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Getting Clever with Caddy and Conduwuit / Matrix

A deep dive into We2.ee's Caddy configuration, handling Matrix federation, offering profile and room redirection shortlinks, and combining multiple services on a single domain.

My post earlier this evening discussed generally how Caddy has made self-hosting multiple web services a breeze. Here I want to build on that and look specifically at the Caddy configuration I use for We2.ee, the public Matrix homeserver I run and have posted about already.

The complete Caddyfile entry is available here. Let's look closer at a few key sections. First, you'll see a series of redirection handlers like this: 

    handle /about {
        redir https://sij.law/we2ee/ permanent
    }

This one simply redirects we2.ee/about to sij.law/we2ee . This allows me to create authoritative "About" URL on the we2.ee domain but host the actual page here on my blog – saving me having to host a whole separate CMS just for We2.ee, and potentially lending credibility to We2.ee through my professional online presence here.

Next, you'll see some more redirection handlers that rely on regular expressions ("regex"):

    # Handle Matrix-style room redirects
    @matrix_local_room {
        path_regexp ^/@@([^:]+)$
    }
    redir @matrix_local_room https://matrix.to/#/%23{re.1}:we2.ee permanent

    # Handle Matrix-style room redirects with custom domains
    @matrix_remote_room {
        path_regexp ^/@@([^:]+):([^/]+)$
    }
    redir @matrix_remote_room https://matrix.to/#/%23{re.1}:{re.2} permanent

    # Handle Matrix-style user redirects
    @matrix_local_user {
        path_regexp ^/@([^:]+)$
    }
    redir @matrix_local_user https://matrix.to/#/@{re.1}:we2.ee permanent

    # Handle Matrix-style user redirects with custom domains
    @matrix_remote_user {
        path_regexp ^/@([^:]+):([^/]+)$
    }
    redir @matrix_remote_user https://matrix.to/#/@{re.1}:{re.2} permanent

These are particularly efficient—they allow for much shorter links for Matrix rooms and user profiles that redirect to the Matrix.to service. For example:

Next you'll see the handlers for the actual underlying services, Conduwuit and Element:

    # Handle Conduwuit homeserver
    handle /_matrix/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:8448
    }

    # Handle federation
    handle /.well-known/matrix/server {
        header Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
        header Content-Type "application/json"
        respond `{"m.server": "we2.ee"}`
    }

    # Handle client discovery
    handle /.well-known/matrix/client {
        header Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
        header Content-Type "application/json"
        respond `{
            "m.homeserver": {"base_url": "https://we2.ee"},
            "org.matrix.msc3575.proxy": {"url": "https://we2.ee"}
        }`
    }

    # Handle MSC1929 Admin Contact Information
    handle /.well-known/matrix/support {
        header Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
        header Content-Type "application/json"
        respond `{
            "contacts": [
                {
                    "matrix_id": "@sij:we2.ee",
                    "email_address": "[email protected]",
                    "role": "m.role.admin"
                }
            ],
            "support_page": "https://we2.ee/about"
        }`
    }

    # Handle Element webUI
    handle {
        reverse_proxy localhost:8637
    }

This part of the Caddy configuration block:

  • serves up the actual Matrix homeserver (powered by conduwuit) at We2.ee
  • provides the necessary endpoints for federation
  • provides the MSC1929 endpoint for handling abuse reports, etc.
  • serves up an Element web interface for accessing the Matrix homeserver directly at We2.ee

I hope some of this is useful for folks running their own Matrix homeservers or anyone interested in seeing how Caddy configurations can be structured for more complex setups.

,   &  Sangye Ince-Johannsen
conduwuit, Matrix, Caddy, Self-Hosting, Web server

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