NostrElixir

A complete Elixir wrapper for the nostr Rust library, built with Rustler for high performance.

Requirements

This package compiles a native NIF. You need:

Elixir 1.14+ (and a compatible OTP)
A Rust toolchain (rustc and cargo), for example via rustup

def deps do
  [{:nostr_elixir, "~> 0.45.4"}]
end

Modular API Structure

NostrElixir is organized into logical modules for clarity and maintainability:

NostrElixir.Keys – Key management (generation, parsing, conversions)
NostrElixir.Nip19 – NIP-19 encoding/decoding
NostrElixir.Nip19.Address – NIP-19 TLV entities (naddr, nevent, nprofile)
NostrElixir.Event – Event creation, signing, verification, helpers
NostrElixir.Filter – Filter creation and helpers
NostrElixir.Nip02 – Follow list events (NIP-02)
NostrElixir.Nip04 – Encrypted DMs (NIP-04)
NostrElixir.Nip06 – HD wallet derivation (NIP-06)
NostrElixir.Nip09 – Deletion events (NIP-09)
NostrElixir.Nip10 – Threading and text note helpers (NIP-10)
NostrElixir.Nip17 – Private DMs (kind 4 events)
NostrElixir.Nip23 – Long-form content (NIP-23)
NostrElixir.Nip44 – Encrypted DMs v2 (NIP-44)
NostrElixir.Nip57 – Zaps (NIP-57)
NostrElixir.Nip65 – Relay list metadata (NIP-65)
NostrElixir.Mnemonic – Mnemonic generation and seed conversion (helpers for NIP-06)

The root NostrElixir module provides a facade for common operations, but direct use of submodules is recommended for clarity and maintainability.

Usage Examples

Key Management

alias NostrElixir.Keys

# Generate a new keypair
keys = Keys.generate_keypair()
# %{public_key: ..., secret_key: ..., npub: ..., nsec: ...}

# Parse a secret key
parsed = Keys.parse_keypair(keys.nsec)

# Convert keys
npub = Keys.public_key_to_bech32(parsed.public_key)
nsec = Keys.secret_key_to_bech32(parsed.secret_key)

NIP-19 Encoding/Decoding

alias NostrElixir.Nip19

npub = Nip19.encode("npub", "eec7245d6b7d2ccb30380bfbe2a3648cd7a942653f5aa340edcea1f283686619")
result = Nip19.decode_map(npub)
# %{data_type: "npub", data: ...}

NIP-04 Encrypted Direct Messages

alias NostrElixir.Nip04
alias NostrElixir.Keys

sender = Keys.generate_keypair()
receiver = Keys.generate_keypair()

ciphertext = Nip04.encrypt(sender.secret_key, receiver.public_key, "hello")
plaintext = Nip04.decrypt(receiver.secret_key, sender.public_key, ciphertext)
# "hello"

NIP-44 Encrypted Direct Messages v2

alias NostrElixir.Nip44
alias NostrElixir.Keys

sender = Keys.generate_keypair()
receiver = Keys.generate_keypair()

ciphertext = Nip44.encrypt(sender.secret_key, receiver.public_key, "hello")
plaintext = Nip44.decrypt(receiver.secret_key, sender.public_key, ciphertext)
# "hello"

Event Creation, Signing, and Verification

alias NostrElixir.{Keys, Event}

keys = Keys.generate_keypair()
event_json = Event.new(keys.public_key, "Hello, Nostr!", 1, [])
signed_event_json = Event.sign(event_json, keys.secret_key)
verified = Event.verify(signed_event_json) # true

Filter Creation and Helpers

alias NostrElixir.Filter

# Create a filter for fetching text notes (kind 1) by a user
filter_json = Filter.user_notes_filter("eec7245d6b7d2ccb30380bfbe2a3648cd7a942653f5aa340edcea1f283686619")
filter = Jason.decode!(filter_json)
# filter["authors"] == ["..."]

# Create a filter for fetching a user's follow list (kind 3)
follow_list_filter_json = Filter.user_follow_list_filter("eec7245d6b7d2ccb30380bfbe2a3648cd7a942653f5aa340edcea1f283686619")
follow_list_filter = Jason.decode!(follow_list_filter_json)
# follow_list_filter["kinds"] == [3]

# Hashtag search
filter_json = Filter.search_hashtag("nostr")

Backward Compatibility

The root NostrElixir module still provides delegates for the most common operations, so existing code will continue to work. However, for new code, it is recommended to use the submodules directly.

Features

Key Management: Generate, parse, and convert keys
NIP-19: Encode/decode bech32 addresses (npub/nsec/note and TLV naddr/nevent/nprofile)
Event Management: Create, sign, verify, and serialize events
Filter Management: Create filters for querying events
Built on rust-nostr nostr 0.45.4 (package version kept in sync)

See CHANGELOG.md for breaking changes.

Roadmap

[ ] Async event signing support (if/when needed)
[ ] Full event verification implementation (if nostr Rust API changes)
[ ] Relay connection management
[ ] Event subscription handling
[ ] More convenience functions for common nostr operations

License

MIT

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