Matrix: a public room cannot be looked at before joining #221

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opened 2026-09-13 11:59:35 -04:00 by Salastil · 1 comment
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No peeking: nothing implements room previews or world_readable history, and there is no guest access.

Element lets somebody read a public room from the directory before deciding to join it. Here the only way to see what is in a room is to join it, which is a membership event other people can see - the decision to look and the decision to join are the same act.

No peeking: nothing implements room previews or `world_readable` history, and there is no guest access. Element lets somebody read a public room from the directory before deciding to join it. Here the only way to see what is in a room is to join it, which is a membership event other people can see - the decision to look and the decision to join are the same act.
Salastil added the featurelow priority labels 2026-09-13 11:59:35 -04:00
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Finished, as far as homeservers allow.

Two halves, because they are permitted separately. The summary — name, topic, size, how the room is entered, whether it is encrypted — is answered for anything the server can reach, and is most of what somebody decides on. Reading the conversation needs the room to be world-readable and the homeserver to allow peeking at all.

matrix.poast.org does not: it refuses with a bare M_FORBIDDEN naming the room, which reads as "you are banned" rather than as a setting on your own server. That is translated into a sentence rather than passed through, and the two reasons there might be nothing to read are said separately, because only one of them is about the room.

The summary endpoint is asked for stably first and by its MSC's unstable name after: the module landed in v1.15 and the rooms worth looking into are on servers that have had the unstable spelling for years. Verified against poast — Matrix HQ, 7131 members, world-readable.

be45f0e, be45f0e

Finished, as far as homeservers allow. Two halves, because they are permitted separately. The **summary** — name, topic, size, how the room is entered, whether it is encrypted — is answered for anything the server can reach, and is most of what somebody decides on. Reading the **conversation** needs the room to be world-readable *and* the homeserver to allow peeking at all. matrix.poast.org does not: it refuses with a bare `M_FORBIDDEN` naming the room, which reads as "you are banned" rather than as a setting on your own server. That is translated into a sentence rather than passed through, and the two reasons there might be nothing to read are said separately, because only one of them is about the room. The summary endpoint is asked for stably first and by its MSC's unstable name after: the module landed in v1.15 and the rooms worth looking into are on servers that have had the unstable spelling for years. Verified against poast — Matrix HQ, 7131 members, world-readable. [be45f0e](https://git.salastil.com/Salastil/nobilis/commit/be45f0e), [be45f0e](https://git.salastil.com/Salastil/moho/commit/be45f0e)
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Reference: Salastil/moho#221