nextcloud / nextcloud/server

UTF-8 support for usernames

Open
#57,646 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

0. Needs triage enhancement feature: users and groups hotspot: account name handling
Dominant language
PHP
Stars
36.9k
Forks
5.2k
Avg merge
2d 3h
Merged PRs (30d)
713

Description

Currently, usernames are limited to ASCII, which is unfortunate and restrictive. To make Nextcloud suitable for international language use, usernames should be relaxed to UTF-8.Next-Cloud would be the first software capable of doing this, which would set Next-Cloud apart from other self-hosting applications for clouds.
Proprietary clouds are also limited to ASCII in user names, which would make Next-Cloud a more attractive alternative. This is particularly true in China, Japan, India and Europe.

In order not to jeopardise existing data, UTF-8 activation should only be possible via an explicit setting, with a warning that this may result in the loss of plugins. This prevents anyone from accidentally creating UTF-8 usernames.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. First map where username validation and user settings are implemented, then determine the migration and compatibility impact of an explicit UTF-8 setting. Done means UTF-8 usernames can be enabled deliberately with a warning while existing data remains protected.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
authentication, backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.