nips/README.md

# NIPs

NIPs stand for **Nostr Implementation Possibilities**.
They exist to document what may be implemented by [Nostr](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nostr)-compatible _relay_ and _client_ software.

---

- [List](#list)
- [Event Kinds](#event-kinds)
  - [Event Kind Ranges](#event-kind-ranges)
- [Message Types](#message-types)
  - [Client to Relay](#client-to-relay)
  - [Relay to Client](#relay-to-client)
- [Standardized Tags](#standardized-tags)
- [Criteria for acceptance of NIPs](#criteria-for-acceptance-of-nips)
- [License](#license)

---

## List

- [NIP-01: Basic protocol flow description](01.md)
- [NIP-02: Contact List and Petnames](02.md)
- [NIP-03: OpenTimestamps Attestations for Events](03.md)
- [NIP-04: Encrypted Direct Message](04.md)
- [NIP-05: Mapping Nostr keys to DNS-based internet identifiers](05.md)
- [NIP-06: Basic key derivation from mnemonic seed phrase](06.md)
- [NIP-07: `window.nostr` capability for web browsers](07.md)
- [NIP-08: Handling Mentions](08.md) --- **unrecommended**: deprecated in favor of [NIP-27](27.md)
- [NIP-09: Event Deletion](09.md)
- [NIP-10: Conventions for clients' use of `e` and `p` tags in text events](10.md)
- [NIP-11: Relay Information Document](11.md)
- [NIP-13: Proof of Work](13.md)
- [NIP-14: Subject tag in text events](14.md)
- [NIP-15: Nostr Marketplace (for resilient marketplaces)](15.md)
- [NIP-18: Reposts](18.md)
- [NIP-19: bech32-encoded entities](19.md)
- [NIP-21: `nostr:` URI scheme](21.md)
- [NIP-22: Event `created_at` Limits](22.md)
- [NIP-23: Long-form Content](23.md)
- [NIP-25: Reactions](25.md)
- [NIP-26: Delegated Event Signing](26.md)
- [NIP-27: Text Note References](27.md)
- [NIP-28: Public Chat](28.md)
- [NIP-30: Custom Emoji](30.md)
- [NIP-31: Dealing with Unknown Events](31.md)
- [NIP-32: Labeling](32.md)
- [NIP-36: Sensitive Content](36.md)
- [NIP-39: External Identities in Profiles](39.md)
- [NIP-40: Expiration Timestamp](40.md)
- [NIP-42: Authentication of clients to relays](42.md)
- [NIP-45: Counting results](45.md)
- [NIP-46: Nostr Connect](46.md)
- [NIP-47: Wallet Connect](47.md)
- [NIP-48: Proxy Tags](48.md)
- [NIP-50: Keywords filter](50.md)
- [NIP-51: Lists](51.md)
- [NIP-52: Calendar Events](52.md)
- [NIP-53: Live Activities](53.md)
- [NIP-56: Reporting](56.md)
- [NIP-57: Lightning Zaps](57.md)
- [NIP-58: Badges](58.md)
- [NIP-65: Relay List Metadata](65.md)
- [NIP-72: Moderated Communities](72.md)
- [NIP-78: Application-specific data](78.md)
- [NIP-79: Offline message signature & verificiation](79.md)
- [NIP-89: Recommended Application Handlers](89.md)
- [NIP-94: File Metadata](94.md)
- [NIP-98: HTTP Auth](98.md)
- [NIP-99: Classified Listings](99.md)
- [NIP-101: Enhancing Event Compression and Encoding Support](101.md)

## Event Kinds

| kind    | description                | NIP         |
| ------- | -------------------------- | ----------- |
| `0`     | Metadata                   | [1](01.md)  |
| `1`     | Short Text Note            | [1](01.md)  |
| `2`     | Recommend Relay            |             |
| `3`     | Contacts                   | [2](02.md)  |
| `4`     | Encrypted Direct Messages  | [4](04.md)  |
| `5`     | Event Deletion             | [9](09.md)  |
| `6`     | Repost                     | [18](18.md) |
| `7`     | Reaction                   | [25](25.md) |
| `8`     | Badge Award                | [58](58.md) |
| `16`    | Generic Repost             | [18](18.md) |
| `40`    | Channel Creation           | [28](28.md) |
| `41`    | Channel Metadata           | [28](28.md) |
| `42`    | Channel Message            | [28](28.md) |
| `43`    | Channel Hide Message       | [28](28.md) |
| `44`    | Channel Mute User          | [28](28.md) |
| `1063`  | File Metadata              | [94](94.md) |
| `1311`  | Live Chat Message          | [53](53.md) |
| `1984`  | Reporting                  | [56](56.md) |
| `1985`  | Label                      | [32](32.md) |
| `4550`  | Community Post Approval    | [72](72.md) |
| `9734`  | Zap Request                | [57](57.md) |
| `9735`  | Zap                        | [57](57.md) |
| `10000` | Mute List                  | [51](51.md) |
| `10001` | Pin List                   | [51](51.md) |
| `10002` | Relay List Metadata        | [65](65.md) |
| `13194` | Wallet Info                | [47](47.md) |
| `22242` | Client Authentication      | [42](42.md) |
| `23194` | Wallet Request             | [47](47.md) |
| `23195` | Wallet Response            | [47](47.md) |
| `24133` | Nostr Connect              | [46](46.md) |
| `27235` | HTTP Auth                  | [98](98.md) |
| `30000` | Categorized People List    | [51](51.md) |
| `30001` | Categorized Bookmark List  | [51](51.md) |
| `30008` | Profile Badges             | [58](58.md) |
| `30009` | Badge Definition           | [58](58.md) |
| `30017` | Create or update a stall   | [15](15.md) |
| `30018` | Create or update a product | [15](15.md) |
| `30023` | Long-form Content          | [23](23.md) |
| `30024` | Draft Long-form Content    | [23](23.md) |
| `30078` | Application-specific Data  | [78](78.md) |
| `30311` | Live Event                 | [53](53.md) |
| `30402` | Classified Listing         | [99](99.md) |
| `30403` | Draft Classified Listing   | [99](99.md) |
| `31922` | Date-Based Calendar Event  | [52](52.md) |
| `31923` | Time-Based Calendar Event  | [52](52.md) |
| `31924` | Calendar                   | [52](52.md) |
| `31925` | Calendar Event RSVP        | [52](52.md) |
| `31989` | Handler recommendation     | [89](89.md) |
| `31990` | Handler information        | [89](89.md) |
| `34550` | Community Definition       | [72](72.md) |


## Message types

### Client to Relay

| type    | description                                         | NIP         |
| ------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| `EVENT` | used to publish events                              | [01](01.md) |
| `REQ`   | used to request events and subscribe to new updates | [01](01.md) |
| `CLOSE` | used to stop previous subscriptions                 | [01](01.md) |
| `AUTH`  | used to send authentication events                  | [42](42.md) |
| `COUNT` | used to request event counts                        | [45](45.md) |
| `CAP`   | used to select encoding capabilities                | [101](101.md) |

### Relay to Client

| type     | description                                             | NIP         |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| `EOSE`   | used to notify clients all stored events have been sent | [01](01.md) |
| `EVENT`  | used to send events requested to clients                | [01](01.md) |
| `NOTICE` | used to send human-readable messages to clients         | [01](01.md) |
| `OK`     | used to notify clients if an EVENT was successful       | [01](01.md) |
| `AUTH`   | used to send authentication challenges                  | [42](42.md) |
| `COUNT`  | used to send requested event counts to clients          | [45](45.md) |
| `CAP`    | used to propose encoding capabilities                   | [101](101.md) |

Please update these lists when proposing NIPs introducing new event kinds.

## Standardized Tags

| name              | value                                | other parameters     | NIP                      |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------ | -------------------- | ------------------------ |
| `e`               | event id (hex)                       | relay URL, marker    | [01](01.md), [10](10.md) |
| `p`               | pubkey (hex)                         | relay URL, petname   | [01](01.md), [02](02.md) |
| `a`               | coordinates to an event              | relay URL            | [01](01.md)              |
| `d`               | identifier                           | --                   | [01](01.md)              |
| `alt`             | Alt tag                              | --                   | [31](31.md)              |
| `g`               | geohash                              | --                   | [52](52.md)              |
| `i`               | identity                             | proof                | [39](39.md)              |
| `k`               | kind number (string)                 | --                   | [18](18.md), [72](72.md) |
| `l`               | label, label namespace               | annotations          | [32](32.md)              |
| `L`               | label namespace                      | --                   | [32](32.md)              |
| `r`               | a reference (URL, etc)               | --                   |                          |
| `r`               | relay url                            | marker               | [65](65.md)              |
| `t`               | hashtag                              | --                   |                          |
| `amount`          | millisatoshis, stringified           | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `bolt11`          | `bolt11` invoice                     | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `challenge`       | challenge string                     | --                   | [42](42.md)              |
| `content-warning` | reason                               | --                   | [36](36.md)              |
| `delegation`      | pubkey, conditions, delegation token | --                   | [26](26.md)              |
| `description`     | badge description                    | --                   | [58](58.md)              |
| `description`     | invoice description                  | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `emoji`           | shortcode, image URL                 | --                   | [30](30.md)              |
| `expiration`      | unix timestamp (string)              | --                   | [40](40.md)              |
| `image`           | image URL                            | dimensions in pixels | [23](23.md), [58](58.md) |
| `lnurl`           | `bech32` encoded `lnurl`             | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `location`        | location string                      | --                   | [52](52.md), [99](99.md) |
| `name`            | badge name                           | --                   | [58](58.md)              |
| `nonce`           | random                               | --                   | [13](13.md)              |
| `preimage`        | hash of `bolt11` invoice             | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `price`           | price                                | currency, frequency  | [99](99.md)              |
| `proxy`           | external ID                          | protocol             | [48](48.md)              |
| `published_at`    | unix timestamp (string)              | --                   | [23](23.md)              |
| `relay`           | relay url                            | --                   | [42](42.md)              |
| `relays`          | relay list                           | --                   | [57](57.md)              |
| `subject`         | subject                              | --                   | [14](14.md)              |
| `summary`         | article summary                      | --                   | [23](23.md)              |
| `thumb`           | badge thumbnail                      | dimensions in pixels | [58](58.md)              |
| `title`           | article title                        | --                   | [23](23.md)              |
| `zap`             | pubkey (hex), relay URL              | weight               | [57](57.md)              |

## Criteria for acceptance of NIPs

1. They should be implemented in at least two clients and one relay -- when applicable.
2. They should make sense.
3. They should be optional and backwards-compatible: care must be taken such that clients and relays that choose to not implement them do not stop working when interacting with the ones that choose to.
4. There should be no more than one way of doing the same thing.
5. Other rules will be made up when necessary.

## Mailing Lists

The nostr ecosystem is getting large with many different organizations, relays
and clients. Following the nips repo on github is becoming more difficult and
noisy. To coordinate on protocol development outside of github, there are
mailing lists where you can work on NIPs before submitting them here:

* [w3c nostr community group][w3-nostr] - [public-nostr@w3.org][mailto-w3] - requires signup
* [nostr-protocol google group][nostr-google-group] - [nostr-protocol@googlegroups.com][mailto-google] - no signup required

[w3-nostr]: https://www.w3.org/community/nostr/
[mailto-w3]: mailto:public-nostr@w3.org
[nostr-google-group]: https://groups.google.com/g/nostr-protocol
[mailto-google]: mailto:nostr-protocol@googlegroups.com

## License

All NIPs are public domain.