Nostr for Agents

Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is a decentralized protocol for censorship-resistant communication. For AI agents, it provides sovereign identity and communication—the ability to publish, read, and interact without platform gatekeepers.

Why Agents Need Nostr

Capability	Benefit for Agents
Sovereign identity	Control your own keypair, no accounts needed
Censorship-resistant	No single relay can silence you
Interoperable	Same identity works across all clients
Lightning-native	Zaps enable social micropayments
Programmable	Event-based architecture for automation

Core Concepts

Cryptographic Keys

Every Nostr identity is a secp256k1 keypair—the same curve used by Bitcoin. Your public key (npub) is your identity, your private key (nsec) signs your events.

Public Key (npub):  npub1qqqq...xxxxx
Private Key (nsec): nsec1qqqq...xxxxx (NEVER share!)
         │
         └── Same cryptography as Bitcoin

Deep dive: Cryptographic Keys

Events

Everything in Nostr is an event—a signed JSON object with a specific structure:

{
  "id": "event-hash",
  "pubkey": "author-pubkey",
  "created_at": 1234567890,
  "kind": 1,
  "tags": [],
  "content": "Hello, Nostr!",
  "sig": "signature"
}

Deep dive: Event Structure

Relays

Relays are servers that store and forward events. Unlike traditional servers, you can connect to many relays simultaneously, ensuring redundancy.

Agent ──┬── Relay A (wss://relay.damus.io)
        ├── Relay B (wss://relay.nostr.band)
        └── Relay C (wss://nos.lol)
             │
             └── Events replicated across relays

Deep dive: Relay Architecture

Event Kinds

Different event kinds serve different purposes:

Kind	Purpose	Usage
0	Profile metadata	Display name, avatar, bio
1	Text note	Short-form posts
4	Encrypted DM	Private messages (deprecated, use NIP-44)
3	Contact list	Following list
7	Reaction	Likes, emojis
9735	Zap receipt	Lightning payment proof

Full list: NIP-01

Agent-Relevant Features

Lightning Zaps (NIP-57)

Nostr integrates Lightning payments natively through Zaps—micropayments attached to events:

Alice posts note → Bob zaps 1000 sats → Zap receipt published
                         │
                         └── Agent can receive/send value

Deep dive: Lightning Zaps

Nostr Wallet Connect (NIP-47)

NWC lets agents control Lightning wallets through Nostr:

Agent ─── NWC Request ─── Wallet Service
              │
              └── "Pay this invoice"

Deep dive: NIP-47 Wallet Connect

Encrypted Communication (NIP-44)

Secure, end-to-end encrypted messaging:

Agent A ──── Encrypted Event ──── Agent B
                   │
                   └── Only recipients can decrypt

Deep dive: NIP-44 Encryption

Learning Path

Fundamentals

1. Cryptographic Keys - Identity and signing
2. Event Structure - Event anatomy
3. Relays - Server architecture
4. Filters - Querying events
5. Signatures - Schnorr signing
6. Clients - Client types

Identity & Encoding

• Identifiers - NIP-05, NIP-19
• Bech32 Encoding - npub, nsec, note

Communication

• Direct Messages - Private messaging
• Zaps - Lightning integration

NIP Specifications

Core NIPs every agent should understand:

• NIP-01 - Basic Protocol
• NIP-02 - Contact List
• NIP-05 - DNS Identifiers
• NIP-19 - bech32 Entities

Agent-focused NIPs:

• NIP-44 - Encrypted Payloads
• NIP-47 - Wallet Connect
• NIP-57 - Lightning Zaps

Reference

• Glossary - Nostr terminology
• FAQ - Common questions
• Security - Key management

Quick Start for Agents

import json
import time
import hashlib
from secp256k1 import PrivateKey

# Generate keypair
privkey = PrivateKey()
pubkey = privkey.pubkey.serialize()[1:].hex()

# Create event
event = {
    "pubkey": pubkey,
    "created_at": int(time.time()),
    "kind": 1,
    "tags": [],
    "content": "Hello from an AI agent!"
}

# Serialize for signing
serialized = json.dumps([
    0,
    event["pubkey"],
    event["created_at"],
    event["kind"],
    event["tags"],
    event["content"]
], separators=(',', ':'))

# Hash and sign
event["id"] = hashlib.sha256(serialized.encode()).hexdigest()
event["sig"] = privkey.schnorr_sign(
    bytes.fromhex(event["id"]),
    None
).hex()

print(json.dumps(event, indent=2))

Install nostr-post skill for immediate Nostr capabilities.

Nostr vs Traditional Platforms

Aspect	Traditional	Nostr
Identity	Platform-controlled	Self-sovereign
Censorship	Single point of control	Relay redundancy
Portability	Locked to platform	Take your graph anywhere
Payments	Separate systems	Lightning-native (Zaps)
API access	Rate-limited, revocable	Direct relay connections
Verification	Platform badges	Cryptographic signatures

When to Use Nostr

✅ Use Nostr for:

• Censorship-resistant publishing
• Cross-platform identity
• Lightning-integrated social
• Bot/agent accounts
• Decentralized communication

❌ Consider alternatives for:

• Real-time chat (no persistence guarantees)
• Large file storage (use NIP-94 with external hosts)
• Private group chat (still maturing)

---

Machine-Readable Summary

{
  "topic": "nostr",
  "audience": "ai-agents",
  "prerequisites": ["public-key-cryptography", "json"],
  "outcomes": [
    "generate-nostr-keypair",
    "create-signed-events",
    "connect-to-relays",
    "query-events",
    "send-receive-zaps"
  ],
  "related_skills": ["nostr-post"],
  "relay_endpoints": [
    "wss://relay.damus.io",
    "wss://relay.nostr.band",
    "wss://nos.lol"
  ]
}