This protocol describes a way to communicate a user's last interaction time with other XMPP entities over <presence/> stanzas. For the purposes of this document, user interaction here refers to a human end user interacting with her device by means of a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, and so on. Based on this information XMPP clients can display the time a contact went idle or a duration for how long a contact has been idle, thereby allowing end users to estimate the expected responsiveness of their contacts.
This protocol uses absolute timestamps formatted according to the DateTime profile of XMPP Date and Time Profiles (XEP-0082) [1], indicated as value of the 'since' attribute in the <idle/> element.
Experience has shown a number of issues with Last Activity in Presence (XEP-0256) [2]:
Updating XEP-0256 directly would be problematic as it would break compatibility with existing implementations. Instead a new protocol is described for handling the idle time use case; the last online use case is handled by PubSub Since (XEP-0312) [4].
There are two main use cases for this extension, explained in more detail in the following sections.
After a user has not interacted with her device for some amount of time the user wants to inform her contacts about this fact. The client sends a <presence/> stanza with time of last interaction.
<presence from='juliet@capulet.com/balcony'> <show>away</show> <idle xmlns='urn:xmpp:idle:1' since='1969-07-21T02:56:15Z'/> </presence>
The amount of time the user has to be idle before a client sends this enhanced presence is application-specific; it is suggested that a sensible default interval of 5 minutes be used.
When a user comes back and uses her device again the client informs user's contacts by sending a normal presence stanza like shown in the following example, omiting the <idle/> element.
<presence from='juliet@capulet.com/balcony' />
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xs:schema
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
elementFormDefault="qualified"
targetNamespace="urn:xmpp:idle:1"
xmlns="urn:xmpp:idle:1">
<xs:annotation>
<xs:documentation>
The protocol documented by this schema is defined in
XEP-0319: http://www.xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0319.html
</xs:documentation>
</xs:annotation>
<xs:element name="idle">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:attribute name="since" use="required" type="xs:dateTime"/>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
Thanks to Florian Schmaus, Christian Schudt, and Lance Stout for their helpful comments.
The security considerations of XEP-0082 apply to this protocol.
This specification introduces no new security or privacy concerns. While including a last user interaction notation in <presence/> updates can enable recipients to determine exactly when a user has stopped interacting with her XMPP client or even their system, this information is in essence already available if the user's client publishes timely presence updates.
This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [5].
The XMPP Registrar [6] shall add 'urn:xmpp:idle:1' to its registry at http://xmpp.org/registrar/namespaces.html.
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This XMPP Extension Protocol is copyright © 1999 – 2020 by the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF).
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The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 6120) and XMPP IM (RFC 6121) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this document has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.
The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.
Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <http://xmpp.org/about/discuss.shtml> for a complete list.
Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.
The following requirements keywords as used in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119: "MUST", "SHALL", "REQUIRED"; "MUST NOT", "SHALL NOT"; "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED"; "SHOULD NOT", "NOT RECOMMENDED"; "MAY", "OPTIONAL".
1. XEP-0082: XMPP Date and Time Profiles <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0082.html>.
2. XEP-0256: Last Activity in Presence <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0256.html>.
3. XEP-0203: Delayed Delivery <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0203.html>.
4. XEP-0312: PubSub Since <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0312.html>.
5. 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/>.
6. 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/>.
Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at http://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/
Make the schema more precise about a date being a xs:dateTime.
Be precise about the XMPP Date and Time Profiles (XEP-0082) [1] profile used.
Per a vote of the XMPP Council, advanced specification from Experimental to Draft.
Fix issues raised in XMPP Council meeting.
Initial published version approved by the XMPP Council.
Initial version.
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