diff --git a/crates/ruma-server-util/CHANGELOG.md b/crates/ruma-server-util/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ruma-server-util/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# [unreleased]
+
+Improvements:
+
+* Provide `XMatrix` type for Matrix federation authorization headers.
diff --git a/crates/ruma-server-util/Cargo.toml b/crates/ruma-server-util/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f66d4b9
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+++ b/crates/ruma-server-util/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[package]
+categories = ["api-bindings", "web-programming"]
+description = "Utilities for implementing Matrix server applications."
+homepage = "https://www.ruma.io/"
+keywords = ["matrix", "chat", "messaging", "ruma"]
+license = "MIT"
+name = "ruma-server-util"
+readme = "README.md"
+repository = "https://github.com/ruma/ruma"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+rust-version = "1.60"
+
+[package.metadata.docs.rs]
+all-features = true
+rustdoc-args = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
+
+[dependencies]
+headers = "0.3"
+ruma-common = { version = "0.9.2", path = "../ruma-common" }
+tracing = "0.1.25"
+yap = "0.7.2"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+tracing-subscriber = "0.3.3"
diff --git a/crates/ruma-server-util/README.md b/crates/ruma-server-util/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..51b90550
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+++ b/crates/ruma-server-util/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# ruma-server-util
+
+[![crates.io page](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/ruma-server-util.svg)](https://crates.io/crates/ruma-server-util)
+[![docs.rs page](https://docs.rs/ruma-server-util/badge.svg)](https://docs.rs/ruma-server-util/)
+![license: MIT](https://img.shields.io/crates/l/ruma-server-util.svg)
+
+**ruma-server-util** contains types and trait implementations useful for implementing a Matrix homeserver.
diff --git a/crates/ruma-server-util/src/authorization.rs b/crates/ruma-server-util/src/authorization.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4dbb2509
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ruma-server-util/src/authorization.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+//! Common types for implementing federation authorization.
+
+use headers::{authorization::Credentials, HeaderValue};
+
+use ruma_common::{OwnedServerName, OwnedServerSigningKeyId};
+use tracing::debug;
+use yap::{IntoTokens, TokenLocation, Tokens};
+
+/// Typed representation of an `Authorization` header of scheme `X-Matrix`, as defined in the
+/// [Matrix Server-Server API][spec]. Includes an implementation of
+/// [`headers::authorization::Credentials`] for automatically handling the encoding and decoding
+/// when using a web framework that supports typed headers.
+///
+/// [spec]: https://spec.matrix.org/v1.3/server-server-api/#request-authentication
+#[non_exhaustive]
+pub struct XMatrix {
+    /// The server name of the sending server.
+    pub origin: OwnedServerName,
+    /// The server name of the receiving sender. For compatibility with older servers, recipients
+    /// should accept requests without this parameter, but MUST always send it. If this property is
+    /// included, but the value does not match the receiving server's name, the receiving server
+    /// must deny the request with an HTTP status code 401 Unauthorized.
+    pub destination: Option<OwnedServerName>,
+    /// The ID - including the algorithm name - of the sending server's key that was used to sign
+    /// the request.
+    pub key: OwnedServerSigningKeyId,
+    /// The signature of the JSON.
+    pub sig: String,
+}
+
+impl XMatrix {
+    /// Construct a new X-Matrix Authorization header.
+    pub fn new(
+        origin: OwnedServerName,
+        destination: Option<OwnedServerName>,
+        key: OwnedServerSigningKeyId,
+        sig: String,
+    ) -> Self {
+        Self { origin, destination, key, sig }
+    }
+}
+
+fn parse_token<'a>(tokens: &mut impl Tokens<Item = &'a u8>) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
+    tokens.optional(|t| {
+        let token: Vec<u8> = t.tokens_while(|c| is_tchar(**c)).copied().collect();
+        if !token.is_empty() {
+            Some(token)
+        } else {
+            debug!("Returning early because of empty token at {}", t.location().offset());
+            None
+        }
+    })
+}
+
+fn parse_token_with_colons<'a>(tokens: &mut impl Tokens<Item = &'a u8>) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
+    tokens.optional(|t| {
+        let token: Vec<u8> = t.tokens_while(|c| is_tchar(**c) || **c == b':').copied().collect();
+        if !token.is_empty() {
+            Some(token)
+        } else {
+            debug!("Returning early because of empty token at {}", t.location().offset());
+            None
+        }
+    })
+}
+
+fn parse_quoted<'a>(tokens: &mut impl Tokens<Item = &'a u8>) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
+    tokens.optional(|t| {
+        if !(t.token(&b'"')) {
+            return None;
+        }
+        let mut buffer = Vec::new();
+        loop {
+            match t.next()? {
+                // quoted pair
+                b'\\' => {
+                    let escaped = t.next().filter(|c| {
+                        if is_quoted_pair(**c) {
+                            true
+                        } else {
+                            debug!(
+                                "Encountered an illegal character {} at location {}",
+                                **c as char,
+                                t.location().offset()
+                            );
+                            false
+                        }
+                    })?;
+                    buffer.push(*escaped)
+                }
+                // end of quote
+                b'"' => break,
+                // regular character
+                c if is_qdtext(*c) => buffer.push(*c),
+                // Invalid character
+                c => {
+                    debug!(
+                        "Encountered an illegal character {} at location {}",
+                        *c as char,
+                        t.location().offset()
+                    );
+                    return None;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        Some(buffer)
+    })
+}
+
+fn parse_xmatrix_field<'a>(tokens: &mut impl Tokens<Item = &'a u8>) -> Option<(String, Vec<u8>)> {
+    tokens.optional(|t| {
+        let name = parse_token(t).and_then(|name| {
+            let name = std::str::from_utf8(&name).ok()?.to_ascii_lowercase();
+            match name.as_str() {
+                "origin" | "destination" | "key" | "sig" => Some(name),
+                name => {
+                    debug!(
+                        "Encountered an invalid field name {} at location {}",
+                        name,
+                        t.location().offset()
+                    );
+                    None
+                }
+            }
+        })?;
+
+        if !t.token(&b'=') {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        let value = parse_quoted(t).or_else(|| parse_token_with_colons(t))?;
+
+        Some((name, value))
+    })
+}
+
+fn parse_xmatrix<'a>(tokens: &mut impl Tokens<Item = &'a u8>) -> Option<XMatrix> {
+    tokens.optional(|t| {
+        if !t.tokens(b"X-Matrix ".into_tokens()) {
+            debug!("Failed to parse X-Matrix credentials, didn't start with 'X-Matrix '");
+            return None;
+        }
+        let mut origin = None;
+        let mut destination = None;
+        let mut key = None;
+        let mut sig = None;
+
+        for (name, value) in t.sep_by(|t| parse_xmatrix_field(t), |t| t.token(&b',')) {
+            match name.as_str() {
+                "origin" => {
+                    if origin.is_some() {
+                        debug!("Field origin duplicated in X-Matrix Authorization header");
+                    }
+                    origin = Some(std::str::from_utf8(&value).ok()?.try_into().ok()?);
+                }
+                "destination" => {
+                    if destination.is_some() {
+                        debug!("Field destination duplicated in X-Matrix Authorization header");
+                    }
+                    destination = Some(std::str::from_utf8(&value).ok()?.try_into().ok()?);
+                }
+                "key" => {
+                    if key.is_some() {
+                        debug!("Field key duplicated in X-Matrix Authorization header");
+                    }
+                    key = Some(std::str::from_utf8(&value).ok()?.try_into().ok()?);
+                }
+                "sig" => {
+                    if sig.is_some() {
+                        debug!("Field sig duplicated in X-Matrix Authorization header");
+                    }
+                    sig = Some(std::str::from_utf8(&value).ok()?.to_owned());
+                }
+                name => {
+                    debug!("Unknown field {} found in X-Matrix Authorization header", name);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        Some(XMatrix { origin: origin?, destination, key: key?, sig: sig? })
+    })
+}
+
+fn is_alpha(c: u8) -> bool {
+    (0x41..=0x5A).contains(&c) || (0x61..=0x7A).contains(&c)
+}
+
+fn is_digit(c: u8) -> bool {
+    (0x30..=0x39).contains(&c)
+}
+
+fn is_tchar(c: u8) -> bool {
+    const TOKEN_CHARS: [u8; 15] =
+        [b'!', b'#', b'$', b'%', b'&', b'\'', b'*', b'+', b'-', b'.', b'^', b'_', b'`', b'|', b'~'];
+    is_alpha(c) || is_digit(c) || TOKEN_CHARS.contains(&c)
+}
+
+fn is_qdtext(c: u8) -> bool {
+    c == b'\t'
+        || c == b' '
+        || c == 0x21
+        || (0x23..=0x5B).contains(&c)
+        || (0x5D..=0x7E).contains(&c)
+        || is_obs_text(c)
+}
+
+fn is_obs_text(c: u8) -> bool {
+    c >= 0x80 // The spec does contain an upper limit of 0xFF here, but that's enforced by the type
+}
+
+fn is_vchar(c: u8) -> bool {
+    (0x21..=0x7E).contains(&c)
+}
+
+fn is_quoted_pair(c: u8) -> bool {
+    c == b'\t' || c == b' ' || is_vchar(c) || is_obs_text(c)
+}
+
+impl Credentials for XMatrix {
+    const SCHEME: &'static str = "X-Matrix";
+
+    fn decode(value: &HeaderValue) -> Option<Self> {
+        let value: Vec<u8> = value.as_bytes().to_vec();
+        parse_xmatrix(&mut value.into_tokens())
+    }
+
+    fn encode(&self) -> HeaderValue {
+        if let Some(destination) = &self.destination {
+            format!(
+                "X-Matrix origin=\"{}\",destination=\"{}\",key=\"{}\",sig=\"{}\"",
+                self.origin, destination, self.key, self.sig
+            )
+        } else {
+            format!("X-Matrix origin=\"{}\",key=\"{}\",sig=\"{}\"", self.origin, self.key, self.sig)
+        }
+        .try_into()
+        .expect("header format is static")
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use headers::{authorization::Credentials, HeaderValue};
+    use ruma_common::OwnedServerName;
+
+    use super::XMatrix;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn xmatrix_auth_pre_1_3() {
+        let header = HeaderValue::from_static(
+            "X-Matrix origin=\"origin.hs.example.com\",key=\"ed25519:key1\",sig=\"ABCDEF...\"",
+        );
+        let origin = "origin.hs.example.com".try_into().unwrap();
+        let key = "ed25519:key1".try_into().unwrap();
+        let sig = "ABCDEF...".to_string();
+        let credentials: XMatrix = Credentials::decode(&header).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(credentials.origin, origin);
+        assert_eq!(credentials.destination, None);
+        assert_eq!(credentials.key, key);
+        assert_eq!(credentials.sig, sig);
+
+        let credentials = XMatrix::new(origin, None, key, sig);
+
+        assert_eq!(credentials.encode(), header);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn xmatrix_auth_1_3() {
+        let header = HeaderValue::from_static("X-Matrix origin=\"origin.hs.example.com\",destination=\"destination.hs.example.com\",key=\"ed25519:key1\",sig=\"ABCDEF...\"");
+        let origin: OwnedServerName = "origin.hs.example.com".try_into().unwrap();
+        let destination: OwnedServerName = "destination.hs.example.com".try_into().unwrap();
+        let key = "ed25519:key1".try_into().unwrap();
+        let sig = "ABCDEF...".to_string();
+        let credentials: XMatrix = Credentials::decode(&header).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(credentials.origin, origin);
+        assert_eq!(credentials.destination, Some(destination.clone()));
+        assert_eq!(credentials.key, key);
+        assert_eq!(credentials.sig, sig);
+
+        let credentials = XMatrix::new(origin, Some(destination), key, sig);
+
+        assert_eq!(credentials.encode(), header);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ruma-server-util/src/lib.rs b/crates/ruma-server-util/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..18e9e613
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ruma-server-util/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#![doc(html_favicon_url = "https://www.ruma.io/favicon.ico")]
+#![doc(html_logo_url = "https://www.ruma.io/images/logo.png")]
+//! Collection of helpers for implementing Matrix homeservers using Ruma.
+
+#![warn(missing_docs)]
+pub mod authorization;