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diff --git a/application/basilisk/docs/DirectoryLinksProvider.rst b/application/basilisk/docs/DirectoryLinksProvider.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c6f55c3d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/application/basilisk/docs/DirectoryLinksProvider.rst @@ -0,0 +1,278 @@ +============================================= +Directory Links Architecture and Data Formats +============================================= + +Directory links are enhancements to the new tab experience that combine content +Firefox already knows about from user browsing with external content. There are +3 kinds of links: + +- directory links fill in additional tiles on the new tab page if there would + have been empty tiles because the user has a clean profile or cleared history +- suggested links are shown if certain triggering criteria matches the user's + browsing behavior, i.e., if the user has a top site that matches one of + several possible sites. E.g., only show a sports suggestion if the user has a + sport site as a top site +- enhanced links replace a matching user's visible history tile from the same + site but only the visual aspects: title, image, and rollover image + +To power the above features, DirectoryLinksProvider module downloads, at most +once per 24 hours, the directory source links as JSON with enough data for +Firefox to determine what should be shown or not. This module also handles +reporting back data about the tiles via asynchronous pings that don't return +data from the server. + +For the directory source and ping endpoints, the default preference values point +to Mozilla key-pinned servers with encryption. No cookies are set by the servers +and Firefox enforces this by making anonymous requests. + +- default directory source endpoint: + https://tiles.services.mozilla.com/v3/links/fetch/%LOCALE%/%CHANNEL% +- default directory ping endpoint: https://tiles.services.mozilla.com/v3/links/ + + +Preferences +=========== + +There are two main preferences that control downloading links and reporting +metrics. + +``browser.newtabpage.directory.source`` +--------------------------------------- + +This endpoint tells Firefox where to download directory source file as a GET +request. It should return JSON of the appropriate format containing the relevant +links data. The value can be a data URI, e.g., an empty JSON object effectively +turns off remote downloading: ``data:text/plain,{}`` + +The preference value will have %LOCALE% and %CHANNEL% replaced by the +appropriate values for the build of Firefox, e.g., + +- directory source endpoint: + https://tiles.services.mozilla.com/v3/links/fetch/en-US/release + +``browser.newtabpage.directory.ping`` +------------------------------------- + +This endpoint tells Firefox where to report Tiles metrics as a POST request. The +data is sent as a JSON blob. Setting it to empty effectively turns off reporting +of Tiles data. + +A path segment will be appended to the endpoint of "view" or "click" depending +on the type of ping, e.g., + +- ``view`` ping endpoint: https://tiles.services.mozilla.com/v3/links/view +- ``click`` ping endpoint: https://tiles.services.mozilla.com/v3/links/click + + +Data Flow +========= + +When Firefox starts, it checks for a cached directory source file. If one +exists, it checks for its timestamp to determine if a new file should be +downloaded. + +If a directory source file needs to be downloaded, a GET request is made then +cacheed and unpacked the JSON into the different types of links. Various checks +filter out invalid links, e.g., those with http-hosted images or those that +don't fit the allowed suggestions. + +When a new tab page is built, DirectoryLinksProvider module provides additional +link data that is combined with history link data to determine which links can +be displayed or not. + +When a new tab page is shown, a ``view`` ping is sent with relevant tiles data. +Similarly, when the user clicks on various parts of tiles (to load the page, +pin, block, etc.), a ``click`` ping is sent with similar data. Both of these can +trigger downloading of fresh directory source links if 24 hours have elapsed +since last download. + +Users can turn off the ping with in-new-tab-page controls. + +As the new tab page is rendered, any images for tiles are downloaded if not +already cached. The default servers hosting the images are Mozilla CDN that +don't use cookies: https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/ and Firefox enforces that the +images come from mozilla.net or data URIs when using the default directory +source. + + +Source JSON Format +================== + +Firefox expects links data in a JSON object with top level keys each providing +an array of tile objects. The keys correspond to the different types of links: +``directory``, ``suggested``, and ``enhanced``. + +Example +------- + +Below is an example directory source file:: + + { + "directory": [ + { + "bgColor": "", + "directoryId": 498, + "enhancedImageURI": "https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/images/d11ba0b3095bb19d8092cd29be9cbb9e197671ea.28088.png", + "imageURI": "https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/images/1332a68badf11e3f7f69bf7364e79c0a7e2753bc.5316.png", + "title": "Mozilla Community", + "type": "affiliate", + "url": "http://contribute.mozilla.org/" + } + ], + "enhanced": [ + { + "bgColor": "", + "directoryId": 776, + "enhancedImageURI": "https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/images/44a14fc405cebc299ead86514dff0e3735c8cf65.10814.png", + "imageURI": "https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/images/20e24aa2219ec7542cc8cf0fd79f0c81e16ebeac.11859.png", + "title": "TurboTax", + "type": "sponsored", + "url": "https://turbotax.intuit.com/" + } + ], + "suggested": [ + { + "adgroup_name": "open-source browser", + "bgColor": "#cae1f4", + "check_inadjacency": true, + "directoryId": 702, + "explanation": "Suggested for %1$S enthusiasts who visit sites like %2$S", + "frecent_sites": [ + "addons.mozilla.org", + "air.mozilla.org", + "blog.mozilla.org", + "bugzilla.mozilla.org", + "developer.mozilla.org", + "etherpad.mozilla.org", + "hacks.mozilla.org", + "hg.mozilla.org", + "mozilla.org", + "planet.mozilla.org", + "quality.mozilla.org", + "support.mozilla.org", + "treeherder.mozilla.org", + "wiki.mozilla.org" + ], + "frequency_caps": {"daily": 3, "total": 10}, + "imageURI": "https://tiles.cdn.mozilla.net/images/9ee2b265678f2775de2e4bf680df600b502e6038.3875.png", + "time_limits": {"start": "2014-01-01T00:00:00.000Z", "end": "2014-02-01T00:00:00.000Z"}, + "title": "Thanks for testing!", + "type": "affiliate", + "url": "https://www.mozilla.com/firefox/tiles" + } + ] + } + +Link Object +----------- + +Each link object has various values that Firefox uses to display a tile: + +- ``url`` - string url for the page to be loaded when the tile is clicked. Only + https and http URLs are allowed. +- ``title`` - string that appears below the tile. +- ``type`` - string relationship of the link to Mozilla. Expected values: + affiliate, organic, sponsored. +- ``imageURI`` - string url for the tile image to show. Only https and data URIs + are allowed. +- ``enhancedImageURI`` - string url for the image to be shown before the user + hovers. Only https and data URIs are allowed. +- ``bgColor`` - string css color for additional fill background color. +- ``directoryId`` - id of the tile to be used during ping reporting + +Suggested Link Object Extras +---------------------------- + +A suggested link has additional values: + +- ``adgroup_name`` - string to override the hardcoded display name of the + triggering set of sites in Firefox. +- ``check_inadjacency`` - boolean if true prevents the suggested link from being + shown if the new tab page is showing a site from an inadjacency list. +- ``explanation`` - string to override the default explanation that appears + below a Suggested Tile. %1$S is replaced by the triggering adgroup name and + %2$S is replaced by the triggering site. +- ``frecent_sites`` - array of strings of the sites that can trigger showing a + Suggested Tile if the user has the site in one of the top 100 most-frecent + pages. +- ``frequency_caps`` - an object consisting of daily and total frequency caps + that limit the number of times a Suggested Tile can be shown in the new tab + per day and overall. +- ``time_limits`` - an object consisting of start and end timestamps specifying + when a Suggested Tile may start and has to stop showing in the newtab. + The timestamp is expected in ISO_8601 format: '2014-01-10T20:00:00.000Z' + +The inadjacency list is packaged with Firefox as base64-encoded 1-way-hashed +sites that tend to have adult, gambling, alcohol, drug, and similar content. +Its location: chrome://browser/content/newtab/newTab.inadjacent.json + +The preapproved arrays follow a policy for determining what topic grouping is +allowed as well as the composition of a grouping. The topics are broad +uncontroversial categories, e.g., Mobile Phone, News, Technology, Video Game, +Web Development. There are at least 5 sites within a grouping, and as many +popular sites relevant to the topic are included to avoid having one site be +clearly dominant. These requirements provide some deniability of which site +actually triggered a suggestion during ping reporting, so it's more difficult to +determine if a user has gone to a specific site. + + +Ping JSON Format +================ + +Firefox reports back an action and the state of tiles on the new tab page based +on the user opening a new tab or clicking a tile. The top level keys of the +ping: + +- ``locale`` - string locale of the Firefox build +- ``tiles`` - array of tiles ping objects + +An additional key at the top level indicates which action triggered the ping. +The value associated to the action key is the 0-based index into the tiles array +of which tile triggered the action. Valid actions: block, click, pin, sponsored, +sponsored_link, unpin, view. E.g., if the second tile is being clicked, the ping +will have ``"click": 1`` + +Example +------- + +Below is an example ``click`` ping with 3 tiles: a pinned suggested tile +followed by a history tile and a directory tile. The first tile is being +blocked:: + + { + "locale": "en-US", + "tiles": [ + { + "id": 702, + "pin": 1, + "past_impressions": {"total": 5, "daily": 1}, + }, + {}, + { + "id": 498, + } + ], + "block": 0 + } + +Tiles Ping Object +----------------- + +Each tile of the new tab page is reported back as part of the ping with some or +none of the following optional values: + +- ``id`` - id that was provided as part of the downloaded link object (for all + types of links: directory, suggested, enhanced); not present if the tile was + created from user behavior, e.g., visiting pages +- ``past_impressions`` - number of impressions (new tab "views") a suggested + tile was shown before it was clicked, pinned or blocked. Where the "total" + counter is the overall number of impressions accumulated prior to a click action, + and "daily" counter is the number impressions occurred on same calendar day of + a click. This infomration is submitted once per a suggested tile upon click, + pin or block +- ``pinned`` - 1 if the tile is pinned; not present otherwise +- ``pos`` - integer position if the tile is not in the natural order, e.g., a + pinned tile after an empty slot; not present otherwise +- ``score`` - integer truncated score based on the tile's frecency; not present + if 0 +- ``url`` - empty string if it's an enhanced tile; not present otherwise |