Fix MUC room created_at timestamp and add updated_at field

[YonesSohrabi]

Fixes

This PR fixes the following issues:

• Fixes Room creation time is not properly set in DB #3849 - MUC room created_at timestamp incorrectly set to 1970-01-02
• Fixes MUC room created_at timestamp incorrectly set to 1970-01-02 #4465 - Need to track MUC room modification time

---

Summary

This PR fixes the issue where newly created MUC rooms have created_at = 1970-01-02 00:00:00 and adds proper separation between creation time and update time.

Problem

Currently:

• ❌ New rooms get created_at = 1970-01-02 00:00:00
• ❌ created_at changes on every room update (UPSERT behavior)
• ❌ No way to track when room configuration was modified
• ❌ Semantic confusion between hibernation_time and created_at

Solution

This PR:

1. ✅ Adds updated_at column to muc_room table
2. ✅ Ensures created_at is set once on creation and never changes
3. ✅ Tracks room modifications with updated_at
4. ✅ Separates concerns: created_at ≠ updated_at ≠ hibernation_time
5. ✅ Adds hibernation_time support in API (optional)

Changes

Modified Files

src/mod_muc_sql.erl (lines 75-78, 142-185, 295)

• Added updated_at column to schema
• Modified store_room/5 to check if room exists:
  • Existing room: Preserve created_at, update updated_at
  • New room: Set both to current time
• Removed hardcoded 1970-01-02 00:00:00 fallback
• Fixed get_hibernated_rooms_older_than query

src/mod_muc_admin.erl (line 1734)

• Added hibernation_time support in format_room_option
• Allows API users to optionally set hibernation time

New Files

• PULL_REQUEST_PROPOSAL.md - Detailed analysis with alternatives
• MIGRATION_GUIDE.md - Step-by-step migration instructions
• sql/migration_add_updated_at.sql - SQL migration script

Database Migration Required

-- MySQL/MariaDB
ALTER TABLE muc_room ADD COLUMN updated_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;
UPDATE muc_room SET updated_at = created_at;

-- PostgreSQL
ALTER TABLE muc_room ADD COLUMN updated_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;
UPDATE muc_room SET updated_at = created_at;

See MIGRATION_GUIDE.md for complete instructions for all databases.

Testing

Before This PR

# Create room
curl -X POST /api/create_room_with_opts -d '{...}'

# Check database
SELECT name, created_at FROM muc_room WHERE name='testroom';
# Result: created_at = 1970-01-02 00:00:00 ❌

After This PR

# Create room
curl -X POST /api/create_room_with_opts -d '{...}'

# Check database
SELECT name, created_at, updated_at FROM muc_room WHERE name='testroom';
# Result: 
# created_at = 2025-01-07 12:34:56 ✅
# updated_at = 2025-01-07 12:34:56 ✅

# Update room configuration
ejabberdctl change_room_option testroom conference.localhost title "New Title"

# Check database again
SELECT name, created_at, updated_at FROM muc_room WHERE name='testroom';
# Result:
# created_at = 2025-01-07 12:34:56 ✅ (unchanged!)
# updated_at = 2025-01-07 13:45:00 ✅ (updated!)

Backward Compatibility

✅ Fully backward compatible with migration script
✅ No breaking changes to API
✅ Existing rooms work without changes
✅ Old rooms can be updated with migration script

Benefits

1. ✅ Accurate timestamps: Room creation time is correct
2. ✅ Track changes: Know when room configuration was modified
3. ✅ Better analytics: Proper data for reporting
4. ✅ Clear semantics: Separate creation, update, and hibernation concepts
5. ✅ Industry standard: Follows common created_at + updated_at pattern

Documentation

• PULL_REQUEST_PROPOSAL.md: Detailed problem analysis and alternative solutions
• MIGRATION_GUIDE.md: Complete migration instructions with troubleshooting
• sql/migration_add_updated_at.sql: Ready-to-use SQL migration scripts

Checklist

• Code follows ejabberd style guidelines
• Changes are backward compatible
• Migration guide included
• SQL migration scripts included
• Documentation updated
• No breaking changes to API
• Tested manually (see Testing section)

Related Files

• src/mod_muc_sql.erl - Main changes
• src/mod_muc_admin.erl - API support
• PULL_REQUEST_PROPOSAL.md - Detailed proposal
• MIGRATION_GUIDE.md - Migration instructions

[prefiks]

I see two things that require change:

• sql files in sql/ will need to be update with that new column definitions
• store_room can be simplified by just using special syntax in in upsert statement (check by comment near this code).

[prefiks]

I believe you can replace that whole conditional code by just having single upsert with "-created_at=..." instead of "created_at=...", having "-" at start will only make that field be set when value is inserted.

[YonesSohrabi]

Hi @Neustradamus and @prefiks ,

Thank you for the feedback! I've updated the PR based on the review comments:

Changes Made

1. Simplified store_room/5 using UPSERT special syntax

• Replaced conditional logic with -created_at syntax
• This uses ejabberd's built-in feature where -field means "only set on INSERT, not on UPDATE"
• Reduced code from ~30 lines to ~10 lines
• Improved performance (one less query)

**Before:ang
case ejabberd_sql:sql_query_t(...) of
{selected, [{CreatedAt}]} ->
?SQL_UPSERT_T("muc_room", [..., "created_at=%(CreatedAt)t", ...]);
_ ->
?SQL_UPSERT_T("muc_room", [..., "created_at=%(CurrentTime)t", ...])
endAfter:**ang
?SQL_UPSERT_T(
"muc_room",
["!name=%(Name)s",
"!host=%(Host)s",
"server_host=%(LServer)s",
"opts=%(SOpts)s",
"-created_at=%(CurrentTime)t", % Only set on INSERT
"updated_at=%(CurrentTime)t"]) % Set on both INSERT and UPDATE### 2. Updated SQL schema files

• sql/mysql.new.sql - Added updated_at column
• sql/pg.new.sql - Added updated_at column
• sql/lite.new.sql - Added updated_at column
• sql/mssql.new.sql - Added updated_at column

Related Issues

This PR fixes:

• Room creation time is not properly set in DB #3849 - MUC room created_at timestamp issue
• MUC room created_at timestamp incorrectly set to 1970-01-02 #4465 - Need to track room modification time

Testing

Tested manually:

1. ✅ New room creation: created_at and updated_at set correctly
2. ✅ Room update: created_at preserved, updated_at updated
3. ✅ No breaking changes to API
4. ✅ Migration script works on existing databases

Please let me know if there are any other changes needed!

[YonesSohrabi]

@Neustradamus Thank you for the feedback!

I've updated the PR:

✅ Updated all SQL files:

• sql/mysql.sql
• sql/mysql.new.sql
• sql/pg.sql
• sql/pg.new.sql
• sql/lite.sql
• sql/lite.new.sql
• sql/mssql.sql
• sql/mssql.new.sql

✅ Added issue references:

• Room creation time is not properly set in DB #3849 - MUC room created_at timestamp issue
• MUC room created_at timestamp incorrectly set to 1970-01-02 #4465 - Track room modification time

✅ Simplified code using -created_at UPSERT syntax

All SQL schema files now include the updated_at column. The PR is ready for review!

[coveralls]

coverage: 33.788% (+0.005%) from 33.783%
when pulling ec12913 on YonesSohrabi:fix-muc-room-timestamps
into 71dcced on processone:master.

[prefiks]

I will try to review this today

[p1bot]

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