matrix-doc/proposals/1983-leave-reasons.md

Proposal to add reasons for leaving a room

This proposal intends to solve #1295. Currently people can be kicked from a room for a human-readable reason, but when voluntarily leaving the reason is not considered.

Proposal

Like when kicking someone, m.room.member events with membership: leave can have a string reason. The reason is a human-readable string of text which clients should display to users of the room, providing users with the ability to leave a room for a reason of their choosing. The field is optional.

Having such a field gives Matrix better compatibility with other networks such as IRC which use the leave reason to communicate connection problems ("ping timeout", etc). Although Matrix doesn't have a need for a persistent connection to remain in the room, having a reason can improve the bridge experience.

An example of a partial leave event with reason would be:

{
  "type": "m.room.member",
  "sender": "@travis:t2l.io",
  "state_key": "@travis:t2l.io",
  "content": {
    "membership": "leave",
    "reason": "I'm in too many rooms and never talk here"
  }
}

Potential issues

There is a chance that quality of communication may deteriorate as a result of adding this field. Arguments in rooms may result in the leave reason having personal attacks against other room members or rude remarks. Moderators would be expected to handle these situations for these cases, including redacting the state event if needed.

This also opens up an avenue for spam by having a very large reason for leaving. Clients are encouraged to trim/hide the reason at a reasonable length.