matrix-doc/proposals/4197-copy-hints.md

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# MSC4197: Copy-Paste Hints
In Matrix today, it can be used for communication. One thing that is communicated is two-factor auth codes. In other platforms, one convenience is being able to quickly copy-paste two factor auth codes. This is not possible in Matrix today.
When sending a message, my message could contain a hint to the user's client that they should copy some particular part of the message. I propose to add a new field to `m.room.message` events that will hint to clients what text they could facilitating the user to copy.
### Proposal
* technical details
* describe the solution (This is the solution. Be assertive.)
`m.room.message` contains a new field, `copy_hint`, under the existing `content` dictionary. This new field will contain a string representing text that the client could present to the user to copy.
An example is below:
```json5
{
"content": {
"body": "DO NOT SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE!!! Your 2FA code is: 100000",
"m.mentions": {},
"msgtype": "m.text",
"copy_hint": "100000"
},
"origin_server_ts": 1726936182830,
"sender": "@andrewm:element.io",
"type": "m.room.message",
"unsigned": {
"membership": "join",
"age": 54359693,
"transaction_id": "m1726936182657.27"
},
"event_id": "$4WvO6_skvEIibdffnDKdTkFHtOKUZaPFLm8HJuXcz7E",
"room_id": "!jWkHTegEyVsdPJkjHA:element.io"
}
```
Clients MAY automatically copy the contents of `copy_hint` to the clipboard without asking the user. This is an implementation detail.
### Potential Issues
None considered!
### Alternatives
1. `hints` dictionary.
2. Leave things as is (please don't!)
3. boolean `copy_hint` field (hint to client to copy the whole message)
4. give up (similar to 2.)
5. Use indexes in the message
* Harder to implement
* Use bandwidth
6. If the event is encrypted, leave the 2FA code out of the encryption
### Security Considerations
TODO.
### Unstable prefix
While this MSC is unstable, all instances of the field name `copy_hint` must be replaced with `org.matrix.msc4197.copy_hint`.
### Dependencies
I do not build on any giant's shoulders.