Docs on consent bits

docs/consent_tracking.md

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+Support in Synapse for tracking agreement to server terms and conditions
+========================================================================
+
+Synapse 0.30 introduces support for tracking whether users have agreed to the
+terms and conditions set by the administrator of a server - and blocking access
+to the server until they have.
+
+There are several parts to this functionality; each requires some specific
+configuration in `homeserver.yaml` to be enabled.
+
+Note that various parts of the configuation and this document refer to the
+"privacy policy": agreement with a privacy policy is one particular use of this
+feature, but of course adminstrators can specify other terms and conditions
+unrelated to "privacy" per se.
+
+Collecting policy agreement from a user
+---------------------------------------
+
+Synapse can be configured to serve the user a simple policy form with an
+"accept" button. Clicking "Accept" records the user's acceptance in the
+database and shows a success page.
+
+To enable this, first create templates for the policy and success pages.
+These should be stored on the local filesystem.
+
+These templates use the [Jinja2](http://jinja.pocoo.org) templating language,
+and the `privacy_policy_templates` subdirectory of this `docs` directory gives
+examples of the sort of thing that can be done.
+
+Note that the templates must be stored under a name giving the language of the
+template - currently this must always be `en` (for "English");
+internationalisation support is intended for the future.
+
+The template for the policy itself should be versioned and named according to 
+the version: for example `1.0.html`. The version of the policy which the user
+has agreed to is stored in the database.
+
+Once the templates are in place, make the following changes to `homeserver.yaml`:
+
+ 1. Add a `user_consent` section, which should look like:
+
+    ```yaml
+    user_consent:
+      template_dir: privacy_policy_templates
+      version: 1.0
+    ```
+
+    `template_dir` points to the directory containing the policy
+    templates. `version` defines the version of the policy which will be served
+    to the user. In the example above, Synapse will serve
+    `privacy_policy_templates/en/1.0.html`.
+
+
+ 2. Add a `form_secret` setting at the top level:
+
+
+    ```yaml
+    form_secret: "<unique secret>"
+    ```
+
+    This should be set to an arbitrary secret string (try `pwgen -y 30` to
+    generate suitable secrets).
+
+    More on what this is used for below.
+
+ 3. Add `consent` wherever the `client` resource is currently enabled in the
+    `listeners` configuration. For example:
+
+    ```yaml
+    listeners:
+      - port: 8008
+        resources:
+          - names:
+            - client
+            - consent
+    ```
+
+
+Finally, ensure that `jinja2` is installed. If you are using a virtualenv, this
+should be a matter of `pip install Jinja2`. On debian, try `apt-get install
+python-jinja2`.
+
+Once this is complete, and the server has been restarted, try visiting
+`https://<server>/_matrix/consent`. If configuration has been done correctly,
+this should give an error "Missing string query parameter 'u'". It is now
+possible to manually construct URIs where users can give their consent.
+
+### Constructing the consent URI
+
+It may be useful to manually construct the "consent URI" for a given user - for
+instance, in order to send them an email asking them to consent. To do this,
+take the base `https://<server>/_matrix/consent` URL and add the following
+query parameters:
+
+ * `u`: the user id of the user. This can either be a full MXID
+   (`@user:server.com`) or just the localpart (`user`).
+
+ * `h`: hex-encoded HMAC-SHA256 of `u` using the `form_secret` as a key. It is
+   possible to calculate this on the commandline with something like:
+
+   ```bash
+   echo -n '<user>' | openssl sha256 -hmac '<form_secret>'
+   ```
+
+   This should result in a URI which looks something like:
+   `https://<server>/_matrix/consent?u=<user>&h=68a152465a4d...`.
+
+
+Sending users a server notice asking them to agree to the policy
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+It is possible to configure Synapse to send a [server
+notice](server_notices.md) to anybody who has not yet agreed to the current
+version of the policy. To do so:
+
+ * ensure that the consent resource is configured, as in the previous section
+
+ * ensure that server notices are configured, as in [server_notices.md](server_notices.md).
+
+ * Add `server_notice_content` under `user_consent` in `homeserver.yaml`. For
+   example:
+
+   ```yaml
+   user_consent:
+     server_notice_content:
+       msgtype: m.text
+       body: >-
+         Please give your consent to the privacy policy at %(consent_uri)s.
+   ```
+
+   Synapse automatically replaces the placeholder `%(consent_uri)s` with the
+   consent uri for that user.
+
+ * ensure that `public_baseurl` is set in `homeserver.yaml`, and gives the base
+   URI that clients use to connect to the server. (It is used to construct
+   `consent_uri` in the server notice.)
+
+
+Blocking users from using the server until they agree to the policy
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Synapse can be configured to block any attempts to join rooms or send messages
+until the user has given their agreement to the policy. (Joining the server
+notices room is exempted from this).
+
+To enable this, add `block_events_error` under `user_consent`. For example:
+
+```yaml
+user_consent:
+  block_events_error: >-
+    You can't send any messages until you consent to the privacy policy at
+    %(consent_uri)s.
+```
+
+Synapse automatically replaces the placeholder `%(consent_uri)s` with the
+consent uri for that user.
+
+ensure that `public_baseurl` is set in `homeserver.yaml`, and gives the base
+URI that clients use to connect to the server. (It is used to construct
+`consent_uri` in the error.)

docs/manhole.md

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+Using the synapse manhole
+=========================
+
+The "manhole" allows server administrators to access a Python shell on a running
+Synapse installation. This is a very powerful mechanism for administration and
+debugging.
+
+To enable it, first uncomment the `manhole` listener configuration in
+`homeserver.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+listeners:
+  - port: 9000
+    bind_addresses: ['::1', '127.0.0.1']
+    type: manhole
+```
+
+(`bind_addresses` in the above is important: it ensures that access to the
+manhole is only possible for local users).
+
+Note that this will give administrative access to synapse to **all users** with
+shell access to the server. It should therefore **not** be enabled in
+environments where untrusted users have shell access.
+
+Then restart synapse, and point an ssh client at port 9000 on localhost, using
+the username `matrix`:
+
+```bash
+ssh -p9000 matrix@localhost
+```
+
+The password is `rabbithole`.
+
+This gives a Python REPL in which `hs` gives access to the
+`synapse.server.HomeServer` object - which in turn gives access to many other
+parts of the process.
+
+As a simple example, retrieving an event from the database:
+
+```
+>>> hs.get_datastore().get_event('$1416420717069yeQaw:matrix.org')
+<Deferred at 0x7ff253fc6998 current result: <FrozenEvent event_id='$1416420717069yeQaw:matrix.org', type='m.room.create', state_key=''>>
+```

docs/server_notices.md

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+Server Notices
+==============
+
+'Server Notices' are a new feature introduced in Synapse 0.30. They provide a
+channel whereby server administrators can send messages to users on the server.
+
+They are used as part of the communication of the server polices (see
+[consent_tracking.md](consent_tracking.md)), however the intention is that 
+they may also find a use for features such as "Message of the day".
+
+This is a feature specific to Synapse, but it uses standard Matrix
+communication mechanisms, so should work with any Matrix client.
+
+User experience
+---------------
+
+When the user is first sent a server notice, they will get an invitation to a
+room (typically called 'Server Notices', though this is configurable in
+`homeserver.yaml`). They will be **unable to reject** this invitation -
+attempts to do so will receive an error.
+
+Once they accept the invitation, they will see the notice message in the room
+history; it will appear to have come from the 'server notices user' (see
+below).
+
+The user is prevented from sending any messages in this room by the power
+levels. They also cannot leave it.
+
+Synapse configuration
+---------------------
+
+Server notices come from a specific user id on the server. Server
+administrators are free to choose the user id - something like `server` is
+suggested, meaning the notices will come from
+`@server:<your_server_name>`. Once the server notices user is configured, that
+user id becomes a special, privileged user, so administrators should ensure
+that **it is not already allocated**.
+
+In order to support server notices, it is necessary to add some configuration
+to the `homeserver.yaml` file. In particular, you should add a `server_notices`
+section, which should look like this:
+
+```yaml
+server_notices:
+   system_mxid_localpart: server
+   system_mxid_display_name: "Server Notices"
+   room_name: "Server Notices"
+```
+
+The only compulsory setting is `system_mxid_localpart`, which defines the user
+id of the server notices user, as above. `system_mxid_display_name` and
+`room_name` define the displayname of the system notices user, and of
+the notices room, respectively.
+
+Sending notices
+---------------
+
+As of the current version of synapse, there is no convenient interface for
+sending notices (other than the automated ones sent as part of consent
+tracking).
+
+In the meantime, it is possible to test this feature using the manhole. Having
+gone into the manhole as described in [manhole.md](manhole.md), a notice can be
+sent with something like:
+
+```
+>>> hs.get_server_notices_manager().send_notice('@user:server.com', {'msgtype':'m.text', 'body':'foo'})
+```