aid: nostr
name: Nostr
description: |
  Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is an open,
  permissionless protocol for censorship-resistant social and messaging
  applications. Identity is a public/private keypair; content is a signed
  JSON event; transport is a WebSocket connection to one or more relays.
  There is no central server, no canonical API, and no organization that
  owns the protocol — only a set of community-defined NIPs (Nostr
  Implementation Possibilities) describing event kinds, relay behavior,
  and client conventions. A large ecosystem of clients (Damus, Amethyst,
  Coracle, Yakihonne, Nostur, Iris), relay implementations (strfry,
  nostream, khatru), and language libraries (nostr-tools for JS,
  python-nostr, go-nostr, rust-nostr, NDK) has formed around the protocol.
  Nostr is profiled here through its specifications and reference
  implementations rather than a vendor API.
type: Index
position: Protocol
access: Public
image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
tags:
  - Nostr
  - Decentralized Social
  - Open Protocol
  - Relays
  - WebSocket
  - Signed Events
  - NIP
  - Censorship Resistant
  - Self-Sovereign Identity
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/nostr/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-05-23'
modified: '2026-05-23'
specificationVersion: '0.20'
apis:
  - aid: nostr:nostr-protocol
    name: Nostr Protocol (NIP-01)
    description: |
      NIP-01 defines the core Nostr protocol: event format (id, pubkey,
      created_at, kind, tags, content, sig), client-to-relay messages
      (EVENT, REQ, CLOSE), and relay-to-client messages (EVENT, OK, EOSE,
      CLOSED, NOTICE) exchanged over a single WebSocket connection. This
      is the minimum surface every client and relay must implement.
    humanURL: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md
    baseURL: wss://relay.example
    tags:
      - NIP-01
      - Event
      - WebSocket
      - Subscription
      - Signature
    properties:
      - type: Specification
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md
      - type: SpecificationIndex
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips
      - type: Repository
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol
  - aid: nostr:nostr-nips
    name: Nostr Implementation Possibilities (NIPs)
    description: |
      NIPs are the standards documents that extend Nostr beyond the core
      protocol. They define event kinds (text notes, reactions, zaps,
      long-form articles, DMs, calendar events, marketplaces), client
      behaviors (NIP-05 verified handles, NIP-07 browser signers, NIP-46
      remote signers), and relay capabilities (NIP-11 relay information,
      NIP-42 authentication). Conformance is informal — clients and relays
      pick the NIPs they support.
    humanURL: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips
    baseURL: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips
    tags:
      - NIPs
      - Event Kinds
      - Extensions
      - Standards
    properties:
      - type: SpecificationIndex
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips
      - type: Repository
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol
  - aid: nostr:relay-interface
    name: Nostr Relay WebSocket Interface
    description: |
      A Nostr relay is a WebSocket server that accepts signed events,
      stores them subject to its own policy, and responds to subscription
      filters from clients. The relay surface is intentionally minimal:
      no accounts, no shared state, no canonical ordering. Operators
      choose retention, content policy, paid-access, and authentication
      (NIP-42) independently. Reference implementations include strfry
      (C++), nostream (TypeScript), and khatru (Go).
    humanURL: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/11.md
    baseURL: wss://relay.example
    tags:
      - Relay
      - WebSocket
      - strfry
      - khatru
      - nostream
    properties:
      - type: Specification
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md
      - type: RelayInfo
        url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/11.md
      - type: ReferenceImplementation
        url: https://github.com/hoytech/strfry
      - type: ReferenceImplementation
        url: https://github.com/Cameri/nostream
      - type: ReferenceImplementation
        url: https://github.com/fiatjaf/khatru
  - aid: nostr:nostr-tools
    name: nostr-tools JavaScript Library
    description: |
      nostr-tools is the de-facto JavaScript/TypeScript library for Nostr
      clients and bots. It implements event creation, signing, relay
      connections, subscription filters, and many common NIPs, and is
      used by a large portion of the Nostr web ecosystem.
    humanURL: https://github.com/nbd-wtf/nostr-tools
    baseURL: https://www.npmjs.com/package/nostr-tools
    tags:
      - SDK
      - JavaScript
      - TypeScript
      - Client Library
    properties:
      - type: Repository
        url: https://github.com/nbd-wtf/nostr-tools
      - type: Package
        url: https://www.npmjs.com/package/nostr-tools
features:
  - name: Cryptographic Identity
    description: Each user is a secp256k1 keypair; no account creation, no central registry.
  - name: Signed Events
    description: Every event carries a Schnorr signature over a deterministic JSON serialization, allowing any relay to verify authenticity.
  - name: Multi-Relay Publishing
    description: Clients publish to and read from many relays in parallel, with no single point of failure.
  - name: Extensible Event Kinds
    description: New event kinds and NIPs can be proposed and adopted without coordination from a central authority.
  - name: Censorship Resistance
    description: Relays can refuse content, but they cannot prevent it from existing elsewhere on the network.
  - name: Lightweight Relay Surface
    description: A minimal WebSocket interface keeps the cost of running a relay low enough for hobbyists.
useCases:
  - name: Social Clients
    description: Build mobile, web, or desktop social clients (Damus, Amethyst, Coracle, Yakihonne).
  - name: Long-Form Publishing
    description: Use NIP-23 long-form events for blog-style content and newsletter distribution.
  - name: Private Messaging
    description: Implement encrypted direct messages and group chat using NIP-04, NIP-17, and NIP-44 kinds.
  - name: Lightning Zaps
    description: Layer Lightning Network micropayments on top of Nostr events using NIP-57 zaps.
  - name: Relay Operation
    description: Run a public, private, or paid relay to serve specific communities or content policies.
  - name: Bots and Automation
    description: Build read-only bots, scrapers, and event mirrors with minimal infrastructure.
integrations:
  - name: Damus
  - name: Amethyst
  - name: Coracle
  - name: Yakihonne
  - name: Nostur
  - name: Iris
  - name: strfry
  - name: khatru
  - name: nostream
  - name: Lightning Network
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://nostr.com/
  - type: GitHubOrganization
    url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol
  - type: Specifications
    url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips
  - type: ProtocolReference
    url: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nostr
  - type: AppDirectory
    url: https://nostrapps.com/
  - type: SoftwareDirectory
    url: https://nostr.net/
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://start.njump.me/
  - type: NetworkExplorer
    url: https://nostr.band/
  - type: OriginalEssay
    url: https://fiatjaf.com/nostr.html
  - type: LLMsTxt
    url: https://nostr.com/llms.txt
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com