Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence
RFC 3921
| Document | Type |
RFC - Proposed Standard
(October 2004; No errata)
Obsoleted by RFC 6121
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated | 2015-10-14 | ||
| Stream | IETF | ||
| Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
| Stream | WG state | (None) | |
| Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
| IESG | IESG state | RFC 3921 (Proposed Standard) | |
| Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| Telechat date | |||
| Responsible AD | Scott Hollenbeck | ||
| Send notices to | lisa@xythos.com | ||
Network Working Group P. Saint-Andre, Ed.
Request for Comments: 3921 Jabber Software Foundation
Category: Standards Track October 2004
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP):
Instant Messaging and Presence
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).
Abstract
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.
Saint-Andre Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 3921 XMPP IM October 2004
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Syntax of XML Stanzas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Session Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. Exchanging Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5. Exchanging Presence Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6. Managing Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
7. Roster Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8. Integration of Roster Items and Presence Subscriptions . . . 32
9. Subscription States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
10. Blocking Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
11. Server Rules for Handling XML Stanzas . . . . . . . . . . . 85
12. IM and Presence Compliance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . 88
13. Internationalization Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
14. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
15. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
16. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
A. vCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B. XML Schemas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
C. Differences Between Jabber IM/Presence Protocols and XMPP. . 105
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Author's Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Full Copyright Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview
The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is a protocol
for streaming XML [XML] elements in order to exchange messages and
presence information in close to real time. The core features of
XMPP are defined in Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
(XMPP): Core [XMPP-CORE]. These features -- mainly XML streams, use
of TLS and SASL, and the <message/>, <presence/>, and <iq/> children
of the stream root -- provide the building blocks for many types of
near-real-time applications, which may be layered on top of the core
by sending application-specific data qualified by particular XML
namespaces [XML-NAMES]. This memo describes extensions to and
applications of the core features of XMPP that provide the basic
functionality expected of an instant messaging (IM) and presence
application as defined in RFC 2779 [IMP-REQS].
Saint-Andre Standards Track [Page 2]
RFC 3921 XMPP IM October 2004
1.2. Requirements
For the purposes of this memo, the requirements of a basic instant
messaging and presence application are defined by [IMP-REQS], which
at a high level stipulates that a user must be able to complete the
following use cases:
o Exchange messages with other users
o Exchange presence information with other users
o Manage subscriptions to and from other users
o Manage items in a contact list (in XMPP this is called a "roster")
o Block communications to or from specific other users
Detailed definitions of these functionality areas are contained in
[IMP-REQS], and the interested reader is directed to that document
regarding the requirements addressed herein.
[IMP-REQS] also stipulates that presence services must be separable
from instant messaging services; i.e., it must be possible to use the
protocol to provide a presence service, an instant messaging service,
or both. Although the text of this memo assumes that implementations
and deployments will want to offer a unified instant messaging and
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