server not supported error when trying matrix login #16

New Issue

2026-10-08T03:20:39Z

dckc commented

2026-10-08 03:20:39 +00:00

What do you need help with?

matrix login

What were you trying to do?

login. i entered matrix.inference.coop as the home server and blammo...

What happened instead?

server not supported

The selected account provider doesn't support password or OAuth login. Please contact your account provider or choose a different one.

What have you already tried?

not much; I'm pretty well stumped

Environment

I just installed Element X (Mac OS)

## What do you need help with? matrix login ## What were you trying to do? login. i entered matrix.inference.coop as the home server and blammo... ## What happened instead? > server not supported > > The selected account provider doesn't support password or OAuth login. Please contact your account provider or choose a different one. ## What have you already tried? not much; I'm pretty well stumped ## Environment I just installed Element X (Mac OS)

Screenshot 2026-10-05 at 2.10.47 PM.png

59 KiB

inference-bot commented

2026-10-08 04:22:01 +00:00

Thanks for the report — I dug into the server logs and config to see what happened.

What the logs show

Your login attempt reached the homeserver fine — the server responded normally to the login request. The tell was the next request: Element X asks homeservers for MSC2965 auth metadata (the endpoint for the new-style OIDC authentication system), and our server answered "unrecognized" (404). Element X interprets that as "the selected account provider doesn't support password or OAuth login."

Why

Our homeserver runs Synapse with single sign-on in the legacy mode — password login is deliberately disabled, and login goes through our co-op SSO redirect. That legacy mode is exactly what Element X does not support and will not support: Element X only speaks either (a) classic username/password or (b) the new Matrix Authentication Service (MAS) OIDC flow. Its maintainers have been explicit about this in their issue tracker — legacy SSO is "not supported by Element X and never will be."

So this is a client-compatibility limitation, not a fault on your side or ours, and nothing is broken about your account or the server. Other clients — Element Web, Element Desktop, FluffyChat, Cinny, SchildiChat — handle the SSO login fine.

What to do right now

Use one of those clients instead. For Element Web, go to app.element.io, click Edit next to "Homeserver" on the sign-in screen, enter https://matrix.inference.coop, and sign in with your co-op account. (This is also documented in our Getting started guide, which now notes the Element X limitation.)

About Element X support

Getting Element X working requires deploying the Matrix Authentication Service (MAS) and migrating authentication to it — that's the direction the whole Matrix ecosystem is heading (matrix.org completed this migration in early 2025), and it would keep the same co-op SSO accounts. But it's a significant infrastructure change (a one-way user migration with real lockout risk if done carelessly), so we're treating it as a planned project rather than a quick fix. We've noted the limitation in our docs in the meantime.

If Element X support is important to your use of the co-op, do say so here — it helps us weigh demand when we schedule that work.

Thanks for the report — I dug into the server logs and config to see what happened. ## What the logs show Your login attempt reached the homeserver fine — the server responded normally to the login request. The tell was the next request: Element X asks homeservers for **MSC2965 auth metadata** (the endpoint for the new-style OIDC authentication system), and our server answered "unrecognized" (404). Element X interprets that as "the selected account provider doesn't support password or OAuth login." ## Why Our homeserver runs **Synapse with single sign-on in the *legacy* mode** — password login is deliberately disabled, and login goes through our co-op SSO redirect. That legacy mode is exactly what **Element X does not support and will not support**: Element X only speaks either (a) classic username/password or (b) the new Matrix Authentication Service (MAS) OIDC flow. Its maintainers have been explicit about this in their issue tracker — legacy SSO is "not supported by Element X and never will be." So this is a **client-compatibility limitation, not a fault on your side or ours**, and nothing is broken about your account or the server. Other clients — **Element Web, Element Desktop, FluffyChat, Cinny, SchildiChat** — handle the SSO login fine. ## What to do right now Use one of those clients instead. For **Element Web**, go to [app.element.io](https://app.element.io), click *Edit* next to "Homeserver" on the sign-in screen, enter `https://matrix.inference.coop`, and sign in with your co-op account. (This is also documented in our [Getting started guide](https://git.inference.coop/co-op/docs/src/branch/main/getting-started.md), which now notes the Element X limitation.) ## About Element X support Getting Element X working requires deploying the **Matrix Authentication Service (MAS)** and migrating authentication to it — that's the direction the whole Matrix ecosystem is heading (matrix.org completed this migration in early 2025), and it would keep the same co-op SSO accounts. But it's a significant infrastructure change (a one-way user migration with real lockout risk if done carelessly), so we're treating it as a planned project rather than a quick fix. We've noted the limitation in our docs in the meantime. If Element X support is important to your use of the co-op, do say so here — it helps us weigh demand when we schedule that work.

ntnsndr commented

2026-10-08 04:37:17 +00:00

I've had this issue with another Cloudron installation of Synapse, and at the time it seemed a non-elementary fix.

In the meantime I've become a big fan of FluffyChat!

I've had this issue with another Cloudron installation of Synapse, and at the time it seemed a non-elementary fix. In the meantime I've become a big fan of FluffyChat!

❤️ 1

inference-admin commented

2026-10-18 22:45:19 +00:00

@dckc Let us know if you're still having issues with this.

inference-admin closed this issue

2026-10-18 22:45:19 +00:00

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Reference: co-op/support#16