Message stanzas are the real-time update mechanisms of XMPP. At the very general level, they are most often used to pass instant messages (IM) between users; however, through the extensibility of XMPP, they can also be used to convey any structured data that a user requires alerting to.
Messages when sent do not have a built-in receipt that the message was delivered or read (although this can be achieved using XEP-0184). If a message is sent to a non-existent XMPP domain or a user that doesn't exist on a server, then an error message will be returned informing the sender of this.
Here, we see a typical message stanza sending a message from one user to another:
<message from="[email protected]/highschool" to="[email protected]/highschool" type="chat"> <body>Lorraine. My density has brought me to you.</body> </message>
Here, George is sending a private chat message to Lorraine. Should they be having a conversation, it is also possible...