Welcome to the Matrix stand!

Matrix is an open protocol for secure, decentralised communication - defining an end-to-end-encrypted real-time communication layer for the open Web suitable for instant messaging, VoIP, microblogging, forums and more. We publish Matrix as an open standard under the open governance of the non-profit Matrix.org Foundation, and release Apache-licensed reference implementations of the protocol for server, client SDKs, bots, bridges & more. Some users may recognise Matrix via client apps such as Element (https://element.io, formerly Riot).

Matrix works by replicating conversation history across servers which participate in a given conversation, ensuring that ownership of the conversation is fully decentralised: no single server owns or controls the conversation, just as git repositories are cloned equally between all participants. As a result, you can think of Matrix more like a global decentralised object database with realtime pubsub semantics, rather than a traditional message-passing protocol. The protocol defines HTTPS+JSON APIs as a baseline, but more efficient transports and encodings are supported and encouraged.

The public Matrix network on the internet has over 44M addressable users spread over ~80K servers, ranging in size from personal RPis through to massive deployments for organisations including Mozilla, Fedora, Ansible, the Wikimedia Foundation, German schools in Schleswig-Holstein & Hamburg, and the entirety of the French Government.

Matrix @ FOSDEM

Matrix is an open protocol for secure decentralised communication, aiming to bust open the closed proprietary communication silos (Slack, Teams, Discord, WhatsApp etc) which have dominated in recent years. On our stand you'll be able to sync via chat & video conference directly with the core Matrix team, get demos of all the latest stuff we've been working on, and generally learn how to liberate your communication and join the open Matrix communication network.

Welcome to the Matrix stand

Matrix in 2022

2021 has once again been a busy year in the Matrix world! You can find the massive wrap-up of the year in our Mega Matrix Holiday Special post.

The key takeaways for 2021 are:

What a year!

Here again you can find our more details plans for 2022 in our Mega Matrix Holiday Special post. Our primary objectives are:

  • Client polish and performance including instant launch, fast room joins, Spaces flair, synchronised access controls, bulk joins, subspaces, threads, location share, pinned messages, starred messages, and custom emoji, no less!
  • matrix-rust-sdk to power Element iOS, Android, and maybe Web?
  • Encryption improvements
  • Next-generation MSCs including aggregations, extensible events, sync v3, fast joins, peeking over federation*, extensible profiles, and authentication based on OpenID Connect
  • Gitter parity
  • Dendrite parity with Synapse
  • P2P Matrix to join the normal Matrix network, multihomed accounts, low bandwith and more
  • Hydrogen usable as a daily driver, and make it embeddable into existing websites
  • Bots and Bridges with End-to-Bridge Encryption, fancy integrations and first-class UI for configuring them
  • Trust & Safety to give users the tools to manage abuse within their communities.
  • Native Group Voice/Video Conferencing with a standalone conferencing app, a MSC3401-capable SFU and adding native group calling to Element
  • Border gateways and hardware cross domain gateways to safely link different Matrix federations together.
  • Beyond Chat
    • Metaverse on Matrix - building out the dream as per above!
    • Collaborative editing - extending Matrix to store trees of events, and collaborate on them in realtime - starting with a collaborative editor!
    • File storage in Matrix - building out real-life file storage on top of Matrix.