Synapse

Synapse is the reference Matrix homeserver implementation maintained by Element (formerly by the Matrix.org Foundation). Written in Python and Rust, it implements the Matrix open standard for secure, decentralized real-time communication. Synapse powers thousands of deployments worldwide and provides Client-Server, Server-Server (federation), Application Service, Identity Service, and Admin APIs. Since version 1.99, maintained by Element under AGPL-3.0.

Synapse publishes 9 API contracts indexed on the APIs.io network, including Federation API, Media API, Registration API, and 6 more. Tagged areas include Chat, Collaboration, Decentralized, Federation, and Matrix.

The Synapse catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context and 2 Spectral governance rulesets.

Synapse’s developer surface includes authentication, GitHub presence, documentation, getting-started guide, changelog, engineering blog, and 14 more developer resources.

📡 Profile data on GitHub

35.2/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 22/100 agent aware Heartbeat 100/100 alive self hosted · AGPL-3.0 Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-11-06 · rubric v0.27.0 · Show this score on your site →

AccessFreemiumSelf serve

1 published contract

Chat Collaboration Decentralized Federation Matrix Messaging Open Source Real-Time

What this lets a business do 1

Business capabilities this provider's published APIs can perform, derived from its own contracts. Browse all capabilities →

Cybersecurity Management

BC-620

Users

PUT /v2/users/{userId} POST /v1/deactivate/{userId} POST /v1/reset_password/{userId}

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-11-06 · rubric v0.27.0

Composite quality — 35.2/100 · thin

Contract Quality 9.9 / 19

Developer Ergonomics 5.4 / 15

Access Clarity 0.8 / 15

Operational Transparency 3.9 / 10

Contract Governance 1.2 / 9

Discoverability 5.0 / 8

Regulatory Posture 3.4 / 15

Create-or-Update Ergonomics 0.0 / 10

Agent readiness — 22/100 · agent aware

Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10

Documented Reversibility 0 / 6

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10

Idempotency 0 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8

Request/Response Examples 0 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7

Typed Event Surface 0 / 6

Agent Skills 0 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

A2A Agent Card 0 / 8

Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4

Delegated User Identity 0 / 6

Protected Resource Metadata 0 / 5

Registration Without a Human 0 / 6

Agentic Commerce Well-Known Document 0 / 5

Pagination 5 / 5

Distinct Operations 3 / 3

MCP Tool Quality 6 / 6

Regulatory Posture applies to this provider. Its tags matched the Horizontal (data, software, accessibility, platform) regime, so Regulatory Posture carries 15 points of the composite. If this regime is wrong for your business, say so on your provider repo — the applicability map is public and we will correct it.

Create-or-Update Ergonomics applies to this provider. This API accepts writes, so it carries 10 points of the composite. It is scored from the published contracts themselves: whether a caller can create-or-update in one call, whether the write accepts a key the caller already holds, and whether the response says which branch ran. Without that, every write needs a search-and-branch in front of it, and the first time that check is skipped a duplicate record is created. Scored against the observed mean rather than raw — a provider at the catalog average is unchanged by this facet, not penalised by it.

The six quality facets above are damped to 75 points between them, because the conditional facet above carries the other 25. That is why each facet's contribution is shown against a damped maximum: raising a quality facet moves the composite by 75% of its nominal weight, not 100%. The full arithmetic is at apis.io/rating/.

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Agent readiness — checks not met, largest first (exact, from this profile):

MCP Server +12 pts — deployment.mode + probe verdict on the mcp/ manifest, not the pointer; an unprobed slug falls back to authorship
Idempotency +9 pts — OpenAPI mutating operations declare an idempotency key — a header, a request-body property, or a named de-duplication token whose own description says so (verified); else common[].type matches /idempoten/i (documented)
Stable Error Semantics +8 pts — OpenAPI $refs a shared error schema across 4xx/5xx responses (verified), else common[].type includes ErrorCatalog / ErrorCodes / DeclineCodes
A2A Agent Card +8 pts — a2a/-a2a.yml manifest, graded on conformance.grade against A2A 1.0.0
Request/Response Examples +7 pts — share of operations carrying request/response examples; else an Examples / Code Samples link
Registration Without a Human +6 pts — a `registration_endpoint` in the served RFC 8414 / OIDC discovery document

9 more unmet checks in the Agent Readiness table above.

Kin Score — facets with the most composite points still available (weight × headroom):

Access Clarity scores 5.3 — up to +18.9 composite points
Developer Ergonomics scores 35.7 — up to +12.9 composite points
Contract Quality scores 53.0 — up to +11.8 composite points

Each check links to what satisfies it. Publish the artifact, or tell us where it already lives, and the score moves on the next scoring run.

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. Every facet and dimension name above is a link: it opens that measurement's own page — what it means, the exact checks that feed it, how the whole catalog distributes on it, and the providers at the top of it. This rating is computed from the provider profile at artifacts.apis.io/synapse/apis.yml: open an issue on github.com/api-evangelist/synapse to ask a question or point us at an artifact you publish. Submit an artifact on GitHub — free → Manage your own listing — the Influence plan, $499/mo →

Markets this provider is in provisional

The Kin Score Market layer reads a provider inside its market: its position, and how deep its integrations go. Depth is only comparable within a position. Provisional and unweighted: not part of the Kin Score or agent readiness.

Market	Position	Depth	Registered MCP server	Declares compatibility
Matrix Protocol Ecosystem (Matrix.org Foundation directory)	standard	17.2 (thin)	-	-

Registered MCP server and declares compatibility are report only — not weighted. Undeclared means we found nothing we can read, so there is no number: we never infer integrations.

Standards implemented 1

Standards this provider implements or carries. De facto ones are profiled and measured by the API Commons; formal ones come from the standards directory and are linked by the provider's own tags. The evidence column says how each claim was established — not that it was made.

OpenAPI

measured — observed by APIs.io (published)

APIs 9

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Synapse Application Service API

API for integrating application services (bridges and bots) with the Matrix homeserver. Allows third-party applications to handle namespaced user IDs and room aliases, enabling ...

Synapse Federation API

Federation management

Synapse Media API

Media file administration

Synapse Registration API

User registration and tokens

Synapse Reports API

Event and user reports

Synapse Rooms API

Room administration and membership

Synapse Server API

Server information and background updates

Synapse Statistics API

Server usage statistics

Synapse Users API

User account management

Scroll for all 9

Open Collections 9

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

Synapse Admin API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Media API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Registration API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Reports API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Rooms API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Server API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Statistics API

OPEN COLLECTION

Synapse Admin Federation Users API

OPEN COLLECTION

Scroll for all 9

Synapse API pricing

Not yet checked against Synapse's own pricing page. Compiled by API Evangelist on 2026-05-05 from github.com/element-hq/synapse; confirm before you rely on a figure. A free plan or tier is listed.

Plan	Price
Self-Hosted (AGPL-3.0) freemium	—
Element Server Suite (ESS) enterprise	—

Plan details, limits and sources →

Rate limits

Client Messaging (rc_message): 0.2 requests per second
Login by Address (rc_login.address): 0.003 requests per second
Login by Account (rc_login.account): 0.003 requests per second

Compiled by API Evangelist, not yet checked against Synapse's documentation. All 11 limits →

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Synapse Plans Pricing

2 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Synapse Rate Limits

11 limits

RATE LIMITS

Service Levels 1

Uptime the provider promises or reports, as SLA4OAI. Read from its own pages; APIs.io runs no monitors.

Synapse

SLA

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Synapse Finops

FINOPS

Semantic Vocabularies 1

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Synapse Context

0 classes · 31 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 2

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

Synapse — jsonschema rules

5 rules · 4 warnings 1 info

SPECTRAL

Synapse API Rules

8 rules · 2 errors 4 warnings

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 1

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Synapse User

12 properties

JSON SCHEMA

JSON Structure 1

JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.

Synapse Room Structure

0 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Examples 1

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Synapse List Users Example

5 fields

EXAMPLE

Security Posture 3

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Synapse Authentication

http · 1 scheme

SECURITY

Synapse Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DMARC

SECURITY

Synapse Vulnerability Disclosure

security.txt · contact published

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Synapse Agentic Access

18 operations · 6 acting · 1 human-in-the-loop

18 operations · 6 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Get Started 1

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

GettingStarted

GettingStarted

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation

Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess

AgenticAccess

Build 2

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHub

GitHub

GitHub

GitHub

Access & Security 4

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

VulnerabilityDisclosure

VulnerabilityDisclosure

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

Authentication

Authentication

Authentication

Authentication

Operate 2

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

RateLimits

RateLimits

ChangeLog

ChangeLog

Commercial 3

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Plans

Plans

FinOps

FinOps

License

License

Company 2

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn

Blog

Blog

Other 4

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

CapabilityMap

Docker

PyPI

Matrix Spec

Source (apis.yml)

aid: synapse
name: Synapse
description: Synapse is the reference Matrix homeserver implementation maintained by Element (formerly by the Matrix.org Foundation).
  Written in Python and Rust, it implements the Matrix open standard for secure, decentralized real-time communication. Synapse
  powers thousands of deployments worldwide and provides Client-Server, Server-Server (federation), Application Service, Identity
  Service, and Admin APIs. Since version 1.99, maintained by Element under AGPL-3.0.
deliveryModel:
  model: self-hosted
  license: AGPL-3.0
  license_evidence:
    repo: element-hq/synapse
    spdx: AGPL-3.0
    stars: 4648
  open_source: true
  commercial: false
  callable_host: false
  label: Self-hosted open source · you run it yourself
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - openapi
  - repository-license
  generated: '2026-09-25'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  gated: none
  gated_source:
  - onboarding
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: medium
  try_now_blocked_by: example-domain
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  - security
  generated: '2026-11-06'
  method: derived
image: https://matrix.org/images/matrix-logo.svg
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/synapse/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-05-03'
modified: '2026-05-19'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
apis:
- aid: synapse:synapse-application-service-api
  name: Synapse Application Service API
  description: API for integrating application services (bridges and bots) with the Matrix homeserver. Allows third-party
    applications to handle namespaced user IDs and room aliases, enabling Matrix bridges for IRC, Slack, Telegram, and other
    platforms.
  image: https://matrix.org/images/matrix-logo.svg
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/application-service-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/app
  tags:
  - Application Services
  - Bots
  - Bridge
  - Integration
  - Matrix
  tags_raw:
  - Application-Services
  - Bots
  - Bridges
  - Integration
  - Matrix
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/application-service-api/
- aid: synapse:synapse-federation-api
  name: Synapse Federation API
  description: Federation management
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Federation
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-federation-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-media-api
  name: Synapse Media API
  description: Media file administration
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Media
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-media-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-registration-api
  name: Synapse Registration API
  description: User registration and tokens
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Registration
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-registration-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-reports-api
  name: Synapse Reports API
  description: Event and user reports
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Reports
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-reports-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-rooms-api
  name: Synapse Rooms API
  description: Room administration and membership
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Rooms
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-rooms-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-server-api
  name: Synapse Server API
  description: Server information and background updates
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Servers
  tags_raw:
  - Server
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-server-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-statistics-api
  name: Synapse Statistics API
  description: Server usage statistics
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - Statistics
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-statistics-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
- aid: synapse:synapse-users-api
  name: Synapse Users API
  description: User account management
  humanURL: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  baseURL: https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client
  tags:
  - User
  tags_raw:
  - Users
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/synapse-users-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/client-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/server-server-api/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/administration/admin_api/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/develop/docs/admin_api
common:
- type: Plans
  url: plans/synapse-plans-pricing.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/synapse-finops.yml
- type: CapabilityMap
  url: capabilities/synapse-capability-edges.yml
  name: Synapse Business Capability Map
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/synapse-agentic-access.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/synapse-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/synapse-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/synapse-authentication.yml
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/synapsepay
- type: GitHub
  url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse
- type: GitHub
  url: https://github.com/element-hq/synapse
- type: Documentation
  url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/setup/installation.html
- type: Authentication
  url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/configuration/config_documentation.html#authentication
- type: RateLimits
  url: https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/usage/configuration/config_documentation.html#ratelimiting
- type: ChangeLog
  url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/develop/CHANGES.md
- type: License
  url: https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/develop/LICENSE
- type: Docker
  url: https://hub.docker.com/r/matrixdotorg/synapse
- type: PyPI
  url: https://pypi.org/project/matrix-synapse/
- type: Matrix Spec
  url: https://spec.matrix.org/latest/
- url: https://www.matrix.org/blog/feed/
  type: Blog
maintainers:
- FN: API Evangelist
  email: info@apievangelist.com
tags:
- Chat
- Collaboration
- Decentralized
- Federation
- Matrix
- Messaging
- Open Source
- Real-Time
tags_raw:
- Chat
- Collaboration
- Decentralized
- Federation
- Matrix
- Messaging
- Open-Source
- Real-Time

Synapse API — frequently asked questions

Does Synapse have an API?

Yes. APIs.io lists 9 APIs from Synapse, including Synapse Application Service API, Synapse Federation API and Synapse Media API, and 6 more.

Is there an OpenAPI specification for the Synapse API?

Yes. APIs.io indexes 8 OpenAPI specifications for Synapse, each linked for download from this page.

How do I authenticate with the Synapse API?

Synapse uses bearer-token authentication (http · 1 scheme). The details are profiled on APIs.io as Synapse Authentication.

How much does the Synapse API cost?

APIs.io lists 2 pricing plans for Synapse, with each plan's price, limits and inclusions under Pricing on this page.

Is the Synapse API ready for AI agents?

Synapse has a Kin Score of 35.2 out of 100 (thin) and an Agent Readiness score of 21.5 (agent-aware), scored by API Evangelist on 2026-11-06.

Work with this as data

Every provider here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.

MCP server

One button, every client — Claude, Cursor, VS Code and the rest.

https://apis.io/mcp

Tools for providers

9 MCP tools reach this

find_providersBrowse and filter every provider in the catalog.
get_provider_artifactsEvery artifact this provider publishes, grouped by type.
get_provider_operationsEvery operation across all of their OpenAPIs — one call instead of parsing every spec.
get_provider_toolsEvery MCP tool they ship, with the operation each wraps.
get_provider_evidenceHow each part of their score was established. Free — the basis for a claim should not sit behind it.
get_provider_ratingPRO — composite, band, trend and facet scores.
apis_io_searchSTART HERE — APIs, providers and tags for one query, each with its total.
resolveTurn a domain, URL or GitHub org into the provider it belongs to.
find_cohortsEvery scored population of providers in the catalog.

All 92 tools →

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