Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP-IM Servers (XEP-0227) [1] introduced a format for the import/export of XMPP data. That specification specifically says "the contents of MUC, Pubsub, and other services are out of scope for this specification". This specification exists to cover that gap.
Inside the root element from Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP-IM Servers (XEP-0227) [1] of <server-data/> qualified by the urn:xmpp:pie:0 namespace, may occur zero or more <component/> elements qualified by the urn:xmpp:pie:0#component namespace. Each <component/> element describes a component, and has a jid attribute that contains its JID and a type attribute that describes the type of component.
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<server-data xmlns='urn:xmpp:pie:0'>
<component xmlns='urn:xmpp:pie:0#component' jid='groups.capulet.com' type='muc'>
[ ... ]
</component>
</server-data>
Components may contain children to describe any data relevant to the type of component. For example, a pubsub type component may have a <pubsub xmlns="http://jabber.org/protocol/pubsub#owner"/> child.
A component may contain elements qualified by a namespace not mentioned in this specification or in Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP-IM Servers (XEP-0227) [1]. The exported data SHOULD be meaningful without the extensions. An importing entity that encounters a namespace that it doesn't understand, or otherwise is unable to import all given data, SHOULD ignore the unknown data, SHOULD notify the operator, and MAY offer to terminate the process.
A component may have associated items, represented by a <item/> element under the <component/> element. The <item/> element MUST have a name attribute, which contains a type-specific identifier for this item.
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<server-data xmlns='urn:xmpp:pie:0'>
<component xmlns='urn:xmpp:pie:0#component' jid='groups.capulet.com' type='muc'>
<item name='discuss'>
[ ... ]
</item>
</component>
</server-data>
Items may contain children to describe any data from items in the relevant type of component. For example a muc type component may have items with a <archive xmlns="urn:xmpp:pie:0#mam"/> child.
An item may contain elements qualified by a namespace not mentioned in this specification or in Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP-IM Servers (XEP-0227) [1]. The exported data SHOULD be meaningful without the extensions. An importing entity that encounters a namespace that it doesn't understand, or otherwise is unable to import all given data, SHOULD ignore the unknown data, SHOULD notify the operator, and MAY offer to terminate the process.
Exported data files are to be handled with care, since they contain data that users expect to be protected. An exporting entity SHOULD make sure that the generated file is not accessible to unauthorized persons, e.g. by encrypting the file with OpenPGP.
This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [2].
This specification defines the following XML namespace:
The XMPP Registrar [3] includes the foregoing namespace in its registry at <https://xmpp.org/registrar/namespaces.html>, as described in Section 4 of XMPP Registrar Function (XEP-0053) [4].
This specification creates a new registry for the component type attribute, with the following initial contents:
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Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this specification (the "Specification"), to make use of the Specification without restriction, including without limitation the rights to implement the Specification in a software program, deploy the Specification in a network service, and copy, modify, merge, publish, translate, distribute, sublicense, or sell copies of the Specification, and to permit persons to whom the Specification is furnished to do so, subject to the condition that the foregoing copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Specification. Unless separate permission is granted, modified works that are redistributed shall not contain misleading information regarding the authors, title, number, or publisher of the Specification, and shall not claim endorsement of the modified works by the authors, any organization or project to which the authors belong, or the XMPP Standards Foundation.
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The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 6120) and XMPP IM (RFC 6121) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this document has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.
The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.
Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <https://xmpp.org/community/> for a complete list.
Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
1. XEP-0227: Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP-IM Servers <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0227.html>.
2. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is the central coordinator for the assignment of unique parameter values for Internet protocols, such as port numbers and URI schemes. For further information, see <http://www.iana.org/>.
3. The XMPP Registrar maintains a list of reserved protocol namespaces as well as registries of parameters used in the context of XMPP extension protocols approved by the XMPP Standards Foundation. For further information, see <https://xmpp.org/registrar/>.
4. XEP-0053: XMPP Registrar Function <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0053.html>.
Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at https://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/
Initial version.
@report{weber2026pie-components,
title = {Portable Import/Export Format for XMPP Components},
author = {Weber, Stephen Paul},
type = {XEP},
number = {xxxx},
version = {0.0.1},
institution = {XMPP Standards Foundation},
url = {https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-xxxx.html},
date = {2026-10-06/2026-10-06},
}END