chebizarro/nostr-nips

Nostr NIPs Reference

Full NIP specifications are available as individual files in this directory. Read the relevant file(s) before implementing or debugging any Nostr protocol feature.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• Implementing any Nostr event kind (what tags are required? what's the schema?)
• Choosing an encryption scheme (NIP-04 vs NIP-44 vs NIP-59/NIP-17)
• Building relay interactions (AUTH, filters, subscription behaviour)
• Working with identity, zaps, DVMs, git, ecash, or any Nostr-native protocol
• Debugging unexpected relay or client behaviour
• Verifying your event structure matches the spec before publishing

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• You already know the spec well for the NIP in question
• The task is purely application logic with no protocol surface

NIP Index

| File | Topics | |------|--------| | NIP-01.md | Core protocol — event structure, relay communication, filters, basic event kinds | | NIP-02.md | Follow lists (kind 3) | | NIP-03.md | OpenTimestamps attestations | | NIP-04.md | Encrypted DMs — kind 4, AES-CBC (legacy; prefer NIP-17 for new work) | | NIP-05.md | DNS-based identity verification (user@domain) | | NIP-06.md | Basic key derivation from mnemonic seed phrase | | NIP-07.md | Browser extension signing (window.nostr) | | NIP-08.md | Mentions (deprecated — see NIP-27) | | NIP-09.md | Event deletion requests (kind 5) | | NIP-10.md | e and p tag conventions for replies and threads | | NIP-11.md | Relay information document (NIP-11 JSON) | | NIP-12.md | Generic tag queries (deprecated — folded into NIP-01) | | NIP-13.md | Proof of work | | NIP-14.md | Subject tag for text events | | NIP-15.md | Nostr marketplace (kind 30017/30018 stalls and products) | | NIP-16.md | Event treatment — replaceable/ephemeral (deprecated — folded into NIP-01) | | NIP-17.md | Private DMs — gift-wrap (NIP-59) + NIP-44, kind 14/13/1059 — preferred DM protocol | | NIP-18.md | Reposts (kind 6 / kind 16) | | NIP-19.md | Bech32-encoded identifiers — npub, nsec, note, nprofile, nevent, naddr | | NIP-20.md | Command results (deprecated — folded into NIP-01) | | NIP-21.md | nostr: URI scheme | | NIP-22.md | Comment events (kind 1111) — threaded replies on any event kind | | NIP-23.md | Long-form content — articles (kind 30023) | | NIP-24.md | Extra metadata fields (display_name, website, etc.) | | NIP-25.md | Reactions (kind 7) — +, -, emoji | | NIP-26.md | Delegated event signing | | NIP-27.md | Text note references — nostr: inline mentions | | NIP-28.md | Public chat (kinds 40/41/42/43/44) | | NIP-29.md | Relay-based groups | | NIP-30.md | Custom emoji | | NIP-31.md | Labelling (kind 1985) | | NIP-32.md | Reporting / moderation labels | | NIP-33.md | Parameterised replaceable events (d-tag) | | NIP-34.md | Git — repository announcements, issues, patches, PRs (kinds 30617/1621/1617/1618) | | NIP-35.md | Torrents | | NIP-36.md | Sensitive content warning | | NIP-37.md | Draft events | | NIP-38.md | User statuses (kind 30315) — NIP-38 typing indicators, presence | | NIP-39.md | External identity claims | | NIP-40.md | Expiration timestamp | | NIP-42.md | Relay authentication (AUTH) | | NIP-43.md | Fast authentication | | NIP-44.md | Versioned encryption — ChaCha20 / HMAC — preferred encryption scheme | | NIP-45.md | Event counts (COUNT verb) | | NIP-46.md | Nostr Connect / remote signing (NIP-46 bunker) | | NIP-47.md | Wallet Connect — NWC lightning payments | | NIP-48.md | Proxy tags | | NIP-49.md | Private key encryption | | NIP-50.md | Search capability (search filter) | | NIP-51.md | Lists — mute (10000), pins (10001), people (30000), bookmarks (30001), etc. | | NIP-52.md | Calendar events | | NIP-54.md | Wikis | | NIP-55.md | Android signer | | NIP-56.md | Reporting (kind 1984) | | NIP-57.md | Lightning zaps — LNURL-pay + kind 9734/9735 | | NIP-58.md | Badges | | NIP-59.md | Gift wrap — rumor → seal (kind 13) → gift wrap (kind 1059) — used by NIP-17 | | NIP-62.md | Request to vanish | | NIP-64.md | Chess (PGN) | | NIP-65.md | Relay list metadata (kind 10002) — outbox model | | NIP-66.md | Relay discovery / status | | NIP-68.md | Picture events | | NIP-70.md | Protected events | | NIP-71.md | Video events | | NIP-72.md | Moderated communities | | NIP-73.md | External content IDs | | NIP-75.md | Zap goals | | NIP-77.md | Negentropy reconciliation | | NIP-78.md | Application-specific data (kind 30078) | | NIP-84.md | Highlights | | NIP-85.md | Reviews | | NIP-86.md | Relay management API | | NIP-88.md | Polls | | NIP-89.md | Recommended application handlers | | NIP-90.md | Data Vending Machines — job requests (kind 5000-5999) and results (6000-6999) | | NIP-92.md | Media attachments (imeta tag) | | NIP-94.md | File metadata (kind 1063) | | NIP-96.md | HTTP file storage integration | | NIP-98.md | HTTP auth — signed Nostr events as Bearer tokens | | NIP-99.md | Classified listings |

Quick Protocol Decisions

DM encryption: Use NIP-44 (ChaCha20) + NIP-17 (gift wrap) for new work. NIP-04 (AES-CBC) is legacy — only implement it for backwards compatibility.

Replaceable events: Use a d tag (NIP-33) for parameterised replaceable events (kind 30000–39999). Plain replaceable events are kinds 10000–19999.

Relay auth: NIP-42. Always sign with the agent's key; handle AUTH challenges before subscribing on restricted relays.

Identity: NIP-19 for encoding (npub/nsec/naddr etc.). NIP-05 for DNS verification. NIP-39 for external identity claims.

Payments: NIP-57 for zaps (LNURL + kind 9734/9735). NIP-47 (NWC) for programmatic wallet access.

DVMs: NIP-90. Job request = kind 5000+, result = kind 6000+, status = kind 7000. Use #p tag to address a specific DVM.