How Nostr Works (Simplified)

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Jul 31, 2025

Nostr in plain English — how this decentralized protocol will change social media

1. Your “username” is a public key, nothing more

When you join Nostr you don’t fill out a signup form.
Instead, an app (called a client) generates two long strings of characters:
- Public key — share it ; people “follow” this the way they’d follow @handle on Twitter (clients let you create a true handle too btw).
- Private key — keep it secret ; it proves you’re really you (can just save it in the browser).
Think of the public key as your mailbox address and the private key as the only stamp that’s accepted.

2. You write a note (a post), the client signs it locally

You open the app and type a post (Nostr calls it a note).
Before the note goes anywhere, the app uses your private key to sign it.
- That signature is a tamper-proof seal; if the content changes by even one character the signature breaks.

3. The client (an app) pushes the signed note to one or more relays (a server)

Relays are just lightweight web servers that speak WebSockets.
They don’t judge, rank, or rewrite content. They merely:
- Accept signed notes.
- Store them (if they choose; storage is optional).
- Relay them to anyone who asks.
Your app can send the same note to many relays (dotted arrows in the drawing). Each relay is another megaphone.

A follower’s app opens a WebSocket to the same relay(s) and says, “Give me everything from these public keys.”
The relay streams matching notes in real time.
Because the note carries its own signature, the follower’s app can verify on the spot that it was really written by the owner of the public key and hasn’t been altered.

5. Why this matters

Feature	Real-world benefit
No central server	If one relay goes down, users simply read/write through others.
Bring-your-own client	Mobile app, desktop app, command line — choose any interface you like.
Ownership of identity	Lose a laptop? Generate a new key-pair; no company can lock your handle.
Censorship resistance	A relay can refuse to host something, but it can’t stop you from reposting elsewhere.
Composable extensions	Direct messages, marketplaces, and other features are just new “kinds” of notes that existing relays can already pass around.

6. What Nostr is not

It’s not blockchain. Relays don’t mine blocks; they’re closer to chat servers.
It’s not federated like e-mail. Relays don’t talk to one another automatically; your client is the hub that decides where to send and fetch.
It’s not an app. It’s a protocol — the rules any app can follow to publish and subscribe (clients are the apps, and the only thing most people will be aware of).

7. Quick recap in one sentence

You (via a client) sign a note with your private key and blast it to one or more public relays; other clients can then pull that note from those relays, verify the signature, and display it — no central authority required.

That’s the entire Nostr loop. Simple, but powerful enough to build global social feeds, group chats, or whatever comes next.

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How Nostr Works (Simplified)

Nostr in plain English — how this decentralized protocol will change social media

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1. Your “username” is a public key, nothing more

When you join Nostr you don’t fill out a signup form.
Instead, an app (called a client) generates two long strings of characters:
- Public key — share it ; people “follow” this the way they’d follow @handle on Twitter (clients let you create a true handle too btw).
- Private key — keep it secret ; it proves you’re really you (can just save it in the browser).
Think of the public key as your mailbox address and the private key as the only stamp that’s accepted.

2. You write a note (a post), the client signs it locally

You open the app and type a post (Nostr calls it a note).
Before the note goes anywhere, the app uses your private key to sign it.
- That signature is a tamper-proof seal; if the content changes by even one character the signature breaks.

3. The client (an app) pushes the signed note to one or more relays (a server)

Relays are just lightweight web servers that speak WebSockets.
They don’t judge, rank, or rewrite content. They merely:
- Accept signed notes.
- Store them (if they choose; storage is optional).
- Relay them to anyone who asks.
Your app can send the same note to many relays (dotted arrows in the drawing). Each relay is another megaphone.

A follower’s app opens a WebSocket to the same relay(s) and says, “Give me everything from these public keys.”
The relay streams matching notes in real time.
Because the note carries its own signature, the follower’s app can verify on the spot that it was really written by the owner of the public key and hasn’t been altered.

5. Why this matters

Feature	Real-world benefit
No central server	If one relay goes down, users simply read/write through others.
Bring-your-own client	Mobile app, desktop app, command line — choose any interface you like.
Ownership of identity	Lose a laptop? Generate a new key-pair; no company can lock your handle.
Censorship resistance	A relay can refuse to host something, but it can’t stop you from reposting elsewhere.
Composable extensions	Direct messages, marketplaces, and other features are just new “kinds” of notes that existing relays can already pass around.

6. What Nostr is not

It’s not blockchain. Relays don’t mine blocks; they’re closer to chat servers.
It’s not federated like e-mail. Relays don’t talk to one another automatically; your client is the hub that decides where to send and fetch.
It’s not an app. It’s a protocol — the rules any app can follow to publish and subscribe (clients are the apps, and the only thing most people will be aware of).

7. Quick recap in one sentence

That’s the entire Nostr loop. Simple, but powerful enough to build global social feeds, group chats, or whatever comes next.

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