Migrate private messaging from NIP-04 to NIP-17 #10

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opened 2026-01-01 20:40:30 +00:00 by padreug · 1 comment

padreug commented

2026-01-01 20:40:30 +00:00

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Problem

NIP-04 (the original Nostr direct message scheme) leaks significant metadata:

Recipient's public key is visible in event tags
Makes it possible to infer who is communicating with whom
Uses outdated encryption (AES-256-CBC with non-hashed ECDH key)
No forward secrecy

Solution

Migrate to NIP-17 which combines:

NIP-44 encryption (ChaCha20 with HKDF-derived conversation key)
NIP-59 gift-wrapping to hide the encrypted message inside another event

Privacy benefits of NIP-17:

No metadata leak - Participant identities are hidden
Hidden timestamps - Each message's real date/time is concealed
Hidden event kinds - Event types are obscured
Hidden tags - Other event tags are not visible publicly

References

Future Consideration

For large group messaging, consider NIP-EE (MLS-based) which provides better scalability and forward secrecy, though NIP-17 is sufficient for 1-to-1 and small group conversations.

## Problem NIP-04 (the original Nostr direct message scheme) leaks significant metadata: - Recipient's public key is visible in event tags - Makes it possible to infer who is communicating with whom - Uses outdated encryption (AES-256-CBC with non-hashed ECDH key) - No forward secrecy ## Solution Migrate to **NIP-17** which combines: - **NIP-44** encryption (ChaCha20 with HKDF-derived conversation key) - **NIP-59** gift-wrapping to hide the encrypted message inside another event ### Privacy benefits of NIP-17: - **No metadata leak** - Participant identities are hidden - **Hidden timestamps** - Each message's real date/time is concealed - **Hidden event kinds** - Event types are obscured - **Hidden tags** - Other event tags are not visible publicly ## References - [NIP-17 specification](https://www.e2encrypted.com/nostr/nips/17/) - [NIP-44 PR](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/574) - [NIP-59 improved direct messages](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/351) - [Nostr NIPs repository](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips) ## Future Consideration For large group messaging, consider NIP-EE (MLS-based) which provides better scalability and forward secrecy, though NIP-17 is sufficient for 1-to-1 and small group conversations.

padreug referenced this issue from aiolabs/nostrmarket

2026-01-01 20:43:33 +00:00

Migrate private messaging from NIP-04 to NIP-17 #1

padreug commented

2026-01-01 20:43:49 +00:00

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This also affects aiolabs/nostrmarket which uses private messaging for merchant/customer communication.

Recommended approach: Implement backwards compatibility

Support receiving both NIP-04 (old) and NIP-17 (new) messages
Send new messages using NIP-17
Display a warning when receiving NIP-04 messages indicating the sender is using an outdated/less private protocol

This allows gradual migration without breaking existing conversations.

## Related: nostrmarket This also affects `aiolabs/nostrmarket` which uses private messaging for merchant/customer communication. **Recommended approach:** Implement backwards compatibility - Support receiving both NIP-04 (old) and NIP-17 (new) messages - Send new messages using NIP-17 - Display a warning when receiving NIP-04 messages indicating the sender is using an outdated/less private protocol This allows gradual migration without breaking existing conversations.

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Reference: aiolabs/webapp#10

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