Direct Messaging (DMs)

[alltheseas]

Summary in quote form from a nostr DM User

I gave up. Either it works, but is not encrypted - or it doesn't work for me, in which case I just give up and fall back to "tools of the old world". -dissatisfied nostr DM user

app	nip-04	nip-17 one-to-one	nip-17+group	double ratchet	MLS	comment
bitchat		✅	❌			PR
0xchat	✅	✅	✅
0xchat Lite					✅	aiming for compatibility with white noise NIP-104
amethyst	✅ read-only	✅	✅			NIP-04 send deprecated, NIP-17 mandatory. Requires recipients have DM relay lists (kind 10050). PR#1877. Desktop DMs PR#1710
Chachi		✅	✅			nip-17 note
n17.chat		✅
damus	✅	⏳		POC		NIP-17 in progress — PR#3590 closed unmerged, PR#3667 open
Flotilla		✅	✅
gossip	✅	✅				NIP-17 if signaled with 10050 event
Iris	❌			yes*		*interoperability not confirmed
keychat	✅			yes*	yes*	*interoperability not confirmed
white noise					yes*	*interoperability not confirmed. NIP-EE spec
rust-nostr	✅	✅				MLS crate (nostr-mls) removed from repo — link was 404
Flash		✅				https://njump.me/nevent1qqsylfnj542yrze3h9t9vgucxm4l764vmr3pyn9y4uaq9y06hrlrdagf0aw04
Yakihonne		✅				secure DMs toggle is confusing]
nostrphp		✅				PR submitted
marketplaces		✅				working spec
Coracle	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌	NIP 04 is evil, MLS is hard (planning to add it when the typescript library is ready)
nostrudel	✅	✅				https://njump.me/nevent1qqs84nnyc2jx796hrm3vsec9zaf6vwp2v8qaustrdq9raxkv3rp5xjsdysxan
Coop		✅
Flightless		✅				https://njump.me/nevent1qqsgm9tjgwpp7z5q5e2aqj6x3km5a79zpr8sx8647k8ssnrawpe4a5qpr9mhxue69uhhqun0ve5kcetn9ehx7um5wgcjucm0d5q3wamnwvaz7tmswf5k6atn9ehx7um5wgcjucm0d578y9g6
notedeck		✅				Merge messages nip17 DM app by kernel
nostur		✅				NIP-17 confirmed via GiftWrapsManager.swift — PR#53 link was incorrect (that PR is outbox/NIP-66)
Vector	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌	NIP-17 PR #44
nospeak	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌	Web + Android (F-Droid). Supports kind 15 file messages.
diVine	❌	✅				NIP-17 DMs incl. video share PR#2111
nak		✅				nak gift wrap/nak gift unwrap (NIP-59 gift wrap for NIP-17 DMs)
nostril	✅	✅				CLI tool. --dm <pubkey> for NIP-04; --giftwrap-to <pubkey> creates kind 1059 gift wrap with NIP-44 encryption
Primal iOS	✅	❌	❌			⚠️ NIP-04 only. No kind 14/13/1059/10050 in codebase. NostrKind.swift defines only kind 4. createNostrMessageEvent uses NIP-04 encryption.
Primal Android	✅	❌	❌			⚠️ NIP-04 only. NostrEventKind.kt has only kind 4. NIP-44 exists but used for NWC only.
Primal Web	✅	❌	❌			⚠️ NIP-04 only. constants.ts defines EncryptedDirectMessage=4 only. DM flow uses get_directmsg_contacts caching API.
Snort	✅	✅	✅			na-gro audit: web client, NIP-17+NIP-44; evidence: nip17.ts
Lume		❓				⚠️ Unverified — claims based on nostr-sdk all-nips feature flag in Cargo.toml, but no NIP-17 DM UI code found in repo
Nostria	✅	✅	✅			NIP-04+NIP-17+NIP-17 groups. NIP-44 is present (required by NIP-17). Evidence: messaging.service.ts with computeGroupChatId()
Wisp	❌	✅				v0.16.2-beta: NIP-17 full 3-layer gift wrap (kind 14 rumor → kind 13 seal → kind 1059 wrap). Fixed rumor id field (NIP-59 requires unsigned but identified rumors). evidence: PR #385, Nip17.kt

Libraries & SDKs

library/sdk	nip-04	nip-17	nip-44	MLS	comment
SNSTR	✅	✅	✅		TypeScript library
applesauce SDK		✅	✅		Used by noStrudel, provides relay connections, signing, NIP-17 DM support
Vector SDK		✅			Rust library for building Nostr bots with private messaging, NIP-96 file uploads, gift wrap events
marmot-ts				✅	TypeScript MLS messaging SDK, MIP-03 group messaging
MDK				✅	Marmot Development Kit for MLS, v0.6.0
NDK	✅	✅	✅		Gift wrapping + NIP-17 + NIP-44 encryption

problem statement

Today there are at least four (4) direct messages standards implemented on nostr.

NIP-04 (used by iOS damus)
NIP-17 (amethyst)
double rachet signal (@mmalmi Iris)
MLS (used by white noise @erskingardner)

Example incompatibility betwee Amethyst and Damus: #152

When sending DMs to another profile on nostr, it is not always immediately clear which app(s), and which standard(s) the DM counterparty/receiver is able to receive and read.

Ideally, there is some under the hood communication that takes place, so that DM senders don't have to think about DM standards, and which apps implement which standard(s).

How might we solve this multi-DM standard problem?

cc @mmalmi @erskingardner @vitorpamplona @jb55

cryptography

NIP-17 is encrypted by NIP-44. NIP-44 has been audited. See https://github.com/paulmillr/nip44/blob/ce63c2eaf345e9f7f93b48f829e6bdeb7e7d7964/audit-2023.12.pdf and https://cure53.de/audit-report_nip44-implementations.pdf.

[alltheseas]

see couple more DMs issues:
#152 Amethyst DM cannot be seen by damus NIP-17
#98 Mastodon / activitypub / fediverse DM to nostr warning #98

[vitorpamplona]

Keychat has its own NIP-04 implementation, its own Signal implementation and its own MLS implementation to be best of my understanding.

[erskingardner]

Keychat has its own NIP-04 implementation, its own Signal implementation and its own MLS implementation to be best of my understanding.

That's my understanding too. They've rolled their own everything.