mod_unified_push

This module implements a Unified Push Provider that uses XMPP to talk to a Push Distributor (e.g. Conversations).

It allows push notifications to be delivered to apps on your device over XMPP. This means notifications can be delivered quickly and efficiently (apps don’t need to repeatedly poll for new notifications).

For a list of compatible apps, see the UnifiedPush apps list.

A server-independent external component is also available - see the ‘up’ project. That project also contains a description of the protocol between the XMPP server and the client.

This module and the protocol it implements is at an experimental prototype stage.

Note that this module is not related to XEP-0357 push notifications for XMPP. It does not send push notifications to disconnected XMPP clients. For that, see mod_cloud_notify.

Configuration

Backends

The module needs to track registrations, and be able to associate tokens with users. There are multiple ways to do this, but not every method is supported on every Prosody version.

By default the module will automatically select the best backend that is supported on the current Prosody version you are using.

storage backend

This is the default backend on Prosody 0.12 and earlier. It stores tokens and their associated data in Prosody’s configured data store.

Supported by all Prosody versions.

paseto backend

This is a stateless (i.e. no storage required) backend that uses encrypted PASETO tokens to store registration info. It is the default backend on Prosody trunk, as PASETO support is not available in Prosody 0.12 and earlier.

jwt backend

This is a stateless backend that uses JWT tokens to store registration info. It is supported in Prosody 0.12 and higher.

Note: The JWT tokens are not encrypted, which means the JID associated with a registration is visible to apps and services that send you push notifications. This can have privacy implications. If in doubt, do not use this backend.

This backend requires you to set a secure random string in the config file, using the unified_push_secret option.

A random push secret can be generated with the command openssl rand -base64 32. Changing the secret will invalidate all existing push registrations.

HTTP configuration

This module exposes a HTTP endpoint, by default at the path /push (to receive push notifications from app servers). If you use a reverse proxy, make sure you proxy this path too. For more information on configuring HTTP services and reverse proxying in Prosody, see Prosody HTTP documentation.

Example configuration

Recommended: load on Virtualhost(s)

Just add just add "unified_push" to your modules_enabled option. This is the easiest and recommended configuration.

  modules_enabled = {
    -- ...
    "unified_push";
    -- ...
  }

Component method

This is an example of how to configure the module as an internal component, e.g. on a subdomain or other non-user domain.

This example creates a push notification component called ‘notify.example.com’.

The ‘http_host’ line instructs Prosody to expose this module’s HTTP services on the ‘example.com’ host, which avoids needing to create/update DNS records and HTTPS certificates if example.com is already set up.

Component "notify.example.com" "unified_push"
    unified_push_secret = "<secret string here>"
    http_host = "example.com"

Compatibility

sudo prosodyctl install --server=https://modules.prosody.im/rocks/ mod_unified_push