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-rw-r--r--synapse/http/__init__.py22
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/additional_resource.py55
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/client.py197
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/endpoint.py50
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py452
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/server.py238
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/servlet.py37
-rw-r--r--synapse/http/site.py18
8 files changed, 759 insertions, 310 deletions
diff --git a/synapse/http/__init__.py b/synapse/http/__init__.py
index bfebb0f644..054372e179 100644
--- a/synapse/http/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/http/__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.
@@ -12,3 +13,24 @@
 # 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.defer import CancelledError
+from twisted.python import failure
+
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+
+
+class RequestTimedOutError(SynapseError):
+    """Exception representing timeout of an outbound request"""
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(RequestTimedOutError, self).__init__(504, "Timed out")
+
+
+def cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error(value, timeout):
+    """Turns CancelledErrors into RequestTimedOutErrors.
+
+    For use with async.add_timeout_to_deferred
+    """
+    if isinstance(value, failure.Failure):
+        value.trap(CancelledError)
+        raise RequestTimedOutError()
+    return value
diff --git a/synapse/http/additional_resource.py b/synapse/http/additional_resource.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..343e932cb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/http/additional_resource.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2017 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.
+
+from synapse.http.server import wrap_request_handler
+from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
+
+
+class AdditionalResource(Resource):
+    """Resource wrapper for additional_resources
+
+    If the user has configured additional_resources, we need to wrap the
+    handler class with a Resource so that we can map it into the resource tree.
+
+    This class is also where we wrap the request handler with logging, metrics,
+    and exception handling.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, hs, handler):
+        """Initialise AdditionalResource
+
+        The ``handler`` should return a deferred which completes when it has
+        done handling the request. It should write a response with
+        ``request.write()``, and call ``request.finish()``.
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer): homeserver
+            handler ((twisted.web.server.Request) -> twisted.internet.defer.Deferred):
+                function to be called to handle the request.
+        """
+        Resource.__init__(self)
+        self._handler = handler
+
+        # these are required by the request_handler wrapper
+        self.version_string = hs.version_string
+        self.clock = hs.get_clock()
+
+    def render(self, request):
+        self._async_render(request)
+        return NOT_DONE_YET
+
+    @wrap_request_handler
+    def _async_render(self, request):
+        return self._handler(request)
diff --git a/synapse/http/client.py b/synapse/http/client.py
index ca2f770f5d..70a19d9b74 100644
--- a/synapse/http/client.py
+++ b/synapse/http/client.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.
@@ -16,9 +17,12 @@ from OpenSSL import SSL
 from OpenSSL.SSL import VERIFY_NONE
 
 from synapse.api.errors import (
-    CodeMessageException, SynapseError, Codes,
+    CodeMessageException, MatrixCodeMessageException, SynapseError, Codes,
 )
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_context_over_fn
+from synapse.http import cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error
+from synapse.util.async import add_timeout_to_deferred
+from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
 import synapse.metrics
 from synapse.http.endpoint import SpiderEndpoint
 
@@ -29,13 +33,14 @@ from twisted.internet.endpoints import HostnameEndpoint, wrapClientTLS
 from twisted.web.client import (
     BrowserLikeRedirectAgent, ContentDecoderAgent, GzipDecoder, Agent,
     readBody, PartialDownloadError,
+    HTTPConnectionPool,
 )
 from twisted.web.client import FileBodyProducer as TwistedFileBodyProducer
 from twisted.web.http import PotentialDataLoss
 from twisted.web.http_headers import Headers
 from twisted.web._newclient import ResponseDone
 
-from StringIO import StringIO
+from six import StringIO
 
 import simplejson as json
 import logging
@@ -63,92 +68,139 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
     """
     def __init__(self, hs):
         self.hs = hs
+
+        pool = HTTPConnectionPool(reactor)
+
+        # the pusher makes lots of concurrent SSL connections to sygnal, and
+        # tends to do so in batches, so we need to allow the pool to keep lots
+        # of idle connections around.
+        pool.maxPersistentPerHost = max((100 * CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR, 5))
+        pool.cachedConnectionTimeout = 2 * 60
+
         # The default context factory in Twisted 14.0.0 (which we require) is
         # BrowserLikePolicyForHTTPS which will do regular cert validation
         # 'like a browser'
         self.agent = Agent(
             reactor,
             connectTimeout=15,
-            contextFactory=hs.get_http_client_context_factory()
+            contextFactory=hs.get_http_client_context_factory(),
+            pool=pool,
         )
         self.user_agent = hs.version_string
+        self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         if hs.config.user_agent_suffix:
             self.user_agent = "%s %s" % (self.user_agent, hs.config.user_agent_suffix,)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def request(self, method, uri, *args, **kwargs):
         # A small wrapper around self.agent.request() so we can easily attach
         # counters to it
         outgoing_requests_counter.inc(method)
-        d = preserve_context_over_fn(
-            self.agent.request,
-            method, uri, *args, **kwargs
-        )
 
         logger.info("Sending request %s %s", method, uri)
 
-        def _cb(response):
+        try:
+            request_deferred = self.agent.request(
+                method, uri, *args, **kwargs
+            )
+            add_timeout_to_deferred(
+                request_deferred,
+                60, cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error,
+            )
+            response = yield make_deferred_yieldable(request_deferred)
+
             incoming_responses_counter.inc(method, response.code)
             logger.info(
                 "Received response to  %s %s: %s",
                 method, uri, response.code
             )
-            return response
-
-        def _eb(failure):
+            defer.returnValue(response)
+        except Exception as e:
             incoming_responses_counter.inc(method, "ERR")
             logger.info(
                 "Error sending request to  %s %s: %s %s",
-                method, uri, failure.type, failure.getErrorMessage()
+                method, uri, type(e).__name__, e.message
             )
-            return failure
+            raise e
 
-        d.addCallbacks(_cb, _eb)
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def post_urlencoded_get_json(self, uri, args={}, headers=None):
+        """
+        Args:
+            uri (str):
+            args (dict[str, str|List[str]]): query params
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
 
-        return d
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[object]: parsed json
+        """
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def post_urlencoded_get_json(self, uri, args={}):
         # TODO: Do we ever want to log message contents?
         logger.debug("post_urlencoded_get_json args: %s", args)
 
         query_bytes = urllib.urlencode(encode_urlencode_args(args), True)
 
+        actual_headers = {
+            b"Content-Type": [b"application/x-www-form-urlencoded"],
+            b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
+        }
+        if headers:
+            actual_headers.update(headers)
+
         response = yield self.request(
             "POST",
             uri.encode("ascii"),
-            headers=Headers({
-                b"Content-Type": [b"application/x-www-form-urlencoded"],
-                b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
-            }),
+            headers=Headers(actual_headers),
             bodyProducer=FileBodyProducer(StringIO(query_bytes))
         )
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        body = yield make_deferred_yieldable(readBody(response))
 
         defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def post_json_get_json(self, uri, post_json):
+    def post_json_get_json(self, uri, post_json, headers=None):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            uri (str):
+            post_json (object):
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[object]: parsed json
+        """
         json_str = encode_canonical_json(post_json)
 
         logger.debug("HTTP POST %s -> %s", json_str, uri)
 
+        actual_headers = {
+            b"Content-Type": [b"application/json"],
+            b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
+        }
+        if headers:
+            actual_headers.update(headers)
+
         response = yield self.request(
             "POST",
             uri.encode("ascii"),
-            headers=Headers({
-                b"Content-Type": [b"application/json"],
-                b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
-            }),
+            headers=Headers(actual_headers),
             bodyProducer=FileBodyProducer(StringIO(json_str))
         )
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        body = yield make_deferred_yieldable(readBody(response))
+
+        if 200 <= response.code < 300:
+            defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
+        else:
+            raise self._exceptionFromFailedRequest(response, body)
 
         defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_json(self, uri, args={}):
+    def get_json(self, uri, args={}, headers=None):
         """ Gets some json from the given URI.
 
         Args:
@@ -157,6 +209,8 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
                 None.
                 **Note**: The value of each key is assumed to be an iterable
                 and *not* a string.
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get *any* 2xx HTTP response, with the
             HTTP body as JSON.
@@ -164,11 +218,14 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
             On a non-2xx HTTP response. The response body will be used as the
             error message.
         """
-        body = yield self.get_raw(uri, args)
-        defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
+        try:
+            body = yield self.get_raw(uri, args, headers=headers)
+            defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
+        except CodeMessageException as e:
+            raise self._exceptionFromFailedRequest(e.code, e.msg)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def put_json(self, uri, json_body, args={}):
+    def put_json(self, uri, json_body, args={}, headers=None):
         """ Puts some json to the given URI.
 
         Args:
@@ -178,6 +235,8 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
                 None.
                 **Note**: The value of each key is assumed to be an iterable
                 and *not* a string.
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get *any* 2xx HTTP response, with the
             HTTP body as JSON.
@@ -190,17 +249,21 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
 
         json_str = encode_canonical_json(json_body)
 
+        actual_headers = {
+            b"Content-Type": [b"application/json"],
+            b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
+        }
+        if headers:
+            actual_headers.update(headers)
+
         response = yield self.request(
             "PUT",
             uri.encode("ascii"),
-            headers=Headers({
-                b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
-                "Content-Type": ["application/json"]
-            }),
+            headers=Headers(actual_headers),
             bodyProducer=FileBodyProducer(StringIO(json_str))
         )
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        body = yield make_deferred_yieldable(readBody(response))
 
         if 200 <= response.code < 300:
             defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
@@ -211,7 +274,7 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
             raise CodeMessageException(response.code, body)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_raw(self, uri, args={}):
+    def get_raw(self, uri, args={}, headers=None):
         """ Gets raw text from the given URI.
 
         Args:
@@ -220,6 +283,8 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
                 None.
                 **Note**: The value of each key is assumed to be an iterable
                 and *not* a string.
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get *any* 2xx HTTP response, with the
             HTTP body at text.
@@ -231,46 +296,65 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
             query_bytes = urllib.urlencode(args, True)
             uri = "%s?%s" % (uri, query_bytes)
 
+        actual_headers = {
+            b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
+        }
+        if headers:
+            actual_headers.update(headers)
+
         response = yield self.request(
             "GET",
             uri.encode("ascii"),
-            headers=Headers({
-                b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
-            })
+            headers=Headers(actual_headers),
         )
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        body = yield make_deferred_yieldable(readBody(response))
 
         if 200 <= response.code < 300:
             defer.returnValue(body)
         else:
             raise CodeMessageException(response.code, body)
 
+    def _exceptionFromFailedRequest(self, response, body):
+        try:
+            jsonBody = json.loads(body)
+            errcode = jsonBody['errcode']
+            error = jsonBody['error']
+            return MatrixCodeMessageException(response.code, error, errcode)
+        except (ValueError, KeyError):
+            return CodeMessageException(response.code, body)
+
     # XXX: FIXME: This is horribly copy-pasted from matrixfederationclient.
     # The two should be factored out.
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_file(self, url, output_stream, max_size=None):
+    def get_file(self, url, output_stream, max_size=None, headers=None):
         """GETs a file from a given URL
         Args:
             url (str): The URL to GET
             output_stream (file): File to write the response body to.
+            headers (dict[str, List[str]]|None): If not None, a map from
+               header name to a list of values for that header
         Returns:
             A (int,dict,string,int) tuple of the file length, dict of the response
             headers, absolute URI of the response and HTTP response code.
         """
 
+        actual_headers = {
+            b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
+        }
+        if headers:
+            actual_headers.update(headers)
+
         response = yield self.request(
             "GET",
             url.encode("ascii"),
-            headers=Headers({
-                b"User-Agent": [self.user_agent],
-            })
+            headers=Headers(actual_headers),
         )
 
-        headers = dict(response.headers.getAllRawHeaders())
+        resp_headers = dict(response.headers.getAllRawHeaders())
 
-        if 'Content-Length' in headers and headers['Content-Length'] > max_size:
+        if 'Content-Length' in resp_headers and resp_headers['Content-Length'] > max_size:
             logger.warn("Requested URL is too large > %r bytes" % (self.max_size,))
             raise SynapseError(
                 502,
@@ -291,10 +375,9 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
         # straight back in again
 
         try:
-            length = yield preserve_context_over_fn(
-                _readBodyToFile,
-                response, output_stream, max_size
-            )
+            length = yield make_deferred_yieldable(_readBodyToFile(
+                response, output_stream, max_size,
+            ))
         except Exception as e:
             logger.exception("Failed to download body")
             raise SynapseError(
@@ -303,7 +386,9 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
                 Codes.UNKNOWN,
             )
 
-        defer.returnValue((length, headers, response.request.absoluteURI, response.code))
+        defer.returnValue(
+            (length, resp_headers, response.request.absoluteURI, response.code),
+        )
 
 
 # XXX: FIXME: This is horribly copy-pasted from matrixfederationclient.
@@ -371,7 +456,7 @@ class CaptchaServerHttpClient(SimpleHttpClient):
         )
 
         try:
-            body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+            body = yield make_deferred_yieldable(readBody(response))
             defer.returnValue(body)
         except PartialDownloadError as e:
             # twisted dislikes google's response, no content length.
@@ -422,7 +507,7 @@ class SpiderHttpClient(SimpleHttpClient):
                     reactor,
                     SpiderEndpointFactory(hs)
                 )
-            ), [('gzip', GzipDecoder)]
+            ), [(b'gzip', GzipDecoder)]
         )
         # We could look like Chrome:
         # self.user_agent = ("Mozilla/5.0 (%s) (KHTML, like Gecko)
diff --git a/synapse/http/endpoint.py b/synapse/http/endpoint.py
index 564ae4c10d..87a482650d 100644
--- a/synapse/http/endpoint.py
+++ b/synapse/http/endpoint.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 # 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.endpoints import HostnameEndpoint, wrapClientTLS
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.internet.error import ConnectError
@@ -30,7 +29,10 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 SERVER_CACHE = {}
 
-
+# our record of an individual server which can be tried to reach a destination.
+#
+# "host" is the hostname acquired from the SRV record. Except when there's
+# no SRV record, in which case it is the original hostname.
 _Server = collections.namedtuple(
     "_Server", "priority weight host port expires"
 )
@@ -224,9 +226,10 @@ class SRVClientEndpoint(object):
                 return self.default_server
             else:
                 raise ConnectError(
-                    "Not server available for %s" % self.service_name
+                    "No server available for %s" % self.service_name
                 )
 
+        # look for all servers with the same priority
         min_priority = self.servers[0].priority
         weight_indexes = list(
             (index, server.weight + 1)
@@ -236,11 +239,22 @@ class SRVClientEndpoint(object):
 
         total_weight = sum(weight for index, weight in weight_indexes)
         target_weight = random.randint(0, total_weight)
-
         for index, weight in weight_indexes:
             target_weight -= weight
             if target_weight <= 0:
                 server = self.servers[index]
+                # XXX: this looks totally dubious:
+                #
+                # (a) we never reuse a server until we have been through
+                #     all of the servers at the same priority, so if the
+                #     weights are A: 100, B:1, we always do ABABAB instead of
+                #     AAAA...AAAB (approximately).
+                #
+                # (b) After using all the servers at the lowest priority,
+                #     we move onto the next priority. We should only use the
+                #     second priority if servers at the top priority are
+                #     unreachable.
+                #
                 del self.servers[index]
                 self.used_servers.append(server)
                 return server
@@ -277,7 +291,7 @@ def resolve_service(service_name, dns_client=client, cache=SERVER_CACHE, clock=t
         if (len(answers) == 1
                 and answers[0].type == dns.SRV
                 and answers[0].payload
-                and answers[0].payload.target == dns.Name('.')):
+                and answers[0].payload.target == dns.Name(b'.')):
             raise ConnectError("Service %s unavailable" % service_name)
 
         for answer in answers:
@@ -285,26 +299,14 @@ def resolve_service(service_name, dns_client=client, cache=SERVER_CACHE, clock=t
                 continue
 
             payload = answer.payload
-            host = str(payload.target)
-            srv_ttl = answer.ttl
-
-            try:
-                answers, _, _ = yield dns_client.lookupAddress(host)
-            except DNSNameError:
-                continue
 
-            for answer in answers:
-                if answer.type == dns.A and answer.payload:
-                    ip = answer.payload.dottedQuad()
-                    host_ttl = min(srv_ttl, answer.ttl)
-
-                    servers.append(_Server(
-                        host=ip,
-                        port=int(payload.port),
-                        priority=int(payload.priority),
-                        weight=int(payload.weight),
-                        expires=int(clock.time()) + host_ttl,
-                    ))
+            servers.append(_Server(
+                host=str(payload.target),
+                port=int(payload.port),
+                priority=int(payload.priority),
+                weight=int(payload.weight),
+                expires=int(clock.time()) + answer.ttl,
+            ))
 
         servers.sort()
         cache[service_name] = list(servers)
diff --git a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
index 78b92cef36..4b2b85464d 100644
--- a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
+++ b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.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.
@@ -12,23 +13,24 @@
 # 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, reactor, protocol
 from twisted.internet.error import DNSLookupError
 from twisted.web.client import readBody, HTTPConnectionPool, Agent
 from twisted.web.http_headers import Headers
 from twisted.web._newclient import ResponseDone
 
+from synapse.http import cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error
 from synapse.http.endpoint import matrix_federation_endpoint
-from synapse.util.async import sleep
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_context_over_fn
 import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.util.async import sleep, add_timeout_to_deferred
+from synapse.util import logcontext
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
+import synapse.util.retryutils
 
 from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
 
 from synapse.api.errors import (
-    SynapseError, Codes, HttpResponseException,
+    SynapseError, Codes, HttpResponseException, FederationDeniedError,
 )
 
 from signedjson.sign import sign_json
@@ -39,8 +41,7 @@ import logging
 import random
 import sys
 import urllib
-import urlparse
-
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 outbound_logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.http.outbound")
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             reactor, MatrixFederationEndpointFactory(hs), pool=pool
         )
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
+        self._store = hs.get_datastore()
         self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self._next_id = 1
 
@@ -103,123 +105,161 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _create_request(self, destination, method, path_bytes,
-                        body_callback, headers_dict={}, param_bytes=b"",
-                        query_bytes=b"", retry_on_dns_fail=True,
-                        timeout=None, long_retries=False):
-        """ Creates and sends a request to the given url
-        """
-        headers_dict[b"User-Agent"] = [self.version_string]
-        headers_dict[b"Host"] = [destination]
+    def _request(self, destination, method, path,
+                 body_callback, headers_dict={}, param_bytes=b"",
+                 query_bytes=b"", retry_on_dns_fail=True,
+                 timeout=None, long_retries=False,
+                 ignore_backoff=False,
+                 backoff_on_404=False):
+        """ Creates and sends a request to the given server
+        Args:
+            destination (str): The remote server to send the HTTP request to.
+            method (str): HTTP method
+            path (str): The HTTP path
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data
+                and try the request anyway.
+            backoff_on_404 (bool): Back off if we get a 404
 
-        url_bytes = self._create_url(
-            destination, path_bytes, param_bytes, query_bytes
-        )
+        Returns:
+            Deferred: resolves with the http response object on success.
 
-        txn_id = "%s-O-%s" % (method, self._next_id)
-        self._next_id = (self._next_id + 1) % (sys.maxint - 1)
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException``: if we get an HTTP response
+                code >= 300.
 
-        outbound_logger.info(
-            "{%s} [%s] Sending request: %s %s",
-            txn_id, destination, method, url_bytes
-        )
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+                to retry this server.
 
-        # XXX: Would be much nicer to retry only at the transaction-layer
-        # (once we have reliable transactions in place)
-        if long_retries:
-            retries_left = MAX_LONG_RETRIES
-        else:
-            retries_left = MAX_SHORT_RETRIES
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+                is not on our federation whitelist
 
-        http_url_bytes = urlparse.urlunparse(
-            ("", "", path_bytes, param_bytes, query_bytes, "")
+            (May also fail with plenty of other Exceptions for things like DNS
+                failures, connection failures, SSL failures.)
+        """
+        if (
+            self.hs.config.federation_domain_whitelist and
+            destination not in self.hs.config.federation_domain_whitelist
+        ):
+            raise FederationDeniedError(destination)
+
+        limiter = yield synapse.util.retryutils.get_retry_limiter(
+            destination,
+            self.clock,
+            self._store,
+            backoff_on_404=backoff_on_404,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
         )
 
-        log_result = None
-        try:
-            while True:
-                producer = None
-                if body_callback:
-                    producer = body_callback(method, http_url_bytes, headers_dict)
-
-                try:
-                    def send_request():
-                        request_deferred = preserve_context_over_fn(
-                            self.agent.request,
+        destination = destination.encode("ascii")
+        path_bytes = path.encode("ascii")
+        with limiter:
+            headers_dict[b"User-Agent"] = [self.version_string]
+            headers_dict[b"Host"] = [destination]
+
+            url_bytes = self._create_url(
+                destination, path_bytes, param_bytes, query_bytes
+            )
+
+            txn_id = "%s-O-%s" % (method, self._next_id)
+            self._next_id = (self._next_id + 1) % (sys.maxint - 1)
+
+            outbound_logger.info(
+                "{%s} [%s] Sending request: %s %s",
+                txn_id, destination, method, url_bytes
+            )
+
+            # XXX: Would be much nicer to retry only at the transaction-layer
+            # (once we have reliable transactions in place)
+            if long_retries:
+                retries_left = MAX_LONG_RETRIES
+            else:
+                retries_left = MAX_SHORT_RETRIES
+
+            http_url_bytes = urlparse.urlunparse(
+                ("", "", path_bytes, param_bytes, query_bytes, "")
+            )
+
+            log_result = None
+            try:
+                while True:
+                    producer = None
+                    if body_callback:
+                        producer = body_callback(method, http_url_bytes, headers_dict)
+
+                    try:
+                        request_deferred = self.agent.request(
                             method,
                             url_bytes,
                             Headers(headers_dict),
                             producer
                         )
-
-                        return self.clock.time_bound_deferred(
+                        add_timeout_to_deferred(
+                            request_deferred,
+                            timeout / 1000. if timeout else 60,
+                            cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error,
+                        )
+                        response = yield make_deferred_yieldable(
                             request_deferred,
-                            time_out=timeout / 1000. if timeout else 60,
                         )
 
-                    response = yield preserve_context_over_fn(send_request)
+                        log_result = "%d %s" % (response.code, response.phrase,)
+                        break
+                    except Exception as e:
+                        if not retry_on_dns_fail and isinstance(e, DNSLookupError):
+                            logger.warn(
+                                "DNS Lookup failed to %s with %s",
+                                destination,
+                                e
+                            )
+                            log_result = "DNS Lookup failed to %s with %s" % (
+                                destination, e
+                            )
+                            raise
 
-                    log_result = "%d %s" % (response.code, response.phrase,)
-                    break
-                except Exception as e:
-                    if not retry_on_dns_fail and isinstance(e, DNSLookupError):
                         logger.warn(
-                            "DNS Lookup failed to %s with %s",
+                            "{%s} Sending request failed to %s: %s %s: %s",
+                            txn_id,
                             destination,
-                            e
-                        )
-                        log_result = "DNS Lookup failed to %s with %s" % (
-                            destination, e
+                            method,
+                            url_bytes,
+                            _flatten_response_never_received(e),
                         )
-                        raise
-
-                    logger.warn(
-                        "{%s} Sending request failed to %s: %s %s: %s - %s",
-                        txn_id,
-                        destination,
-                        method,
-                        url_bytes,
-                        type(e).__name__,
-                        _flatten_response_never_received(e),
-                    )
-
-                    log_result = "%s - %s" % (
-                        type(e).__name__, _flatten_response_never_received(e),
-                    )
-
-                    if retries_left and not timeout:
-                        if long_retries:
-                            delay = 4 ** (MAX_LONG_RETRIES + 1 - retries_left)
-                            delay = min(delay, 60)
-                            delay *= random.uniform(0.8, 1.4)
+
+                        log_result = _flatten_response_never_received(e)
+
+                        if retries_left and not timeout:
+                            if long_retries:
+                                delay = 4 ** (MAX_LONG_RETRIES + 1 - retries_left)
+                                delay = min(delay, 60)
+                                delay *= random.uniform(0.8, 1.4)
+                            else:
+                                delay = 0.5 * 2 ** (MAX_SHORT_RETRIES - retries_left)
+                                delay = min(delay, 2)
+                                delay *= random.uniform(0.8, 1.4)
+
+                            yield sleep(delay)
+                            retries_left -= 1
                         else:
-                            delay = 0.5 * 2 ** (MAX_SHORT_RETRIES - retries_left)
-                            delay = min(delay, 2)
-                            delay *= random.uniform(0.8, 1.4)
-
-                        yield sleep(delay)
-                        retries_left -= 1
-                    else:
-                        raise
-        finally:
-            outbound_logger.info(
-                "{%s} [%s] Result: %s",
-                txn_id,
-                destination,
-                log_result,
-            )
+                            raise
+            finally:
+                outbound_logger.info(
+                    "{%s} [%s] Result: %s",
+                    txn_id,
+                    destination,
+                    log_result,
+                )
 
-        if 200 <= response.code < 300:
-            pass
-        else:
-            # :'(
-            # Update transactions table?
-            body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
-            raise HttpResponseException(
-                response.code, response.phrase, body
-            )
+            if 200 <= response.code < 300:
+                pass
+            else:
+                # :'(
+                # Update transactions table?
+                with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+                    body = yield readBody(response)
+                raise HttpResponseException(
+                    response.code, response.phrase, body
+                )
 
-        defer.returnValue(response)
+            defer.returnValue(response)
 
     def sign_request(self, destination, method, url_bytes, headers_dict,
                      content=None):
@@ -247,14 +287,18 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
         headers_dict[b"Authorization"] = auth_headers
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def put_json(self, destination, path, data={}, json_data_callback=None,
-                 long_retries=False, timeout=None):
+    def put_json(self, destination, path, args={}, data={},
+                 json_data_callback=None,
+                 long_retries=False, timeout=None,
+                 ignore_backoff=False,
+                 backoff_on_404=False):
         """ Sends the specifed json data using PUT
 
         Args:
             destination (str): The remote server to send the HTTP request
                 to.
             path (str): The HTTP path.
+            args (dict): query params
             data (dict): A dict containing the data that will be used as
                 the request body. This will be encoded as JSON.
             json_data_callback (callable): A callable returning the dict to
@@ -263,11 +307,24 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
                 retry for a short or long time.
             timeout(int): How long to try (in ms) the destination for before
                 giving up. None indicates no timeout.
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data
+                and try the request anyway.
+            backoff_on_404 (bool): True if we should count a 404 response as
+                a failure of the server (and should therefore back off future
+                requests)
 
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get a 2xx HTTP response. The result
-            will be the decoded JSON body. On a 4xx or 5xx error response a
-            CodeMessageException is raised.
+            will be the decoded JSON body.
+
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException`` if we get an HTTP response
+            code >= 300.
+
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+            to retry this server.
+
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+            is not on our federation whitelist
         """
 
         if not json_data_callback:
@@ -282,26 +339,30 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             producer = _JsonProducer(json_data)
             return producer
 
-        response = yield self._create_request(
-            destination.encode("ascii"),
+        response = yield self._request(
+            destination,
             "PUT",
-            path.encode("ascii"),
+            path,
             body_callback=body_callback,
             headers_dict={"Content-Type": ["application/json"]},
+            query_bytes=encode_query_args(args),
             long_retries=long_retries,
             timeout=timeout,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
+            backoff_on_404=backoff_on_404,
         )
 
         if 200 <= response.code < 300:
             # We need to update the transactions table to say it was sent?
             check_content_type_is_json(response.headers)
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+            body = yield readBody(response)
         defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def post_json(self, destination, path, data={}, long_retries=False,
-                  timeout=None):
+                  timeout=None, ignore_backoff=False, args={}):
         """ Sends the specifed json data using POST
 
         Args:
@@ -314,11 +375,21 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
                 retry for a short or long time.
             timeout(int): How long to try (in ms) the destination for before
                 giving up. None indicates no timeout.
-
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data and
+                try the request anyway.
+            args (dict): query params
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get a 2xx HTTP response. The result
-            will be the decoded JSON body. On a 4xx or 5xx error response a
-            CodeMessageException is raised.
+            will be the decoded JSON body.
+
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException`` if we get an HTTP response
+            code >= 300.
+
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+            to retry this server.
+
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+            is not on our federation whitelist
         """
 
         def body_callback(method, url_bytes, headers_dict):
@@ -327,27 +398,30 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             )
             return _JsonProducer(data)
 
-        response = yield self._create_request(
-            destination.encode("ascii"),
+        response = yield self._request(
+            destination,
             "POST",
-            path.encode("ascii"),
+            path,
+            query_bytes=encode_query_args(args),
             body_callback=body_callback,
             headers_dict={"Content-Type": ["application/json"]},
             long_retries=long_retries,
             timeout=timeout,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
         )
 
         if 200 <= response.code < 300:
             # We need to update the transactions table to say it was sent?
             check_content_type_is_json(response.headers)
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+            body = yield readBody(response)
 
         defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_json(self, destination, path, args={}, retry_on_dns_fail=True,
-                 timeout=None):
+                 timeout=None, ignore_backoff=False):
         """ GETs some json from the given host homeserver and path
 
         Args:
@@ -359,57 +433,122 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             timeout (int): How long to try (in ms) the destination for before
                 giving up. None indicates no timeout and that the request will
                 be retried.
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data
+                and try the request anyway.
         Returns:
-            Deferred: Succeeds when we get *any* HTTP response.
+            Deferred: Succeeds when we get a 2xx HTTP response. The result
+            will be the decoded JSON body.
+
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException`` if we get an HTTP response
+            code >= 300.
+
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+            to retry this server.
 
-            The result of the deferred is a tuple of `(code, response)`,
-            where `response` is a dict representing the decoded JSON body.
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+            is not on our federation whitelist
         """
         logger.debug("get_json args: %s", args)
 
-        encoded_args = {}
-        for k, vs in args.items():
-            if isinstance(vs, basestring):
-                vs = [vs]
-            encoded_args[k] = [v.encode("UTF-8") for v in vs]
-
-        query_bytes = urllib.urlencode(encoded_args, True)
         logger.debug("Query bytes: %s Retry DNS: %s", args, retry_on_dns_fail)
 
         def body_callback(method, url_bytes, headers_dict):
             self.sign_request(destination, method, url_bytes, headers_dict)
             return None
 
-        response = yield self._create_request(
-            destination.encode("ascii"),
+        response = yield self._request(
+            destination,
             "GET",
-            path.encode("ascii"),
-            query_bytes=query_bytes,
+            path,
+            query_bytes=encode_query_args(args),
             body_callback=body_callback,
             retry_on_dns_fail=retry_on_dns_fail,
             timeout=timeout,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
         )
 
         if 200 <= response.code < 300:
             # We need to update the transactions table to say it was sent?
             check_content_type_is_json(response.headers)
 
-        body = yield preserve_context_over_fn(readBody, response)
+        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+            body = yield readBody(response)
+
+        defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def delete_json(self, destination, path, long_retries=False,
+                    timeout=None, ignore_backoff=False, args={}):
+        """Send a DELETE request to the remote expecting some json response
+
+        Args:
+            destination (str): The remote server to send the HTTP request
+                to.
+            path (str): The HTTP path.
+            long_retries (bool): A boolean that indicates whether we should
+                retry for a short or long time.
+            timeout(int): How long to try (in ms) the destination for before
+                giving up. None indicates no timeout.
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data and
+                try the request anyway.
+        Returns:
+            Deferred: Succeeds when we get a 2xx HTTP response. The result
+            will be the decoded JSON body.
+
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException`` if we get an HTTP response
+            code >= 300.
+
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+            to retry this server.
+
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+            is not on our federation whitelist
+        """
+
+        response = yield self._request(
+            destination,
+            "DELETE",
+            path,
+            query_bytes=encode_query_args(args),
+            headers_dict={"Content-Type": ["application/json"]},
+            long_retries=long_retries,
+            timeout=timeout,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
+        )
+
+        if 200 <= response.code < 300:
+            # We need to update the transactions table to say it was sent?
+            check_content_type_is_json(response.headers)
+
+        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+            body = yield readBody(response)
 
         defer.returnValue(json.loads(body))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_file(self, destination, path, output_stream, args={},
-                 retry_on_dns_fail=True, max_size=None):
+                 retry_on_dns_fail=True, max_size=None,
+                 ignore_backoff=False):
         """GETs a file from a given homeserver
         Args:
             destination (str): The remote server to send the HTTP request to.
             path (str): The HTTP path to GET.
             output_stream (file): File to write the response body to.
             args (dict): Optional dictionary used to create the query string.
+            ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data
+                and try the request anyway.
         Returns:
-            A (int,dict) tuple of the file length and a dict of the response
-            headers.
+            Deferred: resolves with an (int,dict) tuple of the file length and
+            a dict of the response headers.
+
+            Fails with ``HTTPRequestException`` if we get an HTTP response code
+            >= 300
+
+            Fails with ``NotRetryingDestination`` if we are not yet ready
+            to retry this server.
+
+            Fails with ``FederationDeniedError`` if this destination
+            is not on our federation whitelist
         """
 
         encoded_args = {}
@@ -419,29 +558,30 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             encoded_args[k] = [v.encode("UTF-8") for v in vs]
 
         query_bytes = urllib.urlencode(encoded_args, True)
-        logger.debug("Query bytes: %s Retry DNS: %s", args, retry_on_dns_fail)
+        logger.debug("Query bytes: %s Retry DNS: %s", query_bytes, retry_on_dns_fail)
 
         def body_callback(method, url_bytes, headers_dict):
             self.sign_request(destination, method, url_bytes, headers_dict)
             return None
 
-        response = yield self._create_request(
-            destination.encode("ascii"),
+        response = yield self._request(
+            destination,
             "GET",
-            path.encode("ascii"),
+            path,
             query_bytes=query_bytes,
             body_callback=body_callback,
-            retry_on_dns_fail=retry_on_dns_fail
+            retry_on_dns_fail=retry_on_dns_fail,
+            ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
         )
 
         headers = dict(response.headers.getAllRawHeaders())
 
         try:
-            length = yield preserve_context_over_fn(
-                _readBodyToFile,
-                response, output_stream, max_size
-            )
-        except:
+            with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
+                length = yield _readBodyToFile(
+                    response, output_stream, max_size
+                )
+        except Exception:
             logger.exception("Failed to download body")
             raise
 
@@ -506,12 +646,14 @@ class _JsonProducer(object):
 
 def _flatten_response_never_received(e):
     if hasattr(e, "reasons"):
-        return ", ".join(
+        reasons = ", ".join(
             _flatten_response_never_received(f.value)
             for f in e.reasons
         )
+
+        return "%s:[%s]" % (type(e).__name__, reasons)
     else:
-        return "%s: %s" % (type(e).__name__, e.message,)
+        return repr(e)
 
 
 def check_content_type_is_json(headers):
@@ -538,3 +680,15 @@ def check_content_type_is_json(headers):
         raise RuntimeError(
             "Content-Type not application/json: was '%s'" % c_type
         )
+
+
+def encode_query_args(args):
+    encoded_args = {}
+    for k, vs in args.items():
+        if isinstance(vs, basestring):
+            vs = [vs]
+        encoded_args[k] = [v.encode("UTF-8") for v in vs]
+
+    query_bytes = urllib.urlencode(encoded_args, True)
+
+    return query_bytes
diff --git a/synapse/http/server.py b/synapse/http/server.py
index 14715878c5..55b9ad5251 100644
--- a/synapse/http/server.py
+++ b/synapse/http/server.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.
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ from canonicaljson import (
 )
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.python import failure
 from twisted.web import server, resource
 from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 from twisted.web.util import redirectTo
@@ -35,42 +37,86 @@ from twisted.web.util import redirectTo
 import collections
 import logging
 import urllib
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
 
-incoming_requests_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "requests",
+# total number of responses served, split by method/servlet/tag
+response_count = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_count",
     labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        # the following are all deprecated aliases for the same metric
+        metrics.name_prefix + x for x in (
+            "_requests",
+            "_response_time:count",
+            "_response_ru_utime:count",
+            "_response_ru_stime:count",
+            "_response_db_txn_count:count",
+            "_response_db_txn_duration:count",
+        )
+    )
+)
+
+requests_counter = metrics.register_counter(
+    "requests_received",
+    labels=["method", "servlet", ],
 )
+
 outgoing_responses_counter = metrics.register_counter(
     "responses",
     labels=["method", "code"],
 )
 
-response_timer = metrics.register_distribution(
-    "response_time",
-    labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+response_timer = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_time_seconds",
+    labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_time:total",
+    ),
 )
 
-response_ru_utime = metrics.register_distribution(
-    "response_ru_utime", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+response_ru_utime = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_ru_utime_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_ru_utime:total",
+    ),
 )
 
-response_ru_stime = metrics.register_distribution(
-    "response_ru_stime", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+response_ru_stime = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_ru_stime_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_ru_stime:total",
+    ),
 )
 
-response_db_txn_count = metrics.register_distribution(
-    "response_db_txn_count", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+response_db_txn_count = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_db_txn_count", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_db_txn_count:total",
+    ),
 )
 
-response_db_txn_duration = metrics.register_distribution(
-    "response_db_txn_duration", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+# seconds spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time, when processing
+# this request
+response_db_txn_duration = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_db_txn_duration_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+    alternative_names=(
+        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_db_txn_duration:total",
+    ),
 )
 
+# seconds spent waiting for a db connection, when processing this request
+response_db_sched_duration = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_db_sched_duration_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+# size in bytes of the response written
+response_size = metrics.register_counter(
+    "response_size", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
 
 _next_request_id = 0
 
@@ -106,7 +152,12 @@ def wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics=False):
         with LoggingContext(request_id) as request_context:
             with Measure(self.clock, "wrapped_request_handler"):
                 request_metrics = RequestMetrics()
-                request_metrics.start(self.clock, name=self.__class__.__name__)
+                # we start the request metrics timer here with an initial stab
+                # at the servlet name. For most requests that name will be
+                # JsonResource (or a subclass), and JsonResource._async_render
+                # will update it once it picks a servlet.
+                servlet_name = self.__class__.__name__
+                request_metrics.start(self.clock, name=servlet_name)
 
                 request_context.request = request_id
                 with request.processing():
@@ -115,6 +166,7 @@ def wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics=False):
                             if include_metrics:
                                 yield request_handler(self, request, request_metrics)
                             else:
+                                requests_counter.inc(request.method, servlet_name)
                                 yield request_handler(self, request)
                     except CodeMessageException as e:
                         code = e.code
@@ -130,13 +182,18 @@ def wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics=False):
                             pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
                             version_string=self.version_string,
                         )
-                    except:
-                        logger.exception(
-                            "Failed handle request %s.%s on %r: %r",
+                    except Exception:
+                        # failure.Failure() fishes the original Failure out
+                        # of our stack, and thus gives us a sensible stack
+                        # trace.
+                        f = failure.Failure()
+                        logger.error(
+                            "Failed handle request %s.%s on %r: %r: %s",
                             request_handler.__module__,
                             request_handler.__name__,
                             self,
-                            request
+                            request,
+                            f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
                         )
                         respond_with_json(
                             request,
@@ -145,7 +202,9 @@ def wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics=False):
                                 "error": "Internal server error",
                                 "errcode": Codes.UNKNOWN,
                             },
-                            send_cors=True
+                            send_cors=True,
+                            pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
+                            version_string=self.version_string,
                         )
                     finally:
                         try:
@@ -183,7 +242,7 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
     """ This implements the HttpServer interface and provides JSON support for
     Resources.
 
-    Register callbacks via register_path()
+    Register callbacks via register_paths()
 
     Callbacks can return a tuple of status code and a dict in which case the
     the dict will automatically be sent to the client as a JSON object.
@@ -230,57 +289,62 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
             This checks if anyone has registered a callback for that method and
             path.
         """
-        if request.method == "OPTIONS":
-            self._send_response(request, 200, {})
-            return
+        callback, group_dict = self._get_handler_for_request(request)
 
-        # Loop through all the registered callbacks to check if the method
-        # and path regex match
-        for path_entry in self.path_regexs.get(request.method, []):
-            m = path_entry.pattern.match(request.path)
-            if not m:
-                continue
+        servlet_instance = getattr(callback, "__self__", None)
+        if servlet_instance is not None:
+            servlet_classname = servlet_instance.__class__.__name__
+        else:
+            servlet_classname = "%r" % callback
 
-            # We found a match! Trigger callback and then return the
-            # returned response. We pass both the request and any
-            # matched groups from the regex to the callback.
+        request_metrics.name = servlet_classname
+        requests_counter.inc(request.method, servlet_classname)
 
-            callback = path_entry.callback
+        # Now trigger the callback. If it returns a response, we send it
+        # here. If it throws an exception, that is handled by the wrapper
+        # installed by @request_handler.
 
-            kwargs = intern_dict({
-                name: urllib.unquote(value).decode("UTF-8") if value else value
-                for name, value in m.groupdict().items()
-            })
+        kwargs = intern_dict({
+            name: urllib.unquote(value).decode("UTF-8") if value else value
+            for name, value in group_dict.items()
+        })
 
-            callback_return = yield callback(request, **kwargs)
-            if callback_return is not None:
-                code, response = callback_return
-                self._send_response(request, code, response)
+        callback_return = yield callback(request, **kwargs)
+        if callback_return is not None:
+            code, response = callback_return
+            self._send_response(request, code, response)
 
-            servlet_instance = getattr(callback, "__self__", None)
-            if servlet_instance is not None:
-                servlet_classname = servlet_instance.__class__.__name__
-            else:
-                servlet_classname = "%r" % callback
+    def _get_handler_for_request(self, request):
+        """Finds a callback method to handle the given request
 
-            request_metrics.name = servlet_classname
+        Args:
+            request (twisted.web.http.Request):
+
+        Returns:
+            Tuple[Callable, dict[str, str]]: callback method, and the dict
+                mapping keys to path components as specified in the handler's
+                path match regexp.
 
-            return
+                The callback will normally be a method registered via
+                register_paths, so will return (possibly via Deferred) either
+                None, or a tuple of (http code, response body).
+        """
+        if request.method == b"OPTIONS":
+            return _options_handler, {}
+
+        # Loop through all the registered callbacks to check if the method
+        # and path regex match
+        for path_entry in self.path_regexs.get(request.method, []):
+            m = path_entry.pattern.match(request.path)
+            if m:
+                # We found a match!
+                return path_entry.callback, m.groupdict()
 
         # Huh. No one wanted to handle that? Fiiiiiine. Send 400.
-        raise UnrecognizedRequestError()
+        return _unrecognised_request_handler, {}
 
     def _send_response(self, request, code, response_json_object,
                        response_code_message=None):
-        # could alternatively use request.notifyFinish() and flip a flag when
-        # the Deferred fires, but since the flag is RIGHT THERE it seems like
-        # a waste.
-        if request._disconnected:
-            logger.warn(
-                "Not sending response to request %s, already disconnected.",
-                request)
-            return
-
         outgoing_responses_counter.inc(request.method, str(code))
 
         # TODO: Only enable CORS for the requests that need it.
@@ -294,6 +358,34 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
         )
 
 
+def _options_handler(request):
+    """Request handler for OPTIONS requests
+
+    This is a request handler suitable for return from
+    _get_handler_for_request. It returns a 200 and an empty body.
+
+    Args:
+        request (twisted.web.http.Request):
+
+    Returns:
+        Tuple[int, dict]: http code, response body.
+    """
+    return 200, {}
+
+
+def _unrecognised_request_handler(request):
+    """Request handler for unrecognised requests
+
+    This is a request handler suitable for return from
+    _get_handler_for_request. It actually just raises an
+    UnrecognizedRequestError.
+
+    Args:
+        request (twisted.web.http.Request):
+    """
+    raise UnrecognizedRequestError()
+
+
 class RequestMetrics(object):
     def start(self, clock, name):
         self.start = clock.time_msec()
@@ -314,7 +406,7 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
                 )
                 return
 
-        incoming_requests_counter.inc(request.method, self.name, tag)
+        response_count.inc(request.method, self.name, tag)
 
         response_timer.inc_by(
             clock.time_msec() - self.start, request.method,
@@ -333,9 +425,14 @@ class RequestMetrics(object):
             context.db_txn_count, request.method, self.name, tag
         )
         response_db_txn_duration.inc_by(
-            context.db_txn_duration, request.method, self.name, tag
+            context.db_txn_duration_ms / 1000., request.method, self.name, tag
+        )
+        response_db_sched_duration.inc_by(
+            context.db_sched_duration_ms / 1000., request.method, self.name, tag
         )
 
+        response_size.inc_by(request.sentLength, request.method, self.name, tag)
+
 
 class RootRedirect(resource.Resource):
     """Redirects the root '/' path to another path."""
@@ -356,14 +453,22 @@ class RootRedirect(resource.Resource):
 def respond_with_json(request, code, json_object, send_cors=False,
                       response_code_message=None, pretty_print=False,
                       version_string="", canonical_json=True):
+    # could alternatively use request.notifyFinish() and flip a flag when
+    # the Deferred fires, but since the flag is RIGHT THERE it seems like
+    # a waste.
+    if request._disconnected:
+        logger.warn(
+            "Not sending response to request %s, already disconnected.",
+            request)
+        return
+
     if pretty_print:
         json_bytes = encode_pretty_printed_json(json_object) + "\n"
     else:
         if canonical_json or synapse.events.USE_FROZEN_DICTS:
             json_bytes = encode_canonical_json(json_object)
         else:
-            # ujson doesn't like frozen_dicts.
-            json_bytes = ujson.dumps(json_object, ensure_ascii=False)
+            json_bytes = simplejson.dumps(json_object)
 
     return respond_with_json_bytes(
         request, code, json_bytes,
@@ -390,6 +495,7 @@ def respond_with_json_bytes(request, code, json_bytes, send_cors=False,
     request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"application/json")
     request.setHeader(b"Server", version_string)
     request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%d" % (len(json_bytes),))
+    request.setHeader(b"Cache-Control", b"no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate")
 
     if send_cors:
         set_cors_headers(request)
@@ -412,7 +518,7 @@ def set_cors_headers(request):
     )
     request.setHeader(
         "Access-Control-Allow-Headers",
-        "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept"
+        "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept, Authorization"
     )
 
 
@@ -437,9 +543,9 @@ def finish_request(request):
 
 def _request_user_agent_is_curl(request):
     user_agents = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(
-        "User-Agent", default=[]
+        b"User-Agent", default=[]
     )
     for user_agent in user_agents:
-        if "curl" in user_agent:
+        if b"curl" in user_agent:
             return True
     return False
diff --git a/synapse/http/servlet.py b/synapse/http/servlet.py
index 8c22d6f00f..ef8e62901b 100644
--- a/synapse/http/servlet.py
+++ b/synapse/http/servlet.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def parse_integer_from_args(args, name, default=None, required=False):
     if name in args:
         try:
             return int(args[name][0])
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             message = "Query parameter %r must be an integer" % (name,)
             raise SynapseError(400, message)
     else:
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def parse_boolean_from_args(args, name, default=None, required=False):
                 "true": True,
                 "false": False,
             }[args[name][0]]
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             message = (
                 "Boolean query parameter %r must be one of"
                 " ['true', 'false']"
@@ -148,11 +148,13 @@ def parse_string_from_args(args, name, default=None, required=False,
             return default
 
 
-def parse_json_value_from_request(request):
+def parse_json_value_from_request(request, allow_empty_body=False):
     """Parse a JSON value from the body of a twisted HTTP request.
 
     Args:
         request: the twisted HTTP request.
+        allow_empty_body (bool): if True, an empty body will be accepted and
+            turned into None
 
     Returns:
         The JSON value.
@@ -162,28 +164,39 @@ def parse_json_value_from_request(request):
     """
     try:
         content_bytes = request.content.read()
-    except:
+    except Exception:
         raise SynapseError(400, "Error reading JSON content.")
 
+    if not content_bytes and allow_empty_body:
+        return None
+
     try:
         content = simplejson.loads(content_bytes)
-    except simplejson.JSONDecodeError:
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warn("Unable to parse JSON: %s", e)
         raise SynapseError(400, "Content not JSON.", errcode=Codes.NOT_JSON)
 
     return content
 
 
-def parse_json_object_from_request(request):
+def parse_json_object_from_request(request, allow_empty_body=False):
     """Parse a JSON object from the body of a twisted HTTP request.
 
     Args:
         request: the twisted HTTP request.
+        allow_empty_body (bool): if True, an empty body will be accepted and
+            turned into an empty dict.
 
     Raises:
         SynapseError if the request body couldn't be decoded as JSON or
             if it wasn't a JSON object.
     """
-    content = parse_json_value_from_request(request)
+    content = parse_json_value_from_request(
+        request, allow_empty_body=allow_empty_body,
+    )
+
+    if allow_empty_body and content is None:
+        return {}
 
     if type(content) != dict:
         message = "Content must be a JSON object."
@@ -192,6 +205,16 @@ def parse_json_object_from_request(request):
     return content
 
 
+def assert_params_in_request(body, required):
+    absent = []
+    for k in required:
+        if k not in body:
+            absent.append(k)
+
+    if len(absent) > 0:
+        raise SynapseError(400, "Missing params: %r" % absent, Codes.MISSING_PARAM)
+
+
 class RestServlet(object):
 
     """ A Synapse REST Servlet.
diff --git a/synapse/http/site.py b/synapse/http/site.py
index 4b09d7ee66..c8b46e1af2 100644
--- a/synapse/http/site.py
+++ b/synapse/http/site.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import logging
 import re
 import time
 
-ACCESS_TOKEN_RE = re.compile(r'(\?.*access(_|%5[Ff])token=)[^&]*(.*)$')
+ACCESS_TOKEN_RE = re.compile(br'(\?.*access(_|%5[Ff])token=)[^&]*(.*)$')
 
 
 class SynapseRequest(Request):
@@ -43,12 +43,12 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
 
     def get_redacted_uri(self):
         return ACCESS_TOKEN_RE.sub(
-            r'\1<redacted>\3',
+            br'\1<redacted>\3',
             self.uri
         )
 
     def get_user_agent(self):
-        return self.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("User-Agent", [None])[-1]
+        return self.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"User-Agent", [None])[-1]
 
     def started_processing(self):
         self.site.access_logger.info(
@@ -66,14 +66,15 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             context = LoggingContext.current_context()
             ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
             db_txn_count = context.db_txn_count
-            db_txn_duration = context.db_txn_duration
-        except:
+            db_txn_duration_ms = context.db_txn_duration_ms
+            db_sched_duration_ms = context.db_sched_duration_ms
+        except Exception:
             ru_utime, ru_stime = (0, 0)
-            db_txn_count, db_txn_duration = (0, 0)
+            db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_ms = (0, 0)
 
         self.site.access_logger.info(
             "%s - %s - {%s}"
-            " Processed request: %dms (%dms, %dms) (%dms/%d)"
+            " Processed request: %dms (%dms, %dms) (%dms/%dms/%d)"
             " %sB %s \"%s %s %s\" \"%s\"",
             self.getClientIP(),
             self.site.site_tag,
@@ -81,7 +82,8 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             int(time.time() * 1000) - self.start_time,
             int(ru_utime * 1000),
             int(ru_stime * 1000),
-            int(db_txn_duration * 1000),
+            db_sched_duration_ms,
+            db_txn_duration_ms,
             int(db_txn_count),
             self.sentLength,
             self.code,