labs.md

Labs features

If Labs is enabled in the Element config, you can enable some of these features by going to Settings->Labs. This list is non-exhaustive and subject to change, chat in #element-web:matrix.org for more information.

If a labs features gets more stable, it may be promoted to a beta feature (see Betas).

Be warned! Labs features are not finalised, they may be fragile, they may change, they may be dropped. Ask in the room if you are unclear about any details here.

Submit Abuse Report to Moderators MSC3215 support (feature_report_to_moderators)

A new version of the "Report" dialog that lets users send abuse reports directly to room moderators, if the room supports it.

Render LaTeX maths in messages (feature_latex_maths)

Enables rendering of LaTeX maths in messages using KaTeX. LaTeX between single dollar-signs is interpreted as inline maths and double dollar-signs as display maths (i.e. centred on its own line).

Message pinning (feature_pinning)

Allows you to pin messages in the room. To pin a message, use the 3 dots to the right of the message and select "Pin".

Jump to date (feature_jump_to_date)

Note: This labs feature is only visible when your homeserver has MSC3030 enabled (in Synapse, add experimental_features -> msc3030_enabled to your homeserver.yaml) which means GET /_matrix/client/versions responds with org.matrix.msc3030 under the unstable_features key.

Adds a dropdown menu to the date separator headers in the timeline which allows you to jump to last week, last month, the beginning of the room, or choose a date from the calendar.

Also adds the /jumptodate 2022-01-31 slash command.

New ways to ignore people (feature_mjolnir)

When enabled, a new settings tab appears for users to be able to manage their ban lists. This is a different kind of ignoring where the ignored user's messages still get rendered, but are hidden by default.

Ban lists are rooms within Matrix, proposed as MSC2313. Mjolnir is a set of moderation tools which support ban lists.

Verifications in DMs (feature_dm_verification)

An implementation of MSC2241. When enabled, verification might not work with devices which don't support MSC2241.

This also includes a new implementation of the user & member info panel, designed to share more code between showing community members & room members. Built on top of this new panel is also a new UX for verification from the member panel.

The setting will be removed in a future release, enabling it non-optionally for all users.

Bridge info tab (feature_bridge_state)

Adds a "Bridge Info" tab to the Room Settings dialog, if a compatible bridge is present in the room. The Bridge info tab pulls information from the m.bridge state event (MSC2346). Since the feature is based upon a MSC, most bridges are not expected to be compatible, and users should not rely on this tab as the single source of truth just yet.

Custom themes (feature_custom_themes)

Custom themes are possible through Element's theme support, though normally these themes need to be defined in the config for Element. This labs flag adds an ability for end users to add themes themselves by using a URL to the JSON theme definition.

For some sample themes, check out aaronraimist/element-themes.

Dehydrated devices (feature_dehydration)

Allows users to receive encrypted messages by creating a device that is stored encrypted on the server, as described in MSC2697.

Live location sharing (feature_location_share_live) [In Development]

Enables sharing your current location to the timeline, with live updates.

Video rooms (feature_video_rooms)

Enables support for creating and joining video rooms, which are persistent video chats that users can jump in and out of.

Element Call video rooms (feature_element_call_video_rooms) [In Development]

Enables support for video rooms that use Element Call rather than Jitsi, and causes the 'New video room' option to create Element Call video rooms rather than Jitsi ones.

This flag will not have any effect unless feature_video_rooms is also enabled.

New group call experience (feature_group_calls) [In Development]

This feature allows users to place and join native MSC3401 group calls in compatible rooms, using Element Call.

If you're enabling this at the deployment level, you may also want to reference the docs for the element_call config section.

Disable per-sender encryption for Element Call (feature_disable_call_per_sender_encryption)

The default for embedded Element Call in Element Web is per-participant encryption. This labs flag disables encryption for embedded Element Call in encrypted rooms.

Under the hood this stops Element Web from adding the perParticipantE2EE flag for the Element Call widget url.

This is useful while we experiment with encryption and to make calling compatible with platforms that don't use encryption yet.

Rich text in room topics (feature_html_topic) [In Development]

Enables rendering of MD / HTML in room topics.

Use the Rust cryptography implementation (feature_rust_crypto) [In Development]

Configures Element to use a new cryptography implementation based on the matrix-rust-sdk.

This setting is (currently) sticky to a user's session: it only takes effect when the user logs in to a new session. Likewise, even after disabling the setting in config.json, the Rust implementation will remain in use until users log out.

This configuration value is now set to true by default. This means that without any additional configuration every new login will use the new cryptography implementation.

For administrators looking to transition existing users to the new stack, the RustCrypto.staged_rollout_percent configuration is available. This configuration allows for a phased migration of users, represented as an integer percentage (0 to 100). By default, this value is set to 0, which means no existing users will be migrated to the new stack. If you wish to migrate all users, you can adjust this value to 100.

This configuration should be placed under the setting_defaults section as shown:

    "setting_defaults": {
        "RustCrypto.staged_rollout_percent": 20
    },

By adjusting the RustCrypto.staged_rollout_percent value, you can control the migration process according to your deployment strategy.

New room header & details (feature_new_room_decoration_ui) [In Development]

Refactors visually the room header and room sidebar

Enable the notifications panel in the room header (feature_notifications)

Unreliable in encrypted rooms.

Knock rooms (feature_ask_to_join) [In Development]

Enables knock feature for rooms. This allows users to ask to join a room.