delegate.md

# Delegation

By default, other homeservers will expect to be able to reach yours via
your `server_name`, on port 8448. For example, if you set your `server_name`
to `example.com` (so that your user names look like `@user:example.com`),
other servers will try to connect to yours at `https://example.com:8448/`.

Delegation is a Matrix feature allowing a homeserver admin to retain a
`server_name` of `example.com` so that user IDs, room aliases, etc continue
to look like `*:example.com`, whilst having federation traffic routed
to a different server and/or port (e.g. `synapse.example.com:443`).

## .well-known delegation

To use this method, you need to be able to alter the
`server_name` 's https server to serve the `/.well-known/matrix/server`
URL. Having an active server (with a valid TLS certificate) serving your
`server_name` domain is out of the scope of this documentation.

The URL `https://<server_name>/.well-known/matrix/server` should
return a JSON structure containing the key `m.server` like so:

```json
{
    "m.server": "<synapse.server.name>[:<yourport>]"
}
```

In our example, this would mean that URL `https://example.com/.well-known/matrix/server`
should return:

```json
{
    "m.server": "synapse.example.com:443"
}
```

Note, specifying a port is optional. If no port is specified, then it defaults
to 8448.

With .well-known delegation, federating servers will check for a valid TLS
certificate for the delegated hostname (in our example: `synapse.example.com`).

## SRV DNS record delegation

It is also possible to do delegation using a SRV DNS record. However, that is
considered an advanced topic since it's a bit complex to set up, and `.well-known`
delegation is already enough in most cases.

However, if you really need it, you can find some documentation on how such a
record should look like and how Synapse will use it in [the Matrix
specification](https://matrix.org/docs/spec/server_server/latest#resolving-server-names).

## Delegation FAQ

### When do I need delegation?

If your homeserver's APIs are accessible on the default federation port (8448)
and the domain your `server_name` points to, you do not need any delegation.

For instance, if you registered `example.com` and pointed its DNS A record at a
fresh server, you could install Synapse on that host, giving it a `server_name`
of `example.com`, and once a reverse proxy has been set up to proxy all requests
sent to the port `8448` and serve TLS certificates for `example.com`, you
wouldn't need any delegation set up.

**However**, if your homeserver's APIs aren't accessible on port 8448 and on the
domain `server_name` points to, you will need to let other servers know how to
find it using delegation.

### Do you still recommend against using a reverse proxy on the federation port?

We no longer actively recommend against using a reverse proxy. Many admins will
find it easier to direct federation traffic to a reverse proxy and manage their
own TLS certificates, and this is a supported configuration.

See [reverse_proxy.md](reverse_proxy.md) for information on setting up a
reverse proxy.

### Do I still need to give my TLS certificates to Synapse if I am using a reverse proxy?

This is no longer necessary. If you are using a reverse proxy for all of your
TLS traffic, then you can set `no_tls: True` in the Synapse config.

In that case, the only reason Synapse needs the certificate is to populate a legacy
`tls_fingerprints` field in the federation API. This is ignored by Synapse 0.99.0
and later, and the only time pre-0.99 Synapses will check it is when attempting to
fetch the server keys - and generally this is delegated via `matrix.org`, which
is running a modern version of Synapse.

### Do I need the same certificate for the client and federation port?

No. There is nothing stopping you from using different certificates,
particularly if you are using a reverse proxy.