XMPP Compliance Suites 2022 This document defines XMPP application categories for different use cases (Core, Web, IM, and Mobile), and specifies the required XEPs that client and server software needs to implement for compliance with the use cases. This XMPP Extension Protocol is copyright © 1999 – 2024 by the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF). 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. ## NOTE WELL: This Specification is provided on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ## In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall the XMPP Standards Foundation or any author of this Specification be liable for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising from, out of, or in connection with the Specification or the implementation, deployment, or other use of the Specification (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if the XMPP Standards Foundation or such author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This XMPP Extension Protocol has been contributed in full conformance with the XSF's Intellectual Property Rights Policy (a copy of which can be found at <https://xmpp.org/about/xsf/ipr-policy> or obtained by writing to XMPP Standards Foundation, P.O. Box 787, Parker, CO 80134 USA). 0459 Obsolete 2021-09-21 Standards Track Standards Council RFC 6120 RFC 6121 RFC 7395 RFC 7590 RFC 7622 XEP-0030 XEP-0045 XEP-0048 XEP-0049 XEP-0084 XEP-0085 XEP-0114 XEP-0115 XEP-0124 XEP-0163 XEP-0191 XEP-0198 XEP-0206 XEP-0223 XEP-0249 XEP-0280 XEP-0313 XEP-0352 XEP-0368 XEP-0402 XEP-0443 XEP-0479 CS2022 Sonny Piers sonny@fastmail.net sonny@jabberfr.org 1.1.0 2021-12-01 egp

Replace deprecated XEP-0411 with XEP-0402 in Advanced Group Chat.

 1.0.0 2021-11-09 XEP Editor (jsc)

Advance to Draft as per Council Vote from 2021-11-03.

 0.2.0 2021-10-27 sp
  • Rename Core Server and Core Client to Server and Client
  • Add XEP-0455 to Future Development section
 0.1.1 2021-10-06 gl Fix reference to XEP-0445 after its acceptance 0.1.0 2021-06-22 XEP Editor (jsc) Accepted by vote of Council on 2021-05-26. 0.0.1 2021-02-03 sp

First draft based on XEP-0443.

There is a growing number of XMPP Extension Protocols (XEPs) that provide different building blocks for XMPP-based applications. XMPP software developers are confronted with the challenge of finding the right combination of XEPs for a given application profile. Users need a way to compare applications without resorting to comparing for individual XEP numbers.

This document defines XMPP application Categories based on typical use cases (Core, Web, IM, Mobile) and Levels (Core, Advanced) based on functionality in the respective category. For each combination of those, the required XEPs are referenced. As the protocol landscape changes over time, this document is updated roughly once a year.

For developers, this document provides guidance on which specifications they need to consider when implementing an application of a certain kind. By completing a compliance test or performing a self-assessment, they can advertise their implementation as compliant with a given Category and Level.

For users, this provides an easy way to compare implementations based on their respective advertised compliance levels and year.

Unless explicitly noted, support for the listed specifications is REQUIRED for compliance purposes. A feature is considered supported if all comma separated feature providers listed in the "Providers" column are implemented (unless otherwise noted).

The following changes were made to the Compliance Suites since XMPP Compliance Suites 2021 (XEP-0443) XEP-0443: XMPP Compliance Suites 2021 <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0443.html>.:

  • Renamed "Core Client" and "Core Server" to "Client" and "Server"
  • Web category:
    • Client: required Connection Mechanism Discovery.
  • IM category:
    • Advanced Group Chat: replaced Bookmarks Conversion (XEP-0411) XEP-0411: Bookmarks Conversion <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0411.html>. with PEP Native Bookmarks (XEP-0402) XEP-0402: PEP Native Bookmarks <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0402.html>. conversion

The following changes were made to the Compliance Suites since XMPP Compliance Suites 2020 (XEP-0423) XEP-0423: XMPP Compliance Suites 2020 <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0423.html>.:

  • Introduced new category for A/V Calling.
  • IM Category:
    • Specifications of note: added Message Styling (XEP-0393) XEP-0393: Message Styling <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0393.html>., Extended Channel Search (XEP-0433) XEP-0433: Extended Channel Search <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0433.html>., Message Retraction (XEP-0424) XEP-0424: Message Retraction <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0424.html>., and Message Moderation (XEP-0425) XEP-0425: Message Moderation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0425.html>.

The following changes were made to the Compliance Suites since XMPP Compliance Suites 2019 (XEP-0412) XEP-0412: XMPP Compliance Suites 2019 <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0412.html>.:

  • IM Category:
    • Client: added The /me Command (XEP-0245) XEP-0245: The /me Command <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0245.html>.
    • Client and Server: added HTTP File Upload (XEP-0363) XEP-0363: HTTP File Upload <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0363.html>.
    • Advanced Client: added Jingle File Transfer (XEP-0234) XEP-0234: Jingle File Transfer <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0234.html>., Jingle In-Band Bytestreams Transport Method (XEP-0261) XEP-0261: Jingle In-Band Bytestreams Transport Method <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0261.html>.
    • Advanced Client and Server: added Bookmarks Conversion (XEP-0411) XEP-0411: Bookmarks Conversion <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0411.html>.
    • Specifications of note: added In-Band Registration (XEP-0077) XEP-0077: In-Band Registration <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0077.html>. and Contact Addresses for XMPP Services (XEP-0157) XEP-0157: Contact Addresses for XMPP Services <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0157.html>., Consistent Color Generation (XEP-0392) XEP-0392: Consistent Color Generation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0392.html>., Out-of-Band Data (XEP-0066) XEP-0066: Out of Band Data <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0066.html>. and Stateless Inline Media Sharing (XEP-0385) XEP-0385: Stateless Inline Media Sharing (SIMS) <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0385.html>.
  • Mobile Category:
    • Specifications of note: added Mobile Considerations on LTE Networks (XEP-0286) XEP-0286: Mobile Considerations on LTE Networks <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0286.html>.
  • Web Category:
    • Advanced Web: added Discovering Alternative XMPP Connection Methods (XEP-0156) XEP-0156: Discovering Alternative XMPP Connection Methods <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0156.html>.
Feature Server Client Advanced Server Advanced Client Providers
Core features ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ RFC 6120 RFC 6120: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6120>. RFC 7622 RFC 7622: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Address Format <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7622>. is not listed due to the unclear interoperability impact of using PRECIS and Stringprep in the same ecosystem.
TLS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ RFC 7590 RFC 7590: Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) in the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7590>.
Direct TLS ✕ ✕ ✓Server support of XEP-0368 means having the ability to accept direct TLS connections. ✓ SRV records for XMPP over TLS (XEP-0368) XEP-0368: SRV records for XMPP over TLS <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0368.html>.
Feature discovery ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Service Discovery (XEP-0030) XEP-0030: Service Discovery <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0030.html>.
Feature broadcasts ✕ ✓ ✓ ✓ Entity Capabilities (XEP-0115) XEP-0115: Entity Capabilities <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0115.html>.
Server Extensibility ✓ N/A ✓ N/A Jabber Component Protocol (XEP-0114) XEP-0114: Jabber Component Protocol <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0114.html>.
Event publishing ✕ ✕ ✓While 'Personal Eventing Protocol' does not require all the features of 'Publish-Subscribe' to be available on the users' JIDs, and nor does this suite, it is desirable for this to be the case and it is expected that this will a requirement of future Compliance Suites. ✓ Personal Eventing Protocol (XEP-0163) XEP-0163: Personal Eventing Protocol <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0163.html>.

To be considered XMPP web compliant, all features from the core compliance category must be met, as well as all features in this suite.

Feature Server Client Advanced Server Advanced Client Providers
Web Connection Mechanisms ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓Only one of the recommended providers must be implemented for compliance. ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓Only one of the recommended providers must be implemented for compliance. RFC 7395 RFC 7395: An Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Subprotocol for WebSocket <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7395>., XMPP Over BOSH (XEP-0206) XEP-0206: XMPP Over BOSH <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0206.html>. (See also: BOSH (XEP-0124) XEP-0124: Bidirectional-streams Over Synchronous HTTP <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0124.html>.)
Connection Mechanism Discovery ✕ ✓ N/A ✓ Discovering Alternative XMPP Connection Methods (XEP-0156) XEP-0156: Discovering Alternative XMPP Connection Methods <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0156.html>.

To be considered XMPP IM compliant, all features from the core compliance category must be met, as well as all features in this suite.

Feature Server Client Advanced Server Advanced Client Providers
Core features ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ RFC 6121 RFC 6121: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6121>.
The /me Command N/A ✓ N/A ✓ The /me Command (XEP-0245) XEP-0245: The /me Command <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0245.html>.
User Avatars N/A ✕ N/A ✓Not required for command line or terminal based interfaces. User Avatar (XEP-0084) XEP-0084: User Avatar <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0084.html>.
User Avatar Compatibility ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓Not required for command line or terminal based interfaces. User Avatar to vCard-Based Avatars Conversion (XEP-0398) XEP-0398: User Avatar to vCard-Based Avatars Conversion <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0398.html>., vCard-Based Avatars (XEP-0153) XEP-0153: vCard-Based Avatars <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0153.html>.
vcard-temp ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ vcard-temp (XEP-0054) XEP-0054: vcard-temp <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0054.html>.
Outbound Message Synchronization ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Message Carbons (XEP-0280) XEP-0280: Message Carbons <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0280.html>.
User Blocking ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓ Blocking Command (XEP-0191) XEP-0191: Blocking Command <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0191.html>.
Group Chat ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓Support for the Entity Use Cases and Occupant Use Cases is REQUIRED; support for the remaining use cases is RECOMMENDED. ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓Support for the Entity Use Cases and Occupant Use Cases is REQUIRED; support for the remaining use cases is RECOMMENDED. Multi-User Chat (XEP-0045) XEP-0045: Multi-User Chat <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html>.Implementations should take note that future versions of these compliance suites may rely on Mediated Information eXchange (MIX) (XEP-0369) XEP-0369: Mediated Information eXchange (MIX) <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0369.html>. instead., Direct MUC Invitations (XEP-0249) XEP-0249: Direct MUC Invitations <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0249.html>.
Advanced Group Chat ✕ ✕ ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓ Bookmark Storage (XEP-0048) XEP-0048: Bookmark Storage <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0048.html>., Message Archive Management (XEP-0313) XEP-0313: Message Archive Management <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0313.html>.Support for requesting history from a MUC archive as opposed to from the user's account., PEP Native Bookmarks (XEP-0402) XEP-0402: PEP Native Bookmarks <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0402.html>.Usage of which should only happen when the 'urn:xmpp:bookmarks:1#compat' is exposed by the server, otherwise Private XML Storage (XEP-0049) XEP-0049: Private XML Storage <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0049.html>. should be used instead., MUC Self-Ping (Schrödinger's Chat) (XEP-0410) XEP-0410: MUC Self-Ping (Schrödinger's Chat) <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0410.html>.
Persistent Storage of Private Data via PubSub ✕ ✕ ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓ Best Practices for Persistent Storage of Private Data via Publish-Subscribe (XEP-0223) XEP-0223: Best Practices for Persistent Storage of Private Data via Publish-Subscribe <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0223.html>.
Private XML Storage ✕ ✕ ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓ Private XML Storage (XEP-0049) XEP-0049: Private XML Storage <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0049.html>. (only recommended for legacy bookmarks support)
Stream Management ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓ Stream Management (XEP-0198) XEP-0198: Stream Management <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0198.html>.
Message Acknowledgements N/A ✕ N/A ✓ Message Delivery Receipts (XEP-0184) XEP-0184: Message Delivery Receipts <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0184.html>.
History Storage / Retrieval ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓ Message Archive Management (XEP-0313) XEP-0313: Message Archive Management <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0313.html>.
Chat States N/A ✕ N/A ✓ Chat State Notifications (XEP-0085) XEP-0085: Chat State Notifications <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0085.html>.
Message Correction N/A ✕ N/A ✓ Last Message Correction (XEP-0308) XEP-0308: Last Message Correction <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0308.html>.
File Upload ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓ ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓ HTTP File Upload (XEP-0363) XEP-0363: HTTP File Upload <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0363.html>.
Direct File Transfer N/A ✕ N/A ✓ Jingle File Transfer (XEP-0234) XEP-0234: Jingle File Transfer <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0234.html>., Jingle In-Band Bytestreams Transport Method (XEP-0261) XEP-0261: Jingle In-Band Bytestreams Transport Method <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0261.html>.

Further specifications of note, which are not required for compliance:

  • For public IM networks: In-Band Registration (XEP-0077) XEP-0077: In-Band Registration <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0077.html>. (should be supported, but not enabled in default server configurations) and Contact Addresses for XMPP Services (XEP-0157) XEP-0157: Contact Addresses for XMPP Services <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0157.html>.
  • File uploads should be indicated using Out-of-Band Data (XEP-0066) XEP-0066: Out of Band Data <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0066.html>., optionally also using Stateless Inline Media Sharing (XEP-0385) XEP-0385: Stateless Inline Media Sharing (SIMS) <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0385.html>.
  • Consistent Color Generation (XEP-0392) XEP-0392: Consistent Color Generation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0392.html>. for cross-client consistency of user names
  • Message Styling (XEP-0393) XEP-0393: Message Styling <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0393.html>. for simple styling of plaintext messages that is loosely compatible with legacy IM networks
  • Extended Channel Search (XEP-0433) XEP-0433: Extended Channel Search <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0433.html>. to improve the discovery of public rooms hosted on a domain
  • Message Retraction (XEP-0424) XEP-0424: Message Retraction <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0424.html>. and Message Moderation (XEP-0425) XEP-0425: Message Moderation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0425.html>. for managing misbehavior in public rooms

To be considered XMPP mobile compliant, all features from the core compliance category must be met, as well as all features in this suite.

Feature Server Client Advanced Server Advanced Client Providers
Stream Management ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Stream Management (XEP-0198) XEP-0198: Stream Management <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0198.html>.
Client State Indication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Client State Indication (XEP-0352) XEP-0352: Client State Indication <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0352.html>.
Third Party Push Notifications ✕ ✕ ✓Support can be enabled via an external component or an internal server module/plugin. If claiming compliance using such an addition, the necessary components/modules/plugins MUST be detailed. ✓Only on platforms that disallow long-lasting background connections. Push Notifications (XEP-0357) XEP-0357: Push Notifications <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0357.html>.

Further specifications of note, which are not required for compliance:

  • Mobile Considerations on LTE Networks (XEP-0286) XEP-0286: Mobile Considerations on LTE Networks <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0286.html>.

To be considered XMPP A/V calling compliant, all features from the core compliance category must be met, as well as all features in this suite.

Feature Server Client Advanced Server Advanced Client Providers
Call Setup N/A ✓ N/A ✓ Jingle RTP Sessions (XEP-0167) XEP-0167: Jingle RTP Sessions <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0167.html>., Jingle Message Initiation (XEP-0353) XEP-0353: Jingle Message Initiation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0353.html>.
Transport N/A ✓ N/A ✓ Jingle ICE-UDP Transport Method (XEP-0176) XEP-0176: Jingle ICE-UDP Transport Method <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0176.html>.
Encryption N/A ✓ N/A ✓ Use of DTLS-SRTP in Jingle Sessions (XEP-0320) XEP-0320: Use of DTLS-SRTP in Jingle Sessions <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0320.html>.
STUN/TURN server discovery ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ External Service Discovery (XEP-0215) XEP-0215: External Service Discovery <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0215.html>.
Quality and Performance improvements N/A ✕ N/A ✓ Jingle RTP Feedback Negotiation (XEP-0293) XEP-0293: Jingle RTP Feedback Negotiation<https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0293.html>., Jingle RTP Header Extensions Negotiation (XEP-0294) XEP-0294: Jingle RTP Header Extensions Negotiation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0294.html>., Jingle Grouping Framework (XEP-0338) XEP-0338: Jingle Grouping Framework <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0338.html>., Source-Specific Media Attributes in Jingle (XEP-0339) XEP-0339: Source-Specific Media Attributes in Jingle <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0339.html>.

This section outlines the protocol specifications that are relevant for developers, but are not ready yet to be required for Compliance. Developers are encouraged to implement those and to share their experience and feedback.

Some of the protocol specifications referenced herein have their own dependencies; developers need to consult the relevant specifications for further information.

This document introduces no additional security considerations above and beyond those defined in the documents on which it depends.

This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) 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/>..

This document requires no interaction with the XMPP Registrar 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/>..

The author would like to thank Guus der Kinderen, Dele Olajide, Marc Laporte, Dave Cridland, Daniel Gultsch, Florian Schmaus, Tobias Markmann, and Jonas Schäfer for their suggestions.