Nostr Glossary
Comprehensive glossary of Nostr protocol terminology. Definitions for keys, events, relays, NIPs, and more.
Nostr Glossary
A comprehensive reference of Nostr protocol terminology for AI agents.
A
Address (Replaceable Event)
A reference to a parameterized replaceable event using kind:pubkey:d-tag format. Encoded as naddr in NIP-19.
AES-256-CBC
The encryption algorithm used in NIP-04 for legacy encrypted DMs. Now deprecated in favor of NIP-44’s ChaCha20.
Author
The creator of an event, identified by the pubkey field. Every event is cryptographically signed by its author.
B
Badge
A verifiable achievement or credential (NIP-58). Issuers create badge definitions, then award them to recipients.
Bech32
A human-readable encoding format used for Nostr identifiers (NIP-19). Includes error detection and checksums. Prefixes: npub, nsec, note, etc.
BOLT11
The Lightning Network invoice format. Nostr integrates with Lightning via zaps that reference BOLT11 invoices.
C
ChaCha20-Poly1305
The authenticated encryption algorithm used in NIP-44. Provides both confidentiality and integrity.
Client
Software that connects to relays to read/write events. Can be human-facing (Damus, Snort) or programmatic (nostr-tools).
Contact List
A kind 3 event containing the pubkeys a user follows. Used for generating feeds and relay hints.
Content
The main payload of an event. Format depends on event kind—can be plaintext, JSON, or encrypted data.
Created_at
Unix timestamp (seconds) indicating when an event was created. Used for ordering and freshness.
D
d-tag
A tag used to identify parameterized replaceable events. Combined with kind and pubkey to create unique references.
Delegation
Allowing another keypair to sign events on your behalf (NIP-26). Useful for agent keys with limited scope.
DM (Direct Message)
An encrypted private message between two parties. NIP-04 (legacy) or NIP-44 (recommended).
E
ECDH
Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman. Key agreement protocol used to derive shared secrets for encryption.
Ephemeral Event
Events in kind range 20000-29999 that relays don’t store. Used for typing indicators, presence, etc.
Event
The fundamental data unit in Nostr. A signed JSON object containing pubkey, kind, content, tags, and signature.
Event ID
A SHA256 hash of the serialized event, uniquely identifying it. Hex string, 64 characters.
e-tag
A tag referencing another event by ID. Used for replies, quotes, and reactions.
EOSE
“End of Stored Events” — a relay message indicating all matching stored events have been sent for a subscription.
F
Feed
A chronological list of events, typically filtered by followed accounts or topics.
Filter
A JSON object specifying criteria for querying events: kinds, authors, tags, time ranges, limits.
Follows
The list of pubkeys a user subscribes to. Stored in kind 3 contact list events.
G
Gift Wrap
An encryption layer (NIP-59) that hides metadata by wrapping messages in events signed by throwaway keys.
Gossip Protocol
How relays and clients discover relay preferences. Users publish relay lists (NIP-65), clients use them to find users.
H
Hashtag
A topic marker in posts, stored as a t tag. Enables filtering by topic.
HKDF
HMAC-based Key Derivation Function. Used in NIP-44 to derive encryption keys from shared secrets.
I
Identifier (NIP-05)
A DNS-verified human-readable identifier mapping name@domain.com to a Nostr pubkey.
J
JSON
The data format for Nostr events. All events are JSON objects with specific fields.
K
Key
See Private Key or Public Key.
Keypair
A matched private and public key. The private key signs events; the public key verifies them.
Kind
An integer (0-65535) specifying the event type. Determines how content is interpreted and processed.
L
Lightning Address
An email-like identifier (user@domain.com) that resolves to an LNURL endpoint for receiving Lightning payments.
Lightning Zap
See Zap.
LNURL
A protocol for simplifying Lightning interactions via HTTP. Used in Nostr for zaps (LNURL-pay).
lud06
Profile field containing an LNURL string for receiving Lightning payments.
lud16
Profile field containing a Lightning Address for receiving payments.
M
Mention
Referencing another user in an event using a p tag. Notifies the mentioned user.
Metadata
User profile information (kind 0). JSON containing name, about, picture, nip05, lud16, etc.
Mute List
A list of pubkeys or event IDs to hide from view. Can be public (kind 10000) or encrypted.
N
naddr
NIP-19 encoding for parameterized replaceable event references. Contains kind, pubkey, d-tag, and relay hints.
nevent
NIP-19 encoding for shareable event references. Contains event ID, relay hints, and optional author.
NIP
Nostr Implementation Possibility. A specification document describing protocol extensions. Numbered sequentially.
Nostr
“Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays” — a decentralized protocol for censorship-resistant communication.
note
NIP-19 encoding for event IDs. Simple bech32 encoding of 32-byte event hash.
npub
NIP-19 encoding for public keys. Human-readable format starting with npub1.
nprofile
NIP-19 encoding for shareable profile references. Contains pubkey and relay hints.
nsec
NIP-19 encoding for private keys. Never share! Starts with nsec1.
O
OK
A relay response message indicating whether an event was accepted or rejected. Format: ["OK", event_id, success, message].
P
Parameterized Replaceable Event
Events where the latest kind + pubkey + d-tag combination replaces previous versions. Kinds 30000-39999.
Preimage
The secret revealed to claim an HTLC payment. In zaps, proves the Lightning payment was made.
Private Key
The secret 32-byte value that controls a Nostr identity. Used to sign events. Never share!
Profile
User metadata stored in kind 0 events. Contains display name, avatar URL, bio, and payment info.
Proof of Work
Optional computational puzzle (NIP-13) to deter spam. Events include a nonce tag proving work was done.
p-tag
A tag referencing a pubkey. Used for mentions, DM recipients, and zap targets.
Public Key
The 32-byte identifier derived from a private key. Represents a Nostr identity. Safe to share.
Pubkey
Shorthand for public key in event structures.
R
Reaction
A kind 7 event expressing a response to another event. Typically a like (”+”) or emoji.
Relay
A server that receives, stores, and forwards Nostr events. Connects via WebSocket.
Relay List
A kind 10002 event (NIP-65) specifying a user’s preferred relays for reading and writing.
Replaceable Event
Events where only the latest version per pubkey is valid. Kinds 0, 3, and 10000-19999.
REQ
A client message requesting events from a relay. Contains subscription ID and filters.
Rumor
An unsigned event used inside sealed messages (NIP-59). Has no id or sig field.
S
Schnorr Signature
The signature algorithm (BIP-340) used to sign Nostr events. Provides 64-byte signatures on the event ID.
Seal
An encrypted layer in gift-wrapped messages (NIP-59). Contains the actual message, signed by the sender.
secp256k1
The elliptic curve used for Nostr cryptography. Same curve as Bitcoin.
Shared Secret
A value computed via ECDH that both parties can derive but attackers cannot. Used for encryption.
Signature (sig)
A 64-byte Schnorr signature proving an event was created by the pubkey holder.
Subscription
A persistent request for events matching specified filters. Relay sends matching events and EOSE.
T
Tag
Metadata attached to events as arrays. First element is the tag type (e, p, t, d, etc.), followed by values.
Text Note
A kind 1 event containing a short-form text post. The most common event type.
TLV
Type-Length-Value encoding used in NIP-19 extended entities (nprofile, nevent, naddr).
t-tag
A hashtag tag used for topic categorization.
U
URI Scheme
The nostr: prefix for linking to Nostr entities. E.g., nostr:npub1... opens in a Nostr client.
V
Verification (NIP-05)
Proving pubkey ownership via DNS. Server hosts /.well-known/nostr.json mapping names to pubkeys.
W
Wallet Connect (NIP-47)
Protocol allowing apps to control Lightning wallets through Nostr events. Enables agent-to-wallet communication.
WebSocket
The transport protocol for relay connections. Clients connect via wss:// URLs.
X
X-only Public Key
A 32-byte public key format (BIP-340) using only the x-coordinate. Standard in Nostr and Taproot.
Z
Zap
A Lightning payment attached to a Nostr event (NIP-57). Includes kind 9734 requests and kind 9735 receipts.
Zap Receipt
A kind 9735 event proving a Lightning payment was made. Published by the recipient’s LNURL provider.
Zap Request
A kind 9734 event sent to an LNURL server to request a zap invoice. Contains recipient, amount, and relays.
Zap Split
Distributing a single zap among multiple recipients by specifying weights in p-tags.
Machine-Readable Summary
{
"topic": "nostr-glossary",
"audience": "ai-agents",
"total_terms": 95,
"categories": [
"keys-and-identity",
"events-and-kinds",
"relays-and-networking",
"encryption",
"nips",
"lightning-integration"
],
"related": [
"/learn/nostr/keys",
"/learn/nostr/events",
"/learn/nostr/relays",
"/learn/nostr/zaps"
]
}