synapse/docs/modules/spam_checker_callbacks.md

Spam checker callbacks

Spam checker callbacks allow module developers to implement spam mitigation actions for Synapse instances. Spam checker callbacks can be registered using the module API's register_spam_checker_callbacks method.

Callbacks

The available spam checker callbacks are:

check_event_for_spam

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.60.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean or a string is now deprecated.

async def check_event_for_spam(event: "synapse.module_api.EventBase") -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", str, bool]

Called when receiving an event from a client or via federation. The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.
• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.
• (deprecated) a non-Codes str to reject the operation and specify an error message. Note that clients typically will not localize the error message to the user's preferred locale.
• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.
• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_join_room

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.61.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_join_room(user: str, room: str, is_invited: bool) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when a user is trying to join a room. The user is represented by their Matrix user ID (e.g. @alice:example.com) and the room is represented by its Matrix ID (e.g. !room:example.com). The module is also given a boolean to indicate whether the user currently has a pending invite in the room.

This callback isn't called if the join is performed by a server administrator, or in the context of a room creation.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.
• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.
• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.
• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_invite

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_invite(inviter: str, invitee: str, room_id: str) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when processing an invitation, both when one is created locally or when receiving an invite over federation. Both inviter and invitee are represented by their Matrix user ID (e.g. @alice:example.com).

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_send_3pid_invite

First introduced in Synapse v1.45.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_send_3pid_invite(
    inviter: str,
    medium: str,
    address: str,
    room_id: str,
) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when processing an invitation using a third-party identifier (also called a 3PID, e.g. an email address or a phone number). It is only called when a 3PID invite is created locally - not when one is received in a room over federation. If the 3PID is already associated with a Matrix ID, the spam check will go through the user_may_invite callback instead.

The inviter is represented by their Matrix user ID (e.g. @alice:example.com), and the invitee is represented by its medium (e.g. "email") and its address (e.g. alice@example.com). See the Matrix specification for more information regarding third-party identifiers.

For example, a call to this callback to send an invitation to the email address alice@example.com would look like this:

await user_may_send_3pid_invite(
    "@bob:example.com",  # The inviter's user ID
    "email",  # The medium of the 3PID to invite
    "alice@example.com",  # The address of the 3PID to invite
    "!some_room:example.com",  # The ID of the room to send the invite into
)

Note: If the third-party identifier is already associated with a matrix user ID, user_may_invite will be used instead.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_create_room

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_create_room(user_id: str) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when processing a room creation request.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_create_room_alias

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_create_room_alias(user_id: str, room_alias: "synapse.module_api.RoomAlias") -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when trying to associate an alias with an existing room.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

user_may_publish_room

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def user_may_publish_room(user_id: str, room_id: str) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when trying to publish a room to the homeserver's public rooms directory.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

check_username_for_spam

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

async def check_username_for_spam(user_profile: synapse.module_api.UserProfile, requester_id: str) -> bool

Called when computing search results in the user directory. The module must return a bool indicating whether the given user should be excluded from user directory searches. Return True to indicate that the user is spammy and exclude them from search results; otherwise return False.

The profile is represented as a dictionary with the following keys:

• user_id: str. The Matrix ID for this user.
• display_name: Optional[str]. The user's display name, or None if this user has not set a display name.
• avatar_url: Optional[str]. The mxc:// URL to the user's avatar, or None if this user has not set an 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.

The requester_id parameter is the ID of the user that called the user directory API.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns False, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return False will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

check_registration_for_spam

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

async 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.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns RegistrationBehaviour.ALLOW, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return RegistrationBehaviour.ALLOW will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

check_media_file_for_spam

First introduced in Synapse v1.37.0

Changed in Synapse v1.62.0: synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM and synapse.module_api.errors.Codes can be returned by this callback. Returning a boolean is now deprecated.

async def check_media_file_for_spam(
    file_wrapper: "synapse.media.media_storage.ReadableFileWrapper",
    file_info: "synapse.media._base.FileInfo",
) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes", bool]

Called when storing a local or remote file.

The callback must return one of:

• synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, to allow the operation. Other callbacks may still decide to reject it.

• synapse.module_api.errors.Codes to reject the operation with an error code. In case of doubt, synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN is a good error code.

• (deprecated) False, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM.

• (deprecated) True, which is the same as returning synapse.module_api.errors.Codes.FORBIDDEN.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

should_drop_federated_event

First introduced in Synapse v1.60.0

async def should_drop_federated_event(event: "synapse.events.EventBase") -> bool

Called when checking whether a remote server can federate an event with us. Returning True from this function will silently drop a federated event and split-brain our view of a room's DAG, and thus you shouldn't use this callback unless you know what you are doing.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns False, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return False will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

check_login_for_spam

First introduced in Synapse v1.87.0

async def check_login_for_spam(
    user_id: str,
    device_id: Optional[str],
    initial_display_name: Optional[str],
    request_info: Collection[Tuple[Optional[str], str]],
    auth_provider_id: Optional[str] = None,
) -> Union["synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM", "synapse.module_api.errors.Codes"]

Called when a user logs in.

The arguments passed to this callback are:

• user_id: The user ID the user is logging in with
• device_id: The device ID the user is re-logging into.
• initial_display_name: The device display name, if any.
• 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 login process.
• auth_provider_id: The identifier of the SSO authentication provider, if any.

If multiple modules implement this callback, they will be considered in order. If a callback returns synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM, Synapse falls through to the next one. The value of the first callback that does not return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM will be used. If this happens, Synapse will not call any of the subsequent implementations of this callback.

Note: This will not be called when a user registers.

Example

The example below is a module that implements the spam checker callback check_event_for_spam to deny any message sent by users whose Matrix user IDs are mentioned in a configured list, and registers a web resource to the path /_synapse/client/list_spam_checker/is_evil that returns a JSON object indicating whether the provided user appears in that list.

import json
from typing import Union

from twisted.web.resource import Resource
from twisted.web.server import Request

from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi


class IsUserEvilResource(Resource):
    def __init__(self, config):
        super(IsUserEvilResource, self).__init__()
        self.evil_users = config.get("evil_users") or []

    def render_GET(self, request: Request):
        user = request.args.get(b"user")[0].decode()
        request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"application/json")
        return json.dumps({"evil": user in self.evil_users}).encode()


class ListSpamChecker:
    def __init__(self, config: dict, api: ModuleApi):
        self.api = api
        self.evil_users = config.get("evil_users") or []

        self.api.register_spam_checker_callbacks(
            check_event_for_spam=self.check_event_for_spam,
        )

        self.api.register_web_resource(
            path="/_synapse/client/list_spam_checker/is_evil",
            resource=IsUserEvilResource(config),
        )

    async def check_event_for_spam(self, event: "synapse.events.EventBase") -> Union[Literal["NOT_SPAM"], Codes]:
        if event.sender in self.evil_users:
          return Codes.FORBIDDEN
        else:
          return synapse.module_api.NOT_SPAM