Standardise the module interface

UPGRADE.rst

@@ -85,6 +85,23 @@ for example:
      wget https://packages.matrix.org/debian/pool/main/m/matrix-synapse-py3/matrix-synapse-py3_1.3.0+stretch1_amd64.deb
      dpkg -i matrix-synapse-py3_1.3.0+stretch1_amd64.deb
 
+Upgrading to v1.37.0
+====================
+
+Deprecation of the current spam checker interface
+-------------------------------------------------
+
+The current spam checker interface is deprecated in favour of a new generic modules system.
+Authors of spam checker modules can refer to `this documentation <https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/develop/modules.html#porting-an-existing-module-that-uses-the-old-interface>`_
+to update their modules. Synapse administrators can refer to `this documentation <https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/develop/modules.html#using-modules>`_
+to update their configuration once the modules they are using have been updated.
+
+We plan to remove support for the current spam checker interface in August 2021.
+
+More module interfaces will be ported over to this new generic system in future versions
+of Synapse.
+
+
 Upgrading to v1.34.0
 ====================
 

changelog.d/10062.feature

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Standardised the module interface.

changelog.d/10062.removal

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+The current spam checker interface is deprecated in favour of a new generic modules system. See the [upgrade notes](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/UPGRADE.rst#deprecation-of-the-current-spam-checker-interface) for more information on how to update to the new system.

docs/SUMMARY.md

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     - [URL Previews](url_previews.md)
     - [User Directory](user_directory.md)
     - [Message Retention Policies](message_retention_policies.md)
-    - [Pluggable Modules]()
+    - [Pluggable Modules](modules.md)
       - [Third Party Rules]()
       - [Spam Checker](spam_checker.md)
       - [Presence Router](presence_router_module.md)

docs/modules.md

@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+# Modules
+
+Synapse supports extending its functionality by configuring external modules.
+
+## Using modules
+
+To use a module on Synapse, add it to the `modules` section of the configuration file:
+
+```yaml
+modules:
+  - module: my_super_module.MySuperClass
+    config:
+      do_thing: true
+  - module: my_other_super_module.SomeClass
+    config: {}
+```
+
+Each module is defined by a path to a Python class as well as a configuration. This
+information for a given module should be available in the module's own documentation.
+
+**Note**: When using third-party modules, you effectively allow someone else to run
+custom code on your Synapse homeserver. Server admins are encouraged to verify the
+provenance of the modules they use on their homeserver and make sure the modules aren't
+running malicious code on their instance.
+
+Also note that we are currently in the process of migrating module interfaces to this
+system. While some interfaces might be compatible with it, others still require
+configuring modules in another part of Synapse's configuration file. Currently, only the
+spam checker interface is compatible with this new system.
+
+## Writing a module
+
+A module is a Python class that uses Synapse's module API to interact with the
+homeserver. It can register callbacks that Synapse will call on specific operations, as
+well as web resources to attach to Synapse's web server.
+
+When instantiated, a module is given its parsed configuration as well as an instance of
+the `synapse.module_api.ModuleApi` class. The configuration is a dictionary, and is
+either the output of the module's `parse_config` static method (see below), or the
+configuration associated with the module in Synapse's configuration file.
+
+See the documentation for the `ModuleApi` class
+[here](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/synapse/module_api/__init__.py).
+
+### Handling the module's configuration
+
+A module can implement the following static method:
+
+```python
+@staticmethod
+def parse_config(config: dict) -> dict
+```
+
+This method is given a dictionary resulting from parsing the YAML configuration for the
+module. It may modify it (for example by parsing durations expressed as strings (e.g.
+"5d") into milliseconds, etc.), and return the modified dictionary. It may also verify
+that the configuration is correct, and raise an instance of
+`synapse.module_api.errors.ConfigError` if not.
+
+### Registering a web resource
+
+Modules can register web resources onto Synapse's web server using the following module
+API method:
+
+```python
+def ModuleApi.register_web_resource(path: str, resource: IResource)
+```
+
+The path is the full absolute path to register the resource at. For example, if you
+register a resource for the path `/_synapse/client/my_super_module/say_hello`, Synapse
+will serve it at `http(s)://[HS_URL]/_synapse/client/my_super_module/say_hello`. Note
+that Synapse does not allow registering resources for several sub-paths in the `/_matrix`
+namespace (such as anything under `/_matrix/client` for example). It is strongly
+recommended that modules register their web resources under the `/_synapse/client`
+namespace.
+
+The provided resource is a Python class that implements Twisted's [IResource](https://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/api/twisted.web.resource.IResource.html)
+interface (such as [Resource](https://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/api/twisted.web.resource.Resource.html)).
+
+Only one resource can be registered for a given path. If several modules attempt to
+register a resource for the same path, the module that appears first in Synapse's
+configuration file takes priority.
+
+Modules **must** register their web resources in their `__init__` method.
+
+### Registering a callback
+
+Modules can use Synapse's module API to register callbacks. Callbacks are functions that
+Synapse will call when performing specific actions. Callbacks must be asynchronous, and
+are split in categories. A single module may implement callbacks from multiple categories,
+and is under no obligation to implement all callbacks from the categories it registers
+callbacks for.
+
+#### Spam checker callbacks
+
+To register one of the callbacks described in this section, a module needs to use the
+module API's `register_spam_checker_callbacks` method. The callback functions are passed
+to `register_spam_checker_callbacks` as keyword arguments, with the callback name as the
+argument name and the function as its value. This is demonstrated in the example below.
+
+The available spam checker callbacks are:
+
+```python
+def check_event_for_spam(event: "synapse.events.EventBase") -> Union[bool, str]
+```
+
+Called when receiving an event from a client or via federation. The module can return
+either a `bool` to indicate whether the event must be rejected because of spam, or a `str`
+to indicate the event must be rejected because of spam and to give a rejection reason to
+forward to clients.
+
+```python
+def user_may_invite(inviter: str, invitee: str, room_id: str) -> bool
+```
+
+Called when processing an invitation. The module must return a `bool` indicating whether
+the inviter can invite the invitee to the given room. Both inviter and invitee are
+represented by their Matrix user ID (i.e. `@alice:example.com`).
+
+```python
+def user_may_create_room(user: str) -> bool
+```
+
+Called when processing a room creation request. The module must return a `bool` indicating
+whether the given user (represented by their Matrix user ID) is allowed to create a room.
+
+```python
+def user_may_create_room_alias(user: str, room_alias: "synapse.types.RoomAlias") -> bool
+```
+
+Called when trying to associate an alias with an existing room. The module must return a
+`bool` indicating whether the given user (represented by their Matrix user ID) is allowed
+to set the given alias.
+
+```python
+def user_may_publish_room(user: str, room_id: str) -> bool
+```
+
+Called when trying to publish a room to the homeserver's public rooms directory. The
+module must return a `bool` indicating whether the given user (represented by their
+Matrix user ID) is allowed to publish the given room.
+
+```python
+def check_username_for_spam(user_profile: Dict[str, str]) -> bool
+```
+
+Called when computing search results in the user directory. The module must return a
+`bool` indicating whether the given user profile can appear in search results. The profile
+is represented as a dictionary with the following keys:
+
+* `user_id`: The Matrix ID for this user.
+* `display_name`: The user's display name.
+* `avatar_url`: The `mxc://` URL to the user's avatar.
+
+The module is given a copy of the original dictionary, so modifying it from within the
+module cannot modify a user's profile when included in user directory search results.
+
+```python
+def check_registration_for_spam(
+    email_threepid: Optional[dict],
+    username: Optional[str],
+    request_info: Collection[Tuple[str, str]],
+    auth_provider_id: Optional[str] = None,
+) -> "synapse.spam_checker_api.RegistrationBehaviour"
+```
+
+Called when registering a new user. The module must return a `RegistrationBehaviour`
+indicating whether the registration can go through or must be denied, or whether the user
+may be allowed to register but will be shadow banned.
+
+The arguments passed to this callback are:
+
+* `email_threepid`: The email address used for registering, if any.
+* `username`: The username the user would like to register. Can be `None`, meaning that
+  Synapse will generate one later.
+* `request_info`: A collection of tuples, which first item is a user agent, and which
+  second item is an IP address. These user agents and IP addresses are the ones that were
+  used during the registration process.
+* `auth_provider_id`: The identifier of the SSO authentication provider, if any.
+
+```python
+def check_media_file_for_spam(
+    file_wrapper: "synapse.rest.media.v1.media_storage.ReadableFileWrapper",
+    file_info: "synapse.rest.media.v1._base.FileInfo"
+) -> bool
+```
+
+Called when storing a local or remote file. The module must return a boolean indicating
+whether the given file can be stored in the homeserver's media store.
+
+### Porting an existing module that uses the old interface
+
+In order to port a module that uses Synapse's old module interface, its author needs to:
+
+* ensure the module's callbacks are all asynchronous.
+* register their callbacks using one or more of the `register_[...]_callbacks` methods
+  from the `ModuleApi` class in the module's `__init__` method (see [this section](#registering-a-web-resource)
+  for more info).
+
+Additionally, if the module is packaged with an additional web resource, the module
+should register this resource in its `__init__` method using the `register_web_resource`
+method from the `ModuleApi` class (see [this section](#registering-a-web-resource) for
+more info).
+
+The module's author should also update any example in the module's configuration to only
+use the new `modules` section in Synapse's configuration file (see [this section](#using-modules)
+for more info).
+
+### Example
+
+The example below is a module that implements the spam checker callback
+`user_may_create_room` to deny room creation to user `@evilguy:example.com`, and registers
+a web resource to the path `/_synapse/client/demo/hello` that returns a JSON object.
+
+```python
+import json
+
+from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.server import Request
+
+from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi
+
+
+class DemoResource(Resource):
+    def __init__(self, config):
+        super(DemoResource, self).__init__()
+        self.config = config
+
+    def render_GET(self, request: Request):
+        name = request.args.get(b"name")[0]
+        request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"application/json")
+        return json.dumps({"hello": name})
+
+
+class DemoModule:
+    def __init__(self, config: dict, api: ModuleApi):
+        self.config = config
+        self.api = api
+
+        self.api.register_web_resource(
+            path="/_synapse/client/demo/hello",
+            resource=DemoResource(self.config),
+        )
+
+        self.api.register_spam_checker_callbacks(
+            user_may_create_room=self.user_may_create_room,
+        )
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def parse_config(config):
+        return config
+
+    async def user_may_create_room(self, user: str) -> bool:
+        if user == "@evilguy:example.com":
+            return False
+
+        return True
+```

docs/sample_config.yaml

@@ -31,6 +31,22 @@
 #
 # [1] https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/YAMLSyntax.html
 
+
+## Modules ##
+
+# Server admins can expand Synapse's functionality with external modules.
+#
+# See https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/develop/modules.html for more
+# documentation on how to configure or create custom modules for Synapse.
+#
+modules:
+    # - module: my_super_module.MySuperClass
+    #   config:
+    #       do_thing: true
+    # - module: my_other_super_module.SomeClass
+    #   config: {}
+
+
 ## Server ##
 
 # The public-facing domain of the server
@@ -2491,19 +2507,6 @@ push:
   #group_unread_count_by_room: false
 
 
-# Spam checkers are third-party modules that can block specific actions
-# of local users, such as creating rooms and registering undesirable
-# usernames, as well as remote users by redacting incoming events.
-#
-spam_checker:
-   #- module: "my_custom_project.SuperSpamChecker"
-   #  config:
-   #    example_option: 'things'
-   #- module: "some_other_project.BadEventStopper"
-   #  config:
-   #    example_stop_events_from: ['@bad:example.com']
-
-
 ## Rooms ##
 
 # Controls whether locally-created rooms should be end-to-end encrypted by

docs/spam_checker.md

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+**Note: this page of the Synapse documentation is now deprecated. For up to date
+documentation on setting up or writing a spam checker module, please see
+[this page](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/develop/modules.html).**
+
 # Handling spam in Synapse
 
 Synapse has support to customize spam checking behavior. It can plug into a

synapse/app/_base.py

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 from synapse.app.phone_stats_home import start_phone_stats_home
 from synapse.config.homeserver import HomeServerConfig
 from synapse.crypto import context_factory
+from synapse.events.spamcheck import load_legacy_spam_checkers
 from synapse.logging.context import PreserveLoggingContext
 from synapse.metrics.background_process_metrics import wrap_as_background_process
 from synapse.metrics.jemalloc import setup_jemalloc_stats
@@ -330,6 +331,14 @@ def run_sighup(*args, **kwargs):
     # Start the tracer
     synapse.logging.opentracing.init_tracer(hs)  # type: ignore[attr-defined] # noqa
 
+    # Instantiate the modules so they can register their web resources to the module API
+    # before we start the listeners.
+    module_api = hs.get_module_api()
+    for module, config in hs.config.modules.loaded_modules:
+        module(config=config, api=module_api)
+
+    load_legacy_spam_checkers(hs)
+
     # It is now safe to start your Synapse.
     hs.start_listening()
     hs.get_datastore().db_pool.start_profiling()

synapse/app/generic_worker.py

@@ -354,6 +354,10 @@ def _listen_http(self, listener_config: ListenerConfig):
                 if name == "replication":
                     resources[REPLICATION_PREFIX] = ReplicationRestResource(self)
 
+        # Attach additional resources registered by modules.
+        resources.update(self._module_web_resources)
+        self._module_web_resources_consumed = True
+
         root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, OptionsResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(

synapse/app/homeserver.py

@@ -124,6 +124,10 @@ def _listener_http(self, config: HomeServerConfig, listener_config: ListenerConf
                 )
             resources[path] = resource
 
+        # Attach additional resources registered by modules.
+        resources.update(self._module_web_resources)
+        self._module_web_resources_consumed = True
+
         # try to find something useful to redirect '/' to
         if WEB_CLIENT_PREFIX in resources:
             root_resource = RootOptionsRedirectResource(WEB_CLIENT_PREFIX)