matrix-org / matrix-org/matrix-spec

Soft-logout should be the default on 401 errors.

Open
#864 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement
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HTML
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330
Forks
150
Avg merge
2h 21m
Merged PRs (30d)
3

Description

Currently soft-logout (https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.6.1#soft-logout) defaults to `false` on 401 errors, for backwards compatibility. This means that if someone accidentally puts their matrix CS API behind HTTP auth (as presumably per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27907696), then clients may see the 401 and hard logout, destroying local user data. Instead, I suggest they should only explicitly hard logout if `soft-logout: false`. (Alternatively, `hard-logout: true`).

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the Matrix Client-Server API soft-logout section linked in the issue and review how 401 responses define logout behavior. Consider the backwards-compatibility concern and the two proposed alternatives. Done means the specification resolves and documents the default behavior for soft and hard logout.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
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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