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author | Brendan Abolivier <babolivier@matrix.org> | 2021-06-18 13:15:52 +0200 |
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committer | GitHub <noreply@github.com> | 2021-06-18 12:15:52 +0100 |
commit | 1b3e398bea8129fa7ae6fe28fd3a395fcd427ad9 (patch) | |
tree | d0b04f5f2c5f89c87c00761e3f615c41ceef4398 /docs/modules.md | |
parent | Expose opentracing trace id in response headers (#10199) (diff) | |
download | synapse-1b3e398bea8129fa7ae6fe28fd3a395fcd427ad9.tar.xz |
Standardise the module interface (#10062)
This PR adds a common configuration section for all modules (see docs). These modules are then loaded at startup by the homeserver. Modules register their hooks and web resources using the new `register_[...]_callbacks` and `register_web_resource` methods of the module API.
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-rw-r--r-- | docs/modules.md | 258 |
1 files changed, 258 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/modules.md b/docs/modules.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..d64ec4493d --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/modules.md @@ -0,0 +1,258 @@ +# Modules + +Synapse supports extending its functionality by configuring external modules. + +## Using modules + +To use a module on Synapse, add it to the `modules` section of the configuration file: + +```yaml +modules: + - module: my_super_module.MySuperClass + config: + do_thing: true + - module: my_other_super_module.SomeClass + config: {} +``` + +Each module is defined by a path to a Python class as well as a configuration. This +information for a given module should be available in the module's own documentation. + +**Note**: When using third-party modules, you effectively allow someone else to run +custom code on your Synapse homeserver. Server admins are encouraged to verify the +provenance of the modules they use on their homeserver and make sure the modules aren't +running malicious code on their instance. + +Also note that we are currently in the process of migrating module interfaces to this +system. While some interfaces might be compatible with it, others still require +configuring modules in another part of Synapse's configuration file. Currently, only the +spam checker interface is compatible with this new system. + +## Writing a module + +A module is a Python class that uses Synapse's module API to interact with the +homeserver. It can register callbacks that Synapse will call on specific operations, as +well as web resources to attach to Synapse's web server. + +When instantiated, a module is given its parsed configuration as well as an instance of +the `synapse.module_api.ModuleApi` class. The configuration is a dictionary, and is +either the output of the module's `parse_config` static method (see below), or the +configuration associated with the module in Synapse's configuration file. + +See the documentation for the `ModuleApi` class +[here](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/synapse/module_api/__init__.py). + +### Handling the module's configuration + +A module can implement the following static method: + +```python +@staticmethod +def parse_config(config: dict) -> dict +``` + +This method is given a dictionary resulting from parsing the YAML configuration for the +module. It may modify it (for example by parsing durations expressed as strings (e.g. +"5d") into milliseconds, etc.), and return the modified dictionary. It may also verify +that the configuration is correct, and raise an instance of +`synapse.module_api.errors.ConfigError` if not. + +### Registering a web resource + +Modules can register web resources onto Synapse's web server using the following module +API method: + +```python +def ModuleApi.register_web_resource(path: str, resource: IResource) +``` + +The path is the full absolute path to register the resource at. For example, if you +register a resource for the path `/_synapse/client/my_super_module/say_hello`, Synapse +will serve it at `http(s)://[HS_URL]/_synapse/client/my_super_module/say_hello`. Note +that Synapse does not allow registering resources for several sub-paths in the `/_matrix` +namespace (such as anything under `/_matrix/client` for example). It is strongly +recommended that modules register their web resources under the `/_synapse/client` +namespace. + +The provided resource is a Python class that implements Twisted's [IResource](https://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/api/twisted.web.resource.IResource.html) +interface (such as [Resource](https://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/api/twisted.web.resource.Resource.html)). + +Only one resource can be registered for a given path. If several modules attempt to +register a resource for the same path, the module that appears first in Synapse's +configuration file takes priority. + +Modules **must** register their web resources in their `__init__` method. + +### Registering a callback + +Modules can use Synapse's module API to register callbacks. Callbacks are functions that +Synapse will call when performing specific actions. Callbacks must be asynchronous, and +are split in categories. A single module may implement callbacks from multiple categories, +and is under no obligation to implement all callbacks from the categories it registers +callbacks for. + +#### Spam checker callbacks + +To register one of the callbacks described in this section, a module needs to use the +module API's `register_spam_checker_callbacks` method. The callback functions are passed +to `register_spam_checker_callbacks` as keyword arguments, with the callback name as the +argument name and the function as its value. This is demonstrated in the example below. + +The available spam checker callbacks are: + +```python +def check_event_for_spam(event: "synapse.events.EventBase") -> Union[bool, str] +``` + +Called when receiving an event from a client or via federation. The module can return +either a `bool` to indicate whether the event must be rejected because of spam, or a `str` +to indicate the event must be rejected because of spam and to give a rejection reason to +forward to clients. + +```python +def user_may_invite(inviter: str, invitee: str, room_id: str) -> bool +``` + +Called when processing an invitation. The module must return a `bool` indicating whether +the inviter can invite the invitee to the given room. Both inviter and invitee are +represented by their Matrix user ID (i.e. `@alice:example.com`). + +```python +def user_may_create_room(user: str) -> bool +``` + +Called when processing a room creation request. The module must return a `bool` indicating +whether the given user (represented by their Matrix user ID) is allowed to create a room. + +```python +def user_may_create_room_alias(user: str, room_alias: "synapse.types.RoomAlias") -> bool +``` + +Called when trying to associate an alias with an existing room. The module must return a +`bool` indicating whether the given user (represented by their Matrix user ID) is allowed +to set the given alias. + +```python +def user_may_publish_room(user: str, room_id: str) -> bool +``` + +Called when trying to publish a room to the homeserver's public rooms directory. The +module must return a `bool` indicating whether the given user (represented by their +Matrix user ID) is allowed to publish the given room. + +```python +def check_username_for_spam(user_profile: Dict[str, str]) -> bool +``` + +Called when computing search results in the user directory. The module must return a +`bool` indicating whether the given user profile can appear in search results. The profile +is represented as a dictionary with the following keys: + +* `user_id`: The Matrix ID for this user. +* `display_name`: The user's display name. +* `avatar_url`: The `mxc://` URL to the user's avatar. + +The module is given a copy of the original dictionary, so modifying it from within the +module cannot modify a user's profile when included in user directory search results. + +```python +def check_registration_for_spam( + email_threepid: Optional[dict], + username: Optional[str], + request_info: Collection[Tuple[str, str]], + auth_provider_id: Optional[str] = None, +) -> "synapse.spam_checker_api.RegistrationBehaviour" +``` + +Called when registering a new user. The module must return a `RegistrationBehaviour` +indicating whether the registration can go through or must be denied, or whether the user +may be allowed to register but will be shadow banned. + +The arguments passed to this callback are: + +* `email_threepid`: The email address used for registering, if any. +* `username`: The username the user would like to register. Can be `None`, meaning that + Synapse will generate one later. +* `request_info`: A collection of tuples, which first item is a user agent, and which + second item is an IP address. These user agents and IP addresses are the ones that were + used during the registration process. +* `auth_provider_id`: The identifier of the SSO authentication provider, if any. + +```python +def check_media_file_for_spam( + file_wrapper: "synapse.rest.media.v1.media_storage.ReadableFileWrapper", + file_info: "synapse.rest.media.v1._base.FileInfo" +) -> bool +``` + +Called when storing a local or remote file. The module must return a boolean indicating +whether the given file can be stored in the homeserver's media store. + +### Porting an existing module that uses the old interface + +In order to port a module that uses Synapse's old module interface, its author needs to: + +* ensure the module's callbacks are all asynchronous. +* register their callbacks using one or more of the `register_[...]_callbacks` methods + from the `ModuleApi` class in the module's `__init__` method (see [this section](#registering-a-web-resource) + for more info). + +Additionally, if the module is packaged with an additional web resource, the module +should register this resource in its `__init__` method using the `register_web_resource` +method from the `ModuleApi` class (see [this section](#registering-a-web-resource) for +more info). + +The module's author should also update any example in the module's configuration to only +use the new `modules` section in Synapse's configuration file (see [this section](#using-modules) +for more info). + +### Example + +The example below is a module that implements the spam checker callback +`user_may_create_room` to deny room creation to user `@evilguy:example.com`, and registers +a web resource to the path `/_synapse/client/demo/hello` that returns a JSON object. + +```python +import json + +from twisted.web.resource import Resource +from twisted.web.server import Request + +from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi + + +class DemoResource(Resource): + def __init__(self, config): + super(DemoResource, self).__init__() + self.config = config + + def render_GET(self, request: Request): + name = request.args.get(b"name")[0] + request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"application/json") + return json.dumps({"hello": name}) + + +class DemoModule: + def __init__(self, config: dict, api: ModuleApi): + self.config = config + self.api = api + + self.api.register_web_resource( + path="/_synapse/client/demo/hello", + resource=DemoResource(self.config), + ) + + self.api.register_spam_checker_callbacks( + user_may_create_room=self.user_may_create_room, + ) + + @staticmethod + def parse_config(config): + return config + + async def user_may_create_room(self, user: str) -> bool: + if user == "@evilguy:example.com": + return False + + return True +``` |