Chat Service Glossary
- Matrix: A decentralized communication protocol.
- Synapse: An implementation of the Matrix protocol, which handles user authentication, rooms/spaces, and message routing. It’s a backend server.
- Element Web: A web-based client for Matrix server that allows users to access their Matrix account (mxid) and communicate with others through a web browser.
- Federation: The ability of Matrix servers to communicate with each other, allowing users on different servers to interact and communicate.
- Mxid: A unique identifier used to represent a Matrix user account. Has the following format:
@username:server.domain, where username is the chosenusernameandserver.domainis the domain name of the user’s Matrix server. - Rooms: The basic unit of communication in Matrix, where users can send messages, share files, and collaborate with others.
- Spaces: A higher-level grouping mechanism that allows to organize rooms and other spaces into logical categories or topics.
- Bridges: Matrix feature which allows external communication channels, such as third-party chat services or other messaging protocols, to be connected to the Matrix network. The most popular bridging applications are for protocols such as IRC, Slack, Discord, XMPP, etc.
- Bots: Automated programs that can perform various tasks within Matrix, such as sending automated messages, providing information, or performing actions on behalf of users.
- Appservice: Appservices are essentially programs that act as a middleman between Matrix and other systems, allowing them to communicate with one another. This can be useful for integrating existing services, such as chatbots, with Matrix, or for creating new services that rely on the functionality provided by Matrix