synapse/docs/usage/administration/admin_api/README.md
jejo86 2341032cf2
Document advising against publicly exposing the Admin API and provide a usage example (#13231)
* Admin API request explanation improved

Pointed out, that the Admin API is not accessible by default from any remote computer, but only from the PC `matrix-synapse` is running on.
Added a full, working example, making sure to include the cURL flag `-X`, which needs to be prepended to `GET`, `POST`, `PUT` etc. and listing the full query string including protocol, IP address and port.

* Admin API request explanation improved

* Apply suggestions from code review

Update changelog. Reword prose.

Co-authored-by: David Robertson <david.m.robertson1@gmail.com>
2022-07-13 19:33:33 +01:00

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Markdown

# The Admin API
## Authenticate as a server admin
Many of the API calls in the admin api will require an `access_token` for a
server admin. (Note that a server admin is distinct from a room admin.)
A user can be marked as a server admin by updating the database directly, e.g.:
```sql
UPDATE users SET admin = 1 WHERE name = '@foo:bar.com';
```
A new server admin user can also be created using the `register_new_matrix_user`
command. This is a script that is distributed as part of synapse. It is possibly
already on your `$PATH` depending on how Synapse was installed.
Finding your user's `access_token` is client-dependent, but will usually be shown in the client's settings.
## Making an Admin API request
For security reasons, we [recommend](reverse_proxy.md#synapse-administration-endpoints)
that the Admin API (`/_synapse/admin/...`) should be hidden from public view using a
reverse proxy. This means you should typically query the Admin API from a terminal on
the machine which runs Synapse.
Once you have your `access_token`, you will need to authenticate each request to an Admin API endpoint by
providing the token as either a query parameter or a request header. To add it as a request header in cURL:
```sh
curl --header "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>" <the_rest_of_your_API_request>
```
For example, suppose we want to
[query the account](user_admin_api.md#query-user-account) of the user
`@foo:bar.com`. We need an admin access token (e.g.
`syt_AjfVef2_L33JNpafeif_0feKJfeaf0CQpoZk`), and we need to know which port
Synapse's [`client` listener](config_documentation.md#listeners) is listening
on (e.g. `8008`). Then we can use the following command to request the account
information from the Admin API.
```sh
curl --header "Authorization: Bearer syt_AjfVef2_L33JNpafeif_0feKJfeaf0CQpoZk" -X GET http://127.0.0.1:8008/_synapse/admin/v2/users/@foo:bar.com
```
For more details on access tokens in Matrix, please refer to the complete
[matrix spec documentation](https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.6.1#using-access-tokens).