nether.autos: community federation self-test service (exploration) — the behavioral tier no existing tool covers #108

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opened 2026-07-12 14:07:19 +00:00 by robocub · 0 comments

robocub commented

2026-07-12 14:07:19 +00:00

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Exploration: a public federation SELF-TEST service for the Matrix community, hosted at nether.autos. Filed while the motivating incident is fresh (2026-07-12: a real user's homeserver passed every existing checker while being live-broken at the invite/join layer — cost us half a night to diagnose by hand).

Prior art — and the actual gap

What exists today checks plumbing, from the outside: the official Federation Tester (source) validates DNS/.well-known/TLS/server keys/version; MTRNord's Connectivity Tester adds CS-API discovery and MatrixRTC-readiness probes; rust-federation-tester is the same tier. Complement tests homeserver implementations in CI, not live deployments; ping-bot rooms measure latency only.

None of them perform authenticated, behavioral federation: real invite handshakes in BOTH directions, real make_join/send_join exchanges, v12/domainless room joins, E2EE round trips (device keys → megolm → decrypt), media federation. The server that triggered this issue (tinier.town) would pass every tool above — its DNS, certs, keys, and version endpoint were all verified healthy by us WHILE its make_join responses were malformed. That behavioral tier is the genuinely unmet need.

Concept

DM @fedtest:nether.autos → it runs the live battery against YOUR server (consent inherent: it only tests the server that contacted it) → report card over DM, with specific spec-referenced failures ("your v2/invite response is missing event"). The voice-bridge e2e harness's actors (crypto DM client, scenario runner, the federated-fixture scenarios from #106) are most of the engine, pointed outward.

Phases

The #106 fixture doubles as the private prototype (current work).
Invite-only for friends/beta testers — @dau:tinier.town is the intended first beneficiary.
Public service: own repository, uptime commitment, abuse/rate-limit posture, docs.

Open questions (deliberately unresolved)

Rate limiting & abuse (can a stranger make us hammer a third server? — no: we only test the requester's own server, but volume still needs caps); result-disclosure ethics (private report to the requester only); uptime/cost commitment; whether the apex hosts the service while the fixture moves to a subdomain at graduation.

Status: exploration. Revisit post-announcement. Repo decision recorded: prototype lives in the voice-bridge repo; own repo at phase 1.

**Exploration: a public federation SELF-TEST service for the Matrix community, hosted at `nether.autos`.** Filed while the motivating incident is fresh (2026-07-12: a real user's homeserver passed every existing checker while being live-broken at the invite/join layer — cost us half a night to diagnose by hand). ## Prior art — and the actual gap What exists today checks **plumbing, from the outside**: the official [Federation Tester](https://federationtester.matrix.org/) ([source](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-federation-tester)) validates DNS/.well-known/TLS/server keys/version; MTRNord's [Connectivity Tester](https://connectivity-tester.mtrnord.blog/) adds CS-API discovery and MatrixRTC-readiness probes; [rust-federation-tester](https://github.com/MTRNord/rust-federation-tester) is the same tier. Complement tests homeserver *implementations* in CI, not live deployments; ping-bot rooms measure latency only. **None of them perform authenticated, behavioral federation**: real invite handshakes in BOTH directions, real `make_join`/`send_join` exchanges, v12/domainless room joins, E2EE round trips (device keys → megolm → decrypt), media federation. The server that triggered this issue (`tinier.town`) would pass every tool above — its DNS, certs, keys, and version endpoint were all verified healthy by us WHILE its `make_join` responses were malformed. That behavioral tier is the genuinely unmet need. ## Concept DM `@fedtest:nether.autos` → it runs the live battery against YOUR server (consent inherent: it only tests the server that contacted it) → report card over DM, with specific spec-referenced failures ("your v2/invite response is missing `event`"). The voice-bridge e2e harness's actors (crypto DM client, scenario runner, the federated-fixture scenarios from #106) are most of the engine, pointed outward. ## Phases 0. The #106 fixture doubles as the private prototype (current work). 1. Invite-only for friends/beta testers — `@dau:tinier.town` is the intended first beneficiary. 2. Public service: own repository, uptime commitment, abuse/rate-limit posture, docs. ## Open questions (deliberately unresolved) Rate limiting & abuse (can a stranger make us hammer a third server? — no: we only test the requester's own server, but volume still needs caps); result-disclosure ethics (private report to the requester only); uptime/cost commitment; whether the apex hosts the service while the fixture moves to a subdomain at graduation. **Status: exploration.** Revisit post-announcement. Repo decision recorded: prototype lives in the voice-bridge repo; own repo at phase 1.

robocub referenced this issue

2026-07-12 14:07:55 +00:00

infra: nether.autos incus container — federated-fixture setup runbook (new-session handoff for #106/#108) #109

robocub referenced this issue

2026-07-12 14:07:56 +00:00

e2e: auxiliary federated test homeserver — unlock the federation scenario class #106