Matrix is an ambitious new ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and VoIP. The basics you need to know to get up and running are:

- Everything in Matrix happens in a room. Rooms are distributed and do not exist on any single server. Rooms can be located using convenience aliases like ``#matrix:matrix.org`` or ``#test:localhost:8448``.

- Matrix user IDs look like ``@matthew:matrix.org`` (although in the future you will normally refer to yourself and others using a 3PID: email address, phone number, etc rather than manipulating Matrix user IDs)

The overall architecture is::

client <----> homeserver <===============> homeserver <----> client
https://somewhere.org/_matrix https://elsewhere.net/_matrix

``#matrix:matrix.org`` is the official support room for Matrix, and can be accessed by the web client at http://matrix.org/beta or via an IRC bridge at irc://irc.freenode.net/matrix.