nips/66.md

NIP-66: Relay Monitoring System

draft optional

This NIP defines two event kinds, 30066 and 10066.

10066: "Relay Monitor" Events

Summary

10066 is a replacable event herein referred to as "Relay Monitor" events. These events contain information about a publisher's intent to monitor and/or aggregate relays and publish data as 30066 events.

Purpose

To provide a directory of monitors, their intent to publish, their criteria and parameters of monitoring activities.

Schema

10066 events have no required tags.

• "url" == tagUrl[0] A URL with human readable information about the monitor's activities. If not included, it is assumed these details are included in the monitor's kind 0 for the pubkey that signed the 10066 event.

• "timeout" == tagTimeout[0] The timeout values for various tests. tagTimeout[1] is the monitor's timeout in milliseconds. tagTimeout[2] describes what test the timeout is used for, for example open, read, write, info, etc. If no tagTimeout[2] is provided, it is assumed the timeout provided applies to all tests.

• "frequency" == tagFrequency[0] The frequency at which the monitor publishes 30066 events.

Label Tags ^NIP-32

• role, for example: checker or aggregator

  Checks but doesn't aggregate relay lists

  [ 'L', 'role' ]
  [ 'l', 'checker', 'role' ]
  

• checks, should be a lowercase string describing the individual check if role is checker. Some examples are: websocket, nip11, ssl, dns, geo

  [ 'L', 'checks' ]
  [ 'l', 'websocket', 'checks' ]
  [ 'l', 'nip11', 'checks' ]
  [ 'l', 'ssl', 'checks' ]
  [ 'l', 'dns', 'checks' ]
  [ 'l', 'geo', 'checks' ]
  

Other Requirements

• Monitors should have a published 10002 event that defines the relays the monitor publishes to.

30066: "Relay Status" Events

Summary

30066 is a parameterized replaceable event [NIP-33], referred to as a "Relay" event. These events store the existence and optionally some data relating to the relay. a

Purpose

To store useful, computationally expensive relay meta-data about relays.

NIPs Used

• NIP-32 Labels
• NIP-33 Parameterized Replacable Events
• NIP-40 Expirable Events
• "Yet Another Geo Tag" NIP (Draft)

Schema

event.content

Should be empty.

event.tags

Relay status events have one (1) required tag.

Tags should be used to represent the Relay's abilities and meta at any given point in time. The "tags schema" is expressed using pseudo-types for reasons of communication and brevity, for example tagDescriptor[]. This NIP utilizes NIP-32 to expose indexable values.

Tags

• "d" == tagId[0] The relay URL. The #d tag must be included in the event.tags[] array. tagId[1] must be the relay websocket URL. The URL should be normalized.

  ["d", "wss://history.nostr.watch/"] //tagId[]
  

• "rtt-*" == tagRtt[0] Round-trip time of websocket ping/pong in milliseconds. Example values for tagRtt[1] are open, read and write. Where open represents the round-trip time forWebsocket to open, read represents the round-trip time of a Websocket REQ (subscription) message's response, and write represents the round-trip time of a Websocket EVENT (publish) message and subsequent ok message. tagRtt[2...] are strings with the millisecond values. At a minimum tagRtt[2] should be set. When more than one value is provided, values may be treated as an array to find min, max, average and median values. There may be zero rtt tags.

  ["rtt", "open", "201", "190", "540"],
  ["rtt", "read", "35", "60", "46"],
  ["rtt", "write", "701", "497", "508"]
  

• "count" == tagCount[0] Meta values for arbitrary counts related to a relay. tagCount[1] is the value expressed as the string representation of an integer or float. tagCount[2] is the key and describes the count, such as total_users or total_events. Counts should only be included when representing unique or computationally expensive counts, not ones that can be easily achieved via NIP-XX counts, via NIP-XX searches or other filters. There may be 0 to many count tags.

  ["count", "total_events", "502341"],
  ["count", "total_users", "52000"],
  ["count", "active_users_24h", "321"]
  ["count", "events_per_minute", "21.4"]
  

• "infohash" == tagInfohash[0] A SHA256 hash of the deterministically stringified NIP-11 "Info Document" JSON at tagInfohash[1]

• "notice" == tagNotice[0] Special tag to display information about a relay. tagNotice[1] is a key to describe the notice. tagNotice[2...] should be the value(s) of the notice. There may be 0 to many notice tags.

• "expiration" === tagE[0] An expiration timestamp to forcefully limit retention of relay events [NIP-40]

• "e" === tagE[0] An association to another standard nostr event (1000-9999 kind-range). An example would be an event containing the most recent check log or an archival event representing the check. Such a reference may contain duplicate or ommitted tags from a 30066 event. The event referenced here should at a minimum be described in a draft NIP.

Label Tags ^NIP-32

• network: Such as clearnet, tor, i2p, cjdns, etc.

  [ 'L', 'network' ]
  [ 'l', 'clearnet', 'network' ]
  

• relay_type, for example proxy, bridge and public for example. There may be more than one type.

  [ 'L', 'relay_type' ]
  [ 'l', 'proxy', 'relay_type' ]
  [ 'l', 'public', 'relay_type' ]
  

• ipv4 and ipv6, relay ips.

  [ 'L', 'ipv4' ]
  [ 'l', '1.1.1.1', 'ipv4' ]
  [ 'L', 'ipv6' ]
  [ 'l', '2001:db8:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888"', 'ipv6' ]
  

• Data from NIP-11 using dot notation, for example

  [ 'L', 'nip11.tags' ]
  [ 'l', 'sfw-only' ]
  [ 'l', 'bitcoin-only' ]
  [ 'L', 'nip11.language_tags' ]
  [ 'l', 'en', 'nip11.language_tags'  ]
  [ 'l', 'en-419', 'nip11.language_tags' ]
  

Topic Tags

NIP-66 leverages topics [t tags] for enumeration of nip support and NIP-11 boolean values

• supported_nips from NIP-11, no leading zero.

  [ 't', 'nip-1' ]
  [ 't', 'nip-2' ]
  [ 't', 'nip-9' ]
  [ 't', 'nip-11' ]
  

• For example payment_required and auth_required from NIP-11.limitations

  [ 't', 'payment_required' ]
  [ 't', 'auth_required' ]
  

Methodology

A Checking Monitor publishes 30066 events exclusively when a relay is operational. This approach ensures that the last known state of the relay is maintained and recorded. Based on this data, several inferences can be drawn about the relay's status and characteristics

1. Clients and/or users can set a custom threshold to establish a cutoff timestamp for filtering events. This timestamp helps in identifying which relays are currently online. Selecting a lower threshold value results in a stricter criterion for relay uptime, making the filter more sensitive to brief downtimes. Conversely, choosing a higher threshold value creates a more lenient filter, allowing relays with longer downtimes to still be considered as online.

2. In determining whether a relay is 'dead,' the decision is solely at the discretion of the client or user. They are responsible for setting and applying arbitrary thresholds to make this determination. This approach underscores that the classification of a relay as 'dead' is a subjective decision, varying according to each client's or user's assessment criteria, rather than a fixed status provided by the monitor.

3. For relay status events that have become outdated, the retained data points remain valuable. They offer insights and information about the relay's characteristics and performance, which might not be currently accessible due to the relay being offline.

Important Notes

• NIP-11 values are provided as means to filter and discover relays, however should not be used as a replacement to NIP-11.
• A relay's retention policy could conflict with subjective thresholds used in determination of "online" or "dead" relays.

Examples

Minimum Requirements, "Relay was on a relay list"

{
  "id": "<eventid>",
  "pubkey": "<pubkey>",
  "created_at": "<created_at>",
  "signature": "<signature>",
  "content": "",
  "tags": [  
    ["d","wss://some.relay/"]
  ]
}

Minimum Requirements, "Relay was on a list but it might be a typo"

{
  "id": "<eventid>",
  "pubkey": "<pubkey>",
  "created_at": "<created_at>",
  "signature": "<signature>",
  "content": "",
  "tags": [  
    ["d","wdd://some.relay/"]
    ["notice", "typo", "wss://some.relay/"]
  ]
}

Relay is checked and online example, "Relay is online and here's some meta-data this monitor believes is accurate"

{
  "id": "<eventid>",
  "pubkey": "<monitor's pubkey>",
  "created_at": "<created_at  [some recent date ...]>",
  "signature": "<signature>",
  "content": "{}",
  "tags": [  
    ["d","wss://some.relay/"],
    ["rtt", "open", "201", "190", "540"],
    ["rtt", "read", "35", "60", "46"],
    ["rtt", "write", "701", "497", "508"],
    ["ssl", "valid", "timestamp", "timestamp"],
    ["count", "502341", "events"],
    ["count", "21.4", "events_per_minute"],
    ["L", "network"]
    ["l", "clearnet", "network"]
    ["g", "ww8p1r4t8","geohash"],
    ["g","NL","countryCode"],
    ["g","EU","continent"],
    ["g","Earth","planet"],
    ["L","ipv4"],
    ["l","1.1.1.1""ipv4" ],
    ["L","ipv6"],
    ["l","2001:db8:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888","ipv6"],
    ["t", "nip-1"],
    ["t", "nip-7"]
  ]
}

Relay was checked and has been online, "Relay was online at some point..."

{
  "id": "<eventid>",
  "pubkey": "<monitor's pubkey>",
  "created_at": "<created_at [some date in the distant past...]>",
  "signature": "<signature>",
  "content": "",
  "tags": [
    ["d","wss://some.relay/"],
    ["rtt", "open", "201", "190", "540"],
    ["rtt", "read", "35", "60", "46"],
    ["rtt", "write", "701", "497", "508"],
    ...
  ]
}

Testing Criteria

The testing criteria to determine conditions defined in event's tags may be subjective and may vary between monitors.

Limitations

The data in 30066 may be erroneous, intentionally or otherwise. Where accuracy is required, the data in 30066 events should be subscribed to by populating the authors filter array with the pubkeys of trusted monitors and where security is a concern any republished values (such as NIP-11 values) should be attained from the source. All data is for informational purposes and to make finding and filtering through relays through nostr a possiblity.

Appending NIP-66

Any test results that cannot be expressed through NIP-66 should be ammended to the nip following discussion and general consensus

Use Cases

1. Geographic Relay Discovery: Identify relays situated near a specific geographic location or within a particular country, facilitating localized network interactions.

2. NIP Support Filtering: Search for relays based on their support for specific Nostr Improvement Proposals (NIPs), ensuring compatibility with desired protocol features.

3. Accessibility Search: Locate relays that are free to use, helping users find cost-effective or no-cost options for their network interactions.

4. Real-Time Status Monitoring: Utilize a status client to display up-to-date statuses of various relays, providing insights into their current operational state.

5. Relay Network Analysis: Analyze connections and patterns between relays using their IP addresses, aiding in network topology understanding and security assessments.

6. Error Detection in Relay Listings: Spot and rectify erroneous entries in relay lists, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of relay data.

7. Performance Benchmarking: Compare relays based on performance metrics like round-trip times and uptime, aiding in the selection of the most efficient relays for specific needs.

8. Security and Compliance Checks: Evaluate relays for adherence to security standards and regulatory compliance, essential for users with specific security and privacy requirements.

9. Language and Content Filtering: Identify relays catering to specific languages or content types, enabling users to engage in a more targeted and relevant social networking experience.

10. Data-Driven Relay Selection: Make informed choices about which relays to connect to, based on comprehensive metadata including user counts, event frequencies, and network types.

Glossary

• aggregate the act of aggregating, qualifying, sanitizing and normalizing relays from relay lists to build a subjectively complete dataset of known relays.
• check the act of running tests on one or many attributes of a relay.