feat(pairing): default seed relay to the nostrclient endpoint + validate relays

Two robustness fixes for on-machine pairing (bitspire-#70), after a QR scan
silently corrupted a seed's relay (ws://→As://) and crash-looped a machine on
an unreachable relay:

- Default relays: when the operator omits `relays`, derive the seed's relay from
  THIS lnbits' own nostrclient proxy endpoint — `<ws(s)>://<host>/nostrclient/api/v1/relay`,
  built from `lnbits_baseurl` (default_relay_endpoint). Operators configure
  upstream relays once in the nostrclient extension (public_ws must be on) and
  every seed points at one stable, operator-independent URL. `relays` is now
  optional on PairMachineData + the /pair endpoint.
- Validate every relay (+ bunker_relay) is a `ws://`/`wss://` URL AND reject
  loopback hosts (localhost/127.0.0.1/::1/0.0.0.0) — a seed is redeemed by a
  REMOTE machine, so a localhost relay is exactly the unreachable case. Catches
  both the ws://→As:// corruption and the localhost /pair gotcha at mint time.

Consumer side (bitspire): parseSpireSeed rejects non-ws relays, and the wizard
gained a "test relay" reachability button before committing.

223 tests pass.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

models.py

@@ -94,10 +94,12 @@ class PairMachineData(BaseModel):
     the relay lnbits uses to reach the bunker differs from the one the spire
     must reach — e.g. an internal docker hostname (`ws://lnbits:5001/…`) vs a
     LAN/public URL (`ws://192.168.0.32:5001/…`), or any split-relay deploy.
-    `duration_hours` optionally time-bounds the spire's connect token
+    `relays` is optional: when omitted it defaults to this lnbits' nostrclient
-    (None = non-expiring)."""
+    proxy endpoint (derived from `lnbits_baseurl`), so the operator needn't
+    supply one (bitspire#70). `duration_hours` optionally time-bounds the
+    spire's connect token (None = non-expiring)."""
 
-    relays: list[str]
+    relays: list[str] | None = None
     bunker_relay: str | None = None
     duration_hours: int | None = None
 

pairing.py

@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import base64
 import json
-from urllib.parse import quote
+import re
+from urllib.parse import quote, urlparse
 
 from lnbits.core.services.nsec_bunker import (
     NsecBunkerAdminClient,
@@ -172,10 +173,49 @@ def build_seed_url(
     return SEED_URL_SCHEME + blob
 
 
+_WS_SCHEME_RE = re.compile(r"^wss?://", re.IGNORECASE)
+_LOCAL_HOSTS = {"localhost", "127.0.0.1", "::1", "0.0.0.0"}
+
+# The nostrclient extension serves a public relay-multiplexer websocket at this
+# path (see nostrclient/views_api.py `ws_relay`, gated by config.public_ws).
+NOSTRCLIENT_RELAY_PATH = "/nostrclient/api/v1/relay"
+
+
+def default_relay_endpoint() -> str | None:
+    """Derive the machine-facing relay from THIS lnbits' own nostrclient proxy
+    endpoint, so operators configure upstream relays once in the nostrclient
+    extension and every seed points at one stable URL (bitspire#70). Built from
+    `settings.lnbits_baseurl` (http→ws, https→wss). Returns None when the base
+    URL is unset. Requires the nostrclient extension's `public_ws` to be on."""
+    base = (settings.lnbits_baseurl or "").strip().rstrip("/")
+    if not base:
+        return None
+    if base.startswith("https://"):
+        base = "wss://" + base[len("https://") :]
+    elif base.startswith("http://"):
+        base = "ws://" + base[len("http://") :]
+    return base + NOSTRCLIENT_RELAY_PATH
+
+
+def _validate_relay(url: str, field: str) -> None:
+    """A seed relay must be a `ws(s)://` URL reachable by a REMOTE machine. Reject
+    loopback hosts: a localhost relay in a seed is the exact unreachable case
+    that silently crash-loops pairing (bitspire#70)."""
+    if not isinstance(url, str) or not _WS_SCHEME_RE.match(url):
+        raise PairingError(f"{field} must be a ws:// or wss:// URL (got {url!r})")
+    host = (urlparse(url).hostname or "").lower()
+    if host in _LOCAL_HOSTS or host.endswith(".localhost"):
+        raise PairingError(
+            f"{field} points at localhost ({url!r}). A pairing seed is redeemed by "
+            "a REMOTE machine — set lnbits_baseurl (and any explicit relay) to a "
+            "machine-reachable address."
+        )
+
+
 async def pair_spire(
     machine: Machine,
     *,
-    relays: list[str],
+    relays: list[str] | None = None,
     admin_client: NsecBunkerAdminClient,
     bunker_relay: str | None = None,
     keystore_passphrase: str | None = None,
@@ -199,10 +239,14 @@ async def pair_spire(
     with a fake client.
 
     `relays` are the relays the spire uses for its *own* events
-    (kind-21000/30078) — typically the operator's public nostrrelay; supplied by
+    (kind-21000/30078). When omitted, they default to this lnbits' nostrclient
-    the API layer. `bunker_relay` (the relay baked into `bunker_url`, where the
+    proxy endpoint (`default_relay_endpoint`, derived from `lnbits_baseurl`) so
-    spire reaches the bunker) defaults to `relays[0]`; `keystore_passphrase`
+    operators configure upstream relays once in the extension and every seed
-    defaults to the lnbits bunker setting. Both injectable for tests.
+    points at one stable URL. Every relay (and `bunker_relay`) is validated as a
+    remote-reachable `ws(s)://` URL — a loopback host is rejected (bitspire#70).
+    `bunker_relay` (the relay baked into `bunker_url`, where the spire reaches
+    the bunker) defaults to `relays[0]`; `keystore_passphrase` defaults to the
+    lnbits bunker setting. All injectable for tests.
 
     Raises PairingError on any bunker failure; no state is persisted here
     (the API layer persists on success).
@@ -217,15 +261,27 @@ async def pair_spire(
             "LNBITS_NSEC_BUNKER_KEYSTORE_PASSPHRASE is not set — "
             "cannot mint a spire key"
         )
+    # Default the spire's event relay(s) to this lnbits' nostrclient proxy
+    # endpoint when the caller gives none.
     if not relays:
-        raise PairingError("at least one relay is required for the seed URL")
+        endpoint = default_relay_endpoint()
-    # The relay baked into `bunker_url` is where the *spire* (the remote ATM)
+        if not endpoint:
-    # reaches the bunker, so it must be a machine-reachable public URL — NOT
+            raise PairingError(
-    # `settings.lnbits_nsec_bunker_url`, which is how the co-located lnbits
+                "no relays given and lnbits_baseurl is unset — cannot derive the "
-    # reaches the bunker (typically ws://127.0.0.1, unreachable from the ATM —
+                "nostrclient relay endpoint for the seed"
-    # the localhost-relay /pair gotcha bitspire flagged). Default to the spire's
+            )
-    # own event relay (the bunker lives on the same operator relay the spire
+        relays = [endpoint]
-    # publishes to); an explicit `bunker_relay` overrides for split-relay deploys.
+
+    # Validate every relay is a remote-reachable ws(s):// URL (rejects loopback +
+    # the ws://→As:// class of corruption). The bunker relay is validated too:
+    # it's baked into `bunker_url` where the *spire* (remote ATM) reaches the
+    # bunker, so it must be machine-reachable — NOT `settings.lnbits_nsec_bunker_url`
+    # (the co-located ws://127.0.0.1 path). Default it to the spire's own event
+    # relay; an explicit `bunker_relay` overrides for split-relay deploys.
+    for i, r in enumerate(relays):
+        _validate_relay(r, f"relays[{i}]")
+    if bunker_relay:
+        _validate_relay(bunker_relay, "bunker_relay")
     relay = bunker_relay if bunker_relay else relays[0]
 
     key_name = spire_key_name(machine.id)

tests/test_pair_endpoint.py

@@ -113,11 +113,12 @@ def test_pair_persists_hex_npub_and_returns_seed(monkeypatch):
     assert state["persisted"] == ("m1", _SPIRE_HEX, "spire-m1")
 
 
-def test_pair_empty_relays_rejected(monkeypatch):
+def test_pair_empty_relays_accepted(monkeypatch):
+    # Empty/omitted relays are no longer a 400 — pair_spire defaults them to the
+    # nostrclient endpoint (and validates), so the endpoint passes them through.
     _wire(monkeypatch)
-    with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as ei:
+    result = _call([])
-        _call([])
+    assert result.seed_url == "spire-seed:v1:abc"
-    assert ei.value.status_code == 400
 
 
 def test_pair_failure_maps_to_bad_gateway(monkeypatch):

tests/test_pairing.py

@@ -28,11 +28,15 @@ from ..pairing import (
     SPIRE_POLICY_RULES,
     PairingError,
     build_seed_url,
+    default_relay_endpoint,
     pair_spire,
     revoke_spire,
     spire_key_name,
 )
 
+_BASEURL = "https://lnbits.example.com/"
+_NOSTRCLIENT_ENDPOINT = "wss://lnbits.example.com/nostrclient/api/v1/relay"
+
 _NOW = datetime(2026, 6, 16, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
 _SPIRE_HEX = "522a4538f1df96508d9ee8b14072344dd4a566acfe03c25a92a39179c6fca891"
 _SPIRE_NPUB = hex_to_npub(_SPIRE_HEX)
@@ -48,9 +52,12 @@ def _set_transport_pubkey():
     # pair_spire reads this lnbits' nostr-transport server pubkey to embed
     # lnbits_npub in the seed (bitspire#70). Set it for every test; restore after.
     prev = settings.nostr_transport_public_key
+    prev_base = settings.lnbits_baseurl
     settings.nostr_transport_public_key = _LNBITS_HEX
+    settings.lnbits_baseurl = _BASEURL
     yield
     settings.nostr_transport_public_key = prev
+    settings.lnbits_baseurl = prev_base
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
@@ -263,7 +270,7 @@ def test_bunker_relay_defaults_to_spire_event_relay():
         assert "127.0.0.1" not in result.bunker_url
 
 
-def test_missing_relay_or_passphrase_raises():
+def test_missing_passphrase_raises():
     with pytest.raises(PairingError, match="PASSPHRASE"):
         asyncio.run(
             pair_spire(
@@ -274,13 +281,63 @@ def test_missing_relay_or_passphrase_raises():
                 keystore_passphrase="",
             )
         )
-    with pytest.raises(PairingError, match="relay is required"):
+
+
+def test_relays_default_to_nostrclient_endpoint():
+    # No relays given → derived from lnbits_baseurl → nostrclient proxy endpoint.
+    result = asyncio.run(
+        pair_spire(
+            _machine(),
+            admin_client=FakeBunker(token_secret="s"),  # pragma: allowlist secret
+            keystore_passphrase=_PASSPHRASE,
+        )
+    )
+    assert _decode_seed(result.seed_url)["relays"] == [_NOSTRCLIENT_ENDPOINT]
+
+
+def test_default_relay_endpoint_scheme_map():
+    prev = settings.lnbits_baseurl
+    try:
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = "http://192.168.0.32:5001"
+        assert default_relay_endpoint() == "ws://192.168.0.32:5001/nostrclient/api/v1/relay"
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = "https://lnbits.example.com/"
+        assert default_relay_endpoint() == _NOSTRCLIENT_ENDPOINT
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = ""
+        assert default_relay_endpoint() is None
+    finally:
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = prev
+
+
+def test_no_relays_and_no_baseurl_raises():
+    prev = settings.lnbits_baseurl
+    try:
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = ""
+        with pytest.raises(PairingError, match="cannot derive"):
+            asyncio.run(
+                pair_spire(
+                    _machine(), admin_client=FakeBunker(), keystore_passphrase=_PASSPHRASE
+                )
+            )
+    finally:
+        settings.lnbits_baseurl = prev
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "bad_relay, match",
+    [
+        ("As://192.168.0.32:5001/x", "ws://"),  # QR misread ws://→As://
+        ("http://192.168.0.32:5001/x", "ws://"),
+        ("ws://localhost:5001/nostrrelay/test", "localhost"),
+        ("ws://127.0.0.1:5001/nostrrelay/test", "localhost"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_rejects_bad_relay(bad_relay, match):
+    with pytest.raises(PairingError, match=match):
         asyncio.run(
             pair_spire(
                 _machine(),
-                relays=[],
+                relays=[bad_relay],
                 admin_client=FakeBunker(),
-                bunker_relay=_BUNKER_RELAY,
                 keystore_passphrase=_PASSPHRASE,
             )
         )

views_api.py

@@ -315,8 +315,8 @@ async def api_pair_machine(
     `duration_hours` (optional) time-bounds the token; revoke via the
     sibling `POST .../revoke` endpoint."""
     machine = await _machine_owned_by(machine_id, user.id)
-    if not data.relays:
+    # relays may be omitted — pair_spire defaults to this lnbits' nostrclient
-        raise HTTPException(HTTPStatus.BAD_REQUEST, "at least one relay is required")
+    # proxy endpoint and validates reachability (raises PairingError → 502).
 
     try:
         async with NsecBunkerAdminClient.from_settings() as client: