matrix-org / matrix-org/matrix-spec

Auth stage types refer to protocols (SPEC-158)

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A-Client-Server enhancement
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

The spec currently allows home servers to list ways the it requires a client to authenticate by protocol. This means that it's impossible for a server to require the client completes more than one auth stage if they use the same protocol, eg. oauth2 to both twitter and facebook.

I think what the home server cares about is the **what** is authenticated (eg. the user's synapse username and password, the user's ownership of an email address or the user's ownership of a twitter account) and **who** it is authenticated with (eg. the home server, a given identity server or Twitter). The protocol the client needs to speak to do that auth is a purely technical concern.

(Imported from https://matrix.org/jira/browse/SPEC-158)

(Reported by @dbkr)

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Research direction

No file or test entry point is named in the issue, so first locate the specification section defining authentication stages and review its current schema and examples. Done should let a homeserver distinguish what and who are authenticated, while allowing multiple stages that use the same protocol.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
authentication, documentation
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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