defer.succeed(None)
 
 
 def _encode_state_dict(state_dict):
@@ -159,7 +277,7 @@ def _encode_state_dict(state_dict):
 
     return [
         (etype, state_key, v)
-        for (etype, state_key), v in state_dict.iteritems()
+        for (etype, state_key), v in iteritems(state_dict)
     ]
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/federation/federation_base.py b/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
index f0c7a06718..c11798093d 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError
 from synapse.crypto.event_signing import check_event_content_hash
 from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
 from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
-from synapse.http.servlet import assert_params_in_request
+from synapse.http.servlet import assert_params_in_dict
 from synapse.util import logcontext, unwrapFirstError
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ def event_from_pdu_json(pdu_json, outlier=False):
     """
     # we could probably enforce a bunch of other fields here (room_id, sender,
     # origin, etc etc)
-    assert_params_in_request(pdu_json, ('event_id', 'type', 'depth'))
+    assert_params_in_dict(pdu_json, ('event_id', 'type', 'depth'))
 
     depth = pdu_json['depth']
     if not isinstance(depth, six.integer_types):
diff --git a/synapse/federation/federation_server.py b/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
index 48f26db67c..e501251b6e 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.internet.abstract import isIPAddress
+from twisted.python import failure
 
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, FederationError, NotFoundError, SynapseError
@@ -186,8 +187,12 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
                     logger.warn("Error handling PDU %s: %s", event_id, e)
                     pdu_results[event_id] = {"error": str(e)}
                 except Exception as e:
+                    f = failure.Failure()
                     pdu_results[event_id] = {"error": str(e)}
-                    logger.exception("Failed to handle PDU %s", event_id)
+                    logger.error(
+                        "Failed to handle PDU %s: %s",
+                        event_id, f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
+                    )
 
         yield async.concurrently_execute(
             process_pdus_for_room, pdus_by_room.keys(),
@@ -203,8 +208,8 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
                 )
 
         pdu_failures = getattr(transaction, "pdu_failures", [])
-        for failure in pdu_failures:
-            logger.info("Got failure %r", failure)
+        for fail in pdu_failures:
+            logger.info("Got failure %r", fail)
 
         response = {
             "pdus": pdu_results,
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
index 5a956ecfb3..6996d6b695 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ from synapse.metrics import (
     sent_edus_counter,
     sent_transactions_counter,
 )
-from synapse.util import PreserveLoggingContext, logcontext
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
+from synapse.util import logcontext
 from synapse.util.metrics import measure_func
 from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination, get_retry_limiter
 
@@ -165,10 +166,11 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
         if self._is_processing:
             return
 
-        # fire off a processing loop in the background. It's likely it will
-        # outlast the current request, so run it in the sentinel logcontext.
-        with PreserveLoggingContext():
-            self._process_event_queue_loop()
+        # fire off a processing loop in the background
+        run_as_background_process(
+            "process_event_queue_for_federation",
+            self._process_event_queue_loop,
+        )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _process_event_queue_loop(self):
@@ -432,14 +434,11 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
 
         logger.debug("TX [%s] Starting transaction loop", destination)
 
-        # Drop the logcontext before starting the transaction. It doesn't
-        # really make sense to log all the outbound transactions against
-        # whatever path led us to this point: that's pretty arbitrary really.
-        #
-        # (this also means we can fire off _perform_transaction without
-        # yielding)
-        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
-            self._transaction_transmission_loop(destination)
+        run_as_background_process(
+            "federation_transaction_transmission_loop",
+            self._transaction_transmission_loop,
+            destination,
+        )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _transaction_transmission_loop(self, destination):
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
index c9beca27c2..8574898f0c 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
@@ -404,10 +404,10 @@ class FederationMakeLeaveServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
 
 
 class FederationSendLeaveServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
-    PATH = "/send_leave/(?P<room_id>[^/]*)/(?P<txid>[^/]*)"
+    PATH = "/send_leave/(?P<room_id>[^/]*)/(?P<event_id>[^/]*)"
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def on_PUT(self, origin, content, query, room_id, txid):
+    def on_PUT(self, origin, content, query, room_id, event_id):
         content = yield self.handler.on_send_leave_request(origin, content)
         defer.returnValue((200, content))
 
diff --git a/synapse/groups/attestations.py b/synapse/groups/attestations.py
index 09a5fbd44a..b04f4234ca 100644
--- a/synapse/groups/attestations.py
+++ b/synapse/groups/attestations.py
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ If a user leaves (or gets kicked out of) a group, either side can still use
 their attestation to "prove" their membership, until the attestation expires.
 Therefore attestations shouldn't be relied on to prove membership in important
 cases, but can for less important situtations, e.g. showing a users membership
-of groups on their profile, showing flairs, etc.abs
+of groups on their profile, showing flairs, etc.
 
-An attestsation is a signed blob of json that looks like:
+An attestation is a signed blob of json that looks like:
 
     {
         "user_id": "@foo:a.example.com",
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ from signedjson.sign import sign_json
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
 from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ class GroupAttestionRenewer(object):
         self.attestations = hs.get_groups_attestation_signing()
 
         self._renew_attestations_loop = self.clock.looping_call(
-            self._renew_attestations, 30 * 60 * 1000,
+            self._start_renew_attestations, 30 * 60 * 1000,
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -151,6 +152,9 @@ class GroupAttestionRenewer(object):
 
         defer.returnValue({})
 
+    def _start_renew_attestations(self):
+        return run_as_background_process("renew_attestations", self._renew_attestations)
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _renew_attestations(self):
         """Called periodically to check if we need to update any of our attestations
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/__init__.py b/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
index 4b9923d8c0..413425fed1 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ from .admin import AdminHandler
 from .directory import DirectoryHandler
 from .federation import FederationHandler
 from .identity import IdentityHandler
-from .message import MessageHandler
 from .register import RegistrationHandler
-from .room import RoomContextHandler
 from .search import SearchHandler
 
 
@@ -44,10 +42,8 @@ class Handlers(object):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         self.registration_handler = RegistrationHandler(hs)
-        self.message_handler = MessageHandler(hs)
         self.federation_handler = FederationHandler(hs)
         self.directory_handler = DirectoryHandler(hs)
         self.admin_handler = AdminHandler(hs)
         self.identity_handler = IdentityHandler(hs)
         self.search_handler = SearchHandler(hs)
-        self.room_context_handler = RoomContextHandler(hs)
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/_base.py b/synapse/handlers/_base.py
index b6a8b3aa3b..704181d2d3 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/_base.py
@@ -112,8 +112,9 @@ class BaseHandler(object):
             guest_access = event.content.get("guest_access", "forbidden")
             if guest_access != "can_join":
                 if context:
+                    current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
                     current_state = yield self.store.get_events(
-                        list(context.current_state_ids.values())
+                        list(current_state_ids.values())
                     )
                 else:
                     current_state = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state(
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/appservice.py b/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
index ec9fe01a5a..ee41aed69e 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 import synapse
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 
@@ -106,7 +107,9 @@ class ApplicationServicesHandler(object):
                             yield self._check_user_exists(event.state_key)
 
                         if not self.started_scheduler:
-                            self.scheduler.start().addErrback(log_failure)
+                            def start_scheduler():
+                                return self.scheduler.start().addErrback(log_failure)
+                            run_as_background_process("as_scheduler", start_scheduler)
                             self.started_scheduler = True
 
                         # Fork off pushes to these services
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/device.py b/synapse/handlers/device.py
index 0b4cd53456..2d44f15da3 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/device.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/device.py
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ class DeviceListEduUpdater(object):
                 yield self.device_handler.notify_device_update(user_id, device_ids)
             else:
                 # Simply update the single device, since we know that is the only
-                # change (becuase of the single prev_id matching the current cache)
+                # change (because of the single prev_id matching the current cache)
                 for device_id, stream_id, prev_ids, content in pending_updates:
                     yield self.store.update_remote_device_list_cache_entry(
                         user_id, device_id, content, stream_id,
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/federation.py b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
index d3ecebd29f..49068c06d9 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/federation.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ import logging
 import sys
 
 import six
-from six import iteritems
-from six.moves import http_client
+from six import iteritems, itervalues
+from six.moves import http_client, zip
 
 from signedjson.key import decode_verify_key_bytes
 from signedjson.sign import verify_signed_json
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ from synapse.crypto.event_signing import (
     add_hashes_and_signatures,
     compute_event_signature,
 )
-from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
 from synapse.events.validator import EventValidator
 from synapse.state import resolve_events_with_factory
 from synapse.types import UserID, get_domain_from_id
@@ -52,8 +51,8 @@ from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
 from synapse.util.distributor import user_joined_room
 from synapse.util.frozenutils import unfreeze
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
-from synapse.util.metrics import measure_func
 from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination
+from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_server
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
 
@@ -487,7 +486,10 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 # joined the room. Don't bother if the user is just
                 # changing their profile info.
                 newly_joined = True
-                prev_state_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(
+
+                prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
+                prev_state_id = prev_state_ids.get(
                     (event.type, event.state_key)
                 )
                 if prev_state_id:
@@ -501,137 +503,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     user = UserID.from_string(event.state_key)
                     yield user_joined_room(self.distributor, user, event.room_id)
 
-    @measure_func("_filter_events_for_server")
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _filter_events_for_server(self, server_name, room_id, events):
-        """Filter the given events for the given server, redacting those the
-        server can't see.
-
-        Assumes the server is currently in the room.
-
-        Returns
-            list[FrozenEvent]
-        """
-        # First lets check to see if all the events have a history visibility
-        # of "shared" or "world_readable". If thats the case then we don't
-        # need to check membership (as we know the server is in the room).
-        event_to_state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_events(
-            frozenset(e.event_id for e in events),
-            types=(
-                (EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""),
-            )
-        )
-
-        visibility_ids = set()
-        for sids in event_to_state_ids.itervalues():
-            hist = sids.get((EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""))
-            if hist:
-                visibility_ids.add(hist)
-
-        # If we failed to find any history visibility events then the default
-        # is "shared" visiblity.
-        if not visibility_ids:
-            defer.returnValue(events)
-
-        event_map = yield self.store.get_events(visibility_ids)
-        all_open = all(
-            e.content.get("history_visibility") in (None, "shared", "world_readable")
-            for e in event_map.itervalues()
-        )
-
-        if all_open:
-            defer.returnValue(events)
-
-        # Ok, so we're dealing with events that have non-trivial visibility
-        # rules, so we need to also get the memberships of the room.
-
-        event_to_state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_events(
-            frozenset(e.event_id for e in events),
-            types=(
-                (EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""),
-                (EventTypes.Member, None),
-            )
-        )
-
-        # We only want to pull out member events that correspond to the
-        # server's domain.
-
-        def check_match(id):
-            try:
-                return server_name == get_domain_from_id(id)
-            except Exception:
-                return False
-
-        # Parses mapping `event_id -> (type, state_key) -> state event_id`
-        # to get all state ids that we're interested in.
-        event_map = yield self.store.get_events([
-            e_id
-            for key_to_eid in list(event_to_state_ids.values())
-            for key, e_id in key_to_eid.items()
-            if key[0] != EventTypes.Member or check_match(key[1])
-        ])
-
-        event_to_state = {
-            e_id: {
-                key: event_map[inner_e_id]
-                for key, inner_e_id in key_to_eid.iteritems()
-                if inner_e_id in event_map
-            }
-            for e_id, key_to_eid in event_to_state_ids.iteritems()
-        }
-
-        erased_senders = yield self.store.are_users_erased(
-            e.sender for e in events,
-        )
-
-        def redact_disallowed(event, state):
-            # if the sender has been gdpr17ed, always return a redacted
-            # copy of the event.
-            if erased_senders[event.sender]:
-                logger.info(
-                    "Sender of %s has been erased, redacting",
-                    event.event_id,
-                )
-                return prune_event(event)
-
-            if not state:
-                return event
-
-            history = state.get((EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ''), None)
-            if history:
-                visibility = history.content.get("history_visibility", "shared")
-                if visibility in ["invited", "joined"]:
-                    # We now loop through all state events looking for
-                    # membership states for the requesting server to determine
-                    # if the server is either in the room or has been invited
-                    # into the room.
-                    for ev in state.itervalues():
-                        if ev.type != EventTypes.Member:
-                            continue
-                        try:
-                            domain = get_domain_from_id(ev.state_key)
-                        except Exception:
-                            continue
-
-                        if domain != server_name:
-                            continue
-
-                        memtype = ev.membership
-                        if memtype == Membership.JOIN:
-                            return event
-                        elif memtype == Membership.INVITE:
-                            if visibility == "invited":
-                                return event
-                    else:
-                        return prune_event(event)
-
-            return event
-
-        defer.returnValue([
-            redact_disallowed(e, event_to_state[e.event_id])
-            for e in events
-        ])
-
     @log_function
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def backfill(self, dest, room_id, limit, extremities):
@@ -863,7 +734,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             """
             joined_users = [
                 (state_key, int(event.depth))
-                for (e_type, state_key), event in state.iteritems()
+                for (e_type, state_key), event in iteritems(state)
                 if e_type == EventTypes.Member
                 and event.membership == Membership.JOIN
             ]
@@ -880,7 +751,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 except Exception:
                     pass
 
-            return sorted(joined_domains.iteritems(), key=lambda d: d[1])
+            return sorted(joined_domains.items(), key=lambda d: d[1])
 
         curr_domains = get_domains_from_state(curr_state)
 
@@ -943,7 +814,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         tried_domains = set(likely_domains)
         tried_domains.add(self.server_name)
 
-        event_ids = list(extremities.iterkeys())
+        event_ids = list(extremities.keys())
 
         logger.debug("calling resolve_state_groups in _maybe_backfill")
         resolve = logcontext.preserve_fn(
@@ -959,15 +830,15 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         states = dict(zip(event_ids, [s.state for s in states]))
 
         state_map = yield self.store.get_events(
-            [e_id for ids in states.itervalues() for e_id in ids.itervalues()],
+            [e_id for ids in itervalues(states) for e_id in itervalues(ids)],
             get_prev_content=False
         )
         states = {
             key: {
                 k: state_map[e_id]
-                for k, e_id in state_dict.iteritems()
+                for k, e_id in iteritems(state_dict)
                 if e_id in state_map
-            } for key, state_dict in states.iteritems()
+            } for key, state_dict in iteritems(states)
         }
 
         for e_id, _ in sorted_extremeties_tuple:
@@ -1038,16 +909,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             [auth_id for auth_id, _ in event.auth_events],
             include_given=True
         )
-
-        for event in auth:
-            event.signatures.update(
-                compute_event_signature(
-                    event,
-                    self.hs.hostname,
-                    self.hs.config.signing_key[0]
-                )
-            )
-
         defer.returnValue([e for e in auth])
 
     @log_function
@@ -1248,10 +1109,12 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 user = UserID.from_string(event.state_key)
                 yield user_joined_room(self.distributor, user, event.room_id)
 
-        state_ids = list(context.prev_state_ids.values())
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
+        state_ids = list(prev_state_ids.values())
         auth_chain = yield self.store.get_auth_chain(state_ids)
 
-        state = yield self.store.get_events(list(context.prev_state_ids.values()))
+        state = yield self.store.get_events(list(prev_state_ids.values()))
 
         defer.returnValue({
             "state": list(state.values()),
@@ -1416,7 +1279,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
     @log_function
     def on_make_leave_request(self, room_id, user_id):
         """ We've received a /make_leave/ request, so we create a partial
-        join event for the room and return that. We do *not* persist or
+        leave event for the room and return that. We do *not* persist or
         process it until the other server has signed it and sent it back.
         """
         builder = self.event_builder_factory.new({
@@ -1503,18 +1366,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     del results[(event.type, event.state_key)]
 
             res = list(results.values())
-            for event in res:
-                # We sign these again because there was a bug where we
-                # incorrectly signed things the first time round
-                if self.is_mine_id(event.event_id):
-                    event.signatures.update(
-                        compute_event_signature(
-                            event,
-                            self.hs.hostname,
-                            self.hs.config.signing_key[0]
-                        )
-                    )
-
             defer.returnValue(res)
         else:
             defer.returnValue([])
@@ -1558,7 +1409,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             limit
         )
 
-        events = yield self._filter_events_for_server(origin, room_id, events)
+        events = yield filter_events_for_server(self.store, origin, events)
 
         defer.returnValue(events)
 
@@ -1586,18 +1437,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         )
 
         if event:
-            if self.is_mine_id(event.event_id):
-                # FIXME: This is a temporary work around where we occasionally
-                # return events slightly differently than when they were
-                # originally signed
-                event.signatures.update(
-                    compute_event_signature(
-                        event,
-                        self.hs.hostname,
-                        self.hs.config.signing_key[0]
-                    )
-                )
-
             in_room = yield self.auth.check_host_in_room(
                 event.room_id,
                 origin
@@ -1605,8 +1444,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             if not in_room:
                 raise AuthError(403, "Host not in room.")
 
-            events = yield self._filter_events_for_server(
-                origin, event.room_id, [event]
+            events = yield filter_events_for_server(
+                self.store, origin, [event],
             )
             event = events[0]
             defer.returnValue(event)
@@ -1681,7 +1520,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         yield self.store.persist_events(
             [
                 (ev_info["event"], context)
-                for ev_info, context in itertools.izip(event_infos, contexts)
+                for ev_info, context in zip(event_infos, contexts)
             ],
             backfilled=backfilled,
         )
@@ -1801,8 +1640,9 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         )
 
         if not auth_events:
+            prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
             auth_events_ids = yield self.auth.compute_auth_events(
-                event, context.prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
+                event, prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
             )
             auth_events = yield self.store.get_events(auth_events_ids)
             auth_events = {
@@ -1862,15 +1702,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             local_auth_chain, remote_auth_chain
         )
 
-        for event in ret["auth_chain"]:
-            event.signatures.update(
-                compute_event_signature(
-                    event,
-                    self.hs.hostname,
-                    self.hs.config.signing_key[0]
-                )
-            )
-
         logger.debug("on_query_auth returning: %s", ret)
 
         defer.returnValue(ret)
@@ -1896,8 +1727,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             min_depth=min_depth,
         )
 
-        missing_events = yield self._filter_events_for_server(
-            origin, room_id, missing_events,
+        missing_events = yield filter_events_for_server(
+            self.store, origin, missing_events,
         )
 
         defer.returnValue(missing_events)
@@ -2051,9 +1882,10 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                         break
 
             if do_resolution:
+                prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
                 # 1. Get what we think is the auth chain.
                 auth_ids = yield self.auth.compute_auth_events(
-                    event, context.prev_state_ids
+                    event, prev_state_ids
                 )
                 local_auth_chain = yield self.store.get_auth_chain(
                     auth_ids, include_given=True
@@ -2143,21 +1975,34 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             k: a.event_id for k, a in iteritems(auth_events)
             if k != event_key
         }
-        context.current_state_ids = dict(context.current_state_ids)
-        context.current_state_ids.update(state_updates)
-        if context.delta_ids is not None:
-            context.delta_ids = dict(context.delta_ids)
-            context.delta_ids.update(state_updates)
-        context.prev_state_ids = dict(context.prev_state_ids)
-        context.prev_state_ids.update({
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+        current_state_ids = dict(current_state_ids)
+
+        current_state_ids.update(state_updates)
+
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        prev_state_ids = dict(prev_state_ids)
+
+        prev_state_ids.update({
             k: a.event_id for k, a in iteritems(auth_events)
         })
-        context.state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
+
+        # create a new state group as a delta from the existing one.
+        prev_group = context.state_group
+        state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
             event.event_id,
             event.room_id,
-            prev_group=context.prev_group,
-            delta_ids=context.delta_ids,
-            current_state_ids=context.current_state_ids,
+            prev_group=prev_group,
+            delta_ids=state_updates,
+            current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+        )
+
+        yield context.update_state(
+            state_group=state_group,
+            current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+            prev_state_ids=prev_state_ids,
+            prev_group=prev_group,
+            delta_ids=state_updates,
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -2397,7 +2242,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             event.content["third_party_invite"]["signed"]["token"]
         )
         original_invite = None
-        original_invite_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(key)
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        original_invite_id = prev_state_ids.get(key)
         if original_invite_id:
             original_invite = yield self.store.get_event(
                 original_invite_id, allow_none=True
@@ -2439,7 +2285,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         signed = event.content["third_party_invite"]["signed"]
         token = signed["token"]
 
-        invite_event_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        invite_event_id = prev_state_ids.get(
             (EventTypes.ThirdPartyInvite, token,)
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
index fb11716eb8..40e7580a61 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
@@ -148,13 +148,15 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
             try:
                 if event.membership == Membership.JOIN:
                     room_end_token = now_token.room_key
-                    deferred_room_state = self.state_handler.get_current_state(
-                        event.room_id
+                    deferred_room_state = run_in_background(
+                        self.state_handler.get_current_state,
+                        event.room_id,
                     )
                 elif event.membership == Membership.LEAVE:
                     room_end_token = "s%d" % (event.stream_ordering,)
-                    deferred_room_state = self.store.get_state_for_events(
-                        [event.event_id], None
+                    deferred_room_state = run_in_background(
+                        self.store.get_state_for_events,
+                        [event.event_id], None,
                     )
                     deferred_room_state.addCallback(
                         lambda states: states[event.event_id]
@@ -387,19 +389,21 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
                 receipts = []
             defer.returnValue(receipts)
 
-        presence, receipts, (messages, token) = yield defer.gatherResults(
-            [
-                run_in_background(get_presence),
-                run_in_background(get_receipts),
-                run_in_background(
-                    self.store.get_recent_events_for_room,
-                    room_id,
-                    limit=limit,
-                    end_token=now_token.room_key,
-                )
-            ],
-            consumeErrors=True,
-        ).addErrback(unwrapFirstError)
+        presence, receipts, (messages, token) = yield make_deferred_yieldable(
+            defer.gatherResults(
+                [
+                    run_in_background(get_presence),
+                    run_in_background(get_receipts),
+                    run_in_background(
+                        self.store.get_recent_events_for_room,
+                        room_id,
+                        limit=limit,
+                        end_token=now_token.room_key,
+                    )
+                ],
+                consumeErrors=True,
+            ).addErrback(unwrapFirstError),
+        )
 
         messages = yield filter_events_for_client(
             self.store, user_id, messages, is_peeking=is_peeking,
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/message.py b/synapse/handlers/message.py
index f27f4d3546..39d7724778 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/message.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/message.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json, json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.internet.defer import succeed
-from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 
 from synapse.api.constants import MAX_DEPTH, EventTypes, Membership
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, ConsentNotGivenError, SynapseError
@@ -32,247 +31,26 @@ from synapse.crypto.event_signing import add_hashes_and_signatures
 from synapse.events.utils import serialize_event
 from synapse.events.validator import EventValidator
 from synapse.replication.http.send_event import send_event_to_master
-from synapse.types import RoomAlias, RoomStreamToken, UserID
-from synapse.util.async import Limiter, ReadWriteLock
+from synapse.types import RoomAlias, UserID
+from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
 from synapse.util.frozenutils import frozendict_json_encoder
 from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import measure_func
-from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
-from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class PurgeStatus(object):
-    """Object tracking the status of a purge request
-
-    This class contains information on the progress of a purge request, for
-    return by get_purge_status.
-
-    Attributes:
-        status (int): Tracks whether this request has completed. One of
-            STATUS_{ACTIVE,COMPLETE,FAILED}
+class MessageHandler(object):
+    """Contains some read only APIs to get state about a room
     """
 
-    STATUS_ACTIVE = 0
-    STATUS_COMPLETE = 1
-    STATUS_FAILED = 2
-
-    STATUS_TEXT = {
-        STATUS_ACTIVE: "active",
-        STATUS_COMPLETE: "complete",
-        STATUS_FAILED: "failed",
-    }
-
-    def __init__(self):
-        self.status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_ACTIVE
-
-    def asdict(self):
-        return {
-            "status": PurgeStatus.STATUS_TEXT[self.status]
-        }
-
-
-class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
-
     def __init__(self, hs):
-        super(MessageHandler, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.hs = hs
-        self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
-
-        self.pagination_lock = ReadWriteLock()
-        self._purges_in_progress_by_room = set()
-        # map from purge id to PurgeStatus
-        self._purges_by_id = {}
-
-    def start_purge_history(self, room_id, token,
-                            delete_local_events=False):
-        """Start off a history purge on a room.
-
-        Args:
-            room_id (str): The room to purge from
-
-            token (str): topological token to delete events before
-            delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
-                remote ones
-
-        Returns:
-            str: unique ID for this purge transaction.
-        """
-        if room_id in self._purges_in_progress_by_room:
-            raise SynapseError(
-                400,
-                "History purge already in progress for %s" % (room_id, ),
-            )
-
-        purge_id = random_string(16)
-
-        # we log the purge_id here so that it can be tied back to the
-        # request id in the log lines.
-        logger.info("[purge] starting purge_id %s", purge_id)
-
-        self._purges_by_id[purge_id] = PurgeStatus()
-        run_in_background(
-            self._purge_history,
-            purge_id, room_id, token, delete_local_events,
-        )
-        return purge_id
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _purge_history(self, purge_id, room_id, token,
-                       delete_local_events):
-        """Carry out a history purge on a room.
-
-        Args:
-            purge_id (str): The id for this purge
-            room_id (str): The room to purge from
-            token (str): topological token to delete events before
-            delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
-                remote ones
-
-        Returns:
-            Deferred
-        """
-        self._purges_in_progress_by_room.add(room_id)
-        try:
-            with (yield self.pagination_lock.write(room_id)):
-                yield self.store.purge_history(
-                    room_id, token, delete_local_events,
-                )
-            logger.info("[purge] complete")
-            self._purges_by_id[purge_id].status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_COMPLETE
-        except Exception:
-            logger.error("[purge] failed: %s", Failure().getTraceback().rstrip())
-            self._purges_by_id[purge_id].status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_FAILED
-        finally:
-            self._purges_in_progress_by_room.discard(room_id)
-
-            # remove the purge from the list 24 hours after it completes
-            def clear_purge():
-                del self._purges_by_id[purge_id]
-            self.hs.get_reactor().callLater(24 * 3600, clear_purge)
-
-    def get_purge_status(self, purge_id):
-        """Get the current status of an active purge
-
-        Args:
-            purge_id (str): purge_id returned by start_purge_history
-
-        Returns:
-            PurgeStatus|None
-        """
-        return self._purges_by_id.get(purge_id)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_messages(self, requester, room_id=None, pagin_config=None,
-                     as_client_event=True, event_filter=None):
-        """Get messages in a room.
-
-        Args:
-            requester (Requester): The user requesting messages.
-            room_id (str): The room they want messages from.
-            pagin_config (synapse.api.streams.PaginationConfig): The pagination
-                config rules to apply, if any.
-            as_client_event (bool): True to get events in client-server format.
-            event_filter (Filter): Filter to apply to results or None
-        Returns:
-            dict: Pagination API results
-        """
-        user_id = requester.user.to_string()
-
-        if pagin_config.from_token:
-            room_token = pagin_config.from_token.room_key
-        else:
-            pagin_config.from_token = (
-                yield self.hs.get_event_sources().get_current_token_for_room(
-                    room_id=room_id
-                )
-            )
-            room_token = pagin_config.from_token.room_key
-
-        room_token = RoomStreamToken.parse(room_token)
-
-        pagin_config.from_token = pagin_config.from_token.copy_and_replace(
-            "room_key", str(room_token)
-        )
-
-        source_config = pagin_config.get_source_config("room")
-
-        with (yield self.pagination_lock.read(room_id)):
-            membership, member_event_id = yield self._check_in_room_or_world_readable(
-                room_id, user_id
-            )
-
-            if source_config.direction == 'b':
-                # if we're going backwards, we might need to backfill. This
-                # requires that we have a topo token.
-                if room_token.topological:
-                    max_topo = room_token.topological
-                else:
-                    max_topo = yield self.store.get_max_topological_token(
-                        room_id, room_token.stream
-                    )
-
-                if membership == Membership.LEAVE:
-                    # If they have left the room then clamp the token to be before
-                    # they left the room, to save the effort of loading from the
-                    # database.
-                    leave_token = yield self.store.get_topological_token_for_event(
-                        member_event_id
-                    )
-                    leave_token = RoomStreamToken.parse(leave_token)
-                    if leave_token.topological < max_topo:
-                        source_config.from_key = str(leave_token)
-
-                yield self.hs.get_handlers().federation_handler.maybe_backfill(
-                    room_id, max_topo
-                )
-
-            events, next_key = yield self.store.paginate_room_events(
-                room_id=room_id,
-                from_key=source_config.from_key,
-                to_key=source_config.to_key,
-                direction=source_config.direction,
-                limit=source_config.limit,
-                event_filter=event_filter,
-            )
-
-            next_token = pagin_config.from_token.copy_and_replace(
-                "room_key", next_key
-            )
-
-        if not events:
-            defer.returnValue({
-                "chunk": [],
-                "start": pagin_config.from_token.to_string(),
-                "end": next_token.to_string(),
-            })
-
-        if event_filter:
-            events = event_filter.filter(events)
-
-        events = yield filter_events_for_client(
-            self.store,
-            user_id,
-            events,
-            is_peeking=(member_event_id is None),
-        )
-
-        time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
-
-        chunk = {
-            "chunk": [
-                serialize_event(e, time_now, as_client_event)
-                for e in events
-            ],
-            "start": pagin_config.from_token.to_string(),
-            "end": next_token.to_string(),
-        }
-
-        defer.returnValue(chunk)
+        self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_room_data(self, user_id=None, room_id=None,
@@ -286,12 +64,12 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         Raises:
             SynapseError if something went wrong.
         """
-        membership, membership_event_id = yield self._check_in_room_or_world_readable(
+        membership, membership_event_id = yield self.auth.check_in_room_or_world_readable(
             room_id, user_id
         )
 
         if membership == Membership.JOIN:
-            data = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state(
+            data = yield self.state.get_current_state(
                 room_id, event_type, state_key
             )
         elif membership == Membership.LEAVE:
@@ -304,31 +82,6 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         defer.returnValue(data)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _check_in_room_or_world_readable(self, room_id, user_id):
-        try:
-            # check_user_was_in_room will return the most recent membership
-            # event for the user if:
-            #  * The user is a non-guest user, and was ever in the room
-            #  * The user is a guest user, and has joined the room
-            # else it will throw.
-            member_event = yield self.auth.check_user_was_in_room(room_id, user_id)
-            defer.returnValue((member_event.membership, member_event.event_id))
-            return
-        except AuthError:
-            visibility = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state(
-                room_id, EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""
-            )
-            if (
-                visibility and
-                visibility.content["history_visibility"] == "world_readable"
-            ):
-                defer.returnValue((Membership.JOIN, None))
-                return
-            raise AuthError(
-                403, "Guest access not allowed", errcode=Codes.GUEST_ACCESS_FORBIDDEN
-            )
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_state_events(self, user_id, room_id, is_guest=False):
         """Retrieve all state events for a given room. If the user is
         joined to the room then return the current state. If the user has
@@ -340,12 +93,12 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         Returns:
             A list of dicts representing state events. [{}, {}, {}]
         """
-        membership, membership_event_id = yield self._check_in_room_or_world_readable(
+        membership, membership_event_id = yield self.auth.check_in_room_or_world_readable(
             room_id, user_id
         )
 
         if membership == Membership.JOIN:
-            room_state = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state(room_id)
+            room_state = yield self.state.get_current_state(room_id)
         elif membership == Membership.LEAVE:
             room_state = yield self.store.get_state_for_events(
                 [membership_event_id], None
@@ -373,7 +126,7 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         if not requester.app_service:
             # We check AS auth after fetching the room membership, as it
             # requires us to pull out all joined members anyway.
-            membership, _ = yield self._check_in_room_or_world_readable(
+            membership, _ = yield self.auth.check_in_room_or_world_readable(
                 room_id, user_id
             )
             if membership != Membership.JOIN:
@@ -384,7 +137,7 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         users_with_profile = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(room_id)
 
         # If this is an AS, double check that they are allowed to see the members.
-        # This can either be because the AS user is in the room or becuase there
+        # This can either be because the AS user is in the room or because there
         # is a user in the room that the AS is "interested in"
         if requester.app_service and user_id not in users_with_profile:
             for uid in users_with_profile:
@@ -427,7 +180,7 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
         # We arbitrarily limit concurrent event creation for a room to 5.
         # This is to stop us from diverging history *too* much.
-        self.limiter = Limiter(max_count=5)
+        self.limiter = Linearizer(max_count=5, name="room_event_creation_limit")
 
         self.action_generator = hs.get_action_generator()
 
@@ -630,7 +383,8 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
         If so, returns the version of the event in context.
         Otherwise, returns None.
         """
-        prev_event_id = context.prev_state_ids.get((event.type, event.state_key))
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        prev_event_id = prev_state_ids.get((event.type, event.state_key))
         prev_event = yield self.store.get_event(prev_event_id, allow_none=True)
         if not prev_event:
             return
@@ -752,8 +506,8 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
         event = builder.build()
 
         logger.debug(
-            "Created event %s with state: %s",
-            event.event_id, context.prev_state_ids,
+            "Created event %s",
+            event.event_id,
         )
 
         defer.returnValue(
@@ -806,8 +560,9 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
             # If we're a worker we need to hit out to the master.
             if self.config.worker_app:
                 yield send_event_to_master(
-                    self.hs.get_clock(),
-                    self.http_client,
+                    clock=self.hs.get_clock(),
+                    store=self.store,
+                    client=self.http_client,
                     host=self.config.worker_replication_host,
                     port=self.config.worker_replication_http_port,
                     requester=requester,
@@ -884,9 +639,11 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
                         e.sender == event.sender
                     )
 
+                current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
                 state_to_include_ids = [
                     e_id
-                    for k, e_id in iteritems(context.current_state_ids)
+                    for k, e_id in iteritems(current_state_ids)
                     if k[0] in self.hs.config.room_invite_state_types
                     or k == (EventTypes.Member, event.sender)
                 ]
@@ -922,8 +679,9 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
                     )
 
         if event.type == EventTypes.Redaction:
+            prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
             auth_events_ids = yield self.auth.compute_auth_events(
-                event, context.prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
+                event, prev_state_ids, for_verification=True,
             )
             auth_events = yield self.store.get_events(auth_events_ids)
             auth_events = {
@@ -943,11 +701,13 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
                         "You don't have permission to redact events"
                     )
 
-        if event.type == EventTypes.Create and context.prev_state_ids:
-            raise AuthError(
-                403,
-                "Changing the room create event is forbidden",
-            )
+        if event.type == EventTypes.Create:
+            prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+            if prev_state_ids:
+                raise AuthError(
+                    403,
+                    "Changing the room create event is forbidden",
+                )
 
         (event_stream_id, max_stream_id) = yield self.store.persist_event(
             event, context=context
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/pagination.py b/synapse/handlers/pagination.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b2849783ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/handlers/pagination.py
@@ -0,0 +1,265 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2014 - 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2017 - 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+import logging
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.python.failure import Failure
+
+from synapse.api.constants import Membership
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+from synapse.events.utils import serialize_event
+from synapse.types import RoomStreamToken
+from synapse.util.async import ReadWriteLock
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
+from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
+from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class PurgeStatus(object):
+    """Object tracking the status of a purge request
+
+    This class contains information on the progress of a purge request, for
+    return by get_purge_status.
+
+    Attributes:
+        status (int): Tracks whether this request has completed. One of
+            STATUS_{ACTIVE,COMPLETE,FAILED}
+    """
+
+    STATUS_ACTIVE = 0
+    STATUS_COMPLETE = 1
+    STATUS_FAILED = 2
+
+    STATUS_TEXT = {
+        STATUS_ACTIVE: "active",
+        STATUS_COMPLETE: "complete",
+        STATUS_FAILED: "failed",
+    }
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_ACTIVE
+
+    def asdict(self):
+        return {
+            "status": PurgeStatus.STATUS_TEXT[self.status]
+        }
+
+
+class PaginationHandler(object):
+    """Handles pagination and purge history requests.
+
+    These are in the same handler due to the fact we need to block clients
+    paginating during a purge.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        self.hs = hs
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
+        self.clock = hs.get_clock()
+
+        self.pagination_lock = ReadWriteLock()
+        self._purges_in_progress_by_room = set()
+        # map from purge id to PurgeStatus
+        self._purges_by_id = {}
+
+    def start_purge_history(self, room_id, token,
+                            delete_local_events=False):
+        """Start off a history purge on a room.
+
+        Args:
+            room_id (str): The room to purge from
+
+            token (str): topological token to delete events before
+            delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
+                remote ones
+
+        Returns:
+            str: unique ID for this purge transaction.
+        """
+        if room_id in self._purges_in_progress_by_room:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400,
+                "History purge already in progress for %s" % (room_id, ),
+            )
+
+        purge_id = random_string(16)
+
+        # we log the purge_id here so that it can be tied back to the
+        # request id in the log lines.
+        logger.info("[purge] starting purge_id %s", purge_id)
+
+        self._purges_by_id[purge_id] = PurgeStatus()
+        run_in_background(
+            self._purge_history,
+            purge_id, room_id, token, delete_local_events,
+        )
+        return purge_id
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _purge_history(self, purge_id, room_id, token,
+                       delete_local_events):
+        """Carry out a history purge on a room.
+
+        Args:
+            purge_id (str): The id for this purge
+            room_id (str): The room to purge from
+            token (str): topological token to delete events before
+            delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
+                remote ones
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        self._purges_in_progress_by_room.add(room_id)
+        try:
+            with (yield self.pagination_lock.write(room_id)):
+                yield self.store.purge_history(
+                    room_id, token, delete_local_events,
+                )
+            logger.info("[purge] complete")
+            self._purges_by_id[purge_id].status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_COMPLETE
+        except Exception:
+            logger.error("[purge] failed: %s", Failure().getTraceback().rstrip())
+            self._purges_by_id[purge_id].status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_FAILED
+        finally:
+            self._purges_in_progress_by_room.discard(room_id)
+
+            # remove the purge from the list 24 hours after it completes
+            def clear_purge():
+                del self._purges_by_id[purge_id]
+            self.hs.get_reactor().callLater(24 * 3600, clear_purge)
+
+    def get_purge_status(self, purge_id):
+        """Get the current status of an active purge
+
+        Args:
+            purge_id (str): purge_id returned by start_purge_history
+
+        Returns:
+            PurgeStatus|None
+        """
+        return self._purges_by_id.get(purge_id)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def get_messages(self, requester, room_id=None, pagin_config=None,
+                     as_client_event=True, event_filter=None):
+        """Get messages in a room.
+
+        Args:
+            requester (Requester): The user requesting messages.
+            room_id (str): The room they want messages from.
+            pagin_config (synapse.api.streams.PaginationConfig): The pagination
+                config rules to apply, if any.
+            as_client_event (bool): True to get events in client-server format.
+            event_filter (Filter): Filter to apply to results or None
+        Returns:
+            dict: Pagination API results
+        """
+        user_id = requester.user.to_string()
+
+        if pagin_config.from_token:
+            room_token = pagin_config.from_token.room_key
+        else:
+            pagin_config.from_token = (
+                yield self.hs.get_event_sources().get_current_token_for_room(
+                    room_id=room_id
+                )
+            )
+            room_token = pagin_config.from_token.room_key
+
+        room_token = RoomStreamToken.parse(room_token)
+
+        pagin_config.from_token = pagin_config.from_token.copy_and_replace(
+            "room_key", str(room_token)
+        )
+
+        source_config = pagin_config.get_source_config("room")
+
+        with (yield self.pagination_lock.read(room_id)):
+            membership, member_event_id = yield self.auth.check_in_room_or_world_readable(
+                room_id, user_id
+            )
+
+            if source_config.direction == 'b':
+                # if we're going backwards, we might need to backfill. This
+                # requires that we have a topo token.
+                if room_token.topological:
+                    max_topo = room_token.topological
+                else:
+                    max_topo = yield self.store.get_max_topological_token(
+                        room_id, room_token.stream
+                    )
+
+                if membership == Membership.LEAVE:
+                    # If they have left the room then clamp the token to be before
+                    # they left the room, to save the effort of loading from the
+                    # database.
+                    leave_token = yield self.store.get_topological_token_for_event(
+                        member_event_id
+                    )
+                    leave_token = RoomStreamToken.parse(leave_token)
+                    if leave_token.topological < max_topo:
+                        source_config.from_key = str(leave_token)
+
+                yield self.hs.get_handlers().federation_handler.maybe_backfill(
+                    room_id, max_topo
+                )
+
+            events, next_key = yield self.store.paginate_room_events(
+                room_id=room_id,
+                from_key=source_config.from_key,
+                to_key=source_config.to_key,
+                direction=source_config.direction,
+                limit=source_config.limit,
+                event_filter=event_filter,
+            )
+
+            next_token = pagin_config.from_token.copy_and_replace(
+                "room_key", next_key
+            )
+
+        if not events:
+            defer.returnValue({
+                "chunk": [],
+                "start": pagin_config.from_token.to_string(),
+                "end": next_token.to_string(),
+            })
+
+        if event_filter:
+            events = event_filter.filter(events)
+
+        events = yield filter_events_for_client(
+            self.store,
+            user_id,
+            events,
+            is_peeking=(member_event_id is None),
+        )
+
+        time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
+
+        chunk = {
+            "chunk": [
+                serialize_event(e, time_now, as_client_event)
+                for e in events
+            ],
+            "start": pagin_config.from_token.to_string(),
+            "end": next_token.to_string(),
+        }
+
+        defer.returnValue(chunk)
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/profile.py b/synapse/handlers/profile.py
index 859f6d2b2e..cb5c6d587e 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/profile.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/profile.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import logging
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, CodeMessageException, SynapseError
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.types import UserID, get_domain_from_id
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ class ProfileHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         if hs.config.worker_app is None:
             self.clock.looping_call(
-                self._update_remote_profile_cache, self.PROFILE_UPDATE_MS,
+                self._start_update_remote_profile_cache, self.PROFILE_UPDATE_MS,
             )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -254,6 +255,12 @@ class ProfileHandler(BaseHandler):
                     room_id, str(e.message)
                 )
 
+    def _start_update_remote_profile_cache(self):
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "Update remote profile", self._update_remote_profile_cache,
+        )
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _update_remote_profile_cache(self):
         """Called periodically to check profiles of remote users we haven't
         checked in a while.
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room.py b/synapse/handlers/room.py
index f67512078b..003b848c00 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, JoinRules, RoomCreationPreset
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, StoreError, SynapseError
-from synapse.types import RoomAlias, RoomID, RoomStreamToken, UserID
+from synapse.types import RoomAlias, RoomID, RoomStreamToken, StreamToken, UserID
 from synapse.util import stringutils
 from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
 
@@ -395,7 +395,11 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
             )
 
 
-class RoomContextHandler(BaseHandler):
+class RoomContextHandler(object):
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        self.hs = hs
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_event_context(self, user, room_id, event_id, limit):
         """Retrieves events, pagination tokens and state around a given event
@@ -414,8 +418,6 @@ class RoomContextHandler(BaseHandler):
         before_limit = math.floor(limit / 2.)
         after_limit = limit - before_limit
 
-        now_token = yield self.hs.get_event_sources().get_current_token()
-
         users = yield self.store.get_users_in_room(room_id)
         is_peeking = user.to_string() not in users
 
@@ -458,11 +460,15 @@ class RoomContextHandler(BaseHandler):
         )
         results["state"] = list(state[last_event_id].values())
 
-        results["start"] = now_token.copy_and_replace(
+        # We use a dummy token here as we only care about the room portion of
+        # the token, which we replace.
+        token = StreamToken.START
+
+        results["start"] = token.copy_and_replace(
             "room_key", results["start"]
         ).to_string()
 
-        results["end"] = now_token.copy_and_replace(
+        results["end"] = token.copy_and_replace(
             "room_key", results["end"]
         ).to_string()
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room_list.py b/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
index 1abd45297b..828229f5c3 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ REMOTE_ROOM_LIST_POLL_INTERVAL = 60 * 1000
 
 
 # This is used to indicate we should only return rooms published to the main list.
-EMTPY_THIRD_PARTY_ID = ThirdPartyInstanceID(None, None)
+EMPTY_THIRD_PARTY_ID = ThirdPartyInstanceID(None, None)
 
 
 class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
 
     def get_local_public_room_list(self, limit=None, since_token=None,
                                    search_filter=None,
-                                   network_tuple=EMTPY_THIRD_PARTY_ID,):
+                                   network_tuple=EMPTY_THIRD_PARTY_ID,):
         """Generate a local public room list.
 
         There are multiple different lists: the main one plus one per third
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _get_public_room_list(self, limit=None, since_token=None,
                               search_filter=None,
-                              network_tuple=EMTPY_THIRD_PARTY_ID,):
+                              network_tuple=EMPTY_THIRD_PARTY_ID,):
         if since_token and since_token != "END":
             since_token = RoomListNextBatch.from_token(since_token)
         else:
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
index 00f2e279bc..0d4a3f4677 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
@@ -201,7 +201,9 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             ratelimit=ratelimit,
         )
 
-        prev_member_event_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
+        prev_member_event_id = prev_state_ids.get(
             (EventTypes.Member, target.to_string()),
             None
         )
@@ -496,9 +498,10 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
         if prev_event is not None:
             return
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
         if event.membership == Membership.JOIN:
             if requester.is_guest:
-                guest_can_join = yield self._can_guest_join(context.prev_state_ids)
+                guest_can_join = yield self._can_guest_join(prev_state_ids)
                 if not guest_can_join:
                     # This should be an auth check, but guests are a local concept,
                     # so don't really fit into the general auth process.
@@ -517,7 +520,7 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             ratelimit=ratelimit,
         )
 
-        prev_member_event_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(
+        prev_member_event_id = prev_state_ids.get(
             (EventTypes.Member, event.state_key),
             None
         )
@@ -705,6 +708,10 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             inviter_display_name = member_event.content.get("displayname", "")
             inviter_avatar_url = member_event.content.get("avatar_url", "")
 
+        # if user has no display name, default to their MXID
+        if not inviter_display_name:
+            inviter_display_name = user.to_string()
+
         canonical_room_alias = ""
         canonical_alias_event = room_state.get((EventTypes.CanonicalAlias, ""))
         if canonical_alias_event:
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/sync.py b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
index c24e35362a..dff1f67dcb 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2015 - 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
 from synapse.push.clientformat import format_push_rules_for_user
 from synapse.types import RoomStreamToken
 from synapse.util.async import concurrently_execute
+from synapse.util.caches.expiringcache import ExpiringCache
+from synapse.util.caches.lrucache import LruCache
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure, measure_func
@@ -32,6 +35,14 @@ from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# Store the cache that tracks which lazy-loaded members have been sent to a given
+# client for no more than 30 minutes.
+LAZY_LOADED_MEMBERS_CACHE_MAX_AGE = 30 * 60 * 1000
+
+# Remember the last 100 members we sent to a client for the purposes of
+# avoiding redundantly sending the same lazy-loaded members to the client
+LAZY_LOADED_MEMBERS_CACHE_MAX_SIZE = 100
+
 
 SyncConfig = collections.namedtuple("SyncConfig", [
     "user",
@@ -181,6 +192,12 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "sync")
         self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
 
+        # ExpiringCache((User, Device)) -> LruCache(state_key => event_id)
+        self.lazy_loaded_members_cache = ExpiringCache(
+            "lazy_loaded_members_cache", self.clock,
+            max_len=0, expiry_ms=LAZY_LOADED_MEMBERS_CACHE_MAX_AGE,
+        )
+
     def wait_for_sync_for_user(self, sync_config, since_token=None, timeout=0,
                                full_state=False):
         """Get the sync for a client if we have new data for it now. Otherwise
@@ -416,29 +433,44 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         ))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_after_event(self, event):
+    def get_state_after_event(self, event, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """
         Get the room state after the given event
 
         Args:
             event(synapse.events.EventBase): event of interest
+            types(list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+                May be None, which matches any key.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             A Deferred map from ((type, state_key)->Event)
         """
-        state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(event.event_id)
+        state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
+            event.event_id, types, filtered_types=filtered_types,
+        )
         if event.is_state():
             state_ids = state_ids.copy()
             state_ids[(event.type, event.state_key)] = event.event_id
         defer.returnValue(state_ids)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_at(self, room_id, stream_position):
+    def get_state_at(self, room_id, stream_position, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """ Get the room state at a particular stream position
 
         Args:
             room_id(str): room for which to get state
             stream_position(StreamToken): point at which to get state
+            types(list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             A Deferred map from ((type, state_key)->Event)
@@ -453,7 +485,9 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
 
         if last_events:
             last_event = last_events[-1]
-            state = yield self.get_state_after_event(last_event)
+            state = yield self.get_state_after_event(
+                last_event, types, filtered_types=filtered_types,
+            )
 
         else:
             # no events in this room - so presumably no state
@@ -485,59 +519,129 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         # TODO(mjark) Check for new redactions in the state events.
 
         with Measure(self.clock, "compute_state_delta"):
+
+            types = None
+            filtered_types = None
+
+            lazy_load_members = sync_config.filter_collection.lazy_load_members()
+            include_redundant_members = (
+                sync_config.filter_collection.include_redundant_members()
+            )
+
+            if lazy_load_members:
+                # We only request state for the members needed to display the
+                # timeline:
+
+                types = [
+                    (EventTypes.Member, state_key)
+                    for state_key in set(
+                        event.sender  # FIXME: we also care about invite targets etc.
+                        for event in batch.events
+                    )
+                ]
+
+                # only apply the filtering to room members
+                filtered_types = [EventTypes.Member]
+
+            timeline_state = {
+                (event.type, event.state_key): event.event_id
+                for event in batch.events if event.is_state()
+            }
+
             if full_state:
                 if batch:
                     current_state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
-                        batch.events[-1].event_id
+                        batch.events[-1].event_id, types=types,
+                        filtered_types=filtered_types,
                     )
 
                     state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
-                        batch.events[0].event_id
+                        batch.events[0].event_id, types=types,
+                        filtered_types=filtered_types,
                     )
+
                 else:
                     current_state_ids = yield self.get_state_at(
-                        room_id, stream_position=now_token
+                        room_id, stream_position=now_token, types=types,
+                        filtered_types=filtered_types,
                     )
 
                     state_ids = current_state_ids
 
-                timeline_state = {
-                    (event.type, event.state_key): event.event_id
-                    for event in batch.events if event.is_state()
-                }
-
                 state_ids = _calculate_state(
                     timeline_contains=timeline_state,
                     timeline_start=state_ids,
                     previous={},
                     current=current_state_ids,
+                    lazy_load_members=lazy_load_members,
                 )
             elif batch.limited:
                 state_at_previous_sync = yield self.get_state_at(
-                    room_id, stream_position=since_token
+                    room_id, stream_position=since_token, types=types,
+                    filtered_types=filtered_types,
                 )
 
                 current_state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
-                    batch.events[-1].event_id
+                    batch.events[-1].event_id, types=types,
+                    filtered_types=filtered_types,
                 )
 
                 state_at_timeline_start = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
-                    batch.events[0].event_id
+                    batch.events[0].event_id, types=types,
+                    filtered_types=filtered_types,
                 )
 
-                timeline_state = {
-                    (event.type, event.state_key): event.event_id
-                    for event in batch.events if event.is_state()
-                }
-
                 state_ids = _calculate_state(
                     timeline_contains=timeline_state,
                     timeline_start=state_at_timeline_start,
                     previous=state_at_previous_sync,
                     current=current_state_ids,
+                    lazy_load_members=lazy_load_members,
                 )
             else:
                 state_ids = {}
+                if lazy_load_members:
+                    if types:
+                        state_ids = yield self.store.get_state_ids_for_event(
+                            batch.events[0].event_id, types=types,
+                            filtered_types=filtered_types,
+                        )
+
+            if lazy_load_members and not include_redundant_members:
+                cache_key = (sync_config.user.to_string(), sync_config.device_id)
+                cache = self.lazy_loaded_members_cache.get(cache_key)
+                if cache is None:
+                    logger.debug("creating LruCache for %r", cache_key)
+                    cache = LruCache(LAZY_LOADED_MEMBERS_CACHE_MAX_SIZE)
+                    self.lazy_loaded_members_cache[cache_key] = cache
+                else:
+                    logger.debug("found LruCache for %r", cache_key)
+
+                # if it's a new sync sequence, then assume the client has had
+                # amnesia and doesn't want any recent lazy-loaded members
+                # de-duplicated.
+                if since_token is None:
+                    logger.debug("clearing LruCache for %r", cache_key)
+                    cache.clear()
+                else:
+                    # only send members which aren't in our LruCache (either
+                    # because they're new to this client or have been pushed out
+                    # of the cache)
+                    logger.debug("filtering state from %r...", state_ids)
+                    state_ids = {
+                        t: event_id
+                        for t, event_id in state_ids.iteritems()
+                        if cache.get(t[1]) != event_id
+                    }
+                    logger.debug("...to %r", state_ids)
+
+                # add any member IDs we are about to send into our LruCache
+                for t, event_id in itertools.chain(
+                    state_ids.items(),
+                    timeline_state.items(),
+                ):
+                    if t[0] == EventTypes.Member:
+                        cache.set(t[1], event_id)
 
         state = {}
         if state_ids:
@@ -1448,7 +1552,9 @@ def _action_has_highlight(actions):
     return False
 
 
-def _calculate_state(timeline_contains, timeline_start, previous, current):
+def _calculate_state(
+    timeline_contains, timeline_start, previous, current, lazy_load_members,
+):
     """Works out what state to include in a sync response.
 
     Args:
@@ -1457,6 +1563,9 @@ def _calculate_state(timeline_contains, timeline_start, previous, current):
         previous (dict): state at the end of the previous sync (or empty dict
             if this is an initial sync)
         current (dict): state at the end of the timeline
+        lazy_load_members (bool): whether to return members from timeline_start
+            or not.  assumes that timeline_start has already been filtered to
+            include only the members the client needs to know about.
 
     Returns:
         dict
@@ -1472,9 +1581,25 @@ def _calculate_state(timeline_contains, timeline_start, previous, current):
     }
 
     c_ids = set(e for e in current.values())
-    tc_ids = set(e for e in timeline_contains.values())
-    p_ids = set(e for e in previous.values())
     ts_ids = set(e for e in timeline_start.values())
+    p_ids = set(e for e in previous.values())
+    tc_ids = set(e for e in timeline_contains.values())
+
+    # If we are lazyloading room members, we explicitly add the membership events
+    # for the senders in the timeline into the state block returned by /sync,
+    # as we may not have sent them to the client before.  We find these membership
+    # events by filtering them out of timeline_start, which has already been filtered
+    # to only include membership events for the senders in the timeline.
+    # In practice, we can do this by removing them from the p_ids list,
+    # which is the list of relevant state we know we have already sent to the client.
+    # see https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/2970
+    #            /files/efcdacad7d1b7f52f879179701c7e0d9b763511f#r204732809
+
+    if lazy_load_members:
+        p_ids.difference_update(
+            e for t, e in timeline_start.iteritems()
+            if t[0] == EventTypes.Member
+        )
 
     state_ids = ((c_ids | ts_ids) - p_ids) - tc_ids
 
diff --git a/synapse/http/client.py b/synapse/http/client.py
index d6a0d75b2b..25b6307884 100644
--- a/synapse/http/client.py
+++ b/synapse/http/client.py
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@ from OpenSSL.SSL import VERIFY_NONE
 from twisted.internet import defer, protocol, reactor, ssl, task
 from twisted.internet.endpoints import HostnameEndpoint, wrapClientTLS
 from twisted.web._newclient import ResponseDone
-from twisted.web.client import Agent, BrowserLikeRedirectAgent, ContentDecoderAgent
-from twisted.web.client import FileBodyProducer as TwistedFileBodyProducer
 from twisted.web.client import (
+    Agent,
+    BrowserLikeRedirectAgent,
+    ContentDecoderAgent,
+    FileBodyProducer as TwistedFileBodyProducer,
     GzipDecoder,
     HTTPConnectionPool,
     PartialDownloadError,
diff --git a/synapse/http/request_metrics.py b/synapse/http/request_metrics.py
index bcaa2a9ecc..588e280571 100644
--- a/synapse/http/request_metrics.py
+++ b/synapse/http/request_metrics.py
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ outgoing_responses_counter = Counter(
 )
 
 response_timer = Histogram(
-    "synapse_http_server_response_time_seconds", "sec", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+    "synapse_http_server_response_time_seconds", "sec",
+    ["method", "servlet", "tag", "code"],
 )
 
 response_ru_utime = Counter(
@@ -149,7 +150,9 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
         self.name = name
         self.method = method
 
-        self._request_stats = _RequestStats.from_context(self.start_context)
+        # _request_stats records resource usage that we have already added
+        # to the "in flight" metrics.
+        self._request_stats = self.start_context.get_resource_usage()
 
         _in_flight_requests.add(self)
 
@@ -169,26 +172,32 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
                 )
                 return
 
-        outgoing_responses_counter.labels(request.method, str(request.code)).inc()
+        response_code = str(request.code)
+
+        outgoing_responses_counter.labels(request.method, response_code).inc()
 
         response_count.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc()
 
-        response_timer.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).observe(
+        response_timer.labels(request.method, self.name, tag, response_code).observe(
             time_sec - self.start
         )
 
-        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
+        resource_usage = context.get_resource_usage()
 
-        response_ru_utime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(ru_utime)
-        response_ru_stime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(ru_stime)
+        response_ru_utime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
+            resource_usage.ru_utime,
+        )
+        response_ru_stime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
+            resource_usage.ru_stime,
+        )
         response_db_txn_count.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
-            context.db_txn_count
+            resource_usage.db_txn_count
         )
         response_db_txn_duration.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
-            context.db_txn_duration_sec
+            resource_usage.db_txn_duration_sec
         )
         response_db_sched_duration.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
-            context.db_sched_duration_sec
+            resource_usage.db_sched_duration_sec
         )
 
         response_size.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(request.sentLength)
@@ -201,7 +210,10 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
     def update_metrics(self):
         """Updates the in flight metrics with values from this request.
         """
-        diff = self._request_stats.update(self.start_context)
+        new_stats = self.start_context.get_resource_usage()
+
+        diff = new_stats - self._request_stats
+        self._request_stats = new_stats
 
         in_flight_requests_ru_utime.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(diff.ru_utime)
         in_flight_requests_ru_stime.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(diff.ru_stime)
@@ -217,61 +229,3 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
         in_flight_requests_db_sched_duration.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(
             diff.db_sched_duration_sec
         )
-
-
-class _RequestStats(object):
-    """Keeps tracks of various metrics for an in flight request.
-    """
-
-    __slots__ = [
-        "ru_utime",
-        "ru_stime",
-        "db_txn_count",
-        "db_txn_duration_sec",
-        "db_sched_duration_sec",
-    ]
-
-    def __init__(
-        self, ru_utime, ru_stime, db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_sec, db_sched_duration_sec
-    ):
-        self.ru_utime = ru_utime
-        self.ru_stime = ru_stime
-        self.db_txn_count = db_txn_count
-        self.db_txn_duration_sec = db_txn_duration_sec
-        self.db_sched_duration_sec = db_sched_duration_sec
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def from_context(context):
-        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
-
-        return _RequestStats(
-            ru_utime, ru_stime,
-            context.db_txn_count,
-            context.db_txn_duration_sec,
-            context.db_sched_duration_sec,
-        )
-
-    def update(self, context):
-        """Updates the current values and returns the difference between the
-        old and new values.
-
-        Returns:
-            _RequestStats: The difference between the old and new values
-        """
-        new = _RequestStats.from_context(context)
-
-        diff = _RequestStats(
-            new.ru_utime - self.ru_utime,
-            new.ru_stime - self.ru_stime,
-            new.db_txn_count - self.db_txn_count,
-            new.db_txn_duration_sec - self.db_txn_duration_sec,
-            new.db_sched_duration_sec - self.db_sched_duration_sec,
-        )
-
-        self.ru_utime = new.ru_utime
-        self.ru_stime = new.ru_stime
-        self.db_txn_count = new.db_txn_count
-        self.db_txn_duration_sec = new.db_txn_duration_sec
-        self.db_sched_duration_sec = new.db_sched_duration_sec
-
-        return diff
diff --git a/synapse/http/servlet.py b/synapse/http/servlet.py
index cf6723563a..882816dc8f 100644
--- a/synapse/http/servlet.py
+++ b/synapse/http/servlet.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ def parse_json_object_from_request(request, allow_empty_body=False):
     return content
 
 
-def assert_params_in_request(body, required):
+def assert_params_in_dict(body, required):
     absent = []
     for k in required:
         if k not in body:
diff --git a/synapse/http/site.py b/synapse/http/site.py
index fc954e343c..5fd30a4c2c 100644
--- a/synapse/http/site.py
+++ b/synapse/http/site.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from twisted.web.server import Request, Site
 
 from synapse.http import redact_uri
 from synapse.http.request_metrics import RequestMetrics
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
+from synapse.util.logcontext import ContextResourceUsage, LoggingContext
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
     which is handling the request, and returns a context manager.
 
     """
-    def __init__(self, site, *args, **kw):
-        Request.__init__(self, *args, **kw)
+    def __init__(self, site, channel, *args, **kw):
+        Request.__init__(self, channel, *args, **kw)
         self.site = site
+        self._channel = channel
         self.authenticated_entity = None
         self.start_time = 0
 
@@ -95,15 +96,9 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
     def _finished_processing(self):
         try:
             context = LoggingContext.current_context()
-            ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
-            db_txn_count = context.db_txn_count
-            db_txn_duration_sec = context.db_txn_duration_sec
-            db_sched_duration_sec = context.db_sched_duration_sec
-            evt_db_fetch_count = context.evt_db_fetch_count
+            usage = context.get_resource_usage()
         except Exception:
-            ru_utime, ru_stime = (0, 0)
-            db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_sec = (0, 0)
-            evt_db_fetch_count = 0
+            usage = ContextResourceUsage()
 
         end_time = time.time()
 
@@ -130,18 +125,18 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             self.site.site_tag,
             authenticated_entity,
             end_time - self.start_time,
-            ru_utime,
-            ru_stime,
-            db_sched_duration_sec,
-            db_txn_duration_sec,
-            int(db_txn_count),
+            usage.ru_utime,
+            usage.ru_stime,
+            usage.db_sched_duration_sec,
+            usage.db_txn_duration_sec,
+            int(usage.db_txn_count),
             self.sentLength,
             self.code,
             self.method,
             self.get_redacted_uri(),
             self.clientproto,
             user_agent,
-            evt_db_fetch_count,
+            usage.evt_db_fetch_count,
         )
 
         try:
diff --git a/synapse/metrics/background_process_metrics.py b/synapse/metrics/background_process_metrics.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce678d5f75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/metrics/background_process_metrics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import six
+
+from prometheus_client.core import REGISTRY, Counter, GaugeMetricFamily
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, PreserveLoggingContext
+
+_background_process_start_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_start_count",
+    "Number of background processes started",
+    ["name"],
+)
+
+# we set registry=None in all of these to stop them getting registered with
+# the default registry. Instead we collect them all via the CustomCollector,
+# which ensures that we can update them before they are collected.
+#
+_background_process_ru_utime = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_ru_utime_seconds",
+    "User CPU time used by background processes, in seconds",
+    ["name"],
+    registry=None,
+)
+
+_background_process_ru_stime = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_ru_stime_seconds",
+    "System CPU time used by background processes, in seconds",
+    ["name"],
+    registry=None,
+)
+
+_background_process_db_txn_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_db_txn_count",
+    "Number of database transactions done by background processes",
+    ["name"],
+    registry=None,
+)
+
+_background_process_db_txn_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_db_txn_duration_seconds",
+    ("Seconds spent by background processes waiting for database "
+     "transactions, excluding scheduling time"),
+    ["name"],
+    registry=None,
+)
+
+_background_process_db_sched_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_background_process_db_sched_duration_seconds",
+    "Seconds spent by background processes waiting for database connections",
+    ["name"],
+    registry=None,
+)
+
+# map from description to a counter, so that we can name our logcontexts
+# incrementally. (It actually duplicates _background_process_start_count, but
+# it's much simpler to do so than to try to combine them.)
+_background_process_counts = dict()  # type: dict[str, int]
+
+# map from description to the currently running background processes.
+#
+# it's kept as a dict of sets rather than a big set so that we can keep track
+# of process descriptions that no longer have any active processes.
+_background_processes = dict()  # type: dict[str, set[_BackgroundProcess]]
+
+
+class _Collector(object):
+    """A custom metrics collector for the background process metrics.
+
+    Ensures that all of the metrics are up-to-date with any in-flight processes
+    before they are returned.
+    """
+    def collect(self):
+        background_process_in_flight_count = GaugeMetricFamily(
+            "synapse_background_process_in_flight_count",
+            "Number of background processes in flight",
+            labels=["name"],
+        )
+
+        for desc, processes in six.iteritems(_background_processes):
+            background_process_in_flight_count.add_metric(
+                (desc,), len(processes),
+            )
+            for process in processes:
+                process.update_metrics()
+
+        yield background_process_in_flight_count
+
+        # now we need to run collect() over each of the static Counters, and
+        # yield each metric they return.
+        for m in (
+                _background_process_ru_utime,
+                _background_process_ru_stime,
+                _background_process_db_txn_count,
+                _background_process_db_txn_duration,
+                _background_process_db_sched_duration,
+        ):
+            for r in m.collect():
+                yield r
+
+
+REGISTRY.register(_Collector())
+
+
+class _BackgroundProcess(object):
+    def __init__(self, desc, ctx):
+        self.desc = desc
+        self._context = ctx
+        self._reported_stats = None
+
+    def update_metrics(self):
+        """Updates the metrics with values from this process."""
+        new_stats = self._context.get_resource_usage()
+        if self._reported_stats is None:
+            diff = new_stats
+        else:
+            diff = new_stats - self._reported_stats
+        self._reported_stats = new_stats
+
+        _background_process_ru_utime.labels(self.desc).inc(diff.ru_utime)
+        _background_process_ru_stime.labels(self.desc).inc(diff.ru_stime)
+        _background_process_db_txn_count.labels(self.desc).inc(
+            diff.db_txn_count,
+        )
+        _background_process_db_txn_duration.labels(self.desc).inc(
+            diff.db_txn_duration_sec,
+        )
+        _background_process_db_sched_duration.labels(self.desc).inc(
+            diff.db_sched_duration_sec,
+        )
+
+
+def run_as_background_process(desc, func, *args, **kwargs):
+    """Run the given function in its own logcontext, with resource metrics
+
+    This should be used to wrap processes which are fired off to run in the
+    background, instead of being associated with a particular request.
+
+    It returns a Deferred which completes when the function completes, but it doesn't
+    follow the synapse logcontext rules, which makes it appropriate for passing to
+    clock.looping_call and friends (or for firing-and-forgetting in the middle of a
+    normal synapse inlineCallbacks function).
+
+    Args:
+        desc (str): a description for this background process type
+        func: a function, which may return a Deferred
+        args: positional args for func
+        kwargs: keyword args for func
+
+    Returns: Deferred which returns the result of func, but note that it does not
+        follow the synapse logcontext rules.
+    """
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def run():
+        count = _background_process_counts.get(desc, 0)
+        _background_process_counts[desc] = count + 1
+        _background_process_start_count.labels(desc).inc()
+
+        with LoggingContext(desc) as context:
+            context.request = "%s-%i" % (desc, count)
+            proc = _BackgroundProcess(desc, context)
+            _background_processes.setdefault(desc, set()).add(proc)
+            try:
+                yield func(*args, **kwargs)
+            finally:
+                proc.update_metrics()
+                _background_processes[desc].remove(proc)
+
+    with PreserveLoggingContext():
+        return run()
diff --git a/synapse/notifier.py b/synapse/notifier.py
index 51cbd66f06..e650c3e494 100644
--- a/synapse/notifier.py
+++ b/synapse/notifier.py
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class Notifier(object):
             logger.exception("Error notifying application services of event")
 
     def on_new_event(self, stream_key, new_token, users=[], rooms=[]):
-        """ Used to inform listeners that something has happend event wise.
+        """ Used to inform listeners that something has happened event wise.
 
         Will wake up all listeners for the given users and rooms.
         """
diff --git a/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py b/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
index bb181d94ee..1d14d3639c 100644
--- a/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
+++ b/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ class BulkPushRuleEvaluator(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _get_power_levels_and_sender_level(self, event, context):
-        pl_event_id = context.prev_state_ids.get(POWER_KEY)
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        pl_event_id = prev_state_ids.get(POWER_KEY)
         if pl_event_id:
             # fastpath: if there's a power level event, that's all we need, and
             # not having a power level event is an extreme edge case
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ class BulkPushRuleEvaluator(object):
             auth_events = {POWER_KEY: pl_event}
         else:
             auth_events_ids = yield self.auth.compute_auth_events(
-                event, context.prev_state_ids, for_verification=False,
+                event, prev_state_ids, for_verification=False,
             )
             auth_events = yield self.store.get_events(auth_events_ids)
             auth_events = {
@@ -304,7 +305,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
 
                 push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric.inc_hits()
             else:
-                current_state_ids = context.current_state_ids
+                current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
                 push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric.inc_misses()
 
             push_rules_state_size_counter.inc(len(current_state_ids))
diff --git a/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py b/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
index 2eede54792..5227bc333d 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
@@ -34,12 +34,13 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 @defer.inlineCallbacks
-def send_event_to_master(clock, client, host, port, requester, event, context,
+def send_event_to_master(clock, store, client, host, port, requester, event, context,
                          ratelimit, extra_users):
     """Send event to be handled on the master
 
     Args:
         clock (synapse.util.Clock)
+        store (DataStore)
         client (SimpleHttpClient)
         host (str): host of master
         port (int): port on master listening for HTTP replication
@@ -53,11 +54,13 @@ def send_event_to_master(clock, client, host, port, requester, event, context,
         host, port, event.event_id,
     )
 
+    serialized_context = yield context.serialize(event, store)
+
     payload = {
         "event": event.get_pdu_json(),
         "internal_metadata": event.internal_metadata.get_dict(),
         "rejected_reason": event.rejected_reason,
-        "context": context.serialize(event),
+        "context": serialized_context,
         "requester": requester.serialize(),
         "ratelimit": ratelimit,
         "extra_users": [u.to_string() for u in extra_users],
diff --git a/synapse/replication/slave/storage/receipts.py b/synapse/replication/slave/storage/receipts.py
index 7ab12b850f..ed12342f40 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/slave/storage/receipts.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/slave/storage/receipts.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class SlavedReceiptsStore(ReceiptsWorkerStore, BaseSlavedStore):
 
     def invalidate_caches_for_receipt(self, room_id, receipt_type, user_id):
         self.get_receipts_for_user.invalidate((user_id, receipt_type))
-        self.get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many((room_id,))
+        self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many((room_id,))
         self.get_last_receipt_event_id_for_user.invalidate(
             (user_id, room_id, receipt_type)
         )
diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/client.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/client.py
index e592ab57bf..970e94313e 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/client.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/client.py
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ class ReplicationClientHandler(object):
         """Returns a deferred that is resolved when we receive a SYNC command
         with given data.
 
-        Used by tests.
+        [Not currently] used by tests.
         """
         return self.awaiting_syncs.setdefault(data, defer.Deferred())
 
diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
index 611fb66e1d..fd59f1595f 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.internet.protocol import Factory
 
 from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure, measure_func
 
 from .protocol import ServerReplicationStreamProtocol
@@ -117,7 +118,6 @@ class ReplicationStreamer(object):
         for conn in self.connections:
             conn.send_error("server shutting down")
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_notifier_poke(self):
         """Checks if there is actually any new data and sends it to the
         connections if there are.
@@ -132,14 +132,16 @@ class ReplicationStreamer(object):
                 stream.discard_updates_and_advance()
             return
 
-        # If we're in the process of checking for new updates, mark that fact
-        # and return
+        self.pending_updates = True
+
         if self.is_looping:
-            logger.debug("Noitifier poke loop already running")
-            self.pending_updates = True
+            logger.debug("Notifier poke loop already running")
             return
 
-        self.pending_updates = True
+        run_as_background_process("replication_notifier", self._run_notifier_loop)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _run_notifier_loop(self):
         self.is_looping = True
 
         try:
diff --git a/synapse/rest/__init__.py b/synapse/rest/__init__.py
index 75c2a4ec8e..3418f06fd6 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -13,13 +14,24 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+from six import PY3
+
 from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
 from synapse.rest.client import versions
-from synapse.rest.client.v1 import admin, directory, events, initial_sync
-from synapse.rest.client.v1 import login as v1_login
-from synapse.rest.client.v1 import logout, presence, profile, push_rule, pusher
-from synapse.rest.client.v1 import register as v1_register
-from synapse.rest.client.v1 import room, voip
+from synapse.rest.client.v1 import (
+    admin,
+    directory,
+    events,
+    initial_sync,
+    login as v1_login,
+    logout,
+    presence,
+    profile,
+    push_rule,
+    pusher,
+    room,
+    voip,
+)
 from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import (
     account,
     account_data,
@@ -42,6 +54,11 @@ from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import (
     user_directory,
 )
 
+if not PY3:
+    from synapse.rest.client.v1_only import (
+        register as v1_register,
+    )
+
 
 class ClientRestResource(JsonResource):
     """A resource for version 1 of the matrix client API."""
@@ -54,14 +71,22 @@ class ClientRestResource(JsonResource):
     def register_servlets(client_resource, hs):
         versions.register_servlets(client_resource)
 
-        # "v1"
-        room.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
+        if not PY3:
+            # "v1" (Python 2 only)
+            v1_register.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
+
+        # Deprecated in r0
+        initial_sync.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
+        room.register_deprecated_servlets(hs, client_resource)
+
+        # Partially deprecated in r0
         events.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
-        v1_register.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
+
+        # "v1" + "r0"
+        room.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         v1_login.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         profile.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         presence.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
-        initial_sync.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         directory.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         voip.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
         admin.register_servlets(hs, client_resource)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py b/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
index 7c01b438cb..00b1b3066e 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
@@ -17,38 +17,20 @@
 to ensure idempotency when performing PUTs using the REST API."""
 import logging
 
-from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
 from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-
-def get_transaction_key(request):
-    """A helper function which returns a transaction key that can be used
-    with TransactionCache for idempotent requests.
-
-    Idempotency is based on the returned key being the same for separate
-    requests to the same endpoint. The key is formed from the HTTP request
-    path and the access_token for the requesting user.
-
-    Args:
-        request (twisted.web.http.Request): The incoming request. Must
-        contain an access_token.
-    Returns:
-        str: A transaction key
-    """
-    token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
-    return request.path + "/" + token
-
-
 CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = 1000 * 60 * 30  # 30 mins
 
 
 class HttpTransactionCache(object):
 
-    def __init__(self, clock):
-        self.clock = clock
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        self.hs = hs
+        self.auth = self.hs.get_auth()
+        self.clock = self.hs.get_clock()
         self.transactions = {
             # $txn_key: (ObservableDeferred<(res_code, res_json_body)>, timestamp)
         }
@@ -56,6 +38,23 @@ class HttpTransactionCache(object):
         # for at *LEAST* 30 mins, and at *MOST* 60 mins.
         self.cleaner = self.clock.looping_call(self._cleanup, CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS)
 
+    def _get_transaction_key(self, request):
+        """A helper function which returns a transaction key that can be used
+        with TransactionCache for idempotent requests.
+
+        Idempotency is based on the returned key being the same for separate
+        requests to the same endpoint. The key is formed from the HTTP request
+        path and the access_token for the requesting user.
+
+        Args:
+            request (twisted.web.http.Request): The incoming request. Must
+            contain an access_token.
+        Returns:
+            str: A transaction key
+        """
+        token = self.auth.get_access_token_from_request(request)
+        return request.path + "/" + token
+
     def fetch_or_execute_request(self, request, fn, *args, **kwargs):
         """A helper function for fetch_or_execute which extracts
         a transaction key from the given request.
@@ -64,7 +63,7 @@ class HttpTransactionCache(object):
             fetch_or_execute
         """
         return self.fetch_or_execute(
-            get_transaction_key(request), fn, *args, **kwargs
+            self._get_transaction_key(request), fn, *args, **kwargs
         )
 
     def fetch_or_execute(self, txn_key, fn, *args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
index 2b091d61a5..99f6c6e3c3 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import hashlib
+import hmac
 import logging
 
 from six.moves import http_client
@@ -22,7 +24,12 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.constants import Membership
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, NotFoundError, SynapseError
-from synapse.http.servlet import parse_json_object_from_request
+from synapse.http.servlet import (
+    assert_params_in_dict,
+    parse_integer,
+    parse_json_object_from_request,
+    parse_string,
+)
 from synapse.types import UserID, create_requester
 
 from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
@@ -58,6 +65,125 @@ class UsersRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, ret))
 
 
+class UserRegisterServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
+    """
+    Attributes:
+         NONCE_TIMEOUT (int): Seconds until a generated nonce won't be accepted
+         nonces (dict[str, int]): The nonces that we will accept. A dict of
+             nonce to the time it was generated, in int seconds.
+    """
+    PATTERNS = client_path_patterns("/admin/register")
+    NONCE_TIMEOUT = 60
+
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        super(UserRegisterServlet, self).__init__(hs)
+        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.reactor = hs.get_reactor()
+        self.nonces = {}
+        self.hs = hs
+
+    def _clear_old_nonces(self):
+        """
+        Clear out old nonces that are older than NONCE_TIMEOUT.
+        """
+        now = int(self.reactor.seconds())
+
+        for k, v in list(self.nonces.items()):
+            if now - v > self.NONCE_TIMEOUT:
+                del self.nonces[k]
+
+    def on_GET(self, request):
+        """
+        Generate a new nonce.
+        """
+        self._clear_old_nonces()
+
+        nonce = self.hs.get_secrets().token_hex(64)
+        self.nonces[nonce] = int(self.reactor.seconds())
+        return (200, {"nonce": nonce.encode('ascii')})
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_POST(self, request):
+        self._clear_old_nonces()
+
+        if not self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret:
+            raise SynapseError(400, "Shared secret registration is not enabled")
+
+        body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+
+        if "nonce" not in body:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400, "nonce must be specified", errcode=Codes.BAD_JSON,
+            )
+
+        nonce = body["nonce"]
+
+        if nonce not in self.nonces:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400, "unrecognised nonce",
+            )
+
+        # Delete the nonce, so it can't be reused, even if it's invalid
+        del self.nonces[nonce]
+
+        if "username" not in body:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400, "username must be specified", errcode=Codes.BAD_JSON,
+            )
+        else:
+            if (not isinstance(body['username'], str) or len(body['username']) > 512):
+                raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid username")
+
+            username = body["username"].encode("utf-8")
+            if b"\x00" in username:
+                raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid username")
+
+        if "password" not in body:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400, "password must be specified", errcode=Codes.BAD_JSON,
+            )
+        else:
+            if (not isinstance(body['password'], str) or len(body['password']) > 512):
+                raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid password")
+
+            password = body["password"].encode("utf-8")
+            if b"\x00" in password:
+                raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid password")
+
+        admin = body.get("admin", None)
+        got_mac = body["mac"]
+
+        want_mac = hmac.new(
+            key=self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret.encode(),
+            digestmod=hashlib.sha1,
+        )
+        want_mac.update(nonce)
+        want_mac.update(b"\x00")
+        want_mac.update(username)
+        want_mac.update(b"\x00")
+        want_mac.update(password)
+        want_mac.update(b"\x00")
+        want_mac.update(b"admin" if admin else b"notadmin")
+        want_mac = want_mac.hexdigest()
+
+        if not hmac.compare_digest(want_mac, got_mac):
+            raise SynapseError(
+                403, "HMAC incorrect",
+            )
+
+        # Reuse the parts of RegisterRestServlet to reduce code duplication
+        from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha.register import RegisterRestServlet
+        register = RegisterRestServlet(self.hs)
+
+        (user_id, _) = yield register.registration_handler.register(
+            localpart=username.lower(), password=password, admin=bool(admin),
+            generate_token=False,
+        )
+
+        result = yield register._create_registration_details(user_id, body)
+        defer.returnValue((200, result))
+
+
 class WhoisRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     PATTERNS = client_path_patterns("/admin/whois/(?P<user_id>[^/]*)")
 
@@ -98,16 +224,8 @@ class PurgeMediaCacheRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         if not is_admin:
             raise AuthError(403, "You are not a server admin")
 
-        before_ts = request.args.get("before_ts", None)
-        if not before_ts:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'before_ts' arg")
-
-        logger.info("before_ts: %r", before_ts[0])
-
-        try:
-            before_ts = int(before_ts[0])
-        except Exception:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid 'before_ts' arg")
+        before_ts = parse_integer(request, "before_ts", required=True)
+        logger.info("before_ts: %r", before_ts)
 
         ret = yield self.media_repository.delete_old_remote_media(before_ts)
 
@@ -126,7 +244,7 @@ class PurgeHistoryRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             hs (synapse.server.HomeServer)
         """
         super(PurgeHistoryRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.pagination_handler = hs.get_pagination_handler()
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -201,7 +319,7 @@ class PurgeHistoryRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
                 errcode=Codes.BAD_JSON,
             )
 
-        purge_id = yield self.handlers.message_handler.start_purge_history(
+        purge_id = yield self.pagination_handler.start_purge_history(
             room_id, token,
             delete_local_events=delete_local_events,
         )
@@ -223,7 +341,7 @@ class PurgeHistoryStatusRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             hs (synapse.server.HomeServer)
         """
         super(PurgeHistoryStatusRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.pagination_handler = hs.get_pagination_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, purge_id):
@@ -233,7 +351,7 @@ class PurgeHistoryStatusRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         if not is_admin:
             raise AuthError(403, "You are not a server admin")
 
-        purge_status = self.handlers.message_handler.get_purge_status(purge_id)
+        purge_status = self.pagination_handler.get_purge_status(purge_id)
         if purge_status is None:
             raise NotFoundError("purge id '%s' not found" % purge_id)
 
@@ -300,10 +418,8 @@ class ShutdownRoomRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             raise AuthError(403, "You are not a server admin")
 
         content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
-
-        new_room_user_id = content.get("new_room_user_id")
-        if not new_room_user_id:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Please provide field `new_room_user_id`")
+        assert_params_in_dict(content, ["new_room_user_id"])
+        new_room_user_id = content["new_room_user_id"]
 
         room_creator_requester = create_requester(new_room_user_id)
 
@@ -464,9 +580,8 @@ class ResetPasswordRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             raise AuthError(403, "You are not a server admin")
 
         params = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+        assert_params_in_dict(params, ["new_password"])
         new_password = params['new_password']
-        if not new_password:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'new_password' arg")
 
         logger.info("new_password: %r", new_password)
 
@@ -514,12 +629,9 @@ class GetUsersPaginatedRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             raise SynapseError(400, "Can only users a local user")
 
         order = "name"  # order by name in user table
-        start = request.args.get("start")[0]
-        limit = request.args.get("limit")[0]
-        if not limit:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'limit' arg")
-        if not start:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'start' arg")
+        start = parse_integer(request, "start", required=True)
+        limit = parse_integer(request, "limit", required=True)
+
         logger.info("limit: %s, start: %s", limit, start)
 
         ret = yield self.handlers.admin_handler.get_users_paginate(
@@ -551,12 +663,9 @@ class GetUsersPaginatedRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
         order = "name"  # order by name in user table
         params = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+        assert_params_in_dict(params, ["limit", "start"])
         limit = params['limit']
         start = params['start']
-        if not limit:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'limit' arg")
-        if not start:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'start' arg")
         logger.info("limit: %s, start: %s", limit, start)
 
         ret = yield self.handlers.admin_handler.get_users_paginate(
@@ -604,10 +713,7 @@ class SearchUsersRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         if not self.hs.is_mine(target_user):
             raise SynapseError(400, "Can only users a local user")
 
-        term = request.args.get("term")[0]
-        if not term:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'term' arg")
-
+        term = parse_string(request, "term", required=True)
         logger.info("term: %s ", term)
 
         ret = yield self.handlers.admin_handler.search_users(
@@ -629,3 +735,4 @@ def register_servlets(hs, http_server):
     ShutdownRoomRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     QuarantineMediaInRoom(hs).register(http_server)
     ListMediaInRoom(hs).register(http_server)
+    UserRegisterServlet(hs).register(http_server)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
index dde02328c3..c77d7aba68 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
@@ -62,4 +62,4 @@ class ClientV1RestServlet(RestServlet):
         self.hs = hs
         self.builder_factory = hs.get_event_builder_factory()
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
-        self.txns = HttpTransactionCache(hs.get_clock())
+        self.txns = HttpTransactionCache(hs)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/directory.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/directory.py
index 4fdbb83815..69dcd618cb 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/directory.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/directory.py
@@ -52,15 +52,14 @@ class ClientDirectoryServer(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_PUT(self, request, room_alias):
+        room_alias = RoomAlias.from_string(room_alias)
+
         content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
         if "room_id" not in content:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing room_id key",
+            raise SynapseError(400, 'Missing params: ["room_id"]',
                                errcode=Codes.BAD_JSON)
 
         logger.debug("Got content: %s", content)
-
-        room_alias = RoomAlias.from_string(room_alias)
-
         logger.debug("Got room name: %s", room_alias.to_string())
 
         room_id = content["room_id"]
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/initial_sync.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/initial_sync.py
index fbe8cb2023..fd5f85b53e 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/initial_sync.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/initial_sync.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_boolean
 from synapse.streams.config import PaginationConfig
 
 from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ class InitialSyncRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
         as_client_event = "raw" not in request.args
         pagination_config = PaginationConfig.from_request(request)
-        include_archived = request.args.get("archived", None) == ["true"]
+        include_archived = parse_boolean(request, "archived", default=False)
         content = yield self.initial_sync_handler.snapshot_all_rooms(
             user_id=requester.user.to_string(),
             pagin_config=pagination_config,
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
index 05a8ecfcd8..430c692336 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ import logging
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError
 
 from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ class LogoutRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             if requester.device_id is None:
                 # the acccess token wasn't associated with a device.
                 # Just delete the access token
-                access_token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
+                access_token = self._auth.get_access_token_from_request(request)
                 yield self._auth_handler.delete_access_token(access_token)
             else:
                 yield self._device_handler.delete_device(
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/push_rule.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/push_rule.py
index 0df7ce570f..6e95d9bec2 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/push_rule.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/push_rule.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import (
     SynapseError,
     UnrecognizedRequestError,
 )
-from synapse.http.servlet import parse_json_value_from_request
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_json_value_from_request, parse_string
 from synapse.push.baserules import BASE_RULE_IDS
 from synapse.push.clientformat import format_push_rules_for_user
 from synapse.push.rulekinds import PRIORITY_CLASS_MAP
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ class PushRuleRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         except InvalidRuleException as e:
             raise SynapseError(400, e.message)
 
-        before = request.args.get("before", None)
+        before = parse_string(request, "before")
         if before:
-            before = _namespaced_rule_id(spec, before[0])
+            before = _namespaced_rule_id(spec, before)
 
-        after = request.args.get("after", None)
+        after = parse_string(request, "after")
         if after:
-            after = _namespaced_rule_id(spec, after[0])
+            after = _namespaced_rule_id(spec, after)
 
         try:
             yield self.store.add_push_rule(
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
index 1581f88db5..182a68b1e2 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import Codes, StoreError, SynapseError
 from synapse.http.server import finish_request
 from synapse.http.servlet import (
     RestServlet,
+    assert_params_in_dict,
     parse_json_object_from_request,
     parse_string,
 )
@@ -91,15 +92,11 @@ class PushersSetRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             )
             defer.returnValue((200, {}))
 
-        reqd = ['kind', 'app_id', 'app_display_name',
-                'device_display_name', 'pushkey', 'lang', 'data']
-        missing = []
-        for i in reqd:
-            if i not in content:
-                missing.append(i)
-        if len(missing):
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing parameters: " + ','.join(missing),
-                               errcode=Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+        assert_params_in_dict(
+            content,
+            ['kind', 'app_id', 'app_display_name',
+             'device_display_name', 'pushkey', 'lang', 'data']
+        )
 
         logger.debug("set pushkey %s to kind %s", content['pushkey'], content['kind'])
         logger.debug("Got pushers request with body: %r", content)
@@ -148,7 +145,7 @@ class PushersRemoveRestServlet(RestServlet):
     SUCCESS_HTML = "<html><body>You have been unsubscribed</body><html>"
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
-        super(RestServlet, self).__init__()
+        super(PushersRemoveRestServlet, self).__init__()
         self.hs = hs
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
index 2470db52ba..b7bd878c90 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, SynapseError
 from synapse.api.filtering import Filter
 from synapse.events.utils import format_event_for_client_v2, serialize_event
 from synapse.http.servlet import (
+    assert_params_in_dict,
     parse_integer,
     parse_json_object_from_request,
     parse_string,
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ class RoomStateEventRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
         self.event_creation_hander = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
         self.room_member_handler = hs.get_room_member_handler()
+        self.message_handler = hs.get_message_handler()
 
     def register(self, http_server):
         # /room/$roomid/state/$eventtype
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ class RoomStateEventRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         format = parse_string(request, "format", default="content",
                               allowed_values=["content", "event"])
 
-        msg_handler = self.handlers.message_handler
+        msg_handler = self.message_handler
         data = yield msg_handler.get_room_data(
             user_id=requester.user.to_string(),
             room_id=room_id,
@@ -376,14 +378,13 @@ class RoomMemberListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomMemberListRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.message_handler = hs.get_message_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, room_id):
         # TODO support Pagination stream API (limit/tokens)
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
-        handler = self.handlers.message_handler
-        events = yield handler.get_state_events(
+        events = yield self.message_handler.get_state_events(
             room_id=room_id,
             user_id=requester.user.to_string(),
         )
@@ -405,7 +406,7 @@ class JoinedRoomMemberListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(JoinedRoomMemberListRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.message_handler = hs.get_handlers().message_handler
+        self.message_handler = hs.get_message_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, room_id):
@@ -426,7 +427,7 @@ class RoomMessageListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomMessageListRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.pagination_handler = hs.get_pagination_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, room_id):
@@ -435,14 +436,13 @@ class RoomMessageListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             request, default_limit=10,
         )
         as_client_event = "raw" not in request.args
-        filter_bytes = request.args.get("filter", None)
+        filter_bytes = parse_string(request, "filter")
         if filter_bytes:
-            filter_json = urlparse.unquote(filter_bytes[-1]).decode("UTF-8")
+            filter_json = urlparse.unquote(filter_bytes).decode("UTF-8")
             event_filter = Filter(json.loads(filter_json))
         else:
             event_filter = None
-        handler = self.handlers.message_handler
-        msgs = yield handler.get_messages(
+        msgs = yield self.pagination_handler.get_messages(
             room_id=room_id,
             requester=requester,
             pagin_config=pagination_config,
@@ -459,14 +459,13 @@ class RoomStateRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomStateRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.message_handler = hs.get_message_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, room_id):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=True)
-        handler = self.handlers.message_handler
         # Get all the current state for this room
-        events = yield handler.get_state_events(
+        events = yield self.message_handler.get_state_events(
             room_id=room_id,
             user_id=requester.user.to_string(),
             is_guest=requester.is_guest,
@@ -524,15 +523,15 @@ class RoomEventContextServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomEventContextServlet, self).__init__(hs)
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self.room_context_handler = hs.get_room_context_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request, room_id, event_id):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=True)
 
-        limit = int(request.args.get("limit", [10])[0])
+        limit = parse_integer(request, "limit", default=10)
 
-        results = yield self.handlers.room_context_handler.get_event_context(
+        results = yield self.room_context_handler.get_event_context(
             requester.user,
             room_id,
             event_id,
@@ -636,8 +635,7 @@ class RoomMembershipRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
         target = requester.user
         if membership_action in ["invite", "ban", "unban", "kick"]:
-            if "user_id" not in content:
-                raise SynapseError(400, "Missing user_id key.")
+            assert_params_in_dict(content, ["user_id"])
             target = UserID.from_string(content["user_id"])
 
         event_content = None
@@ -764,7 +762,7 @@ class SearchRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
         content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        batch = request.args.get("next_batch", [None])[0]
+        batch = parse_string(request, "next_batch")
         results = yield self.handlers.search_handler.search(
             requester.user,
             content,
@@ -832,10 +830,13 @@ def register_servlets(hs, http_server):
     RoomSendEventRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     PublicRoomListRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     RoomStateRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
-    RoomInitialSyncRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     RoomRedactEventRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     RoomTypingRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     SearchRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     JoinedRoomsRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     RoomEventServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     RoomEventContextServlet(hs).register(http_server)
+
+
+def register_deprecated_servlets(hs, http_server):
+    RoomInitialSyncRestServlet(hs).register(http_server)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/__init__.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..936f902ace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""
+REST APIs that are only used in v1 (the legacy API).
+"""
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/base.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9d4db7437c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""This module contains base REST classes for constructing client v1 servlets.
+"""
+
+import re
+
+from synapse.api.urls import CLIENT_PREFIX
+
+
+def v1_only_client_path_patterns(path_regex, include_in_unstable=True):
+    """Creates a regex compiled client path with the correct client path
+    prefix.
+
+    Args:
+        path_regex (str): The regex string to match. This should NOT have a ^
+        as this will be prefixed.
+    Returns:
+        list of SRE_Pattern
+    """
+    patterns = [re.compile("^" + CLIENT_PREFIX + path_regex)]
+    if include_in_unstable:
+        unstable_prefix = CLIENT_PREFIX.replace("/api/v1", "/unstable")
+        patterns.append(re.compile("^" + unstable_prefix + path_regex))
+    return patterns
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/register.py
index 3ce5f8b726..3439c3c6d4 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1_only/register.py
@@ -18,18 +18,16 @@ import hmac
 import logging
 from hashlib import sha1
 
-from six import string_types
-
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 import synapse.util.stringutils as stringutils
-from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request
 from synapse.api.constants import LoginType
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError
-from synapse.http.servlet import parse_json_object_from_request
+from synapse.http.servlet import assert_params_in_dict, parse_json_object_from_request
+from synapse.rest.client.v1.base import ClientV1RestServlet
 from synapse.types import create_requester
 
-from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
+from .base import v1_only_client_path_patterns
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -52,7 +50,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     handler doesn't have a concept of multi-stages or sessions.
     """
 
-    PATTERNS = client_path_patterns("/register$", releases=(), include_in_unstable=False)
+    PATTERNS = v1_only_client_path_patterns("/register$", include_in_unstable=False)
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         """
@@ -67,6 +65,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         # TODO: persistent storage
         self.sessions = {}
         self.enable_registration = hs.config.enable_registration
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.auth_handler = hs.get_auth_handler()
         self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
 
@@ -124,8 +123,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         session = (register_json["session"]
                    if "session" in register_json else None)
         login_type = None
-        if "type" not in register_json:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing 'type' key.")
+        assert_params_in_dict(register_json, ["type"])
 
         try:
             login_type = register_json["type"]
@@ -310,11 +308,9 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _do_app_service(self, request, register_json, session):
-        as_token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
-
-        if "user" not in register_json:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'user' key.")
+        as_token = self.auth.get_access_token_from_request(request)
 
+        assert_params_in_dict(register_json, ["user"])
         user_localpart = register_json["user"].encode("utf-8")
 
         handler = self.handlers.registration_handler
@@ -331,12 +327,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _do_shared_secret(self, request, register_json, session):
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("mac", None), string_types):
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected mac.")
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("user", None), string_types):
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'user' key.")
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("password", None), string_types):
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'password' key.")
+        assert_params_in_dict(register_json, ["mac", "user", "password"])
 
         if not self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Shared secret registration is not enabled")
@@ -389,7 +380,7 @@ class CreateUserRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     """Handles user creation via a server-to-server interface
     """
 
-    PATTERNS = client_path_patterns("/createUser$", releases=())
+    PATTERNS = v1_only_client_path_patterns("/createUser$")
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(CreateUserRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
@@ -400,7 +391,7 @@ class CreateUserRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         user_json = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        access_token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
+        access_token = self.auth.get_access_token_from_request(request)
         app_service = self.store.get_app_service_by_token(
             access_token
         )
@@ -419,11 +410,7 @@ class CreateUserRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _do_create(self, requester, user_json):
-        if "localpart" not in user_json:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'localpart' key.")
-
-        if "displayname" not in user_json:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'displayname' key.")
+        assert_params_in_dict(user_json, ["localpart", "displayname"])
 
         localpart = user_json["localpart"].encode("utf-8")
         displayname = user_json["displayname"].encode("utf-8")
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/account.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/account.py
index 528c1f43f9..eeae466d82 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/account.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/account.py
@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@ from six.moves import http_client
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.api.auth import has_access_token
 from synapse.api.constants import LoginType
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError
 from synapse.http.servlet import (
     RestServlet,
-    assert_params_in_request,
+    assert_params_in_dict,
     parse_json_object_from_request,
 )
 from synapse.util.msisdn import phone_number_to_msisdn
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ class EmailPasswordRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        assert_params_in_request(body, [
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, [
             'id_server', 'client_secret', 'email', 'send_attempt'
         ])
 
@@ -81,7 +80,7 @@ class MsisdnPasswordRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        assert_params_in_request(body, [
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, [
             'id_server', 'client_secret',
             'country', 'phone_number', 'send_attempt',
         ])
@@ -130,7 +129,7 @@ class PasswordRestServlet(RestServlet):
         #
         # In the second case, we require a password to confirm their identity.
 
-        if has_access_token(request):
+        if self.auth.has_access_token(request):
             requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
             params = yield self.auth_handler.validate_user_via_ui_auth(
                 requester, body, self.hs.get_ip_from_request(request),
@@ -160,11 +159,10 @@ class PasswordRestServlet(RestServlet):
                     raise SynapseError(404, "Email address not found", Codes.NOT_FOUND)
                 user_id = threepid_user_id
             else:
-                logger.error("Auth succeeded but no known type!", result.keys())
+                logger.error("Auth succeeded but no known type! %r", result.keys())
                 raise SynapseError(500, "", Codes.UNKNOWN)
 
-        if 'new_password' not in params:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "", Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+        assert_params_in_dict(params, ["new_password"])
         new_password = params['new_password']
 
         yield self._set_password_handler.set_password(
@@ -229,15 +227,10 @@ class EmailThreepidRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
-
-        required = ['id_server', 'client_secret', 'email', 'send_attempt']
-        absent = []
-        for k in required:
-            if k not in body:
-                absent.append(k)
-
-        if absent:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing params: %r" % absent, Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+        assert_params_in_dict(
+            body,
+            ['id_server', 'client_secret', 'email', 'send_attempt'],
+        )
 
         if not check_3pid_allowed(self.hs, "email", body['email']):
             raise SynapseError(
@@ -267,18 +260,10 @@ class MsisdnThreepidRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
-
-        required = [
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, [
             'id_server', 'client_secret',
             'country', 'phone_number', 'send_attempt',
-        ]
-        absent = []
-        for k in required:
-            if k not in body:
-                absent.append(k)
-
-        if absent:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing params: %r" % absent, Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+        ])
 
         msisdn = phone_number_to_msisdn(body['country'], body['phone_number'])
 
@@ -373,15 +358,7 @@ class ThreepidDeleteRestServlet(RestServlet):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
-
-        required = ['medium', 'address']
-        absent = []
-        for k in required:
-            if k not in body:
-                absent.append(k)
-
-        if absent:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "Missing params: %r" % absent, Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, ['medium', 'address'])
 
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
         user_id = requester.user.to_string()
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/devices.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/devices.py
index 09f6a8efe3..9b75bb1377 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/devices.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/devices.py
@@ -18,14 +18,18 @@ import logging
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api import errors
-from synapse.http import servlet
+from synapse.http.servlet import (
+    RestServlet,
+    assert_params_in_dict,
+    parse_json_object_from_request,
+)
 
 from ._base import client_v2_patterns, interactive_auth_handler
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class DevicesRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
+class DevicesRestServlet(RestServlet):
     PATTERNS = client_v2_patterns("/devices$", v2_alpha=False)
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
@@ -47,7 +51,7 @@ class DevicesRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, {"devices": devices}))
 
 
-class DeleteDevicesRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
+class DeleteDevicesRestServlet(RestServlet):
     """
     API for bulk deletion of devices. Accepts a JSON object with a devices
     key which lists the device_ids to delete. Requires user interactive auth.
@@ -67,19 +71,17 @@ class DeleteDevicesRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
 
         try:
-            body = servlet.parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+            body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
         except errors.SynapseError as e:
             if e.errcode == errors.Codes.NOT_JSON:
-                # deal with older clients which didn't pass a J*DELETESON dict
+                # DELETE
+                # deal with older clients which didn't pass a JSON dict
                 # the same as those that pass an empty dict
                 body = {}
             else:
                 raise e
 
-        if 'devices' not in body:
-            raise errors.SynapseError(
-                400, "No devices supplied", errcode=errors.Codes.MISSING_PARAM
-            )
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, ["devices"])
 
         yield self.auth_handler.validate_user_via_ui_auth(
             requester, body, self.hs.get_ip_from_request(request),
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ class DeleteDevicesRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, {}))
 
 
-class DeviceRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
+class DeviceRestServlet(RestServlet):
     PATTERNS = client_v2_patterns("/devices/(?P<device_id>[^/]*)$", v2_alpha=False)
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
@@ -121,7 +123,7 @@ class DeviceRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
 
         try:
-            body = servlet.parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+            body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
         except errors.SynapseError as e:
             if e.errcode == errors.Codes.NOT_JSON:
@@ -144,7 +146,7 @@ class DeviceRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
     def on_PUT(self, request, device_id):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=True)
 
-        body = servlet.parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+        body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
         yield self.device_handler.update_device(
             requester.user.to_string(),
             device_id,
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
index 896650d5a5..d6cf915d86 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
@@ -24,12 +24,11 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 import synapse
 import synapse.types
-from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request, has_access_token
 from synapse.api.constants import LoginType
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError, UnrecognizedRequestError
 from synapse.http.servlet import (
     RestServlet,
-    assert_params_in_request,
+    assert_params_in_dict,
     parse_json_object_from_request,
     parse_string,
 )
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ class EmailRegisterRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        assert_params_in_request(body, [
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, [
             'id_server', 'client_secret', 'email', 'send_attempt'
         ])
 
@@ -105,7 +104,7 @@ class MsisdnRegisterRequestTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
-        assert_params_in_request(body, [
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, [
             'id_server', 'client_secret',
             'country', 'phone_number',
             'send_attempt',
@@ -224,7 +223,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
             desired_username = body['username']
 
         appservice = None
-        if has_access_token(request):
+        if self.auth.has_access_token(request):
             appservice = yield self.auth.get_appservice_by_req(request)
 
         # fork off as soon as possible for ASes and shared secret auth which
@@ -242,7 +241,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
             # because the IRC bridges rely on being able to register stupid
             # IDs.
 
-            access_token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
+            access_token = self.auth.get_access_token_from_request(request)
 
             if isinstance(desired_username, string_types):
                 result = yield self._do_appservice_registration(
@@ -387,9 +386,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
             add_msisdn = False
         else:
             # NB: This may be from the auth handler and NOT from the POST
-            if 'password' not in params:
-                raise SynapseError(400, "Missing password.",
-                                   Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+            assert_params_in_dict(params, ["password"])
 
             desired_username = params.get("username", None)
             new_password = params.get("password", None)
@@ -566,11 +563,14 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
         Returns:
             defer.Deferred:
         """
-        reqd = ('medium', 'address', 'validated_at')
-        if any(x not in threepid for x in reqd):
-            # This will only happen if the ID server returns a malformed response
-            logger.info("Can't add incomplete 3pid")
-            defer.returnValue()
+        try:
+            assert_params_in_dict(threepid, ['medium', 'address', 'validated_at'])
+        except SynapseError as ex:
+            if ex.errcode == Codes.MISSING_PARAM:
+                # This will only happen if the ID server returns a malformed response
+                logger.info("Can't add incomplete 3pid")
+                defer.returnValue(None)
+            raise
 
         yield self.auth_handler.add_threepid(
             user_id,
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _do_guest_registration(self, params):
         if not self.hs.config.allow_guest_access:
-            defer.returnValue((403, "Guest access is disabled"))
+            raise SynapseError(403, "Guest access is disabled")
         user_id, _ = yield self.registration_handler.register(
             generate_token=False,
             make_guest=True
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/report_event.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/report_event.py
index 08bb8e04fd..95d2a71ec2 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/report_event.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/report_event.py
@@ -15,9 +15,17 @@
 
 import logging
 
+from six import string_types
+from six.moves import http_client
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.http.servlet import RestServlet, parse_json_object_from_request
+from synapse.api.errors import Codes, SynapseError
+from synapse.http.servlet import (
+    RestServlet,
+    assert_params_in_dict,
+    parse_json_object_from_request,
+)
 
 from ._base import client_v2_patterns
 
@@ -42,12 +50,26 @@ class ReportEventRestServlet(RestServlet):
         user_id = requester.user.to_string()
 
         body = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+        assert_params_in_dict(body, ("reason", "score"))
+
+        if not isinstance(body["reason"], string_types):
+            raise SynapseError(
+                http_client.BAD_REQUEST,
+                "Param 'reason' must be a string",
+                Codes.BAD_JSON,
+            )
+        if not isinstance(body["score"], int):
+            raise SynapseError(
+                http_client.BAD_REQUEST,
+                "Param 'score' must be an integer",
+                Codes.BAD_JSON,
+            )
 
         yield self.store.add_event_report(
             room_id=room_id,
             event_id=event_id,
             user_id=user_id,
-            reason=body.get("reason"),
+            reason=body["reason"],
             content=body,
             received_ts=self.clock.time_msec(),
         )
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sendtodevice.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sendtodevice.py
index 90bdb1db15..a9e9a47a0b 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sendtodevice.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sendtodevice.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class SendToDeviceRestServlet(servlet.RestServlet):
         super(SendToDeviceRestServlet, self).__init__()
         self.hs = hs
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
-        self.txns = HttpTransactionCache(hs.get_clock())
+        self.txns = HttpTransactionCache(hs)
         self.device_message_handler = hs.get_device_message_handler()
 
     def on_PUT(self, request, message_type, txn_id):
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/identicon_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/identicon_resource.py
index a2e391415f..bdbd8d50dd 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/identicon_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/identicon_resource.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ from pydenticon import Generator
 
 from twisted.web.resource import Resource
 
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_integer
+
 FOREGROUND = [
     "rgb(45,79,255)",
     "rgb(254,180,44)",
@@ -56,8 +58,8 @@ class IdenticonResource(Resource):
 
     def render_GET(self, request):
         name = "/".join(request.postpath)
-        width = int(request.args.get("width", [96])[0])
-        height = int(request.args.get("height", [96])[0])
+        width = parse_integer(request, "width", default=96)
+        height = parse_integer(request, "height", default=96)
         identicon_bytes = self.generate_identicon(name, width, height)
         request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"image/png")
         request.setHeader(
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
index 268cc4a74d..6a16f9043c 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import (
     SynapseError,
 )
 from synapse.http.matrixfederationclient import MatrixFederationHttpClient
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
 from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
 from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination
@@ -101,10 +102,15 @@ class MediaRepository(object):
         )
 
         self.clock.looping_call(
-            self._update_recently_accessed,
+            self._start_update_recently_accessed,
             UPDATE_RECENTLY_ACCESSED_TS,
         )
 
+    def _start_update_recently_accessed(self):
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "update_recently_accessed_media", self._update_recently_accessed,
+        )
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _update_recently_accessed(self):
         remote_media = self.recently_accessed_remotes
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
index 4e3a18ce08..27aa0def2f 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ from synapse.http.server import (
     respond_with_json_bytes,
     wrap_json_request_handler,
 )
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_integer, parse_string
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
 from synapse.util.caches.expiringcache import ExpiringCache
 from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
         self._cache.start()
 
         self._cleaner_loop = self.clock.looping_call(
-            self._expire_url_cache_data, 10 * 1000
+            self._start_expire_url_cache_data, 10 * 1000,
         )
 
     def render_OPTIONS(self, request):
@@ -96,9 +98,9 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
 
         # XXX: if get_user_by_req fails, what should we do in an async render?
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
-        url = request.args.get("url")[0]
+        url = parse_string(request, "url")
         if "ts" in request.args:
-            ts = int(request.args.get("ts")[0])
+            ts = parse_integer(request, "ts")
         else:
             ts = self.clock.time_msec()
 
@@ -370,6 +372,11 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
             "etag": headers["ETag"][0] if "ETag" in headers else None,
         })
 
+    def _start_expire_url_cache_data(self):
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "expire_url_cache_data", self._expire_url_cache_data,
+        )
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _expire_url_cache_data(self):
         """Clean up expired url cache content, media and thumbnails.
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
index 1a98120e1d..9b22d204a6 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.http.server import respond_with_json, wrap_json_request_handler
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_string
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -65,10 +66,10 @@ class UploadResource(Resource):
                 code=413,
             )
 
-        upload_name = request.args.get("filename", None)
+        upload_name = parse_string(request, "filename")
         if upload_name:
             try:
-                upload_name = upload_name[0].decode('UTF-8')
+                upload_name = upload_name.decode('UTF-8')
             except UnicodeDecodeError:
                 raise SynapseError(
                     msg="Invalid UTF-8 filename parameter: %r" % (upload_name),
diff --git a/synapse/secrets.py b/synapse/secrets.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f397daaa5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/secrets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""
+Injectable secrets module for Synapse.
+
+See https://docs.python.org/3/library/secrets.html#module-secrets for the API
+used in Python 3.6, and the API emulated in Python 2.7.
+"""
+
+import six
+
+if six.PY3:
+    import secrets
+
+    def Secrets():
+        return secrets
+
+
+else:
+
+    import os
+    import binascii
+
+    class Secrets(object):
+        def token_bytes(self, nbytes=32):
+            return os.urandom(nbytes)
+
+        def token_hex(self, nbytes=32):
+            return binascii.hexlify(self.token_bytes(nbytes))
diff --git a/synapse/server.py b/synapse/server.py
index 92bea96c5c..140be9ebe8 100644
--- a/synapse/server.py
+++ b/synapse/server.py
@@ -52,12 +52,13 @@ from synapse.handlers.e2e_keys import E2eKeysHandler
 from synapse.handlers.events import EventHandler, EventStreamHandler
 from synapse.handlers.groups_local import GroupsLocalHandler
 from synapse.handlers.initial_sync import InitialSyncHandler
-from synapse.handlers.message import EventCreationHandler
+from synapse.handlers.message import EventCreationHandler, MessageHandler
+from synapse.handlers.pagination import PaginationHandler
 from synapse.handlers.presence import PresenceHandler
 from synapse.handlers.profile import ProfileHandler
 from synapse.handlers.read_marker import ReadMarkerHandler
 from synapse.handlers.receipts import ReceiptsHandler
-from synapse.handlers.room import RoomCreationHandler
+from synapse.handlers.room import RoomContextHandler, RoomCreationHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_list import RoomListHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_member import RoomMemberMasterHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_member_worker import RoomMemberWorkerHandler
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ from synapse.rest.media.v1.media_repository import (
     MediaRepository,
     MediaRepositoryResource,
 )
+from synapse.secrets import Secrets
 from synapse.server_notices.server_notices_manager import ServerNoticesManager
 from synapse.server_notices.server_notices_sender import ServerNoticesSender
 from synapse.server_notices.worker_server_notices_sender import WorkerServerNoticesSender
@@ -158,11 +160,15 @@ class HomeServer(object):
         'groups_server_handler',
         'groups_attestation_signing',
         'groups_attestation_renewer',
+        'secrets',
         'spam_checker',
         'room_member_handler',
         'federation_registry',
         'server_notices_manager',
         'server_notices_sender',
+        'message_handler',
+        'pagination_handler',
+        'room_context_handler',
     ]
 
     def __init__(self, hostname, reactor=None, **kwargs):
@@ -405,6 +411,9 @@ class HomeServer(object):
     def build_groups_attestation_renewer(self):
         return GroupAttestionRenewer(self)
 
+    def build_secrets(self):
+        return Secrets()
+
     def build_spam_checker(self):
         return SpamChecker(self)
 
@@ -426,6 +435,15 @@ class HomeServer(object):
             return WorkerServerNoticesSender(self)
         return ServerNoticesSender(self)
 
+    def build_message_handler(self):
+        return MessageHandler(self)
+
+    def build_pagination_handler(self):
+        return PaginationHandler(self)
+
+    def build_room_context_handler(self):
+        return RoomContextHandler(self)
+
     def remove_pusher(self, app_id, push_key, user_id):
         return self.get_pusherpool().remove_pusher(app_id, push_key, user_id)
 
diff --git a/synapse/state.py b/synapse/state.py
index 15a593d41c..033f55d967 100644
--- a/synapse/state.py
+++ b/synapse/state.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import hashlib
 import logging
 from collections import namedtuple
 
-from six import iteritems, itervalues
+from six import iteritems, iterkeys, itervalues
 
 from frozendict import frozendict
 
@@ -203,25 +203,27 @@ class StateHandler(object):
             # If this is an outlier, then we know it shouldn't have any current
             # state. Certainly store.get_current_state won't return any, and
             # persisting the event won't store the state group.
-            context = EventContext()
             if old_state:
-                context.prev_state_ids = {
+                prev_state_ids = {
                     (s.type, s.state_key): s.event_id for s in old_state
                 }
                 if event.is_state():
-                    context.current_state_ids = dict(context.prev_state_ids)
+                    current_state_ids = dict(prev_state_ids)
                     key = (event.type, event.state_key)
-                    context.current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
+                    current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
                 else:
-                    context.current_state_ids = context.prev_state_ids
+                    current_state_ids = prev_state_ids
             else:
-                context.current_state_ids = {}
-                context.prev_state_ids = {}
-            context.prev_state_events = []
+                current_state_ids = {}
+                prev_state_ids = {}
 
             # We don't store state for outliers, so we don't generate a state
-            # froup for it.
-            context.state_group = None
+            # group for it.
+            context = EventContext.with_state(
+                state_group=None,
+                current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+                prev_state_ids=prev_state_ids,
+            )
 
             defer.returnValue(context)
 
@@ -230,31 +232,35 @@ class StateHandler(object):
             # Let's just correctly fill out the context and create a
             # new state group for it.
 
-            context = EventContext()
-            context.prev_state_ids = {
+            prev_state_ids = {
                 (s.type, s.state_key): s.event_id for s in old_state
             }
 
             if event.is_state():
                 key = (event.type, event.state_key)
-                if key in context.prev_state_ids:
-                    replaces = context.prev_state_ids[key]
+                if key in prev_state_ids:
+                    replaces = prev_state_ids[key]
                     if replaces != event.event_id:  # Paranoia check
                         event.unsigned["replaces_state"] = replaces
-                context.current_state_ids = dict(context.prev_state_ids)
-                context.current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
+                current_state_ids = dict(prev_state_ids)
+                current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
             else:
-                context.current_state_ids = context.prev_state_ids
+                current_state_ids = prev_state_ids
 
-            context.state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
+            state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
                 event.event_id,
                 event.room_id,
                 prev_group=None,
                 delta_ids=None,
-                current_state_ids=context.current_state_ids,
+                current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+            )
+
+            context = EventContext.with_state(
+                state_group=state_group,
+                current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+                prev_state_ids=prev_state_ids,
             )
 
-            context.prev_state_events = []
             defer.returnValue(context)
 
         logger.debug("calling resolve_state_groups from compute_event_context")
@@ -262,47 +268,47 @@ class StateHandler(object):
             event.room_id, [e for e, _ in event.prev_events],
         )
 
-        curr_state = entry.state
+        prev_state_ids = entry.state
+        prev_group = None
+        delta_ids = None
 
-        context = EventContext()
-        context.prev_state_ids = curr_state
         if event.is_state():
             # If this is a state event then we need to create a new state
             # group for the state after this event.
 
             key = (event.type, event.state_key)
-            if key in context.prev_state_ids:
-                replaces = context.prev_state_ids[key]
+            if key in prev_state_ids:
+                replaces = prev_state_ids[key]
                 event.unsigned["replaces_state"] = replaces
 
-            context.current_state_ids = dict(context.prev_state_ids)
-            context.current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
+            current_state_ids = dict(prev_state_ids)
+            current_state_ids[key] = event.event_id
 
             if entry.state_group:
                 # If the state at the event has a state group assigned then
                 # we can use that as the prev group
-                context.prev_group = entry.state_group
-                context.delta_ids = {
+                prev_group = entry.state_group
+                delta_ids = {
                     key: event.event_id
                 }
             elif entry.prev_group:
                 # If the state at the event only has a prev group, then we can
                 # use that as a prev group too.
-                context.prev_group = entry.prev_group
-                context.delta_ids = dict(entry.delta_ids)
-                context.delta_ids[key] = event.event_id
+                prev_group = entry.prev_group
+                delta_ids = dict(entry.delta_ids)
+                delta_ids[key] = event.event_id
 
-            context.state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
+            state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
                 event.event_id,
                 event.room_id,
-                prev_group=context.prev_group,
-                delta_ids=context.delta_ids,
-                current_state_ids=context.current_state_ids,
+                prev_group=prev_group,
+                delta_ids=delta_ids,
+                current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
             )
         else:
-            context.current_state_ids = context.prev_state_ids
-            context.prev_group = entry.prev_group
-            context.delta_ids = entry.delta_ids
+            current_state_ids = prev_state_ids
+            prev_group = entry.prev_group
+            delta_ids = entry.delta_ids
 
             if entry.state_group is None:
                 entry.state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
@@ -310,13 +316,20 @@ class StateHandler(object):
                     event.room_id,
                     prev_group=entry.prev_group,
                     delta_ids=entry.delta_ids,
-                    current_state_ids=context.current_state_ids,
+                    current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
                 )
                 entry.state_id = entry.state_group
 
-            context.state_group = entry.state_group
+            state_group = entry.state_group
+
+        context = EventContext.with_state(
+            state_group=state_group,
+            current_state_ids=current_state_ids,
+            prev_state_ids=prev_state_ids,
+            prev_group=prev_group,
+            delta_ids=delta_ids,
+        )
 
-        context.prev_state_events = []
         defer.returnValue(context)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -458,69 +471,39 @@ class StateResolutionHandler(object):
                 "Resolving state for %s with %d groups", room_id, len(state_groups_ids)
             )
 
-            # build a map from state key to the event_ids which set that state.
-            # dict[(str, str), set[str])
-            state = {}
+            # start by assuming we won't have any conflicted state, and build up the new
+            # state map by iterating through the state groups. If we discover a conflict,
+            # we give up and instead use `resolve_events_with_factory`.
+            #
+            # XXX: is this actually worthwhile, or should we just let
+            # resolve_events_with_factory do it?
+            new_state = {}
+            conflicted_state = False
             for st in itervalues(state_groups_ids):
                 for key, e_id in iteritems(st):
-                    state.setdefault(key, set()).add(e_id)
-
-            # build a map from state key to the event_ids which set that state,
-            # including only those where there are state keys in conflict.
-            conflicted_state = {
-                k: list(v)
-                for k, v in iteritems(state)
-                if len(v) > 1
-            }
+                    if key in new_state:
+                        conflicted_state = True
+                        break
+                    new_state[key] = e_id
+                if conflicted_state:
+                    break
 
             if conflicted_state:
                 logger.info("Resolving conflicted state for %r", room_id)
                 with Measure(self.clock, "state._resolve_events"):
                     new_state = yield resolve_events_with_factory(
-                        list(state_groups_ids.values()),
+                        list(itervalues(state_groups_ids)),
                         event_map=event_map,
                         state_map_factory=state_map_factory,
                     )
-            else:
-                new_state = {
-                    key: e_ids.pop() for key, e_ids in iteritems(state)
-                }
 
-            with Measure(self.clock, "state.create_group_ids"):
-                # if the new state matches any of the input state groups, we can
-                # use that state group again. Otherwise we will generate a state_id
-                # which will be used as a cache key for future resolutions, but
-                # not get persisted.
-                state_group = None
-                new_state_event_ids = frozenset(itervalues(new_state))
-                for sg, events in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
-                    if new_state_event_ids == frozenset(e_id for e_id in events):
-                        state_group = sg
-                        break
+            # if the new state matches any of the input state groups, we can
+            # use that state group again. Otherwise we will generate a state_id
+            # which will be used as a cache key for future resolutions, but
+            # not get persisted.
 
-                # TODO: We want to create a state group for this set of events, to
-                # increase cache hits, but we need to make sure that it doesn't
-                # end up as a prev_group without being added to the database
-
-                prev_group = None
-                delta_ids = None
-                for old_group, old_ids in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
-                    if not set(new_state) - set(old_ids):
-                        n_delta_ids = {
-                            k: v
-                            for k, v in iteritems(new_state)
-                            if old_ids.get(k) != v
-                        }
-                        if not delta_ids or len(n_delta_ids) < len(delta_ids):
-                            prev_group = old_group
-                            delta_ids = n_delta_ids
-
-            cache = _StateCacheEntry(
-                state=new_state,
-                state_group=state_group,
-                prev_group=prev_group,
-                delta_ids=delta_ids,
-            )
+            with Measure(self.clock, "state.create_group_ids"):
+                cache = _make_state_cache_entry(new_state, state_groups_ids)
 
             if self._state_cache is not None:
                 self._state_cache[group_names] = cache
@@ -528,6 +511,70 @@ class StateResolutionHandler(object):
             defer.returnValue(cache)
 
 
+def _make_state_cache_entry(
+    new_state,
+    state_groups_ids,
+):
+    """Given a resolved state, and a set of input state groups, pick one to base
+    a new state group on (if any), and return an appropriately-constructed
+    _StateCacheEntry.
+
+    Args:
+        new_state (dict[(str, str), str]): resolved state map (mapping from
+           (type, state_key) to event_id)
+
+        state_groups_ids (dict[int, dict[(str, str), str]]):
+                 map from state group id to the state in that state group
+                (where 'state' is a map from state key to event id)
+
+    Returns:
+        _StateCacheEntry
+    """
+    # if the new state matches any of the input state groups, we can
+    # use that state group again. Otherwise we will generate a state_id
+    # which will be used as a cache key for future resolutions, but
+    # not get persisted.
+
+    # first look for exact matches
+    new_state_event_ids = set(itervalues(new_state))
+    for sg, state in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
+        if len(new_state_event_ids) != len(state):
+            continue
+
+        old_state_event_ids = set(itervalues(state))
+        if new_state_event_ids == old_state_event_ids:
+            # got an exact match.
+            return _StateCacheEntry(
+                state=new_state,
+                state_group=sg,
+            )
+
+    # TODO: We want to create a state group for this set of events, to
+    # increase cache hits, but we need to make sure that it doesn't
+    # end up as a prev_group without being added to the database
+
+    # failing that, look for the closest match.
+    prev_group = None
+    delta_ids = None
+
+    for old_group, old_state in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
+        n_delta_ids = {
+            k: v
+            for k, v in iteritems(new_state)
+            if old_state.get(k) != v
+        }
+        if not delta_ids or len(n_delta_ids) < len(delta_ids):
+            prev_group = old_group
+            delta_ids = n_delta_ids
+
+    return _StateCacheEntry(
+        state=new_state,
+        state_group=None,
+        prev_group=prev_group,
+        delta_ids=delta_ids,
+    )
+
+
 def _ordered_events(events):
     def key_func(e):
         return -int(e.depth), hashlib.sha1(e.event_id.encode()).hexdigest()
@@ -569,7 +616,7 @@ def _seperate(state_sets):
     with them in different state sets.
 
     Args:
-        state_sets(list[dict[(str, str), str]]):
+        state_sets(iterable[dict[(str, str), str]]):
             List of dicts of (type, state_key) -> event_id, which are the
             different state groups to resolve.
 
@@ -583,10 +630,11 @@ def _seperate(state_sets):
             conflicted_state is a dict mapping (type, state_key) to a set of
             event ids for conflicted state keys.
     """
-    unconflicted_state = dict(state_sets[0])
+    state_set_iterator = iter(state_sets)
+    unconflicted_state = dict(next(state_set_iterator))
     conflicted_state = {}
 
-    for state_set in state_sets[1:]:
+    for state_set in state_set_iterator:
         for key, value in iteritems(state_set):
             # Check if there is an unconflicted entry for the state key.
             unconflicted_value = unconflicted_state.get(key)
@@ -647,7 +695,7 @@ def resolve_events_with_factory(state_sets, event_map, state_map_factory):
         for event_id in event_ids
     )
     if event_map is not None:
-        needed_events -= set(event_map.iterkeys())
+        needed_events -= set(iterkeys(event_map))
 
     logger.info("Asking for %d conflicted events", len(needed_events))
 
@@ -668,7 +716,7 @@ def resolve_events_with_factory(state_sets, event_map, state_map_factory):
     new_needed_events = set(itervalues(auth_events))
     new_needed_events -= needed_events
     if event_map is not None:
-        new_needed_events -= set(event_map.iterkeys())
+        new_needed_events -= set(iterkeys(event_map))
 
     logger.info("Asking for %d auth events", len(new_needed_events))
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/_base.py b/synapse/storage/_base.py
index 1fd5d8f162..44f37b4c1e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/_base.py
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         self._clock.looping_call(loop, 10000)
 
     def _new_transaction(self, conn, desc, after_callbacks, exception_callbacks,
-                         logging_context, func, *args, **kwargs):
+                         func, *args, **kwargs):
         start = time.time()
         txn_id = self._TXN_ID
 
@@ -284,8 +284,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             end = time.time()
             duration = end - start
 
-            if logging_context is not None:
-                logging_context.add_database_transaction(duration)
+            LoggingContext.current_context().add_database_transaction(duration)
 
             transaction_logger.debug("[TXN END] {%s} %f sec", name, duration)
 
@@ -309,19 +308,21 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         Returns:
             Deferred: The result of func
         """
-        current_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
-
         after_callbacks = []
         exception_callbacks = []
 
-        def inner_func(conn, *args, **kwargs):
-            return self._new_transaction(
-                conn, desc, after_callbacks, exception_callbacks, current_context,
-                func, *args, **kwargs
+        if LoggingContext.current_context() == LoggingContext.sentinel:
+            logger.warn(
+                "Starting db txn '%s' from sentinel context",
+                desc,
             )
 
         try:
-            result = yield self.runWithConnection(inner_func, *args, **kwargs)
+            result = yield self.runWithConnection(
+                self._new_transaction,
+                desc, after_callbacks, exception_callbacks, func,
+                *args, **kwargs
+            )
 
             for after_callback, after_args, after_kwargs in after_callbacks:
                 after_callback(*after_args, **after_kwargs)
@@ -346,22 +347,25 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         Returns:
             Deferred: The result of func
         """
-        current_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
+        parent_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
+        if parent_context == LoggingContext.sentinel:
+            logger.warn(
+                "Starting db connection from sentinel context: metrics will be lost",
+            )
+            parent_context = None
 
         start_time = time.time()
 
         def inner_func(conn, *args, **kwargs):
-            with LoggingContext("runWithConnection") as context:
+            with LoggingContext("runWithConnection", parent_context) as context:
                 sched_duration_sec = time.time() - start_time
                 sql_scheduling_timer.observe(sched_duration_sec)
-                current_context.add_database_scheduled(sched_duration_sec)
+                context.add_database_scheduled(sched_duration_sec)
 
                 if self.database_engine.is_connection_closed(conn):
                     logger.debug("Reconnecting closed database connection")
                     conn.reconnect()
 
-                current_context.copy_to(context)
-
                 return func(conn, *args, **kwargs)
 
         with PreserveLoggingContext():
diff --git a/synapse/storage/background_updates.py b/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
index dc9eca7d15..5fe1ca2de7 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ from canonicaljson import json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
+
 from . import engines
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore
 
@@ -87,10 +89,14 @@ class BackgroundUpdateStore(SQLBaseStore):
         self._background_update_handlers = {}
         self._all_done = False
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def start_doing_background_updates(self):
-        logger.info("Starting background schema updates")
+        run_as_background_process(
+            "background_updates", self._run_background_updates,
+        )
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _run_background_updates(self):
+        logger.info("Starting background schema updates")
         while True:
             yield self.hs.get_clock().sleep(
                 self.BACKGROUND_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS / 1000.)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/client_ips.py b/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
index b78eda3413..b8cefd43d6 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from six import iteritems
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
 
 from . import background_updates
@@ -93,10 +94,16 @@ class ClientIpStore(background_updates.BackgroundUpdateStore):
         self._batch_row_update[key] = (user_agent, device_id, now)
 
     def _update_client_ips_batch(self):
-        to_update = self._batch_row_update
-        self._batch_row_update = {}
-        return self.runInteraction(
-            "_update_client_ips_batch", self._update_client_ips_batch_txn, to_update
+        def update():
+            to_update = self._batch_row_update
+            self._batch_row_update = {}
+            return self.runInteraction(
+                "_update_client_ips_batch", self._update_client_ips_batch_txn,
+                to_update,
+            )
+
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "update_client_ips", update,
         )
 
     def _update_client_ips_batch_txn(self, txn, to_update):
diff --git a/synapse/storage/devices.py b/synapse/storage/devices.py
index ec68e39f1e..c0943ecf91 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/devices.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/devices.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from canonicaljson import json
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import StoreError
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedInlineCallbacks, cachedList
 
 from ._base import Cache, SQLBaseStore
@@ -248,17 +249,31 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
     def _update_remote_device_list_cache_entry_txn(self, txn, user_id, device_id,
                                                    content, stream_id):
-        self._simple_upsert_txn(
-            txn,
-            table="device_lists_remote_cache",
-            keyvalues={
-                "user_id": user_id,
-                "device_id": device_id,
-            },
-            values={
-                "content": json.dumps(content),
-            }
-        )
+        if content.get("deleted"):
+            self._simple_delete_txn(
+                txn,
+                table="device_lists_remote_cache",
+                keyvalues={
+                    "user_id": user_id,
+                    "device_id": device_id,
+                },
+            )
+
+            txn.call_after(
+                self.device_id_exists_cache.invalidate, (user_id, device_id,)
+            )
+        else:
+            self._simple_upsert_txn(
+                txn,
+                table="device_lists_remote_cache",
+                keyvalues={
+                    "user_id": user_id,
+                    "device_id": device_id,
+                },
+                values={
+                    "content": json.dumps(content),
+                }
+            )
 
         txn.call_after(self._get_cached_user_device.invalidate, (user_id, device_id,))
         txn.call_after(self._get_cached_devices_for_user.invalidate, (user_id,))
@@ -366,7 +381,7 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
             now_stream_id = max(stream_id for stream_id in itervalues(query_map))
 
         devices = self._get_e2e_device_keys_txn(
-            txn, query_map.keys(), include_all_devices=True
+            txn, query_map.keys(), include_all_devices=True, include_deleted_devices=True
         )
 
         prev_sent_id_sql = """
@@ -393,12 +408,15 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
                 prev_id = stream_id
 
-                key_json = device.get("key_json", None)
-                if key_json:
-                    result["keys"] = json.loads(key_json)
-                device_display_name = device.get("device_display_name", None)
-                if device_display_name:
-                    result["device_display_name"] = device_display_name
+                if device is not None:
+                    key_json = device.get("key_json", None)
+                    if key_json:
+                        result["keys"] = json.loads(key_json)
+                    device_display_name = device.get("device_display_name", None)
+                    if device_display_name:
+                        result["device_display_name"] = device_display_name
+                else:
+                    result["deleted"] = True
 
                 results.append(result)
 
@@ -694,6 +712,9 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
             logger.info("Pruned %d device list outbound pokes", txn.rowcount)
 
-        return self.runInteraction(
-            "_prune_old_outbound_device_pokes", _prune_txn
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "prune_old_outbound_device_pokes",
+            self.runInteraction,
+            "_prune_old_outbound_device_pokes",
+            _prune_txn,
         )
diff --git a/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py b/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
index 7ae5c65482..523b4360c3 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
@@ -64,12 +64,18 @@ class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_e2e_device_keys(self, query_list, include_all_devices=False):
+    def get_e2e_device_keys(
+        self, query_list, include_all_devices=False,
+        include_deleted_devices=False,
+    ):
         """Fetch a list of device keys.
         Args:
             query_list(list): List of pairs of user_ids and device_ids.
             include_all_devices (bool): whether to include entries for devices
                 that don't have device keys
+            include_deleted_devices (bool): whether to include null entries for
+                devices which no longer exist (but were in the query_list).
+                This option only takes effect if include_all_devices is true.
         Returns:
             Dict mapping from user-id to dict mapping from device_id to
             dict containing "key_json", "device_display_name".
@@ -79,7 +85,7 @@ class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         results = yield self.runInteraction(
             "get_e2e_device_keys", self._get_e2e_device_keys_txn,
-            query_list, include_all_devices,
+            query_list, include_all_devices, include_deleted_devices,
         )
 
         for user_id, device_keys in iteritems(results):
@@ -88,10 +94,19 @@ class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         defer.returnValue(results)
 
-    def _get_e2e_device_keys_txn(self, txn, query_list, include_all_devices):
+    def _get_e2e_device_keys_txn(
+        self, txn, query_list, include_all_devices=False,
+        include_deleted_devices=False,
+    ):
         query_clauses = []
         query_params = []
 
+        if include_all_devices is False:
+            include_deleted_devices = False
+
+        if include_deleted_devices:
+            deleted_devices = set(query_list)
+
         for (user_id, device_id) in query_list:
             query_clause = "user_id = ?"
             query_params.append(user_id)
@@ -119,8 +134,14 @@ class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         result = {}
         for row in rows:
+            if include_deleted_devices:
+                deleted_devices.remove((row["user_id"], row["device_id"]))
             result.setdefault(row["user_id"], {})[row["device_id"]] = row
 
+        if include_deleted_devices:
+            for user_id, device_id in deleted_devices:
+                result.setdefault(user_id, {})[device_id] = None
+
         return result
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
diff --git a/synapse/storage/event_federation.py b/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
index 8d366d1b91..5d3ee90017 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from unpaddedbase64 import encode_base64
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import StoreError
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.storage._base import SQLBaseStore
 from synapse.storage.events import EventsWorkerStore
 from synapse.storage.signatures import SignatureWorkerStore
@@ -113,9 +114,9 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
         sql = (
             "SELECT b.event_id, MAX(e.depth) FROM events as e"
             " INNER JOIN event_edges as g"
-            " ON g.event_id = e.event_id AND g.room_id = e.room_id"
+            " ON g.event_id = e.event_id"
             " INNER JOIN event_backward_extremities as b"
-            " ON g.prev_event_id = b.event_id AND g.room_id = b.room_id"
+            " ON g.prev_event_id = b.event_id"
             " WHERE b.room_id = ? AND g.is_state is ?"
             " GROUP BY b.event_id"
         )
@@ -329,8 +330,7 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
             "SELECT depth, prev_event_id FROM event_edges"
             " INNER JOIN events"
             " ON prev_event_id = events.event_id"
-            " AND event_edges.room_id = events.room_id"
-            " WHERE event_edges.room_id = ? AND event_edges.event_id = ?"
+            " WHERE event_edges.event_id = ?"
             " AND event_edges.is_state = ?"
             " LIMIT ?"
         )
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
 
             txn.execute(
                 query,
-                (room_id, event_id, False, limit - len(event_results))
+                (event_id, False, limit - len(event_results))
             )
 
             for row in txn:
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
 
         query = (
             "SELECT prev_event_id FROM event_edges "
-            "WHERE room_id = ? AND event_id = ? AND is_state = ? "
+            "WHERE event_id = ? AND is_state = ? "
             "LIMIT ?"
         )
 
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
             for event_id in front:
                 txn.execute(
                     query,
-                    (room_id, event_id, False, limit - len(event_results))
+                    (event_id, False, limit - len(event_results))
                 )
 
                 for e_id, in txn:
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ class EventFederationStore(EventFederationWorkerStore):
         )
 
         hs.get_clock().looping_call(
-            self._delete_old_forward_extrem_cache, 60 * 60 * 1000
+            self._delete_old_forward_extrem_cache, 60 * 60 * 1000,
         )
 
     def _update_min_depth_for_room_txn(self, txn, room_id, depth):
@@ -548,9 +548,11 @@ class EventFederationStore(EventFederationWorkerStore):
                 sql,
                 (self.stream_ordering_month_ago, self.stream_ordering_month_ago,)
             )
-        return self.runInteraction(
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "delete_old_forward_extrem_cache",
+            self.runInteraction,
             "_delete_old_forward_extrem_cache",
-            _delete_old_forward_extrem_cache_txn
+            _delete_old_forward_extrem_cache_txn,
         )
 
     def clean_room_for_join(self, room_id):
diff --git a/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py b/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
index 29b511ae5e..6840320641 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from canonicaljson import json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.storage._base import LoggingTransaction, SQLBaseStore
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
 
@@ -458,11 +459,12 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 "Error removing push actions after event persistence failure",
             )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _find_stream_orderings_for_times(self):
-        yield self.runInteraction(
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "event_push_action_stream_orderings",
+            self.runInteraction,
             "_find_stream_orderings_for_times",
-            self._find_stream_orderings_for_times_txn
+            self._find_stream_orderings_for_times_txn,
         )
 
     def _find_stream_orderings_for_times_txn(self, txn):
@@ -604,7 +606,7 @@ class EventPushActionsStore(EventPushActionsWorkerStore):
 
         self._doing_notif_rotation = False
         self._rotate_notif_loop = self._clock.looping_call(
-            self._rotate_notifs, 30 * 60 * 1000
+            self._start_rotate_notifs, 30 * 60 * 1000,
         )
 
     def _set_push_actions_for_event_and_users_txn(self, txn, events_and_contexts,
@@ -787,6 +789,9 @@ class EventPushActionsStore(EventPushActionsWorkerStore):
             WHERE room_id = ? AND user_id = ? AND stream_ordering <= ?
         """, (room_id, user_id, stream_ordering))
 
+    def _start_rotate_notifs(self):
+        return run_as_background_process("rotate_notifs", self._rotate_notifs)
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _rotate_notifs(self):
         if self._doing_notif_rotation or self.stream_ordering_day_ago is None:
diff --git a/synapse/storage/events.py b/synapse/storage/events.py
index 2aaab0d02c..2f482af3a1 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/events.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/events.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import logging
 from collections import OrderedDict, deque, namedtuple
 from functools import wraps
 
-from six import iteritems, itervalues
+from six import iteritems
 from six.moves import range
 
 from canonicaljson import json
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 # these are only included to make the type annotations work
 from synapse.events import EventBase  # noqa: F401
 from synapse.events.snapshot import EventContext  # noqa: F401
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.storage.events_worker import EventsWorkerStore
 from synapse.types import RoomStreamToken, get_domain_from_id
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
@@ -141,25 +142,22 @@ class _EventPeristenceQueue(object):
             try:
                 queue = self._get_drainining_queue(room_id)
                 for item in queue:
-                    # handle_queue_loop runs in the sentinel logcontext, so
-                    # there is no need to preserve_fn when running the
-                    # callbacks on the deferred.
                     try:
                         ret = yield per_item_callback(item)
-                        item.deferred.callback(ret)
                     except Exception:
-                        item.deferred.errback()
+                        with PreserveLoggingContext():
+                            item.deferred.errback()
+                    else:
+                        with PreserveLoggingContext():
+                            item.deferred.callback(ret)
             finally:
                 queue = self._event_persist_queues.pop(room_id, None)
                 if queue:
                     self._event_persist_queues[room_id] = queue
                 self._currently_persisting_rooms.discard(room_id)
 
-        # set handle_queue_loop off on the background. We don't want to
-        # attribute work done in it to the current request, so we drop the
-        # logcontext altogether.
-        with PreserveLoggingContext():
-            handle_queue_loop()
+        # set handle_queue_loop off in the background
+        run_as_background_process("persist_events", handle_queue_loop)
 
     def _get_drainining_queue(self, room_id):
         queue = self._event_persist_queues.setdefault(room_id, deque())
@@ -345,11 +343,14 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                 new_forward_extremeties = {}
 
                 # map room_id->(type,state_key)->event_id tracking the full
-                # state in each room after adding these events
+                # state in each room after adding these events.
+                # This is simply used to prefill the get_current_state_ids
+                # cache
                 current_state_for_room = {}
 
-                # map room_id->(to_delete, to_insert) where each entry is
-                # a map (type,key)->event_id giving the state delta in each
+                # map room_id->(to_delete, to_insert) where to_delete is a list
+                # of type/state keys to remove from current state, and to_insert
+                # is a map (type,key)->event_id giving the state delta in each
                 # room
                 state_delta_for_room = {}
 
@@ -419,19 +420,40 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                             logger.info(
                                 "Calculating state delta for room %s", room_id,
                             )
-                            current_state = yield self._get_new_state_after_events(
-                                room_id,
-                                ev_ctx_rm,
-                                latest_event_ids,
-                                new_latest_event_ids,
-                            )
+                            with Measure(
+                                self._clock,
+                                "persist_events.get_new_state_after_events",
+                            ):
+                                res = yield self._get_new_state_after_events(
+                                    room_id,
+                                    ev_ctx_rm,
+                                    latest_event_ids,
+                                    new_latest_event_ids,
+                                )
+                                current_state, delta_ids = res
+
+                            # If either are not None then there has been a change,
+                            # and we need to work out the delta (or use that
+                            # given)
+                            if delta_ids is not None:
+                                # If there is a delta we know that we've
+                                # only added or replaced state, never
+                                # removed keys entirely.
+                                state_delta_for_room[room_id] = ([], delta_ids)
+                            elif current_state is not None:
+                                with Measure(
+                                    self._clock,
+                                    "persist_events.calculate_state_delta",
+                                ):
+                                    delta = yield self._calculate_state_delta(
+                                        room_id, current_state,
+                                    )
+                                state_delta_for_room[room_id] = delta
+
+                            # If we have the current_state then lets prefill
+                            # the cache with it.
                             if current_state is not None:
                                 current_state_for_room[room_id] = current_state
-                                delta = yield self._calculate_state_delta(
-                                    room_id, current_state,
-                                )
-                                if delta is not None:
-                                    state_delta_for_room[room_id] = delta
 
                 yield self.runInteraction(
                     "persist_events",
@@ -498,7 +520,6 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             iterable=list(new_latest_event_ids),
             retcols=["prev_event_id"],
             keyvalues={
-                "room_id": room_id,
                 "is_state": False,
             },
             desc="_calculate_new_extremeties",
@@ -530,9 +551,15 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                 the new forward extremities for the room.
 
         Returns:
-            Deferred[dict[(str,str), str]|None]:
-                None if there are no changes to the room state, or
-                a dict of (type, state_key) -> event_id].
+            Deferred[tuple[dict[(str,str), str]|None, dict[(str,str), str]|None]]:
+            Returns a tuple of two state maps, the first being the full new current
+            state and the second being the delta to the existing current state.
+            If both are None then there has been no change.
+
+            If there has been a change then we only return the delta if its
+            already been calculated. Conversely if we do know the delta then
+            the new current state is only returned if we've already calculated
+            it.
         """
 
         if not new_latest_event_ids:
@@ -540,18 +567,32 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
         # map from state_group to ((type, key) -> event_id) state map
         state_groups_map = {}
+
+        # Map from (prev state group, new state group) -> delta state dict
+        state_group_deltas = {}
+
         for ev, ctx in events_context:
             if ctx.state_group is None:
-                # I don't think this can happen, but let's double-check
-                raise Exception(
-                    "Context for new extremity event %s has no state "
-                    "group" % (ev.event_id, ),
-                )
+                # This should only happen for outlier events.
+                if not ev.internal_metadata.is_outlier():
+                    raise Exception(
+                        "Context for new event %s has no state "
+                        "group" % (ev.event_id, ),
+                    )
+                continue
 
             if ctx.state_group in state_groups_map:
                 continue
 
-            state_groups_map[ctx.state_group] = ctx.current_state_ids
+            # We're only interested in pulling out state that has already
+            # been cached in the context. We'll pull stuff out of the DB later
+            # if necessary.
+            current_state_ids = ctx.get_cached_current_state_ids()
+            if current_state_ids is not None:
+                state_groups_map[ctx.state_group] = current_state_ids
+
+            if ctx.prev_group:
+                state_group_deltas[(ctx.prev_group, ctx.state_group)] = ctx.delta_ids
 
         # We need to map the event_ids to their state groups. First, let's
         # check if the event is one we're persisting, in which case we can
@@ -566,7 +607,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         for event_id in new_latest_event_ids:
             # First search in the list of new events we're adding.
             for ev, ctx in events_context:
-                if event_id == ev.event_id:
+                if event_id == ev.event_id and ctx.state_group is not None:
                     event_id_to_state_group[event_id] = ctx.state_group
                     break
             else:
@@ -594,7 +635,26 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         # If they old and new groups are the same then we don't need to do
         # anything.
         if old_state_groups == new_state_groups:
-            return
+            defer.returnValue((None, None))
+
+        if len(new_state_groups) == 1 and len(old_state_groups) == 1:
+            # If we're going from one state group to another, lets check if
+            # we have a delta for that transition. If we do then we can just
+            # return that.
+
+            new_state_group = next(iter(new_state_groups))
+            old_state_group = next(iter(old_state_groups))
+
+            delta_ids = state_group_deltas.get(
+                (old_state_group, new_state_group,), None
+            )
+            if delta_ids is not None:
+                # We have a delta from the existing to new current state,
+                # so lets just return that. If we happen to already have
+                # the current state in memory then lets also return that,
+                # but it doesn't matter if we don't.
+                new_state = state_groups_map.get(new_state_group)
+                defer.returnValue((new_state, delta_ids))
 
         # Now that we have calculated new_state_groups we need to get
         # their state IDs so we can resolve to a single state set.
@@ -606,7 +666,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         if len(new_state_groups) == 1:
             # If there is only one state group, then we know what the current
             # state is.
-            defer.returnValue(state_groups_map[new_state_groups.pop()])
+            defer.returnValue((state_groups_map[new_state_groups.pop()], None))
 
         # Ok, we need to defer to the state handler to resolve our state sets.
 
@@ -625,7 +685,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             room_id, state_groups, events_map, get_events
         )
 
-        defer.returnValue(res.state)
+        defer.returnValue((res.state, None))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _calculate_state_delta(self, room_id, current_state):
@@ -634,28 +694,20 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         Assumes that we are only persisting events for one room at a time.
 
         Returns:
-            2-tuple (to_delete, to_insert) where both are state dicts,
-            i.e. (type, state_key) -> event_id. `to_delete` are the entries to
-            first be deleted from current_state_events, `to_insert` are entries
-            to insert.
+            tuple[list, dict] (to_delete, to_insert): where to_delete are the
+            type/state_keys to remove from current_state_events and `to_insert`
+            are the updates to current_state_events.
         """
         existing_state = yield self.get_current_state_ids(room_id)
 
-        existing_events = set(itervalues(existing_state))
-        new_events = set(ev_id for ev_id in itervalues(current_state))
-        changed_events = existing_events ^ new_events
-
-        if not changed_events:
-            return
+        to_delete = [
+            key for key in existing_state
+            if key not in current_state
+        ]
 
-        to_delete = {
-            key: ev_id for key, ev_id in iteritems(existing_state)
-            if ev_id in changed_events
-        }
-        events_to_insert = (new_events - existing_events)
         to_insert = {
             key: ev_id for key, ev_id in iteritems(current_state)
-            if ev_id in events_to_insert
+            if ev_id != existing_state.get(key)
         }
 
         defer.returnValue((to_delete, to_insert))
@@ -678,10 +730,10 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             delete_existing (bool): True to purge existing table rows for the
                 events from the database. This is useful when retrying due to
                 IntegrityError.
-            state_delta_for_room (dict[str, (list[str], list[str])]):
+            state_delta_for_room (dict[str, (list, dict)]):
                 The current-state delta for each room. For each room, a tuple
-                (to_delete, to_insert), being a list of event ids to be removed
-                from the current state, and a list of event ids to be added to
+                (to_delete, to_insert), being a list of type/state keys to be
+                removed from the current state, and a state set to be added to
                 the current state.
             new_forward_extremeties (dict[str, list[str]]):
                 The new forward extremities for each room. For each room, a
@@ -759,9 +811,46 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
     def _update_current_state_txn(self, txn, state_delta_by_room, max_stream_order):
         for room_id, current_state_tuple in iteritems(state_delta_by_room):
                 to_delete, to_insert = current_state_tuple
+
+                # First we add entries to the current_state_delta_stream. We
+                # do this before updating the current_state_events table so
+                # that we can use it to calculate the `prev_event_id`. (This
+                # allows us to not have to pull out the existing state
+                # unnecessarily).
+                sql = """
+                    INSERT INTO current_state_delta_stream
+                    (stream_id, room_id, type, state_key, event_id, prev_event_id)
+                    SELECT ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, (
+                        SELECT event_id FROM current_state_events
+                        WHERE room_id = ? AND type = ? AND state_key = ?
+                    )
+                """
+                txn.executemany(sql, (
+                    (
+                        max_stream_order, room_id, etype, state_key, None,
+                        room_id, etype, state_key,
+                    )
+                    for etype, state_key in to_delete
+                    # We sanity check that we're deleting rather than updating
+                    if (etype, state_key) not in to_insert
+                ))
+                txn.executemany(sql, (
+                    (
+                        max_stream_order, room_id, etype, state_key, ev_id,
+                        room_id, etype, state_key,
+                    )
+                    for (etype, state_key), ev_id in iteritems(to_insert)
+                ))
+
+                # Now we actually update the current_state_events table
+
                 txn.executemany(
-                    "DELETE FROM current_state_events WHERE event_id = ?",
-                    [(ev_id,) for ev_id in itervalues(to_delete)],
+                    "DELETE FROM current_state_events"
+                    " WHERE room_id = ? AND type = ? AND state_key = ?",
+                    (
+                        (room_id, etype, state_key)
+                        for etype, state_key in itertools.chain(to_delete, to_insert)
+                    ),
                 )
 
                 self._simple_insert_many_txn(
@@ -778,25 +867,6 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                     ],
                 )
 
-                state_deltas = {key: None for key in to_delete}
-                state_deltas.update(to_insert)
-
-                self._simple_insert_many_txn(
-                    txn,
-                    table="current_state_delta_stream",
-                    values=[
-                        {
-                            "stream_id": max_stream_order,
-                            "room_id": room_id,
-                            "type": key[0],
-                            "state_key": key[1],
-                            "event_id": ev_id,
-                            "prev_event_id": to_delete.get(key, None),
-                        }
-                        for key, ev_id in iteritems(state_deltas)
-                    ]
-                )
-
                 txn.call_after(
                     self._curr_state_delta_stream_cache.entity_has_changed,
                     room_id, max_stream_order,
@@ -810,7 +880,8 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                 # and which we have added, then we invlidate the caches for all
                 # those users.
                 members_changed = set(
-                    state_key for ev_type, state_key in state_deltas
+                    state_key
+                    for ev_type, state_key in itertools.chain(to_delete, to_insert)
                     if ev_type == EventTypes.Member
                 )
 
@@ -1066,7 +1137,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         ):
             txn.executemany(
                 "DELETE FROM %s WHERE room_id = ? AND event_id = ?" % (table,),
-                [(ev.event_id,) for ev, _ in events_and_contexts]
+                [(ev.room_id, ev.event_id) for ev, _ in events_and_contexts]
             )
 
     def _store_event_txn(self, txn, events_and_contexts):
@@ -1117,7 +1188,6 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                     "type": event.type,
                     "processed": True,
                     "outlier": event.internal_metadata.is_outlier(),
-                    "content": encode_json(event.content).decode("UTF-8"),
                     "origin_server_ts": int(event.origin_server_ts),
                     "received_ts": self._clock.time_msec(),
                     "sender": event.sender,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/events_worker.py b/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
index 5fe1fd13e5..f28239a808 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from synapse.events import EventBase  # noqa: F401
 from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
 from synapse.events.snapshot import EventContext  # noqa: F401
 from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.logcontext import (
     LoggingContext,
     PreserveLoggingContext,
@@ -222,32 +223,47 @@ class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         """Takes a database connection and waits for requests for events from
         the _event_fetch_list queue.
         """
-        event_list = []
         i = 0
         while True:
-            try:
-                with self._event_fetch_lock:
-                    event_list = self._event_fetch_list
-                    self._event_fetch_list = []
-
-                    if not event_list:
-                        single_threaded = self.database_engine.single_threaded
-                        if single_threaded or i > EVENT_QUEUE_ITERATIONS:
-                            self._event_fetch_ongoing -= 1
-                            return
-                        else:
-                            self._event_fetch_lock.wait(EVENT_QUEUE_TIMEOUT_S)
-                            i += 1
-                            continue
-                    i = 0
+            with self._event_fetch_lock:
+                event_list = self._event_fetch_list
+                self._event_fetch_list = []
+
+                if not event_list:
+                    single_threaded = self.database_engine.single_threaded
+                    if single_threaded or i > EVENT_QUEUE_ITERATIONS:
+                        self._event_fetch_ongoing -= 1
+                        return
+                    else:
+                        self._event_fetch_lock.wait(EVENT_QUEUE_TIMEOUT_S)
+                        i += 1
+                        continue
+                i = 0
+
+            self._fetch_event_list(conn, event_list)
+
+    def _fetch_event_list(self, conn, event_list):
+        """Handle a load of requests from the _event_fetch_list queue
+
+        Args:
+            conn (twisted.enterprise.adbapi.Connection): database connection
 
+            event_list (list[Tuple[list[str], Deferred]]):
+                The fetch requests. Each entry consists of a list of event
+                ids to be fetched, and a deferred to be completed once the
+                events have been fetched.
+
+        """
+        with Measure(self._clock, "_fetch_event_list"):
+            try:
                 event_id_lists = zip(*event_list)[0]
                 event_ids = [
                     item for sublist in event_id_lists for item in sublist
                 ]
 
                 rows = self._new_transaction(
-                    conn, "do_fetch", [], [], None, self._fetch_event_rows, event_ids
+                    conn, "do_fetch", [], [],
+                    self._fetch_event_rows, event_ids,
                 )
 
                 row_dict = {
@@ -280,9 +296,8 @@ class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                             with PreserveLoggingContext():
                                 d.errback(e)
 
-                if event_list:
-                    with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                        self.hs.get_reactor().callFromThread(fire, event_list)
+                with PreserveLoggingContext():
+                    self.hs.get_reactor().callFromThread(fire, event_list)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _enqueue_events(self, events, check_redacted=True, allow_rejected=False):
@@ -308,10 +323,11 @@ class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 should_start = False
 
         if should_start:
-            with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                self.runWithConnection(
-                    self._do_fetch
-                )
+            run_as_background_process(
+                "fetch_events",
+                self.runWithConnection,
+                self._do_fetch,
+            )
 
         logger.debug("Loading %d events", len(events))
         with PreserveLoggingContext():
diff --git a/synapse/storage/push_rule.py b/synapse/storage/push_rule.py
index be655d287b..6a5028961d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/push_rule.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/push_rule.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ from canonicaljson import json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes
 from synapse.push.baserules import list_with_base_rules
 from synapse.storage.appservice import ApplicationServiceWorkerStore
 from synapse.storage.pusher import PusherWorkerStore
@@ -186,6 +185,7 @@ class PushRulesWorkerStore(ApplicationServiceWorkerStore,
 
         defer.returnValue(results)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def bulk_get_push_rules_for_room(self, event, context):
         state_group = context.state_group
         if not state_group:
@@ -195,9 +195,11 @@ class PushRulesWorkerStore(ApplicationServiceWorkerStore,
             # To do this we set the state_group to a new object as object() != object()
             state_group = object()
 
-        return self._bulk_get_push_rules_for_room(
-            event.room_id, state_group, context.current_state_ids, event=event
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self)
+        result = yield self._bulk_get_push_rules_for_room(
+            event.room_id, state_group, current_state_ids, event=event
         )
+        defer.returnValue(result)
 
     @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=2, cache_context=True)
     def _bulk_get_push_rules_for_room(self, room_id, state_group, current_state_ids,
@@ -247,18 +249,6 @@ class PushRulesWorkerStore(ApplicationServiceWorkerStore,
             if uid in local_users_in_room:
                 user_ids.add(uid)
 
-        forgotten = yield self.who_forgot_in_room(
-            event.room_id, on_invalidate=cache_context.invalidate,
-        )
-
-        for row in forgotten:
-            user_id = row["user_id"]
-            event_id = row["event_id"]
-
-            mem_id = current_state_ids.get((EventTypes.Member, user_id), None)
-            if event_id == mem_id:
-                user_ids.discard(user_id)
-
         rules_by_user = yield self.bulk_get_push_rules(
             user_ids, on_invalidate=cache_context.invalidate,
         )
diff --git a/synapse/storage/pusher.py b/synapse/storage/pusher.py
index cc273a57b2..8443bd4c1b 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/pusher.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/pusher.py
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ class PusherStore(PusherWorkerStore):
             )
 
             if newly_inserted:
-                self.runInteraction(
+                yield self.runInteraction(
                     "add_pusher",
                     self._invalidate_cache_and_stream,
                     self.get_if_user_has_pusher, (user_id,)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/receipts.py b/synapse/storage/receipts.py
index 3738901ea4..0ac665e967 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/receipts.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/receipts.py
@@ -140,7 +140,9 @@ class ReceiptsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         """
         room_ids = set(room_ids)
 
-        if from_key:
+        if from_key is not None:
+            # Only ask the database about rooms where there have been new
+            # receipts added since `from_key`
             room_ids = yield self._receipts_stream_cache.get_entities_changed(
                 room_ids, from_key
             )
@@ -151,7 +153,6 @@ class ReceiptsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         defer.returnValue([ev for res in results.values() for ev in res])
 
-    @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=3, tree=True)
     def get_linearized_receipts_for_room(self, room_id, to_key, from_key=None):
         """Get receipts for a single room for sending to clients.
 
@@ -162,7 +163,19 @@ class ReceiptsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 from the start.
 
         Returns:
-            list: A list of receipts.
+            Deferred[list]: A list of receipts.
+        """
+        if from_key is not None:
+            # Check the cache first to see if any new receipts have been added
+            # since`from_key`. If not we can no-op.
+            if not self._receipts_stream_cache.has_entity_changed(room_id, from_key):
+                defer.succeed([])
+
+        return self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room(room_id, to_key, from_key)
+
+    @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=3, tree=True)
+    def _get_linearized_receipts_for_room(self, room_id, to_key, from_key=None):
+        """See get_linearized_receipts_for_room
         """
         def f(txn):
             if from_key:
@@ -211,7 +224,7 @@ class ReceiptsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             "content": content,
         }])
 
-    @cachedList(cached_method_name="get_linearized_receipts_for_room",
+    @cachedList(cached_method_name="_get_linearized_receipts_for_room",
                 list_name="room_ids", num_args=3, inlineCallbacks=True)
     def _get_linearized_receipts_for_rooms(self, room_ids, to_key, from_key=None):
         if not room_ids:
@@ -373,7 +386,7 @@ class ReceiptsStore(ReceiptsWorkerStore):
             self.get_receipts_for_user.invalidate, (user_id, receipt_type)
         )
         # FIXME: This shouldn't invalidate the whole cache
-        txn.call_after(self.get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many, (room_id,))
+        txn.call_after(self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many, (room_id,))
 
         txn.call_after(
             self._receipts_stream_cache.entity_has_changed,
@@ -493,7 +506,7 @@ class ReceiptsStore(ReceiptsWorkerStore):
             self.get_receipts_for_user.invalidate, (user_id, receipt_type)
         )
         # FIXME: This shouldn't invalidate the whole cache
-        txn.call_after(self.get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many, (room_id,))
+        txn.call_after(self._get_linearized_receipts_for_room.invalidate_many, (room_id,))
 
         self._simple_delete_txn(
             txn,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/roommember.py b/synapse/storage/roommember.py
index 02a802bed9..027bf8c85e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/roommember.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/roommember.py
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ class RoomMemberWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
         defer.returnValue(user_who_share_room)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_joined_users_from_context(self, event, context):
         state_group = context.state_group
         if not state_group:
@@ -241,11 +242,13 @@ class RoomMemberWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             # To do this we set the state_group to a new object as object() != object()
             state_group = object()
 
-        return self._get_joined_users_from_context(
-            event.room_id, state_group, context.current_state_ids,
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self)
+        result = yield self._get_joined_users_from_context(
+            event.room_id, state_group, current_state_ids,
             event=event,
             context=context,
         )
+        defer.returnValue(result)
 
     def get_joined_users_from_state(self, room_id, state_entry):
         state_group = state_entry.state_group
@@ -458,17 +461,29 @@ class RoomMemberWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore):
     def _get_joined_hosts_cache(self, room_id):
         return _JoinedHostsCache(self, room_id)
 
-    @cached()
-    def who_forgot_in_room(self, room_id):
-        return self._simple_select_list(
-            table="room_memberships",
-            retcols=("user_id", "event_id"),
-            keyvalues={
-                "room_id": room_id,
-                "forgotten": 1,
-            },
-            desc="who_forgot"
-        )
+    @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=2)
+    def did_forget(self, user_id, room_id):
+        """Returns whether user_id has elected to discard history for room_id.
+
+        Returns False if they have since re-joined."""
+        def f(txn):
+            sql = (
+                "SELECT"
+                "  COUNT(*)"
+                " FROM"
+                "  room_memberships"
+                " WHERE"
+                "  user_id = ?"
+                " AND"
+                "  room_id = ?"
+                " AND"
+                "  forgotten = 0"
+            )
+            txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id))
+            rows = txn.fetchall()
+            return rows[0][0]
+        count = yield self.runInteraction("did_forget_membership", f)
+        defer.returnValue(count == 0)
 
 
 class RoomMemberStore(RoomMemberWorkerStore):
@@ -577,36 +592,11 @@ class RoomMemberStore(RoomMemberWorkerStore):
             )
             txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id))
 
-            txn.call_after(self.did_forget.invalidate, (user_id, room_id))
             self._invalidate_cache_and_stream(
-                txn, self.who_forgot_in_room, (room_id,)
+                txn, self.did_forget, (user_id, room_id,),
             )
         return self.runInteraction("forget_membership", f)
 
-    @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=2)
-    def did_forget(self, user_id, room_id):
-        """Returns whether user_id has elected to discard history for room_id.
-
-        Returns False if they have since re-joined."""
-        def f(txn):
-            sql = (
-                "SELECT"
-                "  COUNT(*)"
-                " FROM"
-                "  room_memberships"
-                " WHERE"
-                "  user_id = ?"
-                " AND"
-                "  room_id = ?"
-                " AND"
-                "  forgotten = 0"
-            )
-            txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id))
-            rows = txn.fetchall()
-            return rows[0][0]
-        count = yield self.runInteraction("did_forget_membership", f)
-        defer.returnValue(count == 0)
-
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _background_add_membership_profile(self, progress, batch_size):
         target_min_stream_id = progress.get(
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/50/make_event_content_nullable.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/50/make_event_content_nullable.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7d27342e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/50/make_event_content_nullable.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""
+We want to stop populating 'event.content', so we need to make it nullable.
+
+If this has to be rolled back, then the following should populate the missing data:
+
+Postgres:
+
+    UPDATE events SET content=(ej.json::json)->'content' FROM event_json ej
+    WHERE ej.event_id = events.event_id AND
+        stream_ordering < (
+            SELECT stream_ordering FROM events WHERE content IS NOT NULL
+            ORDER BY stream_ordering LIMIT 1
+        );
+
+    UPDATE events SET content=(ej.json::json)->'content' FROM event_json ej
+    WHERE ej.event_id = events.event_id AND
+        stream_ordering > (
+            SELECT stream_ordering FROM events WHERE content IS NOT NULL
+            ORDER BY stream_ordering DESC LIMIT 1
+        );
+
+SQLite:
+
+    UPDATE events SET content=(
+        SELECT json_extract(json,'$.content') FROM event_json ej
+        WHERE ej.event_id = events.event_id
+    )
+    WHERE
+        stream_ordering < (
+            SELECT stream_ordering FROM events WHERE content IS NOT NULL
+            ORDER BY stream_ordering LIMIT 1
+        )
+        OR stream_ordering > (
+            SELECT stream_ordering FROM events WHERE content IS NOT NULL
+            ORDER BY stream_ordering DESC LIMIT 1
+        );
+
+"""
+
+import logging
+
+from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
+    pass
+
+
+def run_upgrade(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
+    if isinstance(database_engine, PostgresEngine):
+        cur.execute("""
+            ALTER TABLE events ALTER COLUMN content DROP NOT NULL;
+        """)
+        return
+
+    # sqlite is an arse about this. ref: https://www.sqlite.org/lang_altertable.html
+
+    cur.execute("SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE tbl_name='events' AND type='table'")
+    (oldsql,) = cur.fetchone()
+
+    sql = oldsql.replace("content TEXT NOT NULL", "content TEXT")
+    if sql == oldsql:
+        raise Exception("Couldn't find null constraint to drop in %s" % oldsql)
+
+    logger.info("Replacing definition of 'events' with: %s", sql)
+
+    cur.execute("PRAGMA schema_version")
+    (oldver,) = cur.fetchone()
+    cur.execute("PRAGMA writable_schema=ON")
+    cur.execute(
+        "UPDATE sqlite_master SET sql=? WHERE tbl_name='events' AND type='table'",
+        (sql, ),
+    )
+    cur.execute("PRAGMA schema_version=%i" % (oldver+1,))
+    cur.execute("PRAGMA writable_schema=OFF")
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/event_edges.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/event_edges.sql
index 52eec88357..6b5a5a88fa 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/event_edges.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/event_edges.sql
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS event_edges(
     event_id TEXT NOT NULL,
     prev_event_id TEXT NOT NULL,
     room_id TEXT NOT NULL,
-    is_state BOOL NOT NULL,
+    is_state BOOL NOT NULL,  -- true if this is a prev_state edge rather than a regular
+                             -- event dag edge.
     UNIQUE (event_id, prev_event_id, room_id, is_state)
 );
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/im.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/im.sql
index ba5346806e..5f5cb8d01d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/im.sql
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/full_schemas/16/im.sql
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events(
     event_id TEXT NOT NULL,
     type TEXT NOT NULL,
     room_id TEXT NOT NULL,
-    content TEXT NOT NULL,
+
+    -- 'content' used to be created NULLable, but as of delta 50 we drop that constraint.
+    -- the hack we use to drop the constraint doesn't work for an in-memory sqlite
+    -- database, which breaks the sytests. Hence, we no longer make it nullable.
+    content TEXT,
+
     unrecognized_keys TEXT,
     processed BOOL NOT NULL,
     outlier BOOL NOT NULL,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/state.py b/synapse/storage/state.py
index 89a05c4618..b27b3ae144 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/state.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/state.py
@@ -186,7 +186,17 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _get_state_groups_from_groups(self, groups, types):
-        """Returns dictionary state_group -> (dict of (type, state_key) -> event id)
+        """Returns the state groups for a given set of groups, filtering on
+        types of state events.
+
+        Args:
+            groups(list[int]): list of state group IDs to query
+            types (Iterable[str, str|None]|None): list of 2-tuples of the form
+                (`type`, `state_key`), where a `state_key` of `None` matches all
+                state_keys for the `type`. If None, all types are returned.
+
+        Returns:
+            dictionary state_group -> (dict of (type, state_key) -> event id)
         """
         results = {}
 
@@ -200,8 +210,11 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         defer.returnValue(results)
 
-    def _get_state_groups_from_groups_txn(self, txn, groups, types=None):
+    def _get_state_groups_from_groups_txn(
+        self, txn, groups, types=None,
+    ):
         results = {group: {} for group in groups}
+
         if types is not None:
             types = list(set(types))  # deduplicate types list
 
@@ -239,7 +252,7 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             # Turns out that postgres doesn't like doing a list of OR's and
             # is about 1000x slower, so we just issue a query for each specific
             # type seperately.
-            if types:
+            if types is not None:
                 clause_to_args = [
                     (
                         "AND type = ? AND state_key = ?",
@@ -278,6 +291,7 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                     else:
                         where_clauses.append("(type = ? AND state_key = ?)")
                         where_args.extend([typ[0], typ[1]])
+
                 where_clause = "AND (%s)" % (" OR ".join(where_clauses))
             else:
                 where_clause = ""
@@ -332,16 +346,20 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         return results
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_for_events(self, event_ids, types):
+    def get_state_for_events(self, event_ids, types, filtered_types=None):
         """Given a list of event_ids and type tuples, return a list of state
         dicts for each event. The state dicts will only have the type/state_keys
         that are in the `types` list.
 
         Args:
-            event_ids (list)
-            types (list): List of (type, state_key) tuples which are used to
-                filter the state fetched. `state_key` may be None, which matches
-                any `state_key`
+            event_ids (list[string])
+            types (list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+                May be None, which matches any key.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             deferred: A list of dicts corresponding to the event_ids given.
@@ -352,7 +370,7 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         )
 
         groups = set(itervalues(event_to_groups))
-        group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(groups, types)
+        group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(groups, types, filtered_types)
 
         state_event_map = yield self.get_events(
             [ev_id for sd in itervalues(group_to_state) for ev_id in itervalues(sd)],
@@ -371,15 +389,19 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         defer.returnValue({event: event_to_state[event] for event in event_ids})
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_ids_for_events(self, event_ids, types=None):
+    def get_state_ids_for_events(self, event_ids, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """
         Get the state dicts corresponding to a list of events
 
         Args:
             event_ids(list(str)): events whose state should be returned
-            types(list[(str, str)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
-                which are used to filter the state fetched. May be None, which
-                matches any key
+            types(list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+                May be None, which matches any key.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             A deferred dict from event_id -> (type, state_key) -> state_event
@@ -389,7 +411,7 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         )
 
         groups = set(itervalues(event_to_groups))
-        group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(groups, types)
+        group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(groups, types, filtered_types)
 
         event_to_state = {
             event_id: group_to_state[group]
@@ -399,37 +421,45 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         defer.returnValue({event: event_to_state[event] for event in event_ids})
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_for_event(self, event_id, types=None):
+    def get_state_for_event(self, event_id, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """
         Get the state dict corresponding to a particular event
 
         Args:
             event_id(str): event whose state should be returned
-            types(list[(str, str)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
-                which are used to filter the state fetched. May be None, which
-                matches any key
+            types(list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+                May be None, which matches any key.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             A deferred dict from (type, state_key) -> state_event
         """
-        state_map = yield self.get_state_for_events([event_id], types)
+        state_map = yield self.get_state_for_events([event_id], types, filtered_types)
         defer.returnValue(state_map[event_id])
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_state_ids_for_event(self, event_id, types=None):
+    def get_state_ids_for_event(self, event_id, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """
         Get the state dict corresponding to a particular event
 
         Args:
             event_id(str): event whose state should be returned
-            types(list[(str, str)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
-                which are used to filter the state fetched. May be None, which
-                matches any key
+            types(list[(str, str|None)]|None): List of (type, state_key) tuples
+                which are used to filter the state fetched. If `state_key` is None,
+                all events are returned of the given type.
+                May be None, which matches any key.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             A deferred dict from (type, state_key) -> state_event
         """
-        state_map = yield self.get_state_ids_for_events([event_id], types)
+        state_map = yield self.get_state_ids_for_events([event_id], types, filtered_types)
         defer.returnValue(state_map[event_id])
 
     @cached(max_entries=50000)
@@ -460,56 +490,73 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         defer.returnValue({row["event_id"]: row["state_group"] for row in rows})
 
-    def _get_some_state_from_cache(self, group, types):
+    def _get_some_state_from_cache(self, group, types, filtered_types=None):
         """Checks if group is in cache. See `_get_state_for_groups`
 
-        Returns 3-tuple (`state_dict`, `missing_types`, `got_all`).
-        `missing_types` is the list of types that aren't in the cache for that
-        group. `got_all` is a bool indicating if we successfully retrieved all
+        Args:
+            group(int): The state group to lookup
+            types(list[str, str|None]): List of 2-tuples of the form
+                (`type`, `state_key`), where a `state_key` of `None` matches all
+                state_keys for the `type`.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
+
+        Returns 2-tuple (`state_dict`, `got_all`).
+        `got_all` is a bool indicating if we successfully retrieved all
         requests state from the cache, if False we need to query the DB for the
         missing state.
-
-        Args:
-            group: The state group to lookup
-            types (list): List of 2-tuples of the form (`type`, `state_key`),
-                where a `state_key` of `None` matches all state_keys for the
-                `type`.
         """
         is_all, known_absent, state_dict_ids = self._state_group_cache.get(group)
 
         type_to_key = {}
-        missing_types = set()
+
+        # tracks whether any of ourrequested types are missing from the cache
+        missing_types = False
 
         for typ, state_key in types:
             key = (typ, state_key)
-            if state_key is None:
+
+            if (
+                state_key is None or
+                (filtered_types is not None and typ not in filtered_types)
+            ):
                 type_to_key[typ] = None
-                missing_types.add(key)
+                # we mark the type as missing from the cache because
+                # when the cache was populated it might have been done with a
+                # restricted set of state_keys, so the wildcard will not work
+                # and the cache may be incomplete.
+                missing_types = True
             else:
                 if type_to_key.get(typ, object()) is not None:
                     type_to_key.setdefault(typ, set()).add(state_key)
 
                 if key not in state_dict_ids and key not in known_absent:
-                    missing_types.add(key)
+                    missing_types = True
 
         sentinel = object()
 
         def include(typ, state_key):
             valid_state_keys = type_to_key.get(typ, sentinel)
             if valid_state_keys is sentinel:
-                return False
+                return filtered_types is not None and typ not in filtered_types
             if valid_state_keys is None:
                 return True
             if state_key in valid_state_keys:
                 return True
             return False
 
-        got_all = is_all or not missing_types
+        got_all = is_all
+        if not got_all:
+            # the cache is incomplete. We may still have got all the results we need, if
+            # we don't have any wildcards in the match list.
+            if not missing_types and filtered_types is None:
+                got_all = True
 
         return {
             k: v for k, v in iteritems(state_dict_ids)
             if include(k[0], k[1])
-        }, missing_types, got_all
+        }, got_all
 
     def _get_all_state_from_cache(self, group):
         """Checks if group is in cache. See `_get_state_for_groups`
@@ -526,7 +573,7 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         return state_dict_ids, is_all
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _get_state_for_groups(self, groups, types=None):
+    def _get_state_for_groups(self, groups, types=None, filtered_types=None):
         """Gets the state at each of a list of state groups, optionally
         filtering by type/state_key
 
@@ -540,6 +587,9 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 Otherwise, each entry should be a `(type, state_key)` tuple to
                 include in the response. A `state_key` of None is a wildcard
                 meaning that we require all state with that type.
+            filtered_types(list[str]|None): Only apply filtering via `types` to this
+                list of event types.  Other types of events are returned unfiltered.
+                If None, `types` filtering is applied to all events.
 
         Returns:
             Deferred[dict[int, dict[(type, state_key), EventBase]]]
@@ -551,8 +601,8 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         missing_groups = []
         if types is not None:
             for group in set(groups):
-                state_dict_ids, _, got_all = self._get_some_state_from_cache(
-                    group, types,
+                state_dict_ids, got_all = self._get_some_state_from_cache(
+                    group, types, filtered_types
                 )
                 results[group] = state_dict_ids
 
@@ -579,13 +629,13 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             # cache. Hence, if we are doing a wildcard lookup, populate the
             # cache fully so that we can do an efficient lookup next time.
 
-            if types and any(k is None for (t, k) in types):
+            if filtered_types or (types and any(k is None for (t, k) in types)):
                 types_to_fetch = None
             else:
                 types_to_fetch = types
 
             group_to_state_dict = yield self._get_state_groups_from_groups(
-                missing_groups, types_to_fetch,
+                missing_groups, types_to_fetch
             )
 
             for group, group_state_dict in iteritems(group_to_state_dict):
@@ -595,7 +645,10 @@ class StateGroupWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 if types:
                     for k, v in iteritems(group_state_dict):
                         (typ, _) = k
-                        if k in types or (typ, None) in types:
+                        if (
+                            (k in types or (typ, None) in types) or
+                            (filtered_types and typ not in filtered_types)
+                        ):
                             state_dict[k] = v
                 else:
                     state_dict.update(group_state_dict)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/transactions.py b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
index c3bc94f56d..428e7fa36e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/transactions.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json, json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ class TransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):
     def __init__(self, db_conn, hs):
         super(TransactionStore, self).__init__(db_conn, hs)
 
-        self._clock.looping_call(self._cleanup_transactions, 30 * 60 * 1000)
+        self._clock.looping_call(self._start_cleanup_transactions, 30 * 60 * 1000)
 
     def get_received_txn_response(self, transaction_id, origin):
         """For an incoming transaction from a given origin, check if we have
@@ -271,6 +272,11 @@ class TransactionStore(SQLBaseStore):
         txn.execute(query, (self._clock.time_msec(),))
         return self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
 
+    def _start_cleanup_transactions(self):
+        return run_as_background_process(
+            "cleanup_transactions", self._cleanup_transactions,
+        )
+
     def _cleanup_transactions(self):
         now = self._clock.time_msec()
         month_ago = now - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
diff --git a/synapse/storage/user_directory.py b/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
index ce59e70d0e..a8781b0e5d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ class UserDirectoryStore(SQLBaseStore):
         self.get_user_in_public_room.invalidate((user_id,))
 
     def get_users_in_public_due_to_room(self, room_id):
-        """Get all user_ids that are in the room directory becuase they're
+        """Get all user_ids that are in the room directory because they're
         in the given room_id
         """
         return self._simple_select_onecol(
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ class UserDirectoryStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_users_in_dir_due_to_room(self, room_id):
-        """Get all user_ids that are in the room directory becuase they're
+        """Get all user_ids that are in the room directory because they're
         in the given room_id
         """
         user_ids_dir = yield self._simple_select_onecol(
diff --git a/synapse/streams/config.py b/synapse/streams/config.py
index 46ccbbda7d..451e4fa441 100644
--- a/synapse/streams/config.py
+++ b/synapse/streams/config.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import logging
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_integer, parse_string
 from synapse.types import StreamToken
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -56,23 +57,10 @@ class PaginationConfig(object):
     @classmethod
     def from_request(cls, request, raise_invalid_params=True,
                      default_limit=None):
-        def get_param(name, default=None):
-            lst = request.args.get(name, [])
-            if len(lst) > 1:
-                raise SynapseError(
-                    400, "%s must be specified only once" % (name,)
-                )
-            elif len(lst) == 1:
-                return lst[0]
-            else:
-                return default
-
-        direction = get_param("dir", 'f')
-        if direction not in ['f', 'b']:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "'dir' parameter is invalid.")
-
-        from_tok = get_param("from")
-        to_tok = get_param("to")
+        direction = parse_string(request, "dir", default='f', allowed_values=['f', 'b'])
+
+        from_tok = parse_string(request, "from")
+        to_tok = parse_string(request, "to")
 
         try:
             if from_tok == "END":
@@ -88,12 +76,10 @@ class PaginationConfig(object):
         except Exception:
             raise SynapseError(400, "'to' paramater is invalid")
 
-        limit = get_param("limit", None)
-        if limit is not None and not limit.isdigit():
-            raise SynapseError(400, "'limit' parameter must be an integer.")
+        limit = parse_integer(request, "limit", default=default_limit)
 
-        if limit is None:
-            limit = default_limit
+        if limit and limit < 0:
+            raise SynapseError(400, "Limit must be 0 or above")
 
         try:
             return PaginationConfig(from_tok, to_tok, direction, limit)
diff --git a/synapse/util/async.py b/synapse/util/async.py
index 5d0fb39130..a7094e2fb4 100644
--- a/synapse/util/async.py
+++ b/synapse/util/async.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
+import collections
 import logging
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
@@ -156,54 +157,72 @@ def concurrently_execute(func, args, limit):
 
 
 class Linearizer(object):
-    """Linearizes access to resources based on a key. Useful to ensure only one
-    thing is happening at a time on a given resource.
+    """Limits concurrent access to resources based on a key. Useful to ensure
+    only a few things happen at a time on a given resource.
 
     Example:
 
-        with (yield linearizer.queue("test_key")):
+        with (yield limiter.queue("test_key")):
             # do some work.
 
     """
-    def __init__(self, name=None, clock=None):
+    def __init__(self, name=None, max_count=1, clock=None):
+        """
+        Args:
+            max_count(int): The maximum number of concurrent accesses
+        """
         if name is None:
             self.name = id(self)
         else:
             self.name = name
-        self.key_to_defer = {}
 
         if not clock:
             from twisted.internet import reactor
             clock = Clock(reactor)
         self._clock = clock
+        self.max_count = max_count
+
+        # key_to_defer is a map from the key to a 2 element list where
+        # the first element is the number of things executing, and
+        # the second element is an OrderedDict, where the keys are deferreds for the
+        # things blocked from executing.
+        self.key_to_defer = {}
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def queue(self, key):
-        # If there is already a deferred in the queue, we pull it out so that
-        # we can wait on it later.
-        # Then we replace it with a deferred that we resolve *after* the
-        # context manager has exited.
-        # We only return the context manager after the previous deferred has
-        # resolved.
-        # This all has the net effect of creating a chain of deferreds that
-        # wait for the previous deferred before starting their work.
-        current_defer = self.key_to_defer.get(key)
+        entry = self.key_to_defer.setdefault(key, [0, collections.OrderedDict()])
 
-        new_defer = defer.Deferred()
-        self.key_to_defer[key] = new_defer
+        # If the number of things executing is greater than the maximum
+        # then add a deferred to the list of blocked items
+        # When on of the things currently executing finishes it will callback
+        # this item so that it can continue executing.
+        if entry[0] >= self.max_count:
+            new_defer = defer.Deferred()
+            entry[1][new_defer] = 1
 
-        if current_defer:
             logger.info(
-                "Waiting to acquire linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name, key
+                "Waiting to acquire linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name, key,
             )
             try:
-                with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                    yield current_defer
-            except Exception:
-                logger.exception("Unexpected exception in Linearizer")
-
-            logger.info("Acquired linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name,
-                        key)
+                yield make_deferred_yieldable(new_defer)
+            except Exception as e:
+                if isinstance(e, CancelledError):
+                    logger.info(
+                        "Cancelling wait for linearizer lock %r for key %r",
+                        self.name, key,
+                    )
+                else:
+                    logger.warn(
+                        "Unexpected exception waiting for linearizer lock %r for key %r",
+                        self.name, key,
+                    )
+
+                # we just have to take ourselves back out of the queue.
+                del entry[1][new_defer]
+                raise
+
+            logger.info("Acquired linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name, key)
+            entry[0] += 1
 
             # if the code holding the lock completes synchronously, then it
             # will recursively run the next claimant on the list. That can
@@ -213,15 +232,15 @@ class Linearizer(object):
             # In order to break the cycle, we add a cheeky sleep(0) here to
             # ensure that we fall back to the reactor between each iteration.
             #
-            # (There's no particular need for it to happen before we return
-            # the context manager, but it needs to happen while we hold the
-            # lock, and the context manager's exit code must be synchronous,
-            # so actually this is the only sensible place.
+            # (This needs to happen while we hold the lock, and the context manager's exit
+            # code must be synchronous, so this is the only sensible place.)
             yield self._clock.sleep(0)
 
         else:
-            logger.info("Acquired uncontended linearizer lock %r for key %r",
-                        self.name, key)
+            logger.info(
+                "Acquired uncontended linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name, key,
+            )
+            entry[0] += 1
 
         @contextmanager
         def _ctx_manager():
@@ -229,73 +248,15 @@ class Linearizer(object):
                 yield
             finally:
                 logger.info("Releasing linearizer lock %r for key %r", self.name, key)
-                with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                    new_defer.callback(None)
-                current_d = self.key_to_defer.get(key)
-                if current_d is new_defer:
-                    self.key_to_defer.pop(key, None)
-
-        defer.returnValue(_ctx_manager())
-
-
-class Limiter(object):
-    """Limits concurrent access to resources based on a key. Useful to ensure
-    only a few thing happen at a time on a given resource.
-
-    Example:
-
-        with (yield limiter.queue("test_key")):
-            # do some work.
-
-    """
-    def __init__(self, max_count):
-        """
-        Args:
-            max_count(int): The maximum number of concurrent access
-        """
-        self.max_count = max_count
-
-        # key_to_defer is a map from the key to a 2 element list where
-        # the first element is the number of things executing
-        # the second element is a list of deferreds for the things blocked from
-        # executing.
-        self.key_to_defer = {}
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def queue(self, key):
-        entry = self.key_to_defer.setdefault(key, [0, []])
-
-        # If the number of things executing is greater than the maximum
-        # then add a deferred to the list of blocked items
-        # When on of the things currently executing finishes it will callback
-        # this item so that it can continue executing.
-        if entry[0] >= self.max_count:
-            new_defer = defer.Deferred()
-            entry[1].append(new_defer)
-
-            logger.info("Waiting to acquire limiter lock for key %r", key)
-            with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                yield new_defer
-            logger.info("Acquired limiter lock for key %r", key)
-        else:
-            logger.info("Acquired uncontended limiter lock for key %r", key)
-
-        entry[0] += 1
-
-        @contextmanager
-        def _ctx_manager():
-            try:
-                yield
-            finally:
-                logger.info("Releasing limiter lock for key %r", key)
 
                 # We've finished executing so check if there are any things
                 # blocked waiting to execute and start one of them
                 entry[0] -= 1
 
                 if entry[1]:
-                    next_def = entry[1].pop(0)
+                    (next_def, _) = entry[1].popitem(last=False)
 
+                    # we need to run the next thing in the sentinel context.
                     with PreserveLoggingContext():
                         next_def.callback(None)
                 elif entry[0] == 0:
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py b/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
index 4abca91f6d..ce85b2ae11 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import logging
 from collections import OrderedDict
 
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
 from synapse.util.caches import register_cache
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -63,7 +64,10 @@ class ExpiringCache(object):
             return
 
         def f():
-            self._prune_cache()
+            return run_as_background_process(
+                "prune_cache_%s" % self._cache_name,
+                self._prune_cache,
+            )
 
         self._clock.looping_call(f, self._expiry_ms / 2)
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py b/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
index 8637867c6d..f2bde74dc5 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
@@ -74,14 +74,13 @@ class StreamChangeCache(object):
         assert type(stream_pos) is int
 
         if stream_pos >= self._earliest_known_stream_pos:
-            not_known_entities = set(entities) - set(self._entity_to_key)
-
-            result = (
-                {self._cache[k] for k in self._cache.islice(
-                    start=self._cache.bisect_right(stream_pos))}
-                .intersection(entities)
-                .union(not_known_entities)
-            )
+            changed_entities = {
+                self._cache[k] for k in self._cache.islice(
+                    start=self._cache.bisect_right(stream_pos),
+                )
+            }
+
+            result = changed_entities.intersection(entities)
 
             self.metrics.inc_hits()
         else:
diff --git a/synapse/util/distributor.py b/synapse/util/distributor.py
index 734331caaa..194da87639 100644
--- a/synapse/util/distributor.py
+++ b/synapse/util/distributor.py
@@ -17,20 +17,18 @@ import logging
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.util import unwrapFirstError
-from synapse.util.logcontext import PreserveLoggingContext
+from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import run_as_background_process
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def user_left_room(distributor, user, room_id):
-    with PreserveLoggingContext():
-        distributor.fire("user_left_room", user=user, room_id=room_id)
+    distributor.fire("user_left_room", user=user, room_id=room_id)
 
 
 def user_joined_room(distributor, user, room_id):
-    with PreserveLoggingContext():
-        distributor.fire("user_joined_room", user=user, room_id=room_id)
+    distributor.fire("user_joined_room", user=user, room_id=room_id)
 
 
 class Distributor(object):
@@ -44,9 +42,7 @@ class Distributor(object):
       model will do for today.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, suppress_failures=True):
-        self.suppress_failures = suppress_failures
-
+    def __init__(self):
         self.signals = {}
         self.pre_registration = {}
 
@@ -56,7 +52,6 @@ class Distributor(object):
 
         self.signals[name] = Signal(
             name,
-            suppress_failures=self.suppress_failures,
         )
 
         if name in self.pre_registration:
@@ -75,10 +70,18 @@ class Distributor(object):
             self.pre_registration[name].append(observer)
 
     def fire(self, name, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Dispatches the given signal to the registered observers.
+
+        Runs the observers as a background process. Does not return a deferred.
+        """
         if name not in self.signals:
             raise KeyError("%r does not have a signal named %s" % (self, name))
 
-        return self.signals[name].fire(*args, **kwargs)
+        run_as_background_process(
+            name,
+            self.signals[name].fire,
+            *args, **kwargs
+        )
 
 
 class Signal(object):
@@ -91,9 +94,8 @@ class Signal(object):
     method into all of the observers.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, name, suppress_failures):
+    def __init__(self, name):
         self.name = name
-        self.suppress_failures = suppress_failures
         self.observers = []
 
     def observe(self, observer):
@@ -103,7 +105,6 @@ class Signal(object):
         Each observer callable may return a Deferred."""
         self.observers.append(observer)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def fire(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """Invokes every callable in the observer list, passing in the args and
         kwargs. Exceptions thrown by observers are logged but ignored. It is
@@ -121,22 +122,17 @@ class Signal(object):
                         failure.type,
                         failure.value,
                         failure.getTracebackObject()))
-                if not self.suppress_failures:
-                    return failure
 
             return defer.maybeDeferred(observer, *args, **kwargs).addErrback(eb)
 
-        with PreserveLoggingContext():
-            deferreds = [
-                do(observer)
-                for observer in self.observers
-            ]
-
-            res = yield defer.gatherResults(
-                deferreds, consumeErrors=True
-            ).addErrback(unwrapFirstError)
+        deferreds = [
+            run_in_background(do, o)
+            for o in self.observers
+        ]
 
-        defer.returnValue(res)
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
+            deferreds, consumeErrors=True,
+        ))
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return "<Signal name=%r>" % (self.name,)
diff --git a/synapse/util/logcontext.py b/synapse/util/logcontext.py
index fe9288b031..8dcae50b39 100644
--- a/synapse/util/logcontext.py
+++ b/synapse/util/logcontext.py
@@ -49,18 +49,118 @@ except Exception:
         return None
 
 
+class ContextResourceUsage(object):
+    """Object for tracking the resources used by a log context
+
+    Attributes:
+        ru_utime (float): user CPU time (in seconds)
+        ru_stime (float): system CPU time (in seconds)
+        db_txn_count (int): number of database transactions done
+        db_sched_duration_sec (float): amount of time spent waiting for a
+            database connection
+        db_txn_duration_sec (float): amount of time spent doing database
+            transactions (excluding scheduling time)
+        evt_db_fetch_count (int): number of events requested from the database
+    """
+
+    __slots__ = [
+        "ru_stime", "ru_utime",
+        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_sec", "db_sched_duration_sec",
+        "evt_db_fetch_count",
+    ]
+
+    def __init__(self, copy_from=None):
+        """Create a new ContextResourceUsage
+
+        Args:
+            copy_from (ContextResourceUsage|None): if not None, an object to
+                copy stats from
+        """
+        if copy_from is None:
+            self.reset()
+        else:
+            self.ru_utime = copy_from.ru_utime
+            self.ru_stime = copy_from.ru_stime
+            self.db_txn_count = copy_from.db_txn_count
+
+            self.db_txn_duration_sec = copy_from.db_txn_duration_sec
+            self.db_sched_duration_sec = copy_from.db_sched_duration_sec
+            self.evt_db_fetch_count = copy_from.evt_db_fetch_count
+
+    def copy(self):
+        return ContextResourceUsage(copy_from=self)
+
+    def reset(self):
+        self.ru_stime = 0.
+        self.ru_utime = 0.
+        self.db_txn_count = 0
+
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec = 0
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec = 0
+        self.evt_db_fetch_count = 0
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return ("<ContextResourceUsage ru_stime='%r', ru_utime='%r', "
+                "db_txn_count='%r', db_txn_duration_sec='%r', "
+                "db_sched_duration_sec='%r', evt_db_fetch_count='%r'>") % (
+                    self.ru_stime,
+                    self.ru_utime,
+                    self.db_txn_count,
+                    self.db_txn_duration_sec,
+                    self.db_sched_duration_sec,
+                    self.evt_db_fetch_count,)
+
+    def __iadd__(self, other):
+        """Add another ContextResourceUsage's stats to this one's.
+
+        Args:
+            other (ContextResourceUsage): the other resource usage object
+        """
+        self.ru_utime += other.ru_utime
+        self.ru_stime += other.ru_stime
+        self.db_txn_count += other.db_txn_count
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec += other.db_txn_duration_sec
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec += other.db_sched_duration_sec
+        self.evt_db_fetch_count += other.evt_db_fetch_count
+        return self
+
+    def __isub__(self, other):
+        self.ru_utime -= other.ru_utime
+        self.ru_stime -= other.ru_stime
+        self.db_txn_count -= other.db_txn_count
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec -= other.db_txn_duration_sec
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec -= other.db_sched_duration_sec
+        self.evt_db_fetch_count -= other.evt_db_fetch_count
+        return self
+
+    def __add__(self, other):
+        res = ContextResourceUsage(copy_from=self)
+        res += other
+        return res
+
+    def __sub__(self, other):
+        res = ContextResourceUsage(copy_from=self)
+        res -= other
+        return res
+
+
 class LoggingContext(object):
     """Additional context for log formatting. Contexts are scoped within a
     "with" block.
 
+    If a parent is given when creating a new context, then:
+        - logging fields are copied from the parent to the new context on entry
+        - when the new context exits, the cpu usage stats are copied from the
+          child to the parent
+
     Args:
         name (str): Name for the context for debugging.
+        parent_context (LoggingContext|None): The parent of the new context
     """
 
     __slots__ = [
-        "previous_context", "name", "ru_stime", "ru_utime",
-        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_sec", "db_sched_duration_sec",
-        "evt_db_fetch_count",
+        "previous_context", "name", "parent_context",
+        "_resource_usage",
         "usage_start",
         "main_thread", "alive",
         "request", "tag",
@@ -100,21 +200,12 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
 
     sentinel = Sentinel()
 
-    def __init__(self, name=None):
+    def __init__(self, name=None, parent_context=None):
         self.previous_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
         self.name = name
-        self.ru_stime = 0.
-        self.ru_utime = 0.
-        self.db_txn_count = 0
 
-        # sec spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time
-        self.db_txn_duration_sec = 0
-
-        # sec spent waiting for db txns to be scheduled
-        self.db_sched_duration_sec = 0
-
-        # number of events this thread has fetched from the db
-        self.evt_db_fetch_count = 0
+        # track the resources used by this context so far
+        self._resource_usage = ContextResourceUsage()
 
         # If alive has the thread resource usage when the logcontext last
         # became active.
@@ -125,6 +216,8 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         self.tag = ""
         self.alive = True
 
+        self.parent_context = parent_context
+
     def __str__(self):
         return "%s@%x" % (self.name, id(self))
 
@@ -162,6 +255,10 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
                 self.previous_context, old_context
             )
         self.alive = True
+
+        if self.parent_context is not None:
+            self.parent_context.copy_to(self)
+
         return self
 
     def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
@@ -183,6 +280,13 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         self.previous_context = None
         self.alive = False
 
+        # if we have a parent, pass our CPU usage stats on
+        if self.parent_context is not None:
+            self.parent_context._resource_usage += self._resource_usage
+
+            # reset them in case we get entered again
+            self._resource_usage.reset()
+
     def copy_to(self, record):
         """Copy logging fields from this context to a log record or
         another LoggingContext
@@ -207,39 +311,43 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
             logger.warning("Stopped logcontext %s on different thread", self)
             return
 
-        # When we stop, let's record the resource used since we started
-        if self.usage_start:
-            usage_end = get_thread_resource_usage()
+        # When we stop, let's record the cpu used since we started
+        if not self.usage_start:
+            logger.warning(
+                "Called stop on logcontext %s without calling start", self,
+            )
+            return
 
-            self.ru_utime += usage_end.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
-            self.ru_stime += usage_end.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
+        usage_end = get_thread_resource_usage()
 
-            self.usage_start = None
-        else:
-            logger.warning("Called stop on logcontext %s without calling start", self)
+        self._resource_usage.ru_utime += usage_end.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
+        self._resource_usage.ru_stime += usage_end.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
+
+        self.usage_start = None
 
     def get_resource_usage(self):
-        """Get CPU time used by this logcontext so far.
+        """Get resources used by this logcontext so far.
 
         Returns:
-            tuple[float, float]: The user and system CPU usage in seconds
+            ContextResourceUsage: a *copy* of the object tracking resource
+                usage so far
         """
-        ru_utime = self.ru_utime
-        ru_stime = self.ru_stime
+        # we always return a copy, for consistency
+        res = self._resource_usage.copy()
 
         # If we are on the correct thread and we're currently running then we
         # can include resource usage so far.
         is_main_thread = threading.current_thread() is self.main_thread
         if self.alive and self.usage_start and is_main_thread:
             current = get_thread_resource_usage()
-            ru_utime += current.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
-            ru_stime += current.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
+            res.ru_utime += current.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
+            res.ru_stime += current.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
 
-        return ru_utime, ru_stime
+        return res
 
     def add_database_transaction(self, duration_sec):
-        self.db_txn_count += 1
-        self.db_txn_duration_sec += duration_sec
+        self._resource_usage.db_txn_count += 1
+        self._resource_usage.db_txn_duration_sec += duration_sec
 
     def add_database_scheduled(self, sched_sec):
         """Record a use of the database pool
@@ -248,7 +356,7 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
             sched_sec (float): number of seconds it took us to get a
                 connection
         """
-        self.db_sched_duration_sec += sched_sec
+        self._resource_usage.db_sched_duration_sec += sched_sec
 
     def record_event_fetch(self, event_count):
         """Record a number of events being fetched from the db
@@ -256,7 +364,7 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         Args:
             event_count (int): number of events being fetched
         """
-        self.evt_db_fetch_count += event_count
+        self._resource_usage.evt_db_fetch_count += event_count
 
 
 class LoggingContextFilter(logging.Filter):
diff --git a/synapse/util/metrics.py b/synapse/util/metrics.py
index 63bc64c642..97f1267380 100644
--- a/synapse/util/metrics.py
+++ b/synapse/util/metrics.py
@@ -60,10 +60,9 @@ def measure_func(name):
 
 class Measure(object):
     __slots__ = [
-        "clock", "name", "start_context", "start", "new_context", "ru_utime",
-        "ru_stime",
-        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_sec", "db_sched_duration_sec",
+        "clock", "name", "start_context", "start",
         "created_context",
+        "start_usage",
     ]
 
     def __init__(self, clock, name):
@@ -81,10 +80,7 @@ class Measure(object):
             self.start_context.__enter__()
             self.created_context = True
 
-        self.ru_utime, self.ru_stime = self.start_context.get_resource_usage()
-        self.db_txn_count = self.start_context.db_txn_count
-        self.db_txn_duration_sec = self.start_context.db_txn_duration_sec
-        self.db_sched_duration_sec = self.start_context.db_sched_duration_sec
+        self.start_usage = self.start_context.get_resource_usage()
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
         if isinstance(exc_type, Exception) or not self.start_context:
@@ -108,15 +104,19 @@ class Measure(object):
             logger.warn("Expected context. (%r)", self.name)
             return
 
-        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
-
-        block_ru_utime.labels(self.name).inc(ru_utime - self.ru_utime)
-        block_ru_stime.labels(self.name).inc(ru_stime - self.ru_stime)
-        block_db_txn_count.labels(self.name).inc(context.db_txn_count - self.db_txn_count)
-        block_db_txn_duration.labels(self.name).inc(
-            context.db_txn_duration_sec - self.db_txn_duration_sec)
-        block_db_sched_duration.labels(self.name).inc(
-            context.db_sched_duration_sec - self.db_sched_duration_sec)
+        current = context.get_resource_usage()
+        usage = current - self.start_usage
+        try:
+            block_ru_utime.labels(self.name).inc(usage.ru_utime)
+            block_ru_stime.labels(self.name).inc(usage.ru_stime)
+            block_db_txn_count.labels(self.name).inc(usage.db_txn_count)
+            block_db_txn_duration.labels(self.name).inc(usage.db_txn_duration_sec)
+            block_db_sched_duration.labels(self.name).inc(usage.db_sched_duration_sec)
+        except ValueError:
+            logger.warn(
+                "Failed to save metrics! OLD: %r, NEW: %r",
+                self.start_usage, current
+            )
 
         if self.created_context:
             self.start_context.__exit__(exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb)
diff --git a/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py b/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
index 5ac33b2132..7deb38f2a7 100644
--- a/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
@@ -92,13 +92,22 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
 
         self.window_size = window_size
         self.sleep_limit = sleep_limit
-        self.sleep_msec = sleep_msec
+        self.sleep_sec = sleep_msec / 1000.0
         self.reject_limit = reject_limit
         self.concurrent_requests = concurrent_requests
 
+        # request_id objects for requests which have been slept
         self.sleeping_requests = set()
+
+        # map from request_id object to Deferred for requests which are ready
+        # for processing but have been queued
         self.ready_request_queue = collections.OrderedDict()
+
+        # request id objects for requests which are in progress
         self.current_processing = set()
+
+        # times at which we have recently (within the last window_size ms)
+        # received requests.
         self.request_times = []
 
     @contextlib.contextmanager
@@ -117,11 +126,15 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
 
     def _on_enter(self, request_id):
         time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
+
+        # remove any entries from request_times which aren't within the window
         self.request_times[:] = [
             r for r in self.request_times
             if time_now - r < self.window_size
         ]
 
+        # reject the request if we already have too many queued up (either
+        # sleeping or in the ready queue).
         queue_size = len(self.ready_request_queue) + len(self.sleeping_requests)
         if queue_size > self.reject_limit:
             raise LimitExceededError(
@@ -134,9 +147,13 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
 
         def queue_request():
             if len(self.current_processing) > self.concurrent_requests:
-                logger.debug("Ratelimit [%s]: Queue req", id(request_id))
                 queue_defer = defer.Deferred()
                 self.ready_request_queue[request_id] = queue_defer
+                logger.info(
+                    "Ratelimiter: queueing request (queue now %i items)",
+                    len(self.ready_request_queue),
+                )
+
                 return queue_defer
             else:
                 return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -148,10 +165,9 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
 
         if len(self.request_times) > self.sleep_limit:
             logger.debug(
-                "Ratelimit [%s]: sleeping req",
-                id(request_id),
+                "Ratelimiter: sleeping request for %f sec", self.sleep_sec,
             )
-            ret_defer = run_in_background(self.clock.sleep, self.sleep_msec / 1000.0)
+            ret_defer = run_in_background(self.clock.sleep, self.sleep_sec)
 
             self.sleeping_requests.add(request_id)
 
@@ -200,11 +216,8 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
         )
         self.current_processing.discard(request_id)
         try:
-            request_id, deferred = self.ready_request_queue.popitem()
-
-            # XXX: why do we do the following? the on_start callback above will
-            # do it for us.
-            self.current_processing.add(request_id)
+            # start processing the next item on the queue.
+            _, deferred = self.ready_request_queue.popitem(last=False)
 
             with PreserveLoggingContext():
                 deferred.callback(None)
diff --git a/synapse/visibility.py b/synapse/visibility.py
index 015c2bab37..d4680863d3 100644
--- a/synapse/visibility.py
+++ b/synapse/visibility.py
@@ -12,15 +12,18 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import itertools
+
 import logging
 import operator
 
+from six import iteritems, itervalues
+from six.moves import map
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
 from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -72,19 +75,6 @@ def filter_events_for_client(store, user_id, events, is_peeking=False,
         types=types,
     )
 
-    forgotten = yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
-        defer.maybeDeferred(
-            preserve_fn(store.who_forgot_in_room),
-            room_id,
-        )
-        for room_id in frozenset(e.room_id for e in events)
-    ], consumeErrors=True))
-
-    # Set of membership event_ids that have been forgotten
-    event_id_forgotten = frozenset(
-        row["event_id"] for rows in forgotten for row in rows
-    )
-
     ignore_dict_content = yield store.get_global_account_data_by_type_for_user(
         "m.ignored_user_list", user_id,
     )
@@ -173,10 +163,7 @@ def filter_events_for_client(store, user_id, events, is_peeking=False,
         if membership is None:
             membership_event = state.get((EventTypes.Member, user_id), None)
             if membership_event:
-                # XXX why do we do this?
-                # https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/3350
-                if membership_event.event_id not in event_id_forgotten:
-                    membership = membership_event.membership
+                membership = membership_event.membership
 
         # if the user was a member of the room at the time of the event,
         # they can see it.
@@ -218,10 +205,161 @@ def filter_events_for_client(store, user_id, events, is_peeking=False,
         return event
 
     # check each event: gives an iterable[None|EventBase]
-    filtered_events = itertools.imap(allowed, events)
+    filtered_events = map(allowed, events)
 
     # remove the None entries
     filtered_events = filter(operator.truth, filtered_events)
 
     # we turn it into a list before returning it.
     defer.returnValue(list(filtered_events))
+
+
+@defer.inlineCallbacks
+def filter_events_for_server(store, server_name, events):
+    # Whatever else we do, we need to check for senders which have requested
+    # erasure of their data.
+    erased_senders = yield store.are_users_erased(
+        e.sender for e in events,
+    )
+
+    def redact_disallowed(event, state):
+        # if the sender has been gdpr17ed, always return a redacted
+        # copy of the event.
+        if erased_senders[event.sender]:
+            logger.info(
+                "Sender of %s has been erased, redacting",
+                event.event_id,
+            )
+            return prune_event(event)
+
+        # state will be None if we decided we didn't need to filter by
+        # room membership.
+        if not state:
+            return event
+
+        history = state.get((EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ''), None)
+        if history:
+            visibility = history.content.get("history_visibility", "shared")
+            if visibility in ["invited", "joined"]:
+                # We now loop through all state events looking for
+                # membership states for the requesting server to determine
+                # if the server is either in the room or has been invited
+                # into the room.
+                for ev in itervalues(state):
+                    if ev.type != EventTypes.Member:
+                        continue
+                    try:
+                        domain = get_domain_from_id(ev.state_key)
+                    except Exception:
+                        continue
+
+                    if domain != server_name:
+                        continue
+
+                    memtype = ev.membership
+                    if memtype == Membership.JOIN:
+                        return event
+                    elif memtype == Membership.INVITE:
+                        if visibility == "invited":
+                            return event
+                else:
+                    # server has no users in the room: redact
+                    return prune_event(event)
+
+        return event
+
+    # Next lets check to see if all the events have a history visibility
+    # of "shared" or "world_readable". If thats the case then we don't
+    # need to check membership (as we know the server is in the room).
+    event_to_state_ids = yield store.get_state_ids_for_events(
+        frozenset(e.event_id for e in events),
+        types=(
+            (EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""),
+        )
+    )
+
+    visibility_ids = set()
+    for sids in itervalues(event_to_state_ids):
+        hist = sids.get((EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""))
+        if hist:
+            visibility_ids.add(hist)
+
+    # If we failed to find any history visibility events then the default
+    # is "shared" visiblity.
+    if not visibility_ids:
+        all_open = True
+    else:
+        event_map = yield store.get_events(visibility_ids)
+        all_open = all(
+            e.content.get("history_visibility") in (None, "shared", "world_readable")
+            for e in itervalues(event_map)
+        )
+
+    if all_open:
+        # all the history_visibility state affecting these events is open, so
+        # we don't need to filter by membership state. We *do* need to check
+        # for user erasure, though.
+        if erased_senders:
+            events = [
+                redact_disallowed(e, None)
+                for e in events
+            ]
+
+        defer.returnValue(events)
+
+    # Ok, so we're dealing with events that have non-trivial visibility
+    # rules, so we need to also get the memberships of the room.
+
+    # first, for each event we're wanting to return, get the event_ids
+    # of the history vis and membership state at those events.
+    event_to_state_ids = yield store.get_state_ids_for_events(
+        frozenset(e.event_id for e in events),
+        types=(
+            (EventTypes.RoomHistoryVisibility, ""),
+            (EventTypes.Member, None),
+        )
+    )
+
+    # We only want to pull out member events that correspond to the
+    # server's domain.
+    #
+    # event_to_state_ids contains lots of duplicates, so it turns out to be
+    # cheaper to build a complete set of unique
+    # ((type, state_key), event_id) tuples, and then filter out the ones we
+    # don't want.
+    #
+    state_key_to_event_id_set = {
+        e
+        for key_to_eid in itervalues(event_to_state_ids)
+        for e in key_to_eid.items()
+    }
+
+    def include(typ, state_key):
+        if typ != EventTypes.Member:
+            return True
+
+        # we avoid using get_domain_from_id here for efficiency.
+        idx = state_key.find(":")
+        if idx == -1:
+            return False
+        return state_key[idx + 1:] == server_name
+
+    event_map = yield store.get_events([
+        e_id
+        for key, e_id in state_key_to_event_id_set
+        if include(key[0], key[1])
+    ])
+
+    event_to_state = {
+        e_id: {
+            key: event_map[inner_e_id]
+            for key, inner_e_id in iteritems(key_to_eid)
+            if inner_e_id in event_map
+        }
+        for e_id, key_to_eid in iteritems(event_to_state_ids)
+    }
+
+    defer.returnValue([
+        redact_disallowed(e, event_to_state[e.event_id])
+        for e in events
+    ])
diff --git a/tests/replication/slave/storage/_base.py b/tests/replication/slave/storage/_base.py
index 8708c8a196..a103e7be80 100644
--- a/tests/replication/slave/storage/_base.py
+++ b/tests/replication/slave/storage/_base.py
@@ -11,23 +11,44 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
 import tempfile
 
 from mock import Mock, NonCallableMock
 
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
+from twisted.internet.defer import Deferred
 
 from synapse.replication.tcp.client import (
     ReplicationClientFactory,
     ReplicationClientHandler,
 )
 from synapse.replication.tcp.resource import ReplicationStreamProtocolFactory
+from synapse.util.logcontext import PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable
 
 from tests import unittest
 from tests.utils import setup_test_homeserver
 
 
+class TestReplicationClientHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
+    """Overrides on_rdata so that we can wait for it to happen"""
+    def __init__(self, store):
+        super(TestReplicationClientHandler, self).__init__(store)
+        self._rdata_awaiters = []
+
+    def await_replication(self):
+        d = Deferred()
+        self._rdata_awaiters.append(d)
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(d)
+
+    def on_rdata(self, stream_name, token, rows):
+        awaiters = self._rdata_awaiters
+        self._rdata_awaiters = []
+        super(TestReplicationClientHandler, self).on_rdata(stream_name, token, rows)
+        with PreserveLoggingContext():
+            for a in awaiters:
+                a.callback(None)
+
+
 class BaseSlavedStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
@@ -52,7 +73,7 @@ class BaseSlavedStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.addCleanup(listener.stopListening)
         self.streamer = server_factory.streamer
 
-        self.replication_handler = ReplicationClientHandler(self.slaved_store)
+        self.replication_handler = TestReplicationClientHandler(self.slaved_store)
         client_factory = ReplicationClientFactory(
             self.hs, "client_name", self.replication_handler
         )
@@ -60,12 +81,14 @@ class BaseSlavedStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.addCleanup(client_factory.stopTrying)
         self.addCleanup(client_connector.disconnect)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def replicate(self):
-        yield self.streamer.on_notifier_poke()
-        d = self.replication_handler.await_sync("replication_test")
-        self.streamer.send_sync_to_all_connections("replication_test")
-        yield d
+        """Tell the master side of replication that something has happened, and then
+        wait for the replication to occur.
+        """
+        # xxx: should we be more specific in what we wait for?
+        d = self.replication_handler.await_replication()
+        self.streamer.on_notifier_poke()
+        return d
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def check(self, method, args, expected_result=None):
diff --git a/tests/replication/slave/storage/test_events.py b/tests/replication/slave/storage/test_events.py
index cea01d93eb..f5b47f5ec0 100644
--- a/tests/replication/slave/storage/test_events.py
+++ b/tests/replication/slave/storage/test_events.py
@@ -222,9 +222,11 @@ class SlavedEventStoreTestCase(BaseSlavedStoreTestCase):
             state_ids = {
                 key: e.event_id for key, e in state.items()
             }
-            context = EventContext()
-            context.current_state_ids = state_ids
-            context.prev_state_ids = state_ids
+            context = EventContext.with_state(
+                state_group=None,
+                current_state_ids=state_ids,
+                prev_state_ids=state_ids
+            )
         else:
             state_handler = self.hs.get_state_handler()
             context = yield state_handler.compute_event_context(event)
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py b/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
index eee99ca2e0..34e68ae82f 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ class HttpTransactionCacheTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.clock = MockClock()
-        self.cache = HttpTransactionCache(self.clock)
+        self.hs = Mock()
+        self.hs.get_clock = Mock(return_value=self.clock)
+        self.hs.get_auth = Mock()
+        self.cache = HttpTransactionCache(self.hs)
 
         self.mock_http_response = (200, "GOOD JOB!")
         self.mock_key = "foo"
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_admin.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_admin.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c90145601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_admin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,305 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import hashlib
+import hmac
+import json
+
+from mock import Mock
+
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
+from synapse.rest.client.v1.admin import register_servlets
+from synapse.util import Clock
+
+from tests import unittest
+from tests.server import (
+    ThreadedMemoryReactorClock,
+    make_request,
+    render,
+    setup_test_homeserver,
+)
+
+
+class UserRegisterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+
+        self.clock = ThreadedMemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+        self.url = "/_matrix/client/r0/admin/register"
+
+        self.registration_handler = Mock()
+        self.identity_handler = Mock()
+        self.login_handler = Mock()
+        self.device_handler = Mock()
+        self.device_handler.check_device_registered = Mock(return_value="FAKE")
+
+        self.datastore = Mock(return_value=Mock())
+        self.datastore.get_current_state_deltas = Mock(return_value=[])
+
+        self.secrets = Mock()
+
+        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
+        )
+
+        self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret = u"shared"
+
+        self.hs.get_media_repository = Mock()
+        self.hs.get_deactivate_account_handler = Mock()
+
+        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
+        register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
+
+    def test_disabled(self):
+        """
+        If there is no shared secret, registration through this method will be
+        prevented.
+        """
+        self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret = None
+
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, b'{}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual(
+            'Shared secret registration is not enabled', channel.json_body["error"]
+        )
+
+    def test_get_nonce(self):
+        """
+        Calling GET on the endpoint will return a randomised nonce, using the
+        homeserver's secrets provider.
+        """
+        secrets = Mock()
+        secrets.token_hex = Mock(return_value="abcd")
+
+        self.hs.get_secrets = Mock(return_value=secrets)
+
+        request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.json_body, {"nonce": "abcd"})
+
+    def test_expired_nonce(self):
+        """
+        Calling GET on the endpoint will return a randomised nonce, which will
+        only last for SALT_TIMEOUT (60s).
+        """
+        request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        nonce = channel.json_body["nonce"]
+
+        # 59 seconds
+        self.clock.advance(59)
+
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('username must be specified', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # 61 seconds
+        self.clock.advance(2)
+
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('unrecognised nonce', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+    def test_register_incorrect_nonce(self):
+        """
+        Only the provided nonce can be used, as it's checked in the MAC.
+        """
+        request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        nonce = channel.json_body["nonce"]
+
+        want_mac = hmac.new(key=b"shared", digestmod=hashlib.sha1)
+        want_mac.update(b"notthenonce\x00bob\x00abc123\x00admin")
+        want_mac = want_mac.hexdigest()
+
+        body = json.dumps(
+            {
+                "nonce": nonce,
+                "username": "bob",
+                "password": "abc123",
+                "admin": True,
+                "mac": want_mac,
+            }
+        ).encode('utf8')
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual("HMAC incorrect", channel.json_body["error"])
+
+    def test_register_correct_nonce(self):
+        """
+        When the correct nonce is provided, and the right key is provided, the
+        user is registered.
+        """
+        request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        nonce = channel.json_body["nonce"]
+
+        want_mac = hmac.new(key=b"shared", digestmod=hashlib.sha1)
+        want_mac.update(nonce.encode('ascii') + b"\x00bob\x00abc123\x00admin")
+        want_mac = want_mac.hexdigest()
+
+        body = json.dumps(
+            {
+                "nonce": nonce,
+                "username": "bob",
+                "password": "abc123",
+                "admin": True,
+                "mac": want_mac,
+            }
+        ).encode('utf8')
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual("@bob:test", channel.json_body["user_id"])
+
+    def test_nonce_reuse(self):
+        """
+        A valid unrecognised nonce.
+        """
+        request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        nonce = channel.json_body["nonce"]
+
+        want_mac = hmac.new(key=b"shared", digestmod=hashlib.sha1)
+        want_mac.update(nonce.encode('ascii') + b"\x00bob\x00abc123\x00admin")
+        want_mac = want_mac.hexdigest()
+
+        body = json.dumps(
+            {
+                "nonce": nonce,
+                "username": "bob",
+                "password": "abc123",
+                "admin": True,
+                "mac": want_mac,
+            }
+        ).encode('utf8')
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual("@bob:test", channel.json_body["user_id"])
+
+        # Now, try and reuse it
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('unrecognised nonce', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+    def test_missing_parts(self):
+        """
+        Synapse will complain if you don't give nonce, username, password, and
+        mac.  Admin is optional.  Additional checks are done for length and
+        type.
+        """
+        def nonce():
+            request, channel = make_request("GET", self.url)
+            render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+            return channel.json_body["nonce"]
+
+        #
+        # Nonce check
+        #
+
+        # Must be present
+        body = json.dumps({})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('nonce must be specified', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        #
+        # Username checks
+        #
+
+        # Must be present
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce()})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('username must be specified', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Must be a string
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": 1234})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid username', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Must not have null bytes
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": b"abcd\x00"})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid username', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Must not have null bytes
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": "a" * 1000})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid username', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        #
+        # Username checks
+        #
+
+        # Must be present
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": "a"})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('password must be specified', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Must be a string
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": "a", "password": 1234})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid password', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Must not have null bytes
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": "a", "password": b"abcd\x00"})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid password', channel.json_body["error"])
+
+        # Super long
+        body = json.dumps({"nonce": nonce(), "username": "a", "password": "A" * 1000})
+        request, channel = make_request("POST", self.url, body.encode('utf8'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+
+        self.assertEqual(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEqual('Invalid password', channel.json_body["error"])
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
index a5af36a99c..50418153fa 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
@@ -14,100 +14,30 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 """ Tests REST events for /events paths."""
+
 from mock import Mock, NonCallableMock
+from six import PY3
 
-# twisted imports
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-import synapse.rest.client.v1.events
-import synapse.rest.client.v1.register
-import synapse.rest.client.v1.room
-
-from tests import unittest
-
 from ....utils import MockHttpResource, setup_test_homeserver
 from .utils import RestTestCase
 
 PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/api/v1"
 
 
-class EventStreamPaginationApiTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-    """ Tests event streaming query parameters and start/end keys used in the
-    Pagination stream API. """
-    user_id = "sid1"
-
-    def setUp(self):
-        # configure stream and inject items
-        pass
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        pass
-
-    def TODO_test_long_poll(self):
-        # stream from 'end' key, send (self+other) message, expect message.
-
-        # stream from 'END', send (self+other) message, expect message.
-
-        # stream from 'end' key, send (self+other) topic, expect topic.
-
-        # stream from 'END', send (self+other) topic, expect topic.
-
-        # stream from 'end' key, send (self+other) invite, expect invite.
-
-        # stream from 'END', send (self+other) invite, expect invite.
-
-        pass
-
-    def TODO_test_stream_forward(self):
-        # stream from START, expect injected items
-
-        # stream from 'start' key, expect same content
-
-        # stream from 'end' key, expect nothing
-
-        # stream from 'END', expect nothing
-
-        # The following is needed for cases where content is removed e.g. you
-        # left a room, so the token you're streaming from is > the one that
-        # would be returned naturally from START>END.
-        # stream from very new token (higher than end key), expect same token
-        # returned as end key
-        pass
-
-    def TODO_test_limits(self):
-        # stream from a key, expect limit_num items
-
-        # stream from START, expect limit_num items
-
-        pass
-
-    def TODO_test_range(self):
-        # stream from key to key, expect X items
-
-        # stream from key to END, expect X items
-
-        # stream from START to key, expect X items
-
-        # stream from START to END, expect all items
-        pass
-
-    def TODO_test_direction(self):
-        # stream from END to START and fwds, expect newest first
-
-        # stream from END to START and bwds, expect oldest first
-
-        # stream from START to END and fwds, expect oldest first
-
-        # stream from START to END and bwds, expect newest first
-
-        pass
-
-
 class EventStreamPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
     """ Tests event streaming (GET /events). """
 
+    if PY3:
+        skip = "Skip on Py3 until ported to use not V1 only register."
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
+        import synapse.rest.client.v1.events
+        import synapse.rest.client.v1_only.register
+        import synapse.rest.client.v1.room
+
         self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
 
         hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
@@ -125,7 +55,7 @@ class EventStreamPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
 
         hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
 
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.register.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+        synapse.rest.client.v1_only.register.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
         synapse.rest.client.v1.events.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
         synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
 
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_register.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_register.py
index f596acb85f..83a23cd8fe 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_register.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_register.py
@@ -16,27 +16,26 @@
 import json
 
 from mock import Mock
+from six import PY3
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.test.proto_helpers import MemoryReactorClock
 
-from synapse.rest.client.v1.register import CreateUserRestServlet
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
+from synapse.rest.client.v1_only.register import register_servlets
+from synapse.util import Clock
 
 from tests import unittest
-from tests.utils import mock_getRawHeaders
+from tests.server import make_request, setup_test_homeserver
 
 
 class CreateUserServletTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    """
+    Tests for CreateUserRestServlet.
+    """
+    if PY3:
+        skip = "Not ported to Python 3."
 
     def setUp(self):
-        # do the dance to hook up request data to self.request_data
-        self.request_data = ""
-        self.request = Mock(
-            content=Mock(read=Mock(side_effect=lambda: self.request_data)),
-            path='/_matrix/client/api/v1/createUser'
-        )
-        self.request.args = {}
-        self.request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders = mock_getRawHeaders()
-
         self.registration_handler = Mock()
 
         self.appservice = Mock(sender="@as:test")
@@ -44,39 +43,49 @@ class CreateUserServletTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             get_app_service_by_token=Mock(return_value=self.appservice)
         )
 
-        # do the dance to hook things up to the hs global
-        handlers = Mock(
-            registration_handler=self.registration_handler,
+        handlers = Mock(registration_handler=self.registration_handler)
+        self.clock = MemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+
+        self.hs = self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
         )
-        self.hs = Mock()
-        self.hs.hostname = "superbig~testing~thing.com"
         self.hs.get_datastore = Mock(return_value=self.datastore)
         self.hs.get_handlers = Mock(return_value=handlers)
-        self.servlet = CreateUserRestServlet(self.hs)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_POST_createuser_with_valid_user(self):
+
+        res = JsonResource(self.hs)
+        register_servlets(self.hs, res)
+
+        request_data = json.dumps(
+            {
+                "localpart": "someone",
+                "displayname": "someone interesting",
+                "duration_seconds": 200,
+            }
+        )
+
+        url = b'/_matrix/client/api/v1/createUser?access_token=i_am_an_app_service'
+
         user_id = "@someone:interesting"
         token = "my token"
-        self.request.args = {
-            "access_token": "i_am_an_app_service"
-        }
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "localpart": "someone",
-            "displayname": "someone interesting",
-            "duration_seconds": 200
-        })
 
         self.registration_handler.get_or_create_user = Mock(
             return_value=(user_id, token)
         )
 
-        (code, result) = yield self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        self.assertEquals(code, 200)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", url, request_data)
+        request.render(res)
+
+        # Advance the clock because it waits
+        self.clock.advance(1)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200")
 
         det_data = {
             "user_id": user_id,
             "access_token": token,
-            "home_server": self.hs.hostname
+            "home_server": self.hs.hostname,
         }
-        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, result)
+        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, json.loads(channel.result["body"]))
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
index 895dffa095..00fc796787 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
@@ -20,954 +20,777 @@ import json
 from mock import Mock, NonCallableMock
 from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
-# twisted imports
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 import synapse.rest.client.v1.room
 from synapse.api.constants import Membership
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
 from synapse.types import UserID
+from synapse.util import Clock
 
-from ....utils import MockHttpResource, setup_test_homeserver
-from .utils import RestTestCase
+from tests import unittest
+from tests.server import (
+    ThreadedMemoryReactorClock,
+    make_request,
+    render,
+    setup_test_homeserver,
+)
 
-PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/api/v1"
+from .utils import RestHelper
 
+PATH_PREFIX = b"/_matrix/client/api/v1"
 
-class RoomPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
-    """ Tests room permissions. """
-    user_id = "@sid1:red"
-    rmcreator_id = "@notme:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+class RoomBase(unittest.TestCase):
+    rmcreator_id = None
+
     def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
 
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
+        self.clock = ThreadedMemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+
+        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
             "red",
             http_client=None,
+            clock=self.hs_clock,
+            reactor=self.clock,
             federation_client=Mock(),
             ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
         )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
+        self.ratelimiter = self.hs.get_ratelimiter()
         self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
 
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
+        self.hs.get_federation_handler = Mock(return_value=Mock())
 
         def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
             return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
+                "user": UserID.from_string(self.helper.auth_user_id),
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+
+        def get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=False, rights="access"):
+            return synapse.types.create_requester(
+                UserID.from_string(self.helper.auth_user_id), 1, False, None
+            )
+
+        self.hs.get_auth().get_user_by_req = get_user_by_req
+        self.hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        self.hs.get_auth().get_access_token_from_request = Mock(return_value=b"1234")
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
 
-        self.auth_user_id = self.rmcreator_id
+        self.hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
 
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
+        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
+        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_deprecated_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
+        self.helper = RestHelper(self.hs, self.resource, self.user_id)
 
-        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
 
-        # create some rooms under the name rmcreator_id
-        self.uncreated_rmid = "!aa:test"
+class RoomPermissionsTestCase(RoomBase):
+    """ Tests room permissions. """
 
-        self.created_rmid = yield self.create_room_as(self.rmcreator_id,
-                                                      is_public=False)
+    user_id = b"@sid1:red"
+    rmcreator_id = b"@notme:red"
+
+    def setUp(self):
 
-        self.created_public_rmid = yield self.create_room_as(self.rmcreator_id,
-                                                             is_public=True)
+        super(RoomPermissionsTestCase, self).setUp()
+
+        self.helper.auth_user_id = self.rmcreator_id
+        # create some rooms under the name rmcreator_id
+        self.uncreated_rmid = "!aa:test"
+        self.created_rmid = self.helper.create_room_as(
+            self.rmcreator_id, is_public=False
+        )
+        self.created_public_rmid = self.helper.create_room_as(
+            self.rmcreator_id, is_public=True
+        )
 
         # send a message in one of the rooms
         self.created_rmid_msg_path = (
-            "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/a1" % (self.created_rmid)
-        )
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
+            "rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/a1" % (self.created_rmid)
+        ).encode('ascii')
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT",
             self.created_rmid_msg_path,
-            '{"msgtype":"m.text","body":"test msg"}'
+            b'{"msgtype":"m.text","body":"test msg"}',
         )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200", channel.result)
 
         # set topic for public room
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid,
-            '{"topic":"Public Room Topic"}'
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT",
+            ("rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid).encode('ascii'),
+            b'{"topic":"Public Room Topic"}',
         )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200", channel.result)
 
         # auth as user_id now
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        pass
+        self.helper.auth_user_id = self.user_id
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_send_message(self):
-        msg_content = '{"msgtype":"m.text","body":"hello"}'
-        send_msg_path = (
-            "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (self.created_rmid,)
-        )
+        msg_content = b'{"msgtype":"m.text","body":"hello"}'
+
+        seq = iter(range(100))
+
+        def send_msg_path():
+            return b"/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid%s" % (
+                self.created_rmid,
+                str(next(seq)).encode('ascii'),
+            )
 
         # send message in uncreated room, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid2" % (self.uncreated_rmid,),
-            msg_content
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT",
+            b"/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid2" % (self.uncreated_rmid,),
+            msg_content,
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # send message in created room not joined (no state), expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            send_msg_path,
-            msg_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", send_msg_path(), msg_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # send message in created room and invited, expect 403
-        yield self.invite(
-            room=self.created_rmid,
-            src=self.rmcreator_id,
-            targ=self.user_id
-        )
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            send_msg_path,
-            msg_content
+        self.helper.invite(
+            room=self.created_rmid, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", send_msg_path(), msg_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # send message in created room and joined, expect 200
-        yield self.join(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            send_msg_path,
-            msg_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        self.helper.join(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", send_msg_path(), msg_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # send message in created room and left, expect 403
-        yield self.leave(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            send_msg_path,
-            msg_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        self.helper.leave(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", send_msg_path(), msg_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_topic_perms(self):
-        topic_content = '{"topic":"My Topic Name"}'
-        topic_path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_rmid
+        topic_content = b'{"topic":"My Topic Name"}'
+        topic_path = b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_rmid
 
         # set/get topic in uncreated room, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.uncreated_rmid,
-            topic_content
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT", b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.uncreated_rmid, topic_content
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.uncreated_rmid
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.uncreated_rmid
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # set/get topic in created PRIVATE room not joined, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", topic_path, topic_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(topic_path)
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", topic_path, topic_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", topic_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # set topic in created PRIVATE room and invited, expect 403
-        yield self.invite(
+        self.helper.invite(
             room=self.created_rmid, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id
         )
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", topic_path, topic_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", topic_path, topic_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # get topic in created PRIVATE room and invited, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(topic_path)
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", topic_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # set/get topic in created PRIVATE room and joined, expect 200
-        yield self.join(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.join(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
 
         # Only room ops can set topic by default
-        self.auth_user_id = self.rmcreator_id
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", topic_path, topic_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
+        self.helper.auth_user_id = self.rmcreator_id
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", topic_path, topic_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.helper.auth_user_id = self.user_id
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(topic_path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.assert_dict(json.loads(topic_content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", topic_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assert_dict(json.loads(topic_content), channel.json_body)
 
         # set/get topic in created PRIVATE room and left, expect 403
-        yield self.leave(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", topic_path, topic_content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(topic_path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        self.helper.leave(room=self.created_rmid, user=self.user_id)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", topic_path, topic_content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", topic_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # get topic in PUBLIC room, not joined, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # set topic in PUBLIC room, not joined, expect 403
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT",
-            "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid,
-            topic_content
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT",
+            b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % self.created_public_rmid,
+            topic_content,
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _test_get_membership(self, room=None, members=[], expect_code=None):
         for member in members:
-            path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (room, member)
-            (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(path)
-            self.assertEquals(expect_code, code)
+            path = b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (room, member)
+            request, channel = make_request(b"GET", path)
+            render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+            self.assertEquals(expect_code, int(channel.result["code"]))
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_membership_basic_room_perms(self):
         # === room does not exist ===
         room = self.uncreated_rmid
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, uncreated room
         # expect all 403s
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=403)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=403
+        )
 
         # trying to invite people to this room should 403
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.rmcreator_id,
-                          expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.invite(
+            room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.rmcreator_id, expect_code=403
+        )
 
         # set [invite/join/left] of self, set [invite/join/left] of other,
         # expect all 404s because room doesn't exist on any server
         for usr in [self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id]:
-            yield self.join(room=room, user=usr, expect_code=404)
-            yield self.leave(room=room, user=usr, expect_code=404)
+            self.helper.join(room=room, user=usr, expect_code=404)
+            self.helper.leave(room=room, user=usr, expect_code=404)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_membership_private_room_perms(self):
         room = self.created_rmid
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, private room + invite
         # expect all 403s
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id,
-                          targ=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=403
+        )
 
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, private room + joined
         # expect all 200s
-        yield self.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=200)
+        self.helper.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=200
+        )
 
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, private room + left
         # expect all 200s
-        yield self.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=200)
+        self.helper.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=200
+        )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_membership_public_room_perms(self):
         room = self.created_public_rmid
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, public room + invite
         # expect 403
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id,
-                          targ=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=403
+        )
 
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, public room + joined
         # expect all 200s
-        yield self.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=200)
+        self.helper.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=200
+        )
 
         # get membership of self, get membership of other, public room + left
         # expect 200.
-        yield self.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
-        yield self._test_get_membership(
-            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id],
-            room=room, expect_code=200)
+        self.helper.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self._test_get_membership(
+            members=[self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id], room=room, expect_code=200
+        )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_invited_permissions(self):
         room = self.created_rmid
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
 
         # set [invite/join/left] of other user, expect 403s
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.rmcreator_id,
-                          expect_code=403)
-        yield self.change_membership(room=room, src=self.user_id,
-                                     targ=self.rmcreator_id,
-                                     membership=Membership.JOIN,
-                                     expect_code=403)
-        yield self.change_membership(room=room, src=self.user_id,
-                                     targ=self.rmcreator_id,
-                                     membership=Membership.LEAVE,
-                                     expect_code=403)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        self.helper.invite(
+            room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.rmcreator_id, expect_code=403
+        )
+        self.helper.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=self.user_id,
+            targ=self.rmcreator_id,
+            membership=Membership.JOIN,
+            expect_code=403,
+        )
+        self.helper.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=self.user_id,
+            targ=self.rmcreator_id,
+            membership=Membership.LEAVE,
+            expect_code=403,
+        )
+
     def test_joined_permissions(self):
         room = self.created_rmid
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
-        yield self.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
 
         # set invited of self, expect 403
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.user_id,
-                          expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.invite(
+            room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=self.user_id, expect_code=403
+        )
 
         # set joined of self, expect 200 (NOOP)
-        yield self.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
 
         other = "@burgundy:red"
         # set invited of other, expect 200
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=other,
-                          expect_code=200)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.user_id, targ=other, expect_code=200)
 
         # set joined of other, expect 403
-        yield self.change_membership(room=room, src=self.user_id,
-                                     targ=other,
-                                     membership=Membership.JOIN,
-                                     expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=self.user_id,
+            targ=other,
+            membership=Membership.JOIN,
+            expect_code=403,
+        )
 
         # set left of other, expect 403
-        yield self.change_membership(room=room, src=self.user_id,
-                                     targ=other,
-                                     membership=Membership.LEAVE,
-                                     expect_code=403)
+        self.helper.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=self.user_id,
+            targ=other,
+            membership=Membership.LEAVE,
+            expect_code=403,
+        )
 
         # set left of self, expect 200
-        yield self.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_leave_permissions(self):
         room = self.created_rmid
-        yield self.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
-        yield self.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
-        yield self.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.invite(room=room, src=self.rmcreator_id, targ=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.join(room=room, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.leave(room=room, user=self.user_id)
 
         # set [invite/join/left] of self, set [invite/join/left] of other,
         # expect all 403s
         for usr in [self.user_id, self.rmcreator_id]:
-            yield self.change_membership(
+            self.helper.change_membership(
                 room=room,
                 src=self.user_id,
                 targ=usr,
                 membership=Membership.INVITE,
-                expect_code=403
+                expect_code=403,
             )
 
-            yield self.change_membership(
+            self.helper.change_membership(
                 room=room,
                 src=self.user_id,
                 targ=usr,
                 membership=Membership.JOIN,
-                expect_code=403
+                expect_code=403,
             )
 
         # It is always valid to LEAVE if you've already left (currently.)
-        yield self.change_membership(
+        self.helper.change_membership(
             room=room,
             src=self.user_id,
             targ=self.rmcreator_id,
             membership=Membership.LEAVE,
-            expect_code=403
+            expect_code=403,
         )
 
 
-class RoomsMemberListTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomsMemberListTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/members/list REST events."""
-    user_id = "@sid1:red"
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
-
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
 
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+    user_id = b"@sid1:red"
 
-    def tearDown(self):
-        pass
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_member_list(self):
-        room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/members" % room_id
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/rooms/%s/members" % room_id)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_member_list_no_room(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/roomdoesnotexist/members"
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/rooms/roomdoesnotexist/members")
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_member_list_no_permission(self):
-        room_id = yield self.create_room_as("@some_other_guy:red")
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/members" % room_id
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(b"@some_other_guy:red")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/rooms/%s/members" % room_id)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_member_list_mixed_memberships(self):
-        room_creator = "@some_other_guy:red"
-        room_id = yield self.create_room_as(room_creator)
-        room_path = "/rooms/%s/members" % room_id
-        yield self.invite(room=room_id, src=room_creator,
-                          targ=self.user_id)
+        room_creator = b"@some_other_guy:red"
+        room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(room_creator)
+        room_path = b"/rooms/%s/members" % room_id
+        self.helper.invite(room=room_id, src=room_creator, targ=self.user_id)
         # can't see list if you're just invited.
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(room_path)
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", room_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(403, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        yield self.join(room=room_id, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.join(room=room_id, user=self.user_id)
         # can see list now joined
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(room_path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", room_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        yield self.leave(room=room_id, user=self.user_id)
+        self.helper.leave(room=room_id, user=self.user_id)
         # can see old list once left
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(room_path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", room_path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
 
-class RoomsCreateTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomsCreateTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms and /rooms/$room_id REST events. """
-    user_id = "@sid1:red"
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
 
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
-
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+    user_id = b"@sid1:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_post_room_no_keys(self):
         # POST with no config keys, expect new room id
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("POST",
-                                                            "/createRoom",
-                                                            "{}")
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, response)
-        self.assertTrue("room_id" in response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", b"/createRoom", b"{}")
+
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), channel.result)
+        self.assertTrue("room_id" in channel.json_body)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_post_room_visibility_key(self):
         # POST with visibility config key, expect new room id
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST",
-            "/createRoom",
-            '{"visibility":"private"}')
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertTrue("room_id" in response)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST", b"/createRoom", b'{"visibility":"private"}'
+        )
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
+        self.assertTrue("room_id" in channel.json_body)
+
     def test_post_room_custom_key(self):
         # POST with custom config keys, expect new room id
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST",
-            "/createRoom",
-            '{"custom":"stuff"}')
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertTrue("room_id" in response)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", b"/createRoom", b'{"custom":"stuff"}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
+        self.assertTrue("room_id" in channel.json_body)
+
     def test_post_room_known_and_unknown_keys(self):
         # POST with custom + known config keys, expect new room id
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST",
-            "/createRoom",
-            '{"visibility":"private","custom":"things"}')
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertTrue("room_id" in response)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST", b"/createRoom", b'{"visibility":"private","custom":"things"}'
+        )
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
+        self.assertTrue("room_id" in channel.json_body)
+
     def test_post_room_invalid_content(self):
         # POST with invalid content / paths, expect 400
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST",
-            "/createRoom",
-            '{"visibili')
-        self.assertEquals(400, code)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", b"/createRoom", b'{"visibili')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]))
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST",
-            "/createRoom",
-            '["hello"]')
-        self.assertEquals(400, code)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", b"/createRoom", b'["hello"]')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]))
 
 
-class RoomTopicTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomTopicTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/topic REST events. """
-    user_id = "@sid1:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
+    user_id = b"@sid1:red"
 
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
+    def setUp(self):
 
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+        super(RoomTopicTestCase, self).setUp()
 
         # create the room
-        self.room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
-        self.path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % (self.room_id,)
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        pass
+        self.room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
+        self.path = b"/rooms/%s/state/m.room.topic" % (self.room_id,)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_invalid_puts(self):
         # missing keys or invalid json
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, '{}'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, '{}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, '{"_name":"bob"}'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, '{"_name":"bob"}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, '{"nao'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, '{"nao')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, '[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT", self.path, '[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, 'text only'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, 'text only')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, ''
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, '')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # valid key, wrong type
         content = '{"topic":["Topic name"]}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_topic(self):
         # nothing should be there
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(self.path)
-        self.assertEquals(404, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", self.path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(404, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # valid put
         content = '{"topic":"Topic name"}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # valid get
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(self.path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.assert_dict(json.loads(content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", self.path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assert_dict(json.loads(content), channel.json_body)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_topic_with_extra_keys(self):
         # valid put with extra keys
         content = '{"topic":"Seasons","subtopic":"Summer"}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", self.path, content
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", self.path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # valid get
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(self.path)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.assert_dict(json.loads(content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", self.path)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assert_dict(json.loads(content), channel.json_body)
 
 
-class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/members/$user_id/state REST events. """
-    user_id = "@sid1:red"
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
 
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
+    user_id = b"@sid1:red"
 
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
-
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+    def setUp(self):
 
-        self.room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
+        super(RoomMemberStateTestCase, self).setUp()
+        self.room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         pass
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_invalid_puts(self):
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (self.room_id, self.user_id)
         # missing keys or invalid json
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, '{}')
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '{"_name":"bob"}'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{"_name":"bob"}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '{"nao'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{"nao')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT", path, b'[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, 'text only'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, 'text only')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, ''
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # valid keys, wrong types
-        content = ('{"membership":["%s","%s","%s"]}' % (
-            Membership.INVITE, Membership.JOIN, Membership.LEAVE
-        ))
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        content = '{"membership":["%s","%s","%s"]}' % (
+            Membership.INVITE,
+            Membership.JOIN,
+            Membership.LEAVE,
+        )
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content.encode('ascii'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_members_self(self):
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.user_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id),
+            self.user_id,
         )
 
         # valid join message (NOOP since we made the room)
         content = '{"membership":"%s"}' % Membership.JOIN
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content.encode('ascii'))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("GET", path, None)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", path, None)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        expected_response = {
-            "membership": Membership.JOIN,
-        }
-        self.assertEquals(expected_response, response)
+        expected_response = {"membership": Membership.JOIN}
+        self.assertEquals(expected_response, channel.json_body)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_members_other(self):
         self.other_id = "@zzsid1:red"
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id),
+            self.other_id,
         )
 
         # valid invite message
         content = '{"membership":"%s"}' % Membership.INVITE
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("GET", path, None)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.assertEquals(json.loads(content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", path, None)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEquals(json.loads(content), channel.json_body)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_members_other_custom_keys(self):
         self.other_id = "@zzsid1:red"
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id),
+            self.other_id,
         )
 
         # valid invite message with custom key
-        content = ('{"membership":"%s","invite_text":"%s"}' % (
-            Membership.INVITE, "Join us!"
-        ))
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        content = '{"membership":"%s","invite_text":"%s"}' % (
+            Membership.INVITE,
+            "Join us!",
+        )
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("GET", path, None)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-        self.assertEquals(json.loads(content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", path, None)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
+        self.assertEquals(json.loads(content), channel.json_body)
 
 
-class RoomMessagesTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomMessagesTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/messages/$user_id/$msg_id REST events. """
+
     user_id = "@sid1:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
+        super(RoomMessagesTestCase, self).setUp()
 
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
+        self.room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
 
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
-
-        self.room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        pass
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_invalid_puts(self):
-        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
+        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
         # missing keys or invalid json
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '{}'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '{"_name":"bob"}'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{"_name":"bob"}')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '{"nao'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '{"nao')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, '[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT", path, '[{"_name":"bob"},{"_name":"jill"}]'
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, 'text only'
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, 'text only')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "PUT", path, ''
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, '')
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_messages_sent(self):
-        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
+        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
 
         content = '{"body":"test","msgtype":{"type":"a"}}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(400, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(400, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # custom message types
         content = '{"body":"test","msgtype":"test.custom.text"}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-
-#        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("GET", path, None)
-#        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
-#        self.assert_dict(json.loads(content), response)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
         # m.text message type
-        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid2" % (
-            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
+        path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid2" % (urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
         content = '{"body":"test2","msgtype":"m.text"}'
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
-        self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
+        request, channel = make_request(b"PUT", path, content)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]), msg=channel.result["body"])
 
 
-class RoomInitialSyncTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomInitialSyncTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/initialSync. """
+
     user_id = "@sid1:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=[
-                "send_message",
-            ]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
-
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
+        super(RoomInitialSyncTestCase, self).setUp()
 
         # create the room
-        self.room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
+        self.room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_initial_sync(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/initialSync" % self.room_id
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", "/rooms/%s/initialSync" % self.room_id)
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
 
-        self.assertEquals(self.room_id, response["room_id"])
-        self.assertEquals("join", response["membership"])
+        self.assertEquals(self.room_id, channel.json_body["room_id"])
+        self.assertEquals("join", channel.json_body["membership"])
 
         # Room state is easier to assert on if we unpack it into a dict
         state = {}
-        for event in response["state"]:
+        for event in channel.json_body["state"]:
             if "state_key" not in event:
                 continue
             t = event["type"]
@@ -977,75 +800,48 @@ class RoomInitialSyncTestCase(RestTestCase):
 
         self.assertTrue("m.room.create" in state)
 
-        self.assertTrue("messages" in response)
-        self.assertTrue("chunk" in response["messages"])
-        self.assertTrue("end" in response["messages"])
+        self.assertTrue("messages" in channel.json_body)
+        self.assertTrue("chunk" in channel.json_body["messages"])
+        self.assertTrue("end" in channel.json_body["messages"])
 
-        self.assertTrue("presence" in response)
+        self.assertTrue("presence" in channel.json_body)
 
         presence_by_user = {
-            e["content"]["user_id"]: e for e in response["presence"]
+            e["content"]["user_id"]: e for e in channel.json_body["presence"]
         }
         self.assertTrue(self.user_id in presence_by_user)
         self.assertEquals("m.presence", presence_by_user[self.user_id]["type"])
 
 
-class RoomMessageListTestCase(RestTestCase):
+class RoomMessageListTestCase(RoomBase):
     """ Tests /rooms/$room_id/messages REST events. """
+
     user_id = "@sid1:red"
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-        self.auth_user_id = self.user_id
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            "red",
-            http_client=None,
-            federation_client=Mock(),
-            ratelimiter=NonCallableMock(spec_set=["send_message"]),
-        )
-        self.ratelimiter = hs.get_ratelimiter()
-        self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
-
-        hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.auth_user_id),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        super(RoomMessageListTestCase, self).setUp()
+        self.room_id = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id)
 
-        def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
-            return defer.succeed(None)
-        hs.get_datastore().insert_client_ip = _insert_client_ip
-
-        synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
-
-        self.room_id = yield self.create_room_as(self.user_id)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_topo_token_is_accepted(self):
         token = "t1-0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0"
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/messages?access_token=x&from=%s" %
-            (self.room_id, token))
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertTrue("start" in response)
-        self.assertEquals(token, response['start'])
-        self.assertTrue("chunk" in response)
-        self.assertTrue("end" in response)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/rooms/%s/messages?access_token=x&from=%s" % (self.room_id, token)
+        )
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
+        self.assertTrue("start" in channel.json_body)
+        self.assertEquals(token, channel.json_body['start'])
+        self.assertTrue("chunk" in channel.json_body)
+        self.assertTrue("end" in channel.json_body)
+
     def test_stream_token_is_accepted_for_fwd_pagianation(self):
         token = "s0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0"
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/rooms/%s/messages?access_token=x&from=%s" %
-            (self.room_id, token))
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertTrue("start" in response)
-        self.assertEquals(token, response['start'])
-        self.assertTrue("chunk" in response)
-        self.assertTrue("end" in response)
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/rooms/%s/messages?access_token=x&from=%s" % (self.room_id, token)
+        )
+        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        self.assertEquals(200, int(channel.result["code"]))
+        self.assertTrue("start" in channel.json_body)
+        self.assertEquals(token, channel.json_body['start'])
+        self.assertTrue("chunk" in channel.json_body)
+        self.assertTrue("end" in channel.json_body)
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/utils.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/utils.py
index 54d7ba380d..41de8e0762 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/utils.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/utils.py
@@ -16,13 +16,14 @@
 import json
 import time
 
-# twisted imports
+import attr
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.constants import Membership
 
-# trial imports
 from tests import unittest
+from tests.server import make_request, wait_until_result
 
 
 class RestTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -133,3 +134,113 @@ class RestTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         for key in required:
             self.assertEquals(required[key], actual[key],
                               msg="%s mismatch. %s" % (key, actual))
+
+
+@attr.s
+class RestHelper(object):
+    """Contains extra helper functions to quickly and clearly perform a given
+    REST action, which isn't the focus of the test.
+    """
+
+    hs = attr.ib()
+    resource = attr.ib()
+    auth_user_id = attr.ib()
+
+    def create_room_as(self, room_creator, is_public=True, tok=None):
+        temp_id = self.auth_user_id
+        self.auth_user_id = room_creator
+        path = b"/_matrix/client/r0/createRoom"
+        content = {}
+        if not is_public:
+            content["visibility"] = "private"
+        if tok:
+            path = path + b"?access_token=%s" % tok.encode('ascii')
+
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", path, json.dumps(content).encode('utf8'))
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.hs.get_reactor(), channel)
+
+        assert channel.result["code"] == b"200", channel.result
+        self.auth_user_id = temp_id
+        return channel.json_body["room_id"]
+
+    def invite(self, room=None, src=None, targ=None, expect_code=200, tok=None):
+        self.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=src,
+            targ=targ,
+            tok=tok,
+            membership=Membership.INVITE,
+            expect_code=expect_code,
+        )
+
+    def join(self, room=None, user=None, expect_code=200, tok=None):
+        self.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=user,
+            targ=user,
+            tok=tok,
+            membership=Membership.JOIN,
+            expect_code=expect_code,
+        )
+
+    def leave(self, room=None, user=None, expect_code=200, tok=None):
+        self.change_membership(
+            room=room,
+            src=user,
+            targ=user,
+            tok=tok,
+            membership=Membership.LEAVE,
+            expect_code=expect_code,
+        )
+
+    def change_membership(self, room, src, targ, membership, tok=None, expect_code=200):
+        temp_id = self.auth_user_id
+        self.auth_user_id = src
+
+        path = "/_matrix/client/r0/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (room, targ)
+        if tok:
+            path = path + "?access_token=%s" % tok
+
+        data = {"membership": membership}
+
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"PUT", path.encode('ascii'), json.dumps(data).encode('utf8')
+        )
+
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.hs.get_reactor(), channel)
+
+        assert int(channel.result["code"]) == expect_code, (
+            "Expected: %d, got: %d, resp: %r"
+            % (expect_code, int(channel.result["code"]), channel.result["body"])
+        )
+
+        self.auth_user_id = temp_id
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def register(self, user_id):
+        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
+            "POST",
+            "/_matrix/client/r0/register",
+            json.dumps(
+                {"user": user_id, "password": "test", "type": "m.login.password"}
+            ),
+        )
+        self.assertEquals(200, code)
+        defer.returnValue(response)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def send(self, room_id, body=None, txn_id=None, tok=None, expect_code=200):
+        if txn_id is None:
+            txn_id = "m%s" % (str(time.time()))
+        if body is None:
+            body = "body_text_here"
+
+        path = "/_matrix/client/r0/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/%s" % (room_id, txn_id)
+        content = '{"msgtype":"m.text","body":"%s"}' % body
+        if tok:
+            path = path + "?access_token=%s" % tok
+
+        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
+        self.assertEquals(expect_code, code, msg=str(response))
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/__init__.py b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/__init__.py
index f18a8a6027..e69de29bb2 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/__init__.py
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-from mock import Mock
-
-from twisted.internet import defer
-
-from synapse.types import UserID
-
-from tests import unittest
-
-from ....utils import MockHttpResource, setup_test_homeserver
-
-PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/v2_alpha"
-
-
-class V2AlphaRestTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-    # Consumer must define
-    #   USER_ID = <some string>
-    #   TO_REGISTER = [<list of REST servlets to register>]
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
-
-        hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            datastore=self.make_datastore_mock(),
-            http_client=None,
-            resource_for_client=self.mock_resource,
-            resource_for_federation=self.mock_resource,
-        )
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-
-        for r in self.TO_REGISTER:
-            r.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
-
-    def make_datastore_mock(self):
-        store = Mock(spec=[
-            "insert_client_ip",
-        ])
-        store.get_app_service_by_token = Mock(return_value=None)
-        return store
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_filter.py b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_filter.py
index bb0b2f94ea..e890f0feac 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_filter.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_filter.py
@@ -13,35 +13,37 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
-
 import synapse.types
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
 from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import filter
 from synapse.types import UserID
+from synapse.util import Clock
 
 from tests import unittest
-
-from ....utils import MockHttpResource, setup_test_homeserver
+from tests.server import (
+    ThreadedMemoryReactorClock as MemoryReactorClock,
+    make_request,
+    setup_test_homeserver,
+    wait_until_result,
+)
 
 PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/v2_alpha"
 
 
 class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
-    USER_ID = "@apple:test"
+    USER_ID = b"@apple:test"
     EXAMPLE_FILTER = {"room": {"timeline": {"types": ["m.room.message"]}}}
-    EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON = '{"room": {"timeline": {"types": ["m.room.message"]}}}'
+    EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON = b'{"room": {"timeline": {"types": ["m.room.message"]}}}'
     TO_REGISTER = [filter]
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def setUp(self):
-        self.mock_resource = MockHttpResource(prefix=PATH_PREFIX)
+        self.clock = MemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
 
-        self.hs = yield setup_test_homeserver(
-            http_client=None,
-            resource_for_client=self.mock_resource,
-            resource_for_federation=self.mock_resource,
+        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
         )
 
         self.auth = self.hs.get_auth()
@@ -55,82 +57,103 @@ class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         def get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=False, rights="access"):
             return synapse.types.create_requester(
-                UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID), 1, False, None)
+                UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID), 1, False, None
+            )
 
         self.auth.get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
         self.auth.get_user_by_req = get_user_by_req
 
         self.store = self.hs.get_datastore()
         self.filtering = self.hs.get_filtering()
+        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
 
         for r in self.TO_REGISTER:
-            r.register_servlets(self.hs, self.mock_resource)
+            r.register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_add_filter(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST", "/user/%s/filter" % (self.USER_ID), self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON
-        )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertEquals({"filter_id": "0"}, response)
-        filter = yield self.store.get_user_filter(
-            user_localpart='apple',
-            filter_id=0,
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST",
+            b"/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter" % (self.USER_ID),
+            self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON,
         )
-        self.assertEquals(filter, self.EXAMPLE_FILTER)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"200")
+        self.assertEqual(channel.json_body, {"filter_id": "0"})
+        filter = self.store.get_user_filter(user_localpart="apple", filter_id=0)
+        self.clock.advance(0)
+        self.assertEquals(filter.result, self.EXAMPLE_FILTER)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_add_filter_for_other_user(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST", "/user/%s/filter" % ('@watermelon:test'), self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST",
+            b"/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter" % (b"@watermelon:test"),
+            self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON,
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code)
-        self.assertEquals(response['errcode'], Codes.FORBIDDEN)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"403")
+        self.assertEquals(channel.json_body["errcode"], Codes.FORBIDDEN)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_add_filter_non_local_user(self):
         _is_mine = self.hs.is_mine
         self.hs.is_mine = lambda target_user: False
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
-            "POST", "/user/%s/filter" % (self.USER_ID), self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST",
+            b"/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter" % (self.USER_ID),
+            self.EXAMPLE_FILTER_JSON,
         )
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
         self.hs.is_mine = _is_mine
-        self.assertEquals(403, code)
-        self.assertEquals(response['errcode'], Codes.FORBIDDEN)
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"403")
+        self.assertEquals(channel.json_body["errcode"], Codes.FORBIDDEN)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_filter(self):
-        filter_id = yield self.filtering.add_user_filter(
-            user_localpart='apple',
-            user_filter=self.EXAMPLE_FILTER
+        filter_id = self.filtering.add_user_filter(
+            user_localpart="apple", user_filter=self.EXAMPLE_FILTER
         )
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/user/%s/filter/%s" % (self.USER_ID, filter_id)
+        self.clock.advance(1)
+        filter_id = filter_id.result
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", b"/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter/%s" % (self.USER_ID, filter_id)
         )
-        self.assertEquals(200, code)
-        self.assertEquals(self.EXAMPLE_FILTER, response)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"200")
+        self.assertEquals(channel.json_body, self.EXAMPLE_FILTER)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_filter_non_existant(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/user/%s/filter/12382148321" % (self.USER_ID)
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter/12382148321" % (self.USER_ID)
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code)
-        self.assertEquals(response['errcode'], Codes.NOT_FOUND)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"400")
+        self.assertEquals(channel.json_body["errcode"], Codes.NOT_FOUND)
 
     # Currently invalid params do not have an appropriate errcode
     # in errors.py
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_filter_invalid_id(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/user/%s/filter/foobar" % (self.USER_ID)
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter/foobar" % (self.USER_ID)
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"400")
 
     # No ID also returns an invalid_id error
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_get_filter_no_id(self):
-        (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
-            "/user/%s/filter/" % (self.USER_ID)
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"GET", "/_matrix/client/r0/user/%s/filter/" % (self.USER_ID)
         )
-        self.assertEquals(400, code)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"400")
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_register.py b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_register.py
index 9b57a56070..e004d8fc73 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_register.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_register.py
@@ -2,165 +2,192 @@ import json
 
 from mock import Mock
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.python import failure
+from twisted.test.proto_helpers import MemoryReactorClock
 
-from synapse.api.errors import InteractiveAuthIncompleteError, SynapseError
-from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha.register import RegisterRestServlet
+from synapse.api.errors import InteractiveAuthIncompleteError
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
+from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha.register import register_servlets
+from synapse.util import Clock
 
 from tests import unittest
-from tests.utils import mock_getRawHeaders
+from tests.server import make_request, setup_test_homeserver, wait_until_result
 
 
 class RegisterRestServletTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
     def setUp(self):
-        # do the dance to hook up request data to self.request_data
-        self.request_data = ""
-        self.request = Mock(
-            content=Mock(read=Mock(side_effect=lambda: self.request_data)),
-            path='/_matrix/api/v2_alpha/register'
-        )
-        self.request.args = {}
-        self.request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders = mock_getRawHeaders()
+
+        self.clock = MemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+        self.url = b"/_matrix/client/r0/register"
 
         self.appservice = None
-        self.auth = Mock(get_appservice_by_req=Mock(
-            side_effect=lambda x: self.appservice)
+        self.auth = Mock(
+            get_appservice_by_req=Mock(side_effect=lambda x: self.appservice)
         )
 
         self.auth_result = failure.Failure(InteractiveAuthIncompleteError(None))
         self.auth_handler = Mock(
             check_auth=Mock(side_effect=lambda x, y, z: self.auth_result),
-            get_session_data=Mock(return_value=None)
+            get_session_data=Mock(return_value=None),
         )
         self.registration_handler = Mock()
         self.identity_handler = Mock()
         self.login_handler = Mock()
         self.device_handler = Mock()
+        self.device_handler.check_device_registered = Mock(return_value="FAKE")
+
+        self.datastore = Mock(return_value=Mock())
+        self.datastore.get_current_state_deltas = Mock(return_value=[])
 
         # do the dance to hook it up to the hs global
         self.handlers = Mock(
             registration_handler=self.registration_handler,
             identity_handler=self.identity_handler,
-            login_handler=self.login_handler
+            login_handler=self.login_handler,
+        )
+        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
         )
-        self.hs = Mock()
-        self.hs.hostname = "superbig~testing~thing.com"
         self.hs.get_auth = Mock(return_value=self.auth)
         self.hs.get_handlers = Mock(return_value=self.handlers)
         self.hs.get_auth_handler = Mock(return_value=self.auth_handler)
         self.hs.get_device_handler = Mock(return_value=self.device_handler)
+        self.hs.get_datastore = Mock(return_value=self.datastore)
         self.hs.config.enable_registration = True
         self.hs.config.registrations_require_3pid = []
         self.hs.config.auto_join_rooms = []
 
-        # init the thing we're testing
-        self.servlet = RegisterRestServlet(self.hs)
+        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
+        register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_POST_appservice_registration_valid(self):
         user_id = "@kermit:muppet"
         token = "kermits_access_token"
-        self.request.args = {
-            "access_token": "i_am_an_app_service"
-        }
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": "kermit"
-        })
-        self.appservice = {
-            "id": "1234"
-        }
-        self.registration_handler.appservice_register = Mock(
-            return_value=user_id
-        )
-        self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id = Mock(
-            return_value=token
+        self.appservice = {"id": "1234"}
+        self.registration_handler.appservice_register = Mock(return_value=user_id)
+        self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id = Mock(return_value=token)
+        request_data = json.dumps({"username": "kermit"})
+
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST", self.url + b"?access_token=i_am_an_app_service", request_data
         )
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
 
-        (code, result) = yield self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        self.assertEquals(code, 200)
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200", channel.result)
         det_data = {
             "user_id": user_id,
             "access_token": token,
-            "home_server": self.hs.hostname
+            "home_server": self.hs.hostname,
         }
-        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, result)
+        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, json.loads(channel.result["body"]))
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_POST_appservice_registration_invalid(self):
-        self.request.args = {
-            "access_token": "i_am_an_app_service"
-        }
-
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": "kermit"
-        })
         self.appservice = None  # no application service exists
-        result = yield self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        self.assertEquals(result, (401, None))
+        request_data = json.dumps({"username": "kermit"})
+        request, channel = make_request(
+            b"POST", self.url + b"?access_token=i_am_an_app_service", request_data
+        )
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"401", channel.result)
 
     def test_POST_bad_password(self):
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": "kermit",
-            "password": 666
-        })
-        d = self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        return self.assertFailure(d, SynapseError)
+        request_data = json.dumps({"username": "kermit", "password": 666})
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url, request_data)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"400", channel.result)
+        self.assertEquals(
+            json.loads(channel.result["body"])["error"], "Invalid password"
+        )
 
     def test_POST_bad_username(self):
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": 777,
-            "password": "monkey"
-        })
-        d = self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        return self.assertFailure(d, SynapseError)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        request_data = json.dumps({"username": 777, "password": "monkey"})
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url, request_data)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"400", channel.result)
+        self.assertEquals(
+            json.loads(channel.result["body"])["error"], "Invalid username"
+        )
+
     def test_POST_user_valid(self):
         user_id = "@kermit:muppet"
         token = "kermits_access_token"
         device_id = "frogfone"
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": "kermit",
-            "password": "monkey",
-            "device_id": device_id,
-        })
+        request_data = json.dumps(
+            {"username": "kermit", "password": "monkey", "device_id": device_id}
+        )
         self.registration_handler.check_username = Mock(return_value=True)
-        self.auth_result = (None, {
-            "username": "kermit",
-            "password": "monkey"
-        }, None)
+        self.auth_result = (None, {"username": "kermit", "password": "monkey"}, None)
         self.registration_handler.register = Mock(return_value=(user_id, None))
-        self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id = Mock(
-            return_value=token
-        )
-        self.device_handler.check_device_registered = \
-            Mock(return_value=device_id)
+        self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id = Mock(return_value=token)
+        self.device_handler.check_device_registered = Mock(return_value=device_id)
+
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url, request_data)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
 
-        (code, result) = yield self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        self.assertEquals(code, 200)
         det_data = {
             "user_id": user_id,
             "access_token": token,
             "home_server": self.hs.hostname,
             "device_id": device_id,
         }
-        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, result)
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200", channel.result)
+        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, json.loads(channel.result["body"]))
         self.auth_handler.get_login_tuple_for_user_id(
-            user_id, device_id=device_id, initial_device_display_name=None)
+            user_id, device_id=device_id, initial_device_display_name=None
+        )
 
     def test_POST_disabled_registration(self):
         self.hs.config.enable_registration = False
-        self.request_data = json.dumps({
-            "username": "kermit",
-            "password": "monkey"
-        })
+        request_data = json.dumps({"username": "kermit", "password": "monkey"})
         self.registration_handler.check_username = Mock(return_value=True)
-        self.auth_result = (None, {
-            "username": "kermit",
-            "password": "monkey"
-        }, None)
+        self.auth_result = (None, {"username": "kermit", "password": "monkey"}, None)
         self.registration_handler.register = Mock(return_value=("@user:id", "t"))
-        d = self.servlet.on_POST(self.request)
-        return self.assertFailure(d, SynapseError)
+
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url, request_data)
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"403", channel.result)
+        self.assertEquals(
+            json.loads(channel.result["body"])["error"],
+            "Registration has been disabled",
+        )
+
+    def test_POST_guest_registration(self):
+        user_id = "a@b"
+        self.hs.config.macaroon_secret_key = "test"
+        self.hs.config.allow_guest_access = True
+        self.registration_handler.register = Mock(return_value=(user_id, None))
+
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url + b"?kind=guest", b"{}")
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        det_data = {
+            "user_id": user_id,
+            "home_server": self.hs.hostname,
+            "device_id": "guest_device",
+        }
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"200", channel.result)
+        self.assertDictContainsSubset(det_data, json.loads(channel.result["body"]))
+
+    def test_POST_disabled_guest_registration(self):
+        self.hs.config.allow_guest_access = False
+
+        request, channel = make_request(b"POST", self.url + b"?kind=guest", b"{}")
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEquals(channel.result["code"], b"403", channel.result)
+        self.assertEquals(
+            json.loads(channel.result["body"])["error"], "Guest access is disabled"
+        )
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..03ec3993b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import synapse.types
+from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
+from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import sync
+from synapse.types import UserID
+from synapse.util import Clock
+
+from tests import unittest
+from tests.server import (
+    ThreadedMemoryReactorClock as MemoryReactorClock,
+    make_request,
+    setup_test_homeserver,
+    wait_until_result,
+)
+
+PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/v2_alpha"
+
+
+class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    USER_ID = b"@apple:test"
+    TO_REGISTER = [sync]
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.clock = MemoryReactorClock()
+        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+
+        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
+        )
+
+        self.auth = self.hs.get_auth()
+
+        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
+            return {
+                "user": UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID),
+                "token_id": 1,
+                "is_guest": False,
+            }
+
+        def get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=False, rights="access"):
+            return synapse.types.create_requester(
+                UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID), 1, False, None
+            )
+
+        self.auth.get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        self.auth.get_user_by_req = get_user_by_req
+
+        self.store = self.hs.get_datastore()
+        self.filtering = self.hs.get_filtering()
+        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
+
+        for r in self.TO_REGISTER:
+            r.register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
+
+    def test_sync_argless(self):
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/client/r0/sync")
+        request.render(self.resource)
+        wait_until_result(self.clock, channel)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"200")
+        self.assertTrue(
+            set(
+                [
+                    "next_batch",
+                    "rooms",
+                    "presence",
+                    "account_data",
+                    "to_device",
+                    "device_lists",
+                ]
+            ).issubset(set(channel.json_body.keys()))
+        )
diff --git a/tests/server.py b/tests/server.py
index 46223ccf05..c611dd6059 100644
--- a/tests/server.py
+++ b/tests/server.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class FakeChannel(object):
     wire).
     """
 
-    result = attr.ib(factory=dict)
+    result = attr.ib(default=attr.Factory(dict))
 
     @property
     def json_body(self):
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ def make_request(method, path, content=b""):
     content, and return the Request and the Channel underneath.
     """
 
+    # Decorate it to be the full path
+    if not path.startswith(b"/_matrix"):
+        path = b"/_matrix/client/r0/" + path
+        path = path.replace("//", "/")
+
     if isinstance(content, text_type):
         content = content.encode('utf8')
 
@@ -110,6 +115,11 @@ def wait_until_result(clock, channel, timeout=100):
         clock.advance(0.1)
 
 
+def render(request, resource, clock):
+    request.render(resource)
+    wait_until_result(clock, request._channel)
+
+
 class ThreadedMemoryReactorClock(MemoryReactorClock):
     """
     A MemoryReactorClock that supports callFromThread.
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_state.py b/tests/storage/test_state.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a76d67b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/storage/test_state.py
@@ -0,0 +1,319 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import logging
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
+from synapse.types import RoomID, UserID
+
+import tests.unittest
+import tests.utils
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class StateStoreTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(StateStoreTestCase, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.store = None  # type: synapse.storage.DataStore
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def setUp(self):
+        hs = yield tests.utils.setup_test_homeserver()
+
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
+        self.event_builder_factory = hs.get_event_builder_factory()
+        self.event_creation_handler = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
+
+        self.u_alice = UserID.from_string("@alice:test")
+        self.u_bob = UserID.from_string("@bob:test")
+
+        self.room = RoomID.from_string("!abc123:test")
+
+        yield self.store.store_room(
+            self.room.to_string(),
+            room_creator_user_id="@creator:text",
+            is_public=True
+        )
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def inject_state_event(self, room, sender, typ, state_key, content):
+        builder = self.event_builder_factory.new({
+            "type": typ,
+            "sender": sender.to_string(),
+            "state_key": state_key,
+            "room_id": room.to_string(),
+            "content": content,
+        })
+
+        event, context = yield self.event_creation_handler.create_new_client_event(
+            builder
+        )
+
+        yield self.store.persist_event(event, context)
+
+        defer.returnValue(event)
+
+    def assertStateMapEqual(self, s1, s2):
+        for t in s1:
+            # just compare event IDs for simplicity
+            self.assertEqual(s1[t].event_id, s2[t].event_id)
+        self.assertEqual(len(s1), len(s2))
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_get_state_for_event(self):
+
+        # this defaults to a linear DAG as each new injection defaults to whatever
+        # forward extremities are currently in the DB for this room.
+        e1 = yield self.inject_state_event(
+            self.room, self.u_alice, EventTypes.Create, '', {},
+        )
+        e2 = yield self.inject_state_event(
+            self.room, self.u_alice, EventTypes.Name, '', {
+                "name": "test room"
+            },
+        )
+        e3 = yield self.inject_state_event(
+            self.room, self.u_alice, EventTypes.Member, self.u_alice.to_string(), {
+                "membership": Membership.JOIN
+            },
+        )
+        e4 = yield self.inject_state_event(
+            self.room, self.u_bob, EventTypes.Member, self.u_bob.to_string(), {
+                "membership": Membership.JOIN
+            },
+        )
+        e5 = yield self.inject_state_event(
+            self.room, self.u_bob, EventTypes.Member, self.u_bob.to_string(), {
+                "membership": Membership.LEAVE
+            },
+        )
+
+        # check we get the full state as of the final event
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, None, filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertIsNotNone(e4)
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3,
+            # e4 is overwritten by e5
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5,
+        }, state)
+
+        # check we can filter to the m.room.name event (with a '' state key)
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, [(EventTypes.Name, '')], filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2,
+        }, state)
+
+        # check we can filter to the m.room.name event (with a wildcard None state key)
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, [(EventTypes.Name, None)], filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2,
+        }, state)
+
+        # check we can grab the m.room.member events (with a wildcard None state key)
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, [(EventTypes.Member, None)], filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3,
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5,
+        }, state)
+
+        # check we can use filter_types to grab a specific room member
+        # without filtering out the other event types
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, [(EventTypes.Member, self.u_alice.to_string())],
+            filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member],
+        )
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3,
+        }, state)
+
+        # check that types=[], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        # doesn't return all members
+        state = yield self.store.get_state_for_event(
+            e5.event_id, [], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member],
+        )
+
+        self.assertStateMapEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2,
+        }, state)
+
+        #######################################################
+        # _get_some_state_from_cache tests against a full cache
+        #######################################################
+
+        room_id = self.room.to_string()
+        group_ids = yield self.store.get_state_groups_ids(room_id, [e5.event_id])
+        group = group_ids.keys()[0]
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters out members with types=[]
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members with wildcard types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, None)], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2.event_id,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3.event_id,
+            # e4 is overwritten by e5
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members with specific types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, e5.state_key)], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2.event_id,
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members with specific types
+        # and no filtered_types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, e5.state_key)], filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        #######################################################
+        # deliberately remove e2 (room name) from the _state_group_cache
+
+        (is_all, known_absent, state_dict_ids) = self.store._state_group_cache.get(group)
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertEqual(known_absent, set())
+        self.assertDictEqual(state_dict_ids, {
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e2.type, e2.state_key): e2.event_id,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3.event_id,
+            # e4 is overwritten by e5
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        })
+
+        state_dict_ids.pop((e2.type, e2.state_key))
+        self.store._state_group_cache.invalidate(group)
+        self.store._state_group_cache.update(
+            sequence=self.store._state_group_cache.sequence,
+            key=group,
+            value=state_dict_ids,
+            # list fetched keys so it knows it's partial
+            fetched_keys=(
+                (e1.type, e1.state_key),
+                (e3.type, e3.state_key),
+                (e5.type, e5.state_key),
+            )
+        )
+
+        (is_all, known_absent, state_dict_ids) = self.store._state_group_cache.get(group)
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, False)
+        self.assertEqual(known_absent, set([
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key),
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key),
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key),
+        ]))
+        self.assertDictEqual(state_dict_ids, {
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3.event_id,
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        })
+
+        ############################################
+        # test that things work with a partial cache
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters out members with types=[]
+        room_id = self.room.to_string()
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, False)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members wildcard types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, None)], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, False)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e3.type, e3.state_key): e3.event_id,
+            # e4 is overwritten by e5
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members with specific types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, e5.state_key)], filtered_types=[EventTypes.Member]
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, False)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e1.type, e1.state_key): e1.event_id,
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
+
+        # test _get_some_state_from_cache correctly filters in members with specific types
+        # and no filtered_types
+        (state_dict, is_all) = yield self.store._get_some_state_from_cache(
+            group, [(EventTypes.Member, e5.state_key)], filtered_types=None
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(is_all, True)
+        self.assertDictEqual({
+            (e5.type, e5.state_key): e5.event_id,
+        }, state_dict)
diff --git a/tests/test_distributor.py b/tests/test_distributor.py
index 04a88056f1..71d11cda77 100644
--- a/tests/test_distributor.py
+++ b/tests/test_distributor.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -15,8 +16,6 @@
 
 from mock import Mock, patch
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
-
 from synapse.util.distributor import Distributor
 
 from . import unittest
@@ -27,38 +26,15 @@ class DistributorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.dist = Distributor()
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_signal_dispatch(self):
         self.dist.declare("alert")
 
         observer = Mock()
         self.dist.observe("alert", observer)
 
-        d = self.dist.fire("alert", 1, 2, 3)
-        yield d
-        self.assertTrue(d.called)
+        self.dist.fire("alert", 1, 2, 3)
         observer.assert_called_with(1, 2, 3)
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def test_signal_dispatch_deferred(self):
-        self.dist.declare("whine")
-
-        d_inner = defer.Deferred()
-
-        def observer():
-            return d_inner
-
-        self.dist.observe("whine", observer)
-
-        d_outer = self.dist.fire("whine")
-
-        self.assertFalse(d_outer.called)
-
-        d_inner.callback(None)
-        yield d_outer
-        self.assertTrue(d_outer.called)
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_signal_catch(self):
         self.dist.declare("alarm")
 
@@ -71,9 +47,7 @@ class DistributorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         with patch(
             "synapse.util.distributor.logger", spec=["warning"]
         ) as mock_logger:
-            d = self.dist.fire("alarm", "Go")
-            yield d
-            self.assertTrue(d.called)
+            self.dist.fire("alarm", "Go")
 
             observers[0].assert_called_once_with("Go")
             observers[1].assert_called_once_with("Go")
@@ -83,34 +57,12 @@ class DistributorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 mock_logger.warning.call_args[0][0], str
             )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def test_signal_catch_no_suppress(self):
-        # Gut-wrenching
-        self.dist.suppress_failures = False
-
-        self.dist.declare("whail")
-
-        class MyException(Exception):
-            pass
-
-        @defer.inlineCallbacks
-        def observer():
-            raise MyException("Oopsie")
-
-        self.dist.observe("whail", observer)
-
-        d = self.dist.fire("whail")
-
-        yield self.assertFailure(d, MyException)
-        self.dist.suppress_failures = True
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_signal_prereg(self):
         observer = Mock()
         self.dist.observe("flare", observer)
 
         self.dist.declare("flare")
-        yield self.dist.fire("flare", 4, 5)
+        self.dist.fire("flare", 4, 5)
 
         observer.assert_called_with(4, 5)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_federation.py b/tests/test_federation.py
index 159a136971..f40ff29b52 100644
--- a/tests/test_federation.py
+++ b/tests/test_federation.py
@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ class MessageAcceptTests(unittest.TestCase):
         )
         self.assertEqual(self.successResultOf(extrem)[0], "$join:test.serv")
 
-    @unittest.DEBUG
     def test_cant_hide_past_history(self):
         """
         If you send a message, you must be able to provide the direct
@@ -178,7 +177,7 @@ class MessageAcceptTests(unittest.TestCase):
                             for x, y in d.items()
                             if x == ("m.room.member", "@us:test")
                         ],
-                        "auth_chain_ids": d.values(),
+                        "auth_chain_ids": list(d.values()),
                     }
                 )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index 4192013f6d..7e063c0290 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -33,9 +33,11 @@ class JsonResourceTests(unittest.TestCase):
             return (200, kwargs)
 
         res = JsonResource(self.homeserver)
-        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/foo/(?P<room_id>[^/]*)$")], _callback)
+        res.register_paths(
+            "GET", [re.compile("^/_matrix/foo/(?P<room_id>[^/]*)$")], _callback
+        )
 
-        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/foo/%E2%98%83?a=%E2%98%83")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/foo/%E2%98%83?a=%E2%98%83")
         request.render(res)
 
         self.assertEqual(request.args, {b'a': [u"\N{SNOWMAN}".encode('utf8')]})
@@ -51,9 +53,9 @@ class JsonResourceTests(unittest.TestCase):
             raise Exception("boo")
 
         res = JsonResource(self.homeserver)
-        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/foo$")], _callback)
+        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/_matrix/foo$")], _callback)
 
-        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/foo")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/foo")
         request.render(res)
 
         self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b'500')
@@ -74,9 +76,9 @@ class JsonResourceTests(unittest.TestCase):
             return d
 
         res = JsonResource(self.homeserver)
-        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/foo$")], _callback)
+        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/_matrix/foo$")], _callback)
 
-        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/foo")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/foo")
         request.render(res)
 
         # No error has been raised yet
@@ -96,9 +98,9 @@ class JsonResourceTests(unittest.TestCase):
             raise SynapseError(403, "Forbidden!!one!", Codes.FORBIDDEN)
 
         res = JsonResource(self.homeserver)
-        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/foo$")], _callback)
+        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/_matrix/foo$")], _callback)
 
-        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/foo")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/foo")
         request.render(res)
 
         self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b'403')
@@ -118,9 +120,9 @@ class JsonResourceTests(unittest.TestCase):
             self.fail("shouldn't ever get here")
 
         res = JsonResource(self.homeserver)
-        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/foo$")], _callback)
+        res.register_paths("GET", [re.compile("^/_matrix/foo$")], _callback)
 
-        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/foobar")
+        request, channel = make_request(b"GET", b"/_matrix/foobar")
         request.render(res)
 
         self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b'400')
diff --git a/tests/test_state.py b/tests/test_state.py
index c0f2d1152d..429a18cbf7 100644
--- a/tests/test_state.py
+++ b/tests/test_state.py
@@ -204,7 +204,8 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self.store.register_event_context(event, context)
             context_store[event.event_id] = context
 
-        self.assertEqual(2, len(context_store["D"].prev_state_ids))
+        prev_state_ids = yield context_store["D"].get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+        self.assertEqual(2, len(prev_state_ids))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_branch_basic_conflict(self):
@@ -255,9 +256,11 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self.store.register_event_context(event, context)
             context_store[event.event_id] = context
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context_store["D"].get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertSetEqual(
             {"START", "A", "C"},
-            {e_id for e_id in context_store["D"].prev_state_ids.values()}
+            {e_id for e_id in prev_state_ids.values()}
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -318,9 +321,11 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self.store.register_event_context(event, context)
             context_store[event.event_id] = context
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context_store["E"].get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertSetEqual(
             {"START", "A", "B", "C"},
-            {e for e in context_store["E"].prev_state_ids.values()}
+            {e for e in prev_state_ids.values()}
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -398,9 +403,11 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self.store.register_event_context(event, context)
             context_store[event.event_id] = context
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context_store["D"].get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertSetEqual(
             {"A1", "A2", "A3", "A5", "B"},
-            {e for e in context_store["D"].prev_state_ids.values()}
+            {e for e in prev_state_ids.values()}
         )
 
     def _add_depths(self, nodes, edges):
@@ -429,8 +436,10 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, old_state=old_state
         )
 
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
-            set(e.event_id for e in old_state), set(context.current_state_ids.values())
+            set(e.event_id for e in old_state), set(current_state_ids.values())
         )
 
         self.assertIsNotNone(context.state_group)
@@ -449,8 +458,10 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, old_state=old_state
         )
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
-            set(e.event_id for e in old_state), set(context.prev_state_ids.values())
+            set(e.event_id for e in old_state), set(prev_state_ids.values())
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -475,9 +486,11 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         context = yield self.state.compute_event_context(event)
 
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
             set([e.event_id for e in old_state]),
-            set(context.current_state_ids.values())
+            set(current_state_ids.values())
         )
 
         self.assertEqual(group_name, context.state_group)
@@ -504,9 +517,11 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         context = yield self.state.compute_event_context(event)
 
+        prev_state_ids = yield context.get_prev_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
             set([e.event_id for e in old_state]),
-            set(context.prev_state_ids.values())
+            set(prev_state_ids.values())
         )
 
         self.assertIsNotNone(context.state_group)
@@ -545,7 +560,9 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, prev_event_id1, old_state_1, prev_event_id2, old_state_2,
         )
 
-        self.assertEqual(len(context.current_state_ids), 6)
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(current_state_ids), 6)
 
         self.assertIsNotNone(context.state_group)
 
@@ -585,7 +602,9 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, prev_event_id1, old_state_1, prev_event_id2, old_state_2,
         )
 
-        self.assertEqual(len(context.current_state_ids), 6)
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(current_state_ids), 6)
 
         self.assertIsNotNone(context.state_group)
 
@@ -642,8 +661,10 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, prev_event_id1, old_state_1, prev_event_id2, old_state_2,
         )
 
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
-            old_state_2[3].event_id, context.current_state_ids[("test1", "1")]
+            old_state_2[3].event_id, current_state_ids[("test1", "1")]
         )
 
         # Reverse the depth to make sure we are actually using the depths
@@ -670,8 +691,10 @@ class StateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             event, prev_event_id1, old_state_1, prev_event_id2, old_state_2,
         )
 
+        current_state_ids = yield context.get_current_state_ids(self.store)
+
         self.assertEqual(
-            old_state_1[3].event_id, context.current_state_ids[("test1", "1")]
+            old_state_1[3].event_id, current_state_ids[("test1", "1")]
         )
 
     def _get_context(self, event, prev_event_id_1, old_state_1, prev_event_id_2,
diff --git a/tests/test_visibility.py b/tests/test_visibility.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0dc1a924d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_visibility.py
@@ -0,0 +1,324 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+import logging
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.internet.defer import succeed
+
+from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
+from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_server
+
+import tests.unittest
+from tests.utils import setup_test_homeserver
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+TEST_ROOM_ID = "!TEST:ROOM"
+
+
+class FilterEventsForServerTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.hs = yield setup_test_homeserver()
+        self.event_creation_handler = self.hs.get_event_creation_handler()
+        self.event_builder_factory = self.hs.get_event_builder_factory()
+        self.store = self.hs.get_datastore()
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_filtering(self):
+        #
+        # The events to be filtered consist of 10 membership events (it doesn't
+        # really matter if they are joins or leaves, so let's make them joins).
+        # One of those membership events is going to be for a user on the
+        # server we are filtering for (so we can check the filtering is doing
+        # the right thing).
+        #
+
+        # before we do that, we persist some other events to act as state.
+        self.inject_visibility("@admin:hs", "joined")
+        for i in range(0, 10):
+            yield self.inject_room_member("@resident%i:hs" % i)
+
+        events_to_filter = []
+
+        for i in range(0, 10):
+            user = "@user%i:%s" % (
+                i, "test_server" if i == 5 else "other_server"
+            )
+            evt = yield self.inject_room_member(user, extra_content={"a": "b"})
+            events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        filtered = yield filter_events_for_server(
+            self.store, "test_server", events_to_filter,
+        )
+
+        # the result should be 5 redacted events, and 5 unredacted events.
+        for i in range(0, 5):
+            self.assertEqual(events_to_filter[i].event_id, filtered[i].event_id)
+            self.assertNotIn("a", filtered[i].content)
+
+        for i in range(5, 10):
+            self.assertEqual(events_to_filter[i].event_id, filtered[i].event_id)
+            self.assertEqual(filtered[i].content["a"], "b")
+
+    @tests.unittest.DEBUG
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_erased_user(self):
+        # 4 message events, from erased and unerased users, with a membership
+        # change in the middle of them.
+        events_to_filter = []
+
+        evt = yield self.inject_message("@unerased:local_hs")
+        events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        evt = yield self.inject_message("@erased:local_hs")
+        events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        evt = yield self.inject_room_member("@joiner:remote_hs")
+        events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        evt = yield self.inject_message("@unerased:local_hs")
+        events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        evt = yield self.inject_message("@erased:local_hs")
+        events_to_filter.append(evt)
+
+        # the erasey user gets erased
+        self.hs.get_datastore().mark_user_erased("@erased:local_hs")
+
+        # ... and the filtering happens.
+        filtered = yield filter_events_for_server(
+            self.store, "test_server", events_to_filter,
+        )
+
+        for i in range(0, len(events_to_filter)):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                events_to_filter[i].event_id, filtered[i].event_id,
+                "Unexpected event at result position %i" % (i, )
+            )
+
+        for i in (0, 3):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                events_to_filter[i].content["body"], filtered[i].content["body"],
+                "Unexpected event content at result position %i" % (i,)
+            )
+
+        for i in (1, 4):
+            self.assertNotIn("body", filtered[i].content)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def inject_visibility(self, user_id, visibility):
+        content = {"history_visibility": visibility}
+        builder = self.event_builder_factory.new({
+            "type": "m.room.history_visibility",
+            "sender": user_id,
+            "state_key": "",
+            "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+            "content": content,
+        })
+
+        event, context = yield self.event_creation_handler.create_new_client_event(
+            builder
+        )
+        yield self.hs.get_datastore().persist_event(event, context)
+        defer.returnValue(event)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def inject_room_member(self, user_id, membership="join", extra_content={}):
+        content = {"membership": membership}
+        content.update(extra_content)
+        builder = self.event_builder_factory.new({
+            "type": "m.room.member",
+            "sender": user_id,
+            "state_key": user_id,
+            "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+            "content": content,
+        })
+
+        event, context = yield self.event_creation_handler.create_new_client_event(
+            builder
+        )
+
+        yield self.hs.get_datastore().persist_event(event, context)
+        defer.returnValue(event)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def inject_message(self, user_id, content=None):
+        if content is None:
+            content = {"body": "testytest"}
+        builder = self.event_builder_factory.new({
+            "type": "m.room.message",
+            "sender": user_id,
+            "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+            "content": content,
+        })
+
+        event, context = yield self.event_creation_handler.create_new_client_event(
+            builder
+        )
+
+        yield self.hs.get_datastore().persist_event(event, context)
+        defer.returnValue(event)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_large_room(self):
+        # see what happens when we have a large room with hundreds of thousands
+        # of membership events
+
+        # As above, the events to be filtered consist of 10 membership events,
+        # where one of them is for a user on the server we are filtering for.
+
+        import cProfile
+        import pstats
+        import time
+
+        # we stub out the store, because building up all that state the normal
+        # way is very slow.
+        test_store = _TestStore()
+
+        # our initial state is 100000 membership events and one
+        # history_visibility event.
+        room_state = []
+
+        history_visibility_evt = FrozenEvent({
+            "event_id": "$history_vis",
+            "type": "m.room.history_visibility",
+            "sender": "@resident_user_0:test.com",
+            "state_key": "",
+            "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+            "content": {"history_visibility": "joined"},
+        })
+        room_state.append(history_visibility_evt)
+        test_store.add_event(history_visibility_evt)
+
+        for i in range(0, 100000):
+            user = "@resident_user_%i:test.com" % (i, )
+            evt = FrozenEvent({
+                "event_id": "$res_event_%i" % (i, ),
+                "type": "m.room.member",
+                "state_key": user,
+                "sender": user,
+                "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+                "content": {
+                    "membership": "join",
+                    "extra": "zzz,"
+                },
+            })
+            room_state.append(evt)
+            test_store.add_event(evt)
+
+        events_to_filter = []
+        for i in range(0, 10):
+            user = "@user%i:%s" % (
+                i, "test_server" if i == 5 else "other_server"
+            )
+            evt = FrozenEvent({
+                "event_id": "$evt%i" % (i, ),
+                "type": "m.room.member",
+                "state_key": user,
+                "sender": user,
+                "room_id": TEST_ROOM_ID,
+                "content": {
+                    "membership": "join",
+                    "extra": "zzz",
+                },
+            })
+            events_to_filter.append(evt)
+            room_state.append(evt)
+
+            test_store.add_event(evt)
+            test_store.set_state_ids_for_event(evt, {
+                (e.type, e.state_key): e.event_id for e in room_state
+            })
+
+        pr = cProfile.Profile()
+        pr.enable()
+
+        logger.info("Starting filtering")
+        start = time.time()
+        filtered = yield filter_events_for_server(
+            test_store, "test_server", events_to_filter,
+        )
+        logger.info("Filtering took %f seconds", time.time() - start)
+
+        pr.disable()
+        with open("filter_events_for_server.profile", "w+") as f:
+            ps = pstats.Stats(pr, stream=f).sort_stats('cumulative')
+            ps.print_stats()
+
+        # the result should be 5 redacted events, and 5 unredacted events.
+        for i in range(0, 5):
+            self.assertEqual(events_to_filter[i].event_id, filtered[i].event_id)
+            self.assertNotIn("extra", filtered[i].content)
+
+        for i in range(5, 10):
+            self.assertEqual(events_to_filter[i].event_id, filtered[i].event_id)
+            self.assertEqual(filtered[i].content["extra"], "zzz")
+
+    test_large_room.skip = "Disabled by default because it's slow"
+
+
+class _TestStore(object):
+    """Implements a few methods of the DataStore, so that we can test
+    filter_events_for_server
+
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        # data for get_events: a map from event_id to event
+        self.events = {}
+
+        # data for get_state_ids_for_events mock: a map from event_id to
+        # a map from (type_state_key) -> event_id for the state at that
+        # event
+        self.state_ids_for_events = {}
+
+    def add_event(self, event):
+        self.events[event.event_id] = event
+
+    def set_state_ids_for_event(self, event, state):
+        self.state_ids_for_events[event.event_id] = state
+
+    def get_state_ids_for_events(self, events, types):
+        res = {}
+        include_memberships = False
+        for (type, state_key) in types:
+            if type == "m.room.history_visibility":
+                continue
+            if type != "m.room.member" or state_key is not None:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "Unimplemented: get_state_ids with type (%s, %s)" %
+                    (type, state_key),
+                )
+            include_memberships = True
+
+        if include_memberships:
+            for event_id in events:
+                res[event_id] = self.state_ids_for_events[event_id]
+
+        else:
+            k = ("m.room.history_visibility", "")
+            for event_id in events:
+                hve = self.state_ids_for_events[event_id][k]
+                res[event_id] = {k: hve}
+
+        return succeed(res)
+
+    def get_events(self, events):
+        return succeed({
+            event_id: self.events[event_id] for event_id in events
+        })
+
+    def are_users_erased(self, users):
+        return succeed({u: False for u in users})
diff --git a/tests/unittest.py b/tests/unittest.py
index b25f2db5d5..b15b06726b 100644
--- a/tests/unittest.py
+++ b/tests/unittest.py
@@ -109,6 +109,17 @@ class TestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             except AssertionError as e:
                 raise (type(e))(e.message + " for '.%s'" % key)
 
+    def assert_dict(self, required, actual):
+        """Does a partial assert of a dict.
+
+        Args:
+            required (dict): The keys and value which MUST be in 'actual'.
+            actual (dict): The test result. Extra keys will not be checked.
+        """
+        for key in required:
+            self.assertEquals(required[key], actual[key],
+                              msg="%s mismatch. %s" % (key, actual))
+
 
 def DEBUG(target):
     """A decorator to set the .loglevel attribute to logging.DEBUG.
diff --git a/tests/util/test_limiter.py b/tests/util/test_limiter.py
deleted file mode 100644
index a5a767b1ff..0000000000
--- a/tests/util/test_limiter.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-
-from twisted.internet import defer
-
-from synapse.util.async import Limiter
-
-from tests import unittest
-
-
-class LimiterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def test_limiter(self):
-        limiter = Limiter(3)
-
-        key = object()
-
-        d1 = limiter.queue(key)
-        cm1 = yield d1
-
-        d2 = limiter.queue(key)
-        cm2 = yield d2
-
-        d3 = limiter.queue(key)
-        cm3 = yield d3
-
-        d4 = limiter.queue(key)
-        self.assertFalse(d4.called)
-
-        d5 = limiter.queue(key)
-        self.assertFalse(d5.called)
-
-        with cm1:
-            self.assertFalse(d4.called)
-            self.assertFalse(d5.called)
-
-        self.assertTrue(d4.called)
-        self.assertFalse(d5.called)
-
-        with cm3:
-            self.assertFalse(d5.called)
-
-        self.assertTrue(d5.called)
-
-        with cm2:
-            pass
-
-        with (yield d4):
-            pass
-
-        with (yield d5):
-            pass
-
-        d6 = limiter.queue(key)
-        with (yield d6):
-            pass
diff --git a/tests/util/test_linearizer.py b/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
index c95907b32c..4729bd5a0a 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@
 from six.moves import range
 
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
+from twisted.internet.defer import CancelledError
 
 from synapse.util import Clock, logcontext
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
@@ -65,3 +67,79 @@ class LinearizerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             func(i)
 
         return func(1000)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_multiple_entries(self):
+        limiter = Linearizer(max_count=3)
+
+        key = object()
+
+        d1 = limiter.queue(key)
+        cm1 = yield d1
+
+        d2 = limiter.queue(key)
+        cm2 = yield d2
+
+        d3 = limiter.queue(key)
+        cm3 = yield d3
+
+        d4 = limiter.queue(key)
+        self.assertFalse(d4.called)
+
+        d5 = limiter.queue(key)
+        self.assertFalse(d5.called)
+
+        with cm1:
+            self.assertFalse(d4.called)
+            self.assertFalse(d5.called)
+
+        cm4 = yield d4
+        self.assertFalse(d5.called)
+
+        with cm3:
+            self.assertFalse(d5.called)
+
+        cm5 = yield d5
+
+        with cm2:
+            pass
+
+        with cm4:
+            pass
+
+        with cm5:
+            pass
+
+        d6 = limiter.queue(key)
+        with (yield d6):
+            pass
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_cancellation(self):
+        linearizer = Linearizer()
+
+        key = object()
+
+        d1 = linearizer.queue(key)
+        cm1 = yield d1
+
+        d2 = linearizer.queue(key)
+        self.assertFalse(d2.called)
+
+        d3 = linearizer.queue(key)
+        self.assertFalse(d3.called)
+
+        d2.cancel()
+
+        with cm1:
+            pass
+
+        self.assertTrue(d2.called)
+        try:
+            yield d2
+            self.fail("Expected d2 to raise CancelledError")
+        except CancelledError:
+            pass
+
+        with (yield d3):
+            pass
diff --git a/tests/util/test_stream_change_cache.py b/tests/util/test_stream_change_cache.py
index e3897c0d19..65b0f2e6fb 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_stream_change_cache.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_stream_change_cache.py
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ class StreamChangeCacheTests(unittest.TestCase):
         )
 
         # Query all the entries mid-way through the stream, but include one
-        # that doesn't exist in it. We should get back the one that doesn't
-        # exist, too.
+        # that doesn't exist in it. We shouldn't get back the one that doesn't
+        # exist.
         self.assertEqual(
             cache.get_entities_changed(
                 [
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class StreamChangeCacheTests(unittest.TestCase):
                 ],
                 stream_pos=2,
             ),
-            set(["bar@baz.net", "user@elsewhere.org", "not@here.website"]),
+            set(["bar@baz.net", "user@elsewhere.org"]),
         )
 
         # Query all the entries, but before the first known point. We will get
@@ -178,6 +178,22 @@ class StreamChangeCacheTests(unittest.TestCase):
             ),
         )
 
+        # Query a subset of the entries mid-way through the stream. We should
+        # only get back the subset.
+        self.assertEqual(
+            cache.get_entities_changed(
+                [
+                    "bar@baz.net",
+                ],
+                stream_pos=2,
+            ),
+            set(
+                [
+                    "bar@baz.net",
+                ]
+            ),
+        )
+
     def test_max_pos(self):
         """
         StreamChangeCache.get_max_pos_of_last_change will return the most
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 6adbdbfca1..c3dbff8507 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -65,11 +65,14 @@ def setup_test_homeserver(name="test", datastore=None, config=None, reactor=None
         config.federation_domain_whitelist = None
         config.federation_rc_reject_limit = 10
         config.federation_rc_sleep_limit = 10
+        config.federation_rc_sleep_delay = 100
         config.federation_rc_concurrent = 10
         config.filter_timeline_limit = 5000
         config.user_directory_search_all_users = False
         config.user_consent_server_notice_content = None
         config.block_events_without_consent_error = None
+        config.media_storage_providers = []
+        config.auto_join_rooms = []
 
         # disable user directory updates, because they get done in the
         # background, which upsets the test runner.
@@ -135,6 +138,7 @@ def setup_test_homeserver(name="test", datastore=None, config=None, reactor=None
             database_engine=db_engine,
             room_list_handler=object(),
             tls_server_context_factory=Mock(),
+            reactor=reactor,
             **kargs
         )
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 61a20a10cb..ed26644bd9 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = packaging, py27, py36, pep8
+envlist = packaging, py27, py36, pep8, check_isort
 
 [testenv]
 deps =
@@ -103,10 +103,14 @@ deps =
     flake8
 commands = /bin/sh -c "flake8 synapse tests {env:PEP8SUFFIX:}"
 
+[testenv:check_isort]
+skip_install = True
+deps = isort
+commands = /bin/sh -c "isort -c -sp setup.cfg -rc synapse tests"
 
 [testenv:check-newsfragment]
 skip_install = True
 deps = towncrier>=18.6.0rc1
 commands =
    python -m towncrier.check --compare-with=origin/develop
-basepython = python3.6
\ No newline at end of file
+basepython = python3.6