Matrix

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Matrix is an open-standard, encrypted, and federated chat protocol. Clients exist for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. The standard client is called Element, and can be downloaded at https://element.io/download. A web interface hosted by us can be found at chat.pub.solar.

Overview

This page will focus on setting up Matrix. It is divided into several sections:

Setting up: Signing into your Matrix client
Bridging: Setting up bridges to third-party / proprietary platforms.
Tips and Tricks: How to enable some niceties.
Clients: Using a third-party app to connect to Matrix.

Learn More

More information on Matrix can be found on:

Setting up

Homeserver address for clients

When logging in to clients, you'll have to provide your homeserver address. This is matrix.pub.solar, not chat.pub.solar.

Saving your encryption keys

The first time you log in, you'll be asked to save your encryption keys. Make sure to write these down in a secure location! We recommend using a password manager. Matrix messages are end-to-end encrypted, which means that the administrators of pub.solar cannot read their contents. However, if you lose your encryption keys you'll lose access to all previous messages.

Cross-device verification

Cross-device verification lets you share keys between devices, allowing two trusted devices to automatically be trusted by your contacts. The process is straightforward, either by scanning a QR code, or manually compare a few emojis (or words) to make sure both your devices show the same set. To learn more, read the overview or the guide by Element.

Initiating this process differs per client.

On Element, cross-device verification is prompted when you log into a new device.

Bridging

Proprietary chat services such as Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp can be bridged to Matrix, allowing you to communicate with users on the target network.

Currently, we offer Telegram and IRC bridges for our users. Otherwise, several public bridges are available, such as t2bot for Discord and Telegram.

Telegram

Currently, only puppeting is enabled on this instance.

To set up puppeting for your Telegram account:

Create a direct chat with @telegrambot:pub.solar and wait for it to join.
Initiate the process by sending login.
Either follow the link replied to log in via browser, or send your account's phone number directly to the chat.
Follow further instructions from the bot.

Relay bridging (used to bridge rooms) may be set up in the future.

IRC

As of January 2024, IRC bridging to Libera Chat (irc.libera.chat) and Scratch IRC (irc.scratch-network.net) is enabled.

Before reading on, try searching the public room list in your Matrix client to see if there is already an existing bridged room for the IRC channel you would like to join.

To join a channel on IRC from Matrix, simply join the room #_<SERVER>_<CHANNEL>, where <SERVER> and <CHANNEL> correspond to the IRC server and channel on that IRC server.

For example, to join the channel #pkgsrc on libera.chat IRC, join the Matrix room #_libera_#pkgsrc:pub.solar. One way of joining this room is by entering the following command in the chat box of any room in your Matrix client:

/join #_libera_#pkgsrc:pub.solar

To check the IRC bridge status and to control your connection to IRC servers, start a chat with @irc_bot:pub.solar. This is your IRC bridge admin room, where you can set your IRC Nick (username) and store a password if you registered a user on a given IRC server. Note that some IRC channels only allow registered users to join. Type !help in the chat box to find out available commands in the admin room.

Table of bridged IRC networks
Network Name	Room alias format	Appservice user
libera.chat	`#_libera_#channame:pub.solar`	@irc.libera.chat_NickServ:pub.solar
Scratch	`#_scratch_#channame:pub.solar`	@irc.scratch-network.net_NickServ:pub.solar

To check if the number of bridged IRC servers has changed in the mean time, inspect the Nix configuration and look for the entries below the line that says: in {.

Tips and Tricks

Enabling the sticker picker

To enable the stickerpicker in Element:

Type /devtools in any chat, and press Enter.
Under Other, click Explore account data.
Click Send custom account data event
Enter m.widgets as Event Type
For the Event Content, copy and paste the following JSON text, and replace <your-username> with your username:

{
    "stickerpicker": {
        "content": {
            "type": "m.stickerpicker",
            "url": "https://stickers.chat.pub.solar/?theme=$theme",
            "name": "Stickerpicker",
            "creatorUserId": "@<your-username>:pub.solar",
            "data": {}
        },
        "sender": "@<your-username>:matrix.server.name",
        "state_key": "stickerpicker",
        "type": "m.widget",
        "id": "stickerpicker"
    }
}

Source: [1]

Clients

While the official client application is Element (chat.pub.solar), you can also use other applications to access Matrix, which may offer different features, a different appearance, and may be more catered to a specific platform.
An officially maintained list of clients can be found at the Matrix.org ecosystem page.