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+# Delegation of incoming federation traffic
+
+In the following documentation, we use the term `server_name` to refer to that setting
+in your homeserver configuration file. It appears at the ends of user ids, and tells
+other homeservers where they can find your server.
+
+By default, other homeservers will expect to be able to reach yours via
+your `server_name`, on port 8448. For example, if you set your `server_name`
+to `example.com` (so that your user names look like `@user:example.com`),
+other servers will try to connect to yours at `https://example.com:8448/`.
+
+Delegation is a Matrix feature allowing a homeserver admin to retain a
+`server_name` of `example.com` so that user IDs, room aliases, etc continue
+to look like `*:example.com`, whilst having federation traffic routed
+to a different server and/or port (e.g. `synapse.example.com:443`).
+
+## .well-known delegation
+
+To use this method, you need to be able to configure the server at
+`https://<server_name>` to serve a file at
+`https://<server_name>/.well-known/matrix/server`.  There are two ways to do this, shown below.
+
+Note that the `.well-known` file is hosted on the default port for `https` (port 443).
+
+### External server
+
+For maximum flexibility, you need to configure an external server such as nginx, Apache
+or HAProxy to serve the `https://<server_name>/.well-known/matrix/server` file. Setting
+up such a server is out of the scope of this documentation, but note that it is often
+possible to configure your [reverse proxy](reverse_proxy.md) for this.
+
+The URL `https://<server_name>/.well-known/matrix/server` should be configured
+return a JSON structure containing the key `m.server` like this:
+
+```json
+{
+    "m.server": "<synapse.server.name>[:<yourport>]"
+}
+```
+
+In our example (where we want federation traffic to be routed to
+`https://synapse.example.com`, on port 443), this would mean that
+`https://example.com/.well-known/matrix/server` should return:
+
+```json
+{
+    "m.server": "synapse.example.com:443"
+}
+```
+
+Note, specifying a port is optional. If no port is specified, then it defaults
+to 8448.
+
+### Serving a `.well-known/matrix/server` file with Synapse
+
+If you are able to set up your domain so that `https://<server_name>` is routed to
+Synapse (i.e., the only change needed is to direct federation traffic to port 443
+instead of port 8448), then it is possible to configure Synapse to serve a suitable
+`.well-known/matrix/server` file. To do so, add the following to your `homeserver.yaml`
+file:
+
+```yaml
+serve_server_wellknown: true
+```
+
+**Note**: this *only* works if `https://<server_name>` is routed to Synapse, so is
+generally not suitable if Synapse is hosted at a subdomain such as
+`https://synapse.example.com`.
+
+## SRV DNS record delegation
+
+It is also possible to do delegation using a SRV DNS record. However, that is generally
+not recommended, as it can be difficult to configure the TLS certificates correctly in
+this case, and it offers little advantage over `.well-known` delegation.
+
+However, if you really need it, you can find some documentation on what such a
+record should look like and how Synapse will use it in [the Matrix
+specification](https://matrix.org/docs/spec/server_server/latest#resolving-server-names).
+
+## Delegation FAQ
+
+### When do I need delegation?
+
+If your homeserver's APIs are accessible on the default federation port (8448)
+and the domain your `server_name` points to, you do not need any delegation.
+
+For instance, if you registered `example.com` and pointed its DNS A record at a
+fresh server, you could install Synapse on that host, giving it a `server_name`
+of `example.com`, and once a reverse proxy has been set up to proxy all requests
+sent to the port `8448` and serve TLS certificates for `example.com`, you
+wouldn't need any delegation set up.
+
+**However**, if your homeserver's APIs aren't accessible on port 8448 and on the
+domain `server_name` points to, you will need to let other servers know how to
+find it using delegation.
+
+### Should I use a reverse proxy for federation traffic?
+
+Generally, using a reverse proxy for both the federation and client traffic is a good
+idea, since it saves handling TLS traffic in Synapse. See
+[the reverse proxy documentation](reverse_proxy.md) for information on setting up a
+reverse proxy.