The core specifications for XMPP are developed at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The XMPP Standards Foundation develops extensions to XMPP in its XEP series.

Good places for developers to start are the compliance suites, as well as the technology overview pages.

Basic XMPP RFCs

  • RFC 6120: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core
  • RFC 6121: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence
  • RFC 7395: An Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Subprotocol for WebSocket
  • RFC 7590: Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) in the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 7622: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Address Format

Further XMPP RFCs

  • RFC 3922: Mapping the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) to Common Presence and Instant Messaging (CPIM)
  • RFC 3923: End-to-End Signing and Object Encryption for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 4854: A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for Extensions to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 4979: IANA Registration for Enumservice 'XMPP'
  • RFC 5122: Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 5437: Sieve Notification Mechanism: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 7081: CUSAX: Combined Use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 7165: Use Cases and Requirements for JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE)
  • RFC 7247: Interworking between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Architecture, Addresses, and Error Handling
  • RFC 7259: The Jabber-ID Header Field
  • RFC 7572: Interworking between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging
  • RFC 7573: Interworking between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): One-to-One Text Chat Sessions
  • RFC 7702: Interworking between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Groupchat
  • RFC 7712: Domain Name Associations (DNA) in the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 8084: Network Transport Circuit Breakers
  • RFC 8266: Preparation, Enforcement, and Comparison of Internationalized Strings Representing Nicknames
  • RFC 8284: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Schema for Supporting the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) in White Pages
  • RFC 8600: Using Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for Security Information Exchange

Obsoleted

  • RFC 3920: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core
  • RFC 3921: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence
  • RFC 4622: Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
  • RFC 7248: Interworking between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Presence
  • RFC 7700: Preparation, Enforcement, and Comparison of Internationalized Strings Representing Nicknames

All XMPP RFCs

This memo defines the core features of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), a protocol for streaming Extensible Markup Language (XML) elements in order to exchange structured information in close to real time between any two network endpoints. While XMPP provides a generalized, extensible framework for exchanging XML data, it is used mainly for the purpose of building instant messaging and presence applications that meet the requirements of RFC 2779. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC is obsoleted by RFC 6120.

RFC 3920

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This memo describes extensions to and applications of the core features of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) that provide the basic instant messaging (IM) and presence functionality defined in RFC 2779. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC is obsoleted by RFC 6121.

RFC 3921

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This memo describes a mapping between the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and the Common Presence and Instant Messaging (CPIM) specifications. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

RFC 3922

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This memo defines methods of end-to-end signing and object encryption for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). [STANDARDS-TRACK]

RFC 3923

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This document defines the use of Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in identifying or interacting with entities that can communicate via the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC is obsoleted by RFC 5122.

RFC 4622

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This document describes a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for uniquely identifying Extensible Markup Language (XML) formats and protocols that provide extensions to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and are defined in specifications published by the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF). This memo provides information for the Internet community.

RFC 4854

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This document requests IANA registration of an Enumservice for XMPP, the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol. This Enumservice specifically allows the use of 'xmpp' Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in the context of E.164 Number Mapping (ENUM). [STANDARDS-TRACK]


This document defines the use of Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs) and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in identifying or interacting with entities that can communicate via the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC obsoletes RFC 4622.

RFC 5122

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This document describes a profile of the Sieve extension for notifications, to allow notifications to be sent over the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), also known as Jabber. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is an application profile of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) that enables the near-real-time exchange of structured yet extensible data between any two or more network entities. This document defines XMPP's core protocol methods: setup and teardown of XML streams, channel encryption, authentication, error handling, and communication primitives for messaging, network availability ("presence"), and request-response interactions. This document obsoletes RFC 3920. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC obsoletes RFC 3920.

RFC 6120

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This document defines extensions to core features of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) that provide basic instant messaging (IM) and presence functionality in conformance with the requirements in RFC 2779. This document obsoletes RFC 3921. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

This RFC obsoletes RFC 3921.

RFC 6121

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This document suggests some strategies for the combined use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) both in user-oriented clients and in deployed servers. Such strategies, which mainly consist of configuration changes and minimal software modifications to existing clients and servers, aim to provide a single, full-featured, real-time communication service by using complementary subsets of features from SIP and from XMPP. Typically, such subsets consist of telephony capabilities from SIP and instant messaging and presence capabilities from XMPP. This document does not define any new protocols or syntax for either SIP or XMPP and, by intent, does not attempt to standardize "best current practices". Instead, it merely aims to provide practical guidance to those who are interested in the combined use of SIP and XMPP for real-time communication.


Many Internet applications have a need for object-based security mechanisms in addition to security mechanisms at the network layer or transport layer. For many years, the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) has provided a binary secure object format based on ASN.1. Over time, binary object encodings such as ASN.1 have become less common than text-based encodings, such as the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). This document defines a set of use cases and requirements for a secure object format encoded using JSON, drawn from a variety of application security mechanisms currently in development.


As a foundation for the definition of bidirectional protocol mappings between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), this document specifies the architectural assumptions underlying such mappings as well as the mapping of addresses and error conditions.


This document defines a bidirectional protocol mapping for the exchange of presence information between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).

This RFC is obsoleted by RFC 8084.


This document defines a header field that enables the author of an email or netnews message to include a Jabber ID in the message header block for the purpose of associating the author with a particular Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) address.


This document defines a binding for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) over a WebSocket transport layer. A WebSocket binding for XMPP provides higher performance than the current HTTP binding for XMPP.


This document defines a bidirectional protocol mapping for the exchange of single instant messages between the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).


This document defines a bidirectional protocol mapping for the exchange of instant messages in the context of a one-to-one chat session between a user of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and a user of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Specifically for SIP text chat, this document specifies a mapping to the Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP).


This document provides recommendations for the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) in the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). This document updates RFC 6120.


This document defines the address format for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), including support for code points outside the ASCII range. This document obsoletes RFC 6122.


This document describes methods for handling Unicode strings representing memorable, human-friendly names (called "nicknames", "display names", or "petnames") for people, devices, accounts, websites, and other entities.

This RFC is obsoleted by RFC 8266.


This document defines a bidirectional protocol mapping for the exchange of instant messages in the context of a multi-party chat session among users of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and users of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Specifically, this document defines a mapping between the SIP-based Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) and the XMPP Multi-User Chat (MUC) extension.


This document improves the security of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) in two ways. First, it specifies how to establish a strong association between a domain name and an XML stream, using the concept of "prooftypes". Second, it describes how to securely delegate a service domain name (e.g., example.com) to a target server hostname (e.g., hosting.example.net); this is especially important in multi-tenanted environments where the same target server hosts a large number of domains.


This document explains what is meant by the term "network transport Circuit Breaker". It describes the need for Circuit Breakers (CBs) for network tunnels and applications when using non-congestion- controlled traffic and explains where CBs are, and are not, needed. It also defines requirements for building a CB and the expected outcomes of using a CB within the Internet.

This RFC obsoletes RFC 7248.


This document describes methods for handling Unicode strings representing memorable, human-friendly names (called "nicknames", "display names", or "petnames") for people, devices, accounts, websites, and other entities. This document obsoletes RFC 7700.

This RFC obsoletes RFC 7700.


The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) identifies users by use of Jabber IDs (JIDs). The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) enables provision of a white pages service with a schema relating to users and support for Internet protocols. This specification defines a schema to enable XMPP JIDs to be associated with objects in an LDAP directory so that this information can be used with white pages applications.


This document describes how to use the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) to collect and distribute security incident reports and other security-relevant information between network- connected devices, primarily for the purpose of communication among Computer Security Incident Response Teams and associated entities. To illustrate the principles involved, this document describes such a usage for the Incident Object Description Exchange Format (IODEF).