55/STATUS-1TO1-CHAT #

Status 1-to-1 Chat #

Status: draft
Editor: Aaryamann Challani aaryamann@status.im
Contributors: Andrea Piana andreap@status.im , Pedro Pombeiro pedro@status.im , Corey Petty corey@status.im , Oskar Thorén oskar@status.im , Dean Eigenmann dean@status.im

Abstract #

This specification describes how the Status 1-to-1 chat protocol is implemented on top of the Waku v2 protocol. This protocol can be used to send messages to a single recipient.

Background #

This document describes how 2 peers communicate with each other to send messages in a 1-to-1 chat, with privacy and authenticity guarantees.

Specification #

Overview #

This protocol MAY use any key-exchange mechanism previously discussed -

This protocol can provide end-to-end encryption to give peers a strong degree of privacy and security. Public chat messages are publicly readable by anyone since there’s no permission model for who is participating in a public chat.

Flow #

Negotiation of a 1:1 chat #

There are two phases in the initial negotiation of a 1:1 chat:

Identity verification (e.g., face-to-face contact exchange through QR code, Identicon matching). A QR code serves two purposes simultaneously - identity verification and initial key material retrieval;
Asynchronous initial key exchange

For more information on account generation and trust establishment, see 2/ACCOUNT

Post Negotiation #

After the peers have shared their public key material, a 1:1 chat can be established using the methods described in the key-exchange protocols mentioned above.

Session management #

The 1:1 chat is made robust by having sessions between peers. It is handled by the key-exchange protocol used. For example,

53/WAKU2-X3DH, the session management is described in 54/WAKU2-X3DH-SESSIONS
35/WAKU2-NOISE, the session management is described in 37/WAKU2-NOISE-SESSIONS

Security Considerations #

Inherits the security considerations of the key-exchange mechanism used, e.g., 53/WAKU2-X3DH or 35/WAKU2-NOISE