The Protocol

Details on how the Nostr Protocol works and why

Nostr at a high level

• There are two main components: clients & relays. Each user runs a client. Anyone can run a relay.
• Every user is identified by a public key. Every post is signed. Every client validates these signatures.
• Clients fetch data from relays of their choice and publish data to relays of their choice. Relays don't talk to one another, only directly to users.
• For example, to "follow" someone a user just instructs their client to query the relays it knows for posts from that public key.