Nostr NIPs Reference: Every Nostr Implementation Possibility (Data + API)

A machine-readable index of every Nostr NIP — number, title, status and a plain-English summary.

Quick answer

NIPs (Nostr Implementation Possibilities) are the specification documents that keep the decentralized Nostr protocol interoperable — the equivalent of Bitcoin's BIPs. This reference indexes 94 of them with their status and a plain-English summary; 13 are marked deprecated. Core ones to know: NIP-01 (protocol basics), NIP-05 (human-readable names), NIP-19 (npub/nsec), NIP-57 (Lightning Zaps).

A quick map of the Nostr spec surface — free to download (CSV/JSON) under CC BY 4.0. Always confirm against the nostr-protocol/nips repo before building.

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NIP	Title	Status	What it does
NIP-01	Basic protocol flow description	Final	Core protocol: event format, signatures, kind 0 metadata, and client-relay messages.
NIP-02	Follow List	Unknown	Defines the contact/follow list event listing pubkeys a user follows.
NIP-03	OpenTimestamps Attestations for Events	Deprecated	Attaches OpenTimestamps proofs to events; unrecommended (vulnerable to one attack, needs update).
NIP-04	Encrypted Direct Message	Deprecated	Legacy encrypted DMs; deprecated in favor of NIP-17 private direct messages.
NIP-05	Mapping Nostr keys to DNS-based internet identifiers	Unknown	Maps a pubkey to a human-readable name@domain identifier via a DNS/HTTP well-known file.
NIP-06	Basic key derivation from mnemonic seed phrase	Deprecated	Derives Nostr keys from a BIP39 mnemonic; unrecommended (prefer a single nsec).
NIP-07	window.nostr capability for web browsers	Unknown	Browser extension API exposing signing and pubkey access to web clients without raw keys.
NIP-08	Handling Mentions	Deprecated	Legacy #[index] mention convention; deprecated in favor of NIP-27 text references.
NIP-09	Event Deletion Request	Unknown	Lets a user request deletion of their previously published events.
NIP-10	Text Notes and Threads	Unknown	Conventions for e/p tags in kind 1 notes to build reply threads and mentions.
NIP-11	Relay Information Document	Unknown	JSON document served by a relay describing its capabilities, limits, and policies.
NIP-13	Proof of Work	Unknown	Adds computational proof-of-work to event IDs via a nonce tag and difficulty target.
NIP-14	Subject tag in text events	Unknown	Adds a 'subject' tag to notes for email-style thread subjects.
NIP-15	Nostr Marketplace (for resilient marketplaces)	Deprecated	Marketplace stalls, products, and auctions; unrecommended (too complicated, try NIP-99).
NIP-17	Private Direct Messages	Unknown	Private DMs using NIP-44 encryption wrapped in NIP-59 gift wraps; replaces NIP-04.
NIP-18	Reposts	Unknown	Defines repost and generic-repost events for re-sharing other events.
NIP-19	bech32-encoded entities	Unknown	bech32 encodings (npub, nsec, note, nprofile, nevent, naddr) for keys and references.
NIP-21	nostr: URI scheme	Unknown	Defines the nostr: URI scheme for linking to NIP-19 entities.
NIP-22	Comment	Unknown	Generic threaded comment event that can reply to any addressable content.
NIP-23	Long-form Content	Unknown	Markdown long-form articles as addressable events, with draft variant.
NIP-24	Extra metadata fields and tags	Unknown	Optional extra profile metadata fields and miscellaneous tag conventions.
NIP-25	Reactions	Unknown	Like/emoji reaction events referencing another event, plus website reactions.
NIP-26	Delegated Event Signing	Deprecated	Lets one key delegate signing to another; unrecommended (unnecessary burden for little gain).
NIP-27	Text Note References	Unknown	Inline nostr: references inside note content, replacing NIP-08 mentions.
NIP-28	Public Chat	Deprecated	Public chat channels and messages; unrecommended (try NIP-29 instead).
NIP-29	Relay-based Groups	Unknown	Relay-managed groups with membership, moderation, and metadata events.
NIP-30	Custom Emoji	Unknown	Defines custom emoji tags and emoji sets for use in content.
NIP-31	Dealing with Unknown Events	Deprecated	'alt' tag describing unknown event kinds for clients; unrecommended (unnecessarily bloated).
NIP-32	Labeling	Unknown	Label events and tags for categorizing or annotating people, events, and content.
NIP-34	git stuff	Unknown	Git repositories, patches, issues, and pull requests over Nostr.
NIP-35	Torrents	Unknown	Torrent metadata and comment events for sharing torrents.
NIP-36	Sensitive Content	Unknown	content-warning tag marking sensitive or NSFW content.
NIP-37	Draft Events	Unknown	Encrypted draft event wrappers for saving unpublished content.
NIP-38	User Statuses	Unknown	Ephemeral user status events (e.g. general or music status).
NIP-39	Linking Profiles to Other Platforms	Unknown	External identity claims linking a profile to other platforms via 'i' tags.
NIP-40	Expiration Timestamp	Unknown	'expiration' tag telling relays/clients when an event should be discarded.
NIP-42	Authentication of clients to relays	Unknown	Challenge-response auth so relays can authenticate connecting clients.
NIP-43	Relay Access Metadata and Requests	Unknown	Events for relay membership, join/invite/leave requests, and access control.
NIP-44	Encrypted Payloads (Versioned)	Unknown	Versioned encryption scheme (ChaCha20 + HMAC) for payloads, replacing NIP-04 crypto.
NIP-45	Counting results	Unknown	COUNT message letting clients ask relays for the number of matching events.
NIP-46	Nostr Remote Signing	Unknown	Remote signer (bunker) protocol so clients sign without holding the private key.
NIP-47	Nostr Wallet Connect	Unknown	Protocol to connect apps to a Lightning wallet for payments over Nostr.
NIP-48	Bridged Events	Unknown	Tags marking events bridged from other protocols/networks.
NIP-49	Private Key Encryption (ncryptsec)	Unknown	Encrypts a private key with a password into a portable ncryptsec string.
NIP-50	Search Capability	Unknown	Adds a 'search' filter field so relays can support full-text search.
NIP-51	Lists	Unknown	Standard mute, pin, bookmark, follow, and other personal/curated list events.
NIP-52	Calendar Events	Unknown	Date- and time-based calendar events, calendars, and RSVPs.
NIP-53	Live Streaming and Spaces	Unknown	Live events, rooms, and live chat for streaming and audio spaces.
NIP-54	Wiki	Unknown	Collaborative wiki article events with redirects and merge requests.
NIP-55	Android Signer Application	Unknown	Intent-based protocol for Android apps to sign via a separate signer app.
NIP-56	Reporting	Unknown	Report events flagging spam, illegal, or abusive content/users.
NIP-57	Lightning Zaps	Unknown	Lightning zap requests and receipts for tipping events and profiles.
NIP-58	Badges	Unknown	Badge definitions, awards, and profile badge display.
NIP-59	Gift Wrap	Unknown	Seal and gift-wrap events to hide metadata of encrypted payloads like DMs.
NIP-60	Cashu Wallet	Unknown	Stores a Cashu ecash wallet and tokens as Nostr events.
NIP-61	Nutzaps	Unknown	Cashu-based 'nutzap' payments and mint recommendations.
NIP-62	Request to Vanish	Unknown	Event asking relays to delete all of a user's data (right to vanish).
NIP-64	Chess (PGN)	Unknown	Encodes chess games in PGN format as Nostr events.
NIP-65	Relay List Metadata	Unknown	User's preferred read/write relay list for the outbox model.
NIP-66	Relay Discovery and Liveness Monitoring	Unknown	Relay discovery and monitor announcements reporting relay liveness.
NIP-67	EOSE Completeness Hint	Unknown	Hint indicating whether an EOSE represents a complete result set.
NIP-68	Picture-first feeds	Unknown	Picture events and sets for image-centric (Instagram-like) feeds.
NIP-69	Peer-to-peer Order events	Unknown	Order events for peer-to-peer trading marketplaces.
NIP-70	Protected Events	Unknown	'-' tag marking events only the author may publish to a relay.
NIP-71	Video Events	Unknown	Normal, short-form, and addressable video events with metadata.
NIP-72	Moderated Communities	Deprecated	Reddit-style moderated communities; unrecommended (try NIP-29 instead).
NIP-73	External Content IDs	Unknown	'i' tags referencing external content IDs (URLs, ISBNs, hashes, etc.).
NIP-75	Zap Goals	Unknown	Fundraising goal events that zaps count toward.
NIP-77	Negentropy Syncing	Unknown	Negentropy set-reconciliation protocol for efficient relay/client sync.
NIP-78	Application-specific data	Unknown	Arbitrary app-specific data events keyed by a 'd' identifier.
NIP-84	Highlights	Unknown	Highlight events quoting a portion of an article or URL.
NIP-85	Trusted Assertions	Unknown	Trusted assertion events attesting facts about users, events, or addresses.
NIP-86	Relay Management API	Unknown	JSON-RPC over HTTP API for administering relays.
NIP-87	Cashu and Fedimint Discoverability	Unknown	Announcement events to discover Cashu mints and Fedimint federations.
NIP-88	Polls	Unknown	Poll events and poll-response events for voting.
NIP-89	Recommended Application Handlers	Unknown	Handler info/recommendation events mapping event kinds to apps that open them.
NIP-90	Data Vending Machines	Deprecated	On-demand compute job request/result marketplace; unrecommended (got out of control).
NIP-92	Media Attachments Metadata (imeta)	Unknown	'imeta' tag carrying metadata (dimensions, hash, mime) for inline media URLs.
NIP-94	File Metadata	Unknown	File metadata events describing a hosted file (url, hash, mime, size).
NIP-96	HTTP File Storage Integration	Deprecated	HTTP file-upload server protocol; unrecommended (replaced by Blossom).
NIP-98	HTTP Auth	Unknown	Signed event used as an Authorization header to authenticate HTTP requests.
NIP-99	Classified Listings	Unknown	Classified listing events (for-sale/wanted), with draft variant.
NIP-5A	Static Websites (nsites)	Unknown	Publishes static websites (nsites) via signed manifest events.
NIP-7D	Forum Threads	Unknown	Forum-style thread events for structured discussion.
NIP-A0	Voice Messages	Unknown	Voice message events and voice-message comments.
NIP-A4	Public Messages	Unknown	Public message events addressed to recipients in the open.
NIP-B0	Web Bookmarks	Unknown	Addressable web bookmark events for saving URLs.
NIP-B7	Blossom	Unknown	Integrates Blossom blob servers; user server list and stored-blob events.
NIP-BE	Nostr BLE Communications Protocol	Deprecated	Bluetooth LE transport for Nostr; unrecommended (implemented once, requires review).
NIP-C0	Code Snippets	Unknown	Code snippet events for sharing source code.
NIP-C7	Chats	Unknown	Simple chat message events.
NIP-CC	Geocaching	Unknown	Geocache listing, log, proof-of-find, and curation events.
NIP-EE	E2EE Messaging using MLS Protocol	Deprecated	End-to-end encrypted group messaging via MLS; superseded by the Marmot Protocol.
NIP-F4	Podcasts	Unknown	Podcast episode and metadata events plus podcast list kinds.

Source: the canonical nostr-protocol/nips repository (June 2026). Status is the repo's own classification where stated. See also D-Central's Nostr glossary entry and the sovereign self-hosting catalog (relays).

Related products, repair, and setup paths

Last reviewed June 18, 2026.