Z-XMPP

For more info, visit https://ivan.vucica.net/zxmpp/.

What is it?

This is an implementation of an XMPP client in JavaScript. It uses BOSH concept of HTTP binding as defined by XEP-0124 and XEP-0206.

It is a semi-structured hack, assembled not so much as a planned effort by a JavaScript expert.

Use is not recommended: There are other, immensely better UI and client libraries today. The author is open to admit he barely knew what he was doing back in 2010. In 2019, the author would recommend projects such as Strophe.js for the in-browser client library, and Converse.js for the full client UI.

Goal

Goal is to have a backend library for doing XMPP, and a separate GUI that will allow attaching an overlay over existing webpage, as well as almost transparent reconnection upon unloading the page and reloading it.

Another goal is to support major standards-based browsers: Safari, Chrome, Opera, Firefox.

User interface

While primarily an XMPP library that preserves connection between page switches, Z-XMPP also includes an ugly user interface component for instant messaging. It appears as a bar on the bottom of the screen.

Compatibility

The original plan was that the client will eventually cover at least XEP-0242: XMPP Client Compliance 2009 Core Client profile.

It's unlikely it'll get anywhere close to any compatibility profile.

Z-XMPP has been tested with the following BOSH connection managers:

ejabberd's connection manager
Prosody's connection manager
Punjab

Z-XMPP has been tested with the following XMPP server software:

Version 1.0

Following SASL authentication methods are partially or fully supported:

PLAIN
DIGEST-MD5

Following XEPs are partially or fully supported:

XEP-0030: Service Discovery
XEP-0054: vcard-temp
XEP-0085: Chat State Notifications
XEP-0092: Software Version
XEP-0115: Entity Capabilities
XEP-0124: Bidirectional-streams Over Synchronous HTTP (BOSH)
XEP-0206: XMPP Over BOSH

There may be additional features supported, but not documented.

Version 1.1

Following SASL authentication methods are added:

ANONYMOUS
X-FACEBOOK-PLATFORM

There is some very experimental code to support Jingle calls with an early version of WebRTC APIs.

This version contains a variety of fixes for compatibility.

License

Please read the LICENSE to see current use terms.

Installation

Here's how to set up demo.php to work.

Start up a server such as ejabberd or Prosody. Enable BOSH in it by referring to the server's manual. Alternatively, set up a connection manager for BOSH (a BOSH service that acts as a proxy to the real XMPP server). A good connection manager is Punjab.
Get your HTTP server to forward requests from a directory in the same domain and port that your site (or demo.php) is hosted on. If you use Apache, .htaccess shipping with Z-XMPP is a good starting point. This is required due to Javascript cross-domain scripting access policies on modern browsers, which would prevent Z-XMPP and any other Javascript XMPP library from accessing the actual BOSH server directly.
Edit demo.php to point to the directory that now redirects to the proper path and port of your BOSH server.

These instructions can, of course, be improved, and the author will be happy to answer your questions on how to get Z-XMPP to connect to your XMPP server on your web site (to the extent of his ability, of course).

Facebook authentication

Z-XMPP does not include a sample Facebook application. You need to implement yourself the Facebook authentication, either using the JS SDK or some other method of obtaining the required authentication details.

Pass the application ID as username, and access token as password. It'll be automatically passed correctly when the server supports the X-FACEBOOK-PLATFORM method. Also, in configuration, pass fb-auth-enabled with a truthful value (e.g. 'true'). This is done so you can also use PLAIN or DIGEST-MD5 when connecting to a server supporting X-FACEBOOK-PLATFORM.

Contributing

Patches and good natured criticism can be directed to zxmpp@vucica.net.

You can also contact me on XMPP if I whitelist you. Reach out to me on the address above.

ivucica/zxmpp