# Warning: This information is only partially applicable to SchildiChat, look here instead: https://github.com/SchildiChat/schildichat-desktop 
schildichat-desktop (recommended starting point to build SchildiChat for Web and Desktop)
|-- element-desktop (electron wrapper)
|-- element-web <-- this repo ("skin" for matrix-react-sdk)
|-- matrix-react-sdk (most of the development happens here)
`-- matrix-js-sdk (Matrix client js sdk)
Element ======= Element (formerly known as Vector and Riot) is a Matrix web client built using the [Matrix React SDK](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk). Supported Environments ====================== Element has several tiers of support for different environments: * Supported * Definition: Issues **actively triaged**, regressions **block** the release * Last 2 major versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge on desktop OSes * Latest release of official Element Desktop app on desktop OSes * Desktop OSes means macOS, Windows, and Linux versions for desktop devices that are actively supported by the OS vendor and receive security updates * Experimental * Definition: Issues **accepted**, regressions **do not block** the release * Element as an installed PWA via current stable version of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari * Mobile web for current stable version of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on Android, iOS, and iPadOS * Not supported * Definition: Issues only affecting unsupported environments are **closed** * Everything else For accessing Element on an Android or iOS device, we currently recommend the native apps [element-android](https://github.com/SchildiChat/schildichat-android). Getting Started =============== The easiest way to test SchildiChat is to just use the hosted copy at https://app.schildi.chat. To host your own copy of SchildiChat, the quickest bet is to use a pre-built released version of Element: 1. Download the latest version from 1. Untar the tarball on your web server 1. Move (or symlink) the `schildichat-x.x.x` directory to an appropriate name 1. Configure the correct caching headers in your webserver (see below) 1. If desired, copy `config.sample.json` to `config.json` and edit it as desired. See the [configuration docs](docs/config.md) for details. 1. Enter the URL into your browser and log into SchildiChat! Note that for the security of your chats will need to serve Element over HTTPS. Major browsers also do not allow you to use VoIP/video chats over HTTP, as WebRTC is only usable over HTTPS. There are some exceptions like when using localhost, which is considered a [secure context](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/Security/Secure_Contexts) and thus allowed. To install SchildiChat as a desktop application, see [Running as a desktop app](#running-as-a-desktop-app) below. Important Security Notes ======================== Separate domains ---------------- We do not recommend running Element from the same domain name as your Matrix homeserver. The reason is the risk of XSS (cross-site-scripting) vulnerabilities that could occur if someone caused Element to load and render malicious user generated content from a Matrix API which then had trusted access to Element (or other apps) due to sharing the same domain. We have put some coarse mitigations into place to try to protect against this situation, but it's still not good practice to do it in the first place. See for more details. Configuration best practices ---------------------------- Unless you have special requirements, you will want to add the following to your web server configuration when hosting Element Web: * The `X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN` header, to prevent Element Web from being framed and protect from [clickjacking][owasp-clickjacking]. * The `frame-ancestors 'none'` directive to your `Content-Security-Policy` header, as the modern replacement for `X-Frame-Options` (though both should be included since not all browsers support it yet, see [this][owasp-clickjacking-csp]). * The `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff` header, to [disable MIME sniffing][mime-sniffing]. * The `X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block;` header, for basic XSS protection in legacy browsers. [mime-sniffing]: [owasp-clickjacking-csp]: [owasp-clickjacking]: If you are using nginx, this would look something like the following: ``` add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN; add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff; add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"; add_header Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'none'"; ``` Note: In case you are already setting a `Content-Security-Policy` header elsewhere, you should modify it to include the `frame-ancestors` directive instead of adding that last line. Building From Source ==================== Element is a modular webapp built with modern ES6 and uses a Node.js build system. Ensure you have the latest LTS version of Node.js installed. Using `yarn` instead of `npm` is recommended. Please see the Yarn [install guide](https://classic.yarnpkg.com/en/docs/install) if you do not have it already. 1. Install or update `node.js` so that your `node` is at least v14.x. 1. Install `yarn` if not present already. 1. Clone the repo: `git clone https://github.com/vector-im/element-web.git`. 1. Switch to the element-web directory: `cd element-web`. 1. Install the prerequisites: `yarn install`. * If you're using the `develop` branch, then it is recommended to set up a proper development environment (see [Setting up a dev environment](#setting-up-a-dev-environment) below). Alternatively, you can use - the continuous integration release of the develop branch. 1. Configure the app by copying `config.sample.json` to `config.json` and modifying it. See the [configuration docs](docs/config.md) for details. 1. `yarn dist` to build a tarball to deploy. Untaring this file will give a version-specific directory containing all the files that need to go on your web server. Note that `yarn dist` is not supported on Windows, so Windows users can run `yarn build`, which will build all the necessary files into the `webapp` directory. The version of Element will not appear in Settings without using the dist script. You can then mount the `webapp` directory on your web server to actually serve up the app, which is entirely static content. Running as a Desktop app ======================== SchildiChat can also be run as a desktop app, wrapped in Electron. You can download a pre-built version from or, if you prefer, build it yourself. To build it yourself, follow the instructions at . Many thanks to @aviraldg for the initial work on the Electron integration. Other options for running as a desktop app: * @asdf:matrix.org points out that you can use nativefier and it just works(tm) ```bash yarn global add nativefier nativefier https://app.schildi.chat/ ``` The [configuration docs](docs/config.md#desktop-app-configuration) show how to override the desktop app's default settings if desired. Running from Docker =================== The Docker image can be used to serve element-web as a web server. The easiest way to use it is to use the prebuilt image: ```bash docker run -p 80:80 vectorim/element-web ``` To supply your own custom `config.json`, map a volume to `/app/config.json`. For example, if your custom config was located at `/etc/element-web/config.json` then your Docker command would be: ```bash docker run -p 80:80 -v /etc/element-web/config.json:/app/config.json vectorim/element-web ``` To build the image yourself: ```bash git clone https://github.com/vector-im/element-web.git element-web cd element-web git checkout master docker build . ``` If you're building a custom branch, or want to use the develop branch, check out the appropriate element-web branch and then run: ```bash docker build -t \ --build-arg USE_CUSTOM_SDKS=true \ --build-arg REACT_SDK_REPO="https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk.git" \ --build-arg REACT_SDK_BRANCH="develop" \ --build-arg JS_SDK_REPO="https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-js-sdk.git" \ --build-arg JS_SDK_BRANCH="develop" \ . ``` Running in Kubernetes ===================== The provided element-web docker image can also be run from within a Kubernetes cluster. See the [Kubernetes example](docs/kubernetes.md) for more details. config.json =========== Element supports a variety of settings to configure default servers, behaviour, themes, etc. See the [configuration docs](docs/config.md) for more details. Labs Features ============= Some features of Element may be enabled by flags in the `Labs` section of the settings. Some of these features are described in [labs.md](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/blob/develop/docs/labs.md). Caching requirements ==================== Element requires the following URLs not to be cached, when/if you are serving Element from your own webserver: ``` /config.*.json /i18n /home /sites /index.html ``` We also recommend that you force browsers to re-validate any cached copy of Element on page load by configuring your webserver to return `Cache-Control: no-cache` for `/`. This ensures the browser will fetch a new version of Element on the next page load after it's been deployed. Note that this is already configured for you in the nginx config of our Dockerfile. Development =========== Before attempting to develop on Element you **must** read the [developer guide for `matrix-react-sdk`](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#developer-guide), which also defines the design, architecture and style for Element too. Before starting work on a feature, it's best to ensure your plan aligns well with our vision for Element. Please chat with the team in [#element-dev:matrix.org](https://matrix.to/#/#element-dev:matrix.org) before you start so we can ensure it's something we'd be willing to merge. You should also familiarise yourself with the ["Here be Dragons" guide ](https://docs.google.com/document/d/12jYzvkidrp1h7liEuLIe6BMdU0NUjndUYI971O06ooM) to the tame & not-so-tame dragons (gotchas) which exist in the codebase. The idea of Element is to be a relatively lightweight "skin" of customisations on top of the underlying `matrix-react-sdk`. `matrix-react-sdk` provides both the higher and lower level React components useful for building Matrix communication apps using React. After creating a new component you must run `yarn reskindex` to regenerate the `component-index.js` for the app (used in future for skinning). Please note that Element is intended to run correctly without access to the public internet. So please don't depend on resources (JS libs, CSS, images, fonts) hosted by external CDNs or servers but instead please package all dependencies into Element itself. CSS hot-reload is available as an opt-in development feature. You can enable it by defining a `CSS_HOT_RELOAD` environment variable, in a `.env` file in the root of the repository. See `.env.example` for documentation and an example. Setting up a dev environment ============================ Much of the functionality in Element is actually in the `matrix-react-sdk` and `matrix-js-sdk` modules. It is possible to set these up in a way that makes it easy to track the `develop` branches in git and to make local changes without having to manually rebuild each time. First clone and build `matrix-js-sdk`: ``` bash git clone https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-js-sdk.git pushd matrix-js-sdk yarn link yarn install popd ``` Then similarly with `matrix-react-sdk`: ```bash git clone https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk.git pushd matrix-react-sdk yarn link yarn link matrix-js-sdk yarn install popd ``` Finally, build and start Element itself: ```bash git clone https://github.com/vector-im/element-web.git cd element-web yarn link matrix-js-sdk yarn link matrix-react-sdk yarn install yarn reskindex yarn start ``` Wait a few seconds for the initial build to finish; you should see something like: ``` [element-js] [webpack.Progress] 100% [element-js] [element-js] ℹ ｢wdm｣: 1840 modules [element-js] ℹ ｢wdm｣: Compiled successfully. ``` Remember, the command will not terminate since it runs the web server and rebuilds source files when they change. This development server also disables caching, so do NOT use it in production. Configure the app by copying `config.sample.json` to `config.json` and modifying it. See the [configuration docs](docs/config.md) for details. Open in your browser to see your newly built Element. **Note**: The build script uses inotify by default on Linux to monitor directories for changes. If the inotify limits are too low your build will fail silently or with `Error: EMFILE: too many open files`. To avoid these issues, we recommend a watch limit of at least `128M` and instance limit around `512`. You may be interested in issues [#15750](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/15750) and [#15774](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/15774) for further details. To set a new inotify watch and instance limit, execute: ``` sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=131072 sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=512 sudo sysctl -p ``` If you wish, you can make the new limits permanent, by executing: ``` echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=131072 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf echo fs.inotify.max_user_instances=512 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf sudo sysctl -p ``` ___ When you make changes to `matrix-react-sdk` or `matrix-js-sdk` they should be automatically picked up by webpack and built. If you add or remove any components from the Element skin, you will need to rebuild the skin's index by running, `yarn reskindex`. If any of these steps error with, `file table overflow`, you are probably on a mac which has a very low limit on max open files. Run `ulimit -Sn 1024` and try again. You'll need to do this in each new terminal you open before building Element. Running the tests ----------------- There are a number of application-level tests in the `tests` directory; these are designed to run with Jest and JSDOM. To run them ``` yarn test ``` ### End-to-End tests See [matrix-react-sdk](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/#end-to-end-tests) how to run the end-to-end tests. Translations ============ To add a new translation, head to the [translating doc](docs/translating.md). For a developer guide, see the [translating dev doc](docs/translating-dev.md). [translationsstatus](https://translate.element.io/engage/element-web/?utm_source=widget) Triaging issues =============== Issues are triaged by community members and the Web App Team, following the [triage process](https://github.com/vector-im/element-meta/wiki/Triage-process). We use [issue labels](https://github.com/vector-im/element-meta/wiki/Issue-labelling) to sort all incoming issues.