Features¶

End to end message encryption (XEP-0384 OMEMO)¶

Note

Converse versions older than 8.0.0 do NOT support encryption or decryption of uploaded files. Files will be uploaded WITHOUT ENCRYPTION, even when OMEMO is enabled.

Note

For end-to-end encryption via OMEMO, you’ll need to load libsignal-protocol.js separately in your page. Take a look at the section on libsignal and the security considerations around OMEMO.

Converse supports OMEMO encryption based on the Signal Protocol.

The Signal Protocol is session-oriented. Clients establish a session, which is then used for all subsequent encrypt/decrypt operations. There is no need to ever tear down a session once one has been established.

This means that a session needs to be stored permanently after logging out.

Converse stores this session information in the browser’s IndexedDB or localStorage database, depending on the value provided to persistent_store.

If you’ve checked the “This is not a trusted device” checkbox when logging in, then sessionStorage is used instead of localStorage and all data is cleared when you log out.

For this reason, OMEMO is disabled when you’ve indicated that you’re using an untrusted device. You would in any case not be able to decrypt previously received OMEMO messages, due to the Signal Protocol’s forward secrecy and the fact that you don’t have a pre-existing session.

Security considerations for browser-based crypto¶

Crypto apps deployed via regular web hosting can be described as relying on “host-based” security.

Host-based security services require you to trust the host every time you access it, whereas with installable desktop software you trust the host when you download/install the software (and whenever it gets updated).

The dynamic nature of “host-based” systems makes it impractical for security researchers to do security audits because the hosted code can change at any time.

In such a setup you need to fully trust the host that serves you the JavaScript code.

The host that serves the JavaScript code is not necessarily the same host that stores and procesess your chat messages. So using OMEMO can still protect your messages from snooping on the XMPP server where they’re stored encrypted.

In other words, you do have to trust the webserver that hosts Converse for you, but you don’t necessarily have to trust the XMPP server (if it’s on a different host), because it never gets hold of your private key.

One way to improve this situation is to host Converse yourself, especially if you host it locally on your own machine. If you’re not able to do that, then at least make sure you use a reputable host that serves files over HTTPS and that set CSP headers.

Due to these reasons, it’s NOT a good idea to use encrypted messaging with a browser-based solution in life-threatening situations.

Security can be increased by using an installable app (like Converse Desktop).

For further reading on the challenges of web-based crypto, take a look at these articles:

OMEMO in Multi-user chats (MUC)¶

Converse supports OMEMO encryption in groupchats, but only if the groupchat is set to members only and non-anonymous. This is the same criteria used by the popular Android XMPP client Conversations.

If the groupchat is configured properly, you’ll see the lock icon in the toolbar.

Open chats via URL¶

From version 3.3.0, converse.js now has the ability to open chats (private or groupchat) based on the URL fragment.

A room (aka groupchat) can be opened with a URL fragment such as #converse/room?jid=room@domain and a private chat with a URL fragment such as #converse/chat?jid=user@domain.

Notifications¶

From version 0.8.1 Converse can play a sound notification when you receive a message.

For more info, refer to the play_sounds configuration setting.

It can also show desktop notification messages when the browser is not currently visible.

For more info, refer to the show_desktop_notifications configuration setting.

Multilingual Support¶

Converse is translated into over 30 languages. Translations can be added or updated on Weblate.

Translations are supplied in JSON format and are loaded on demand. Converse will expect to find the translations in the /dist/locales path of your site. This path can be changed via the assets_path configuration setting.

Moderating chatrooms¶

Here are the different commands that may be used to moderate a chatroom:

Event Type	When is it triggered?	Example (substitue $nickname with an actual user’s nickname)
ban	Ban a user from the chatroom. They will not be able to join again.	/ban $nickname
clear	Clear the messages shown in the chatroom.	/clear
deop	Make a moderator a normal occupant.	/deop $nickname [$reason]
help	Show the list of available commands.	/help
kick	Kick a user out of a room. They will be able to join again.	/kick $nickname [$reason]
me	Speak in the 3rd person.	/me $message
mute	Remove a user’s ability to post messages to the room. They will still be able to observe.	/mute $nickname [$reason]
nick	Change your nickname.	/nick $nickname
op	Make a normal occupant a moderator.	/op $nickname [$reason]
topic	Set the topic of the chatroom.	/topic ${topic text}
voice	Allow a muted user to post messages to the room.	/voice $nickname [$reason]

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Table Of Contents

Features¶

End to end message encryption (XEP-0384 OMEMO)¶

Security considerations for browser-based crypto¶

OMEMO in Multi-user chats (MUC)¶

Open chats via URL¶

Notifications¶

Multilingual Support¶

Moderating chatrooms¶

Sponsored by

Table Of Contents

Features¶

File sharing (XEP-0363 HTTP File Upload)¶

End to end message encryption (XEP-0384 OMEMO)¶

Security considerations for browser-based crypto¶

OMEMO in Multi-user chats (MUC)¶

Open chats via URL¶

Notifications¶

Multilingual Support¶

Moderating chatrooms¶

Passwordless login with client certificates¶