MSC3955: Extensible Events - Automated event mixin (notices)

proposals/3955-extensible-events-bot-notice-mixin.md

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+# MSC3955: Extensible Events - Automated event mixin (notices)
+
+[MSC1767](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/pull/1767) describes Extensible Events in detail,
+though deliberately does not include schemas for some messaging types. This MSC covers a replacement
+for the `m.notice` `msgtype` specifically.
+
+*Rationale*: Splitting the MSCs down into individual parts makes it easier to implement and review in
+stages without blocking other pieces of the overall idea. For example, an issue with the way notices
+are represented should not block the overall schema from going through.
+
+## Proposal
+
+As mentioned in MSC1767, it is desirable to represent more than just text events as "automated" or
+sent by a bot. Currently, [`m.notice`](https://spec.matrix.org/v1.5/client-server-api/#mnotice) is
+defined only as a `msgtype` on `m.room.message` events, thus only allowing bots (and other automated
+clients) to send plain text. To open this functionality up to any event, we define an `m.automated`
+*mixin* content block that can be applied to any event:
+
+```json5
+{
+    // irrelevant fields not shown
+    "type": "m.emote",
+    "content": {
+        "m.text": [{"body": "says hi"}],
+        "m.automated": true
+    }
+}
+```
+
+`m.automated`'s value is a boolean, defaulting to `false` when not present, to denote if an event is
+automated. Note that other value types should be treated as `false` (ie: not present).
+
+When an event is flagged as automated, the client should render that event differently compared to
+normal. For example, reducing the opacity of the event.
+
+If the client does not believe there is a material difference between automated and non-automated for
+a particular event type, it is not required to render the event differently. Such an example might be
+a poll: the practical difference from a user perspective of a bot sending a poll versus a user isn't
+generally important, and so the client may decide to forgo opacifying the event. This is also the
+default behaviour if the client does not understand the mixin: the event will be rendered normally,
+with the client ultimately ignoring the `m.automated` mixin.
+
+## Potential issues
+
+No significant issues known.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+No significant alternatives known.
+
+## Security considerations
+
+No specific considerations are required for this proposal.
+
+## Unstable prefix
+
+While this MSC is not considered stable, implementations should use `org.matrix.msc1767.*` as a prefix in
+place of `m.*` throughout this proposal. Note that this uses the namespace of the parent MSC rather than
+the namespace of this MSC - this is deliberate.
+
+Note that extensible events should only be used in an appropriate room version as well.