What is Noxtr?

Noxtr is a web-based Nostr client integrated into the JUX PHP framework. It runs as a module within a self-hosted website, combining Nostr protocol access with server-side features like user accounts, Lightning address hosting, and NIP-05 identity verification.

It is designed as a single-page application with no external JavaScript frameworks — vanilla JS with a lightweight DOM helper (wquery).

Key Characteristics

Self-hosted

Runs on your own server (Apache/nginx, PHP, MySQL/SQLite). You control your data, your relay list, and your Lightning endpoints.

Zero Dependencies

No React, no Vue, no npm, no build step. Pure vanilla JavaScript in a single file. Crypto via noble-secp256k1 and noble-ciphers.

Integrated Identity

NIP-05 verification and LNURL-pay Lightning addresses are auto-configured from your server's user accounts.

Multi-auth

Supports NIP-07 browser extensions, nsec private key entry, NIP-46 Nostr Connect (remote signing with QR), and npub read-only mode.

NIP Support

Nostr Implementation Possibilities (NIPs) supported by Noxtr:

NIP-01Basic protocol

NIP-02Contact list

NIP-04Encrypted DMs

NIP-05DNS identity

NIP-07Browser signer

NIP-09Event deletion

NIP-10Reply threading

NIP-23Long-form content

NIP-19Bech32 entities

NIP-25Reactions

NIP-28Public channels

NIP-44Versioned encryption

NIP-46Nostr Connect

NIP-50Search

NIP-56Reporting

NIP-57Lightning Zaps

NIP-65Relay list metadata

Event Kinds

Kind	Description	Usage
0	Profile Metadata	Name, avatar, banner, about, nip05, lud16
1	Text Note	Main feed content, hashtags, mentions
3	Contact List	Follow/unfollow, petnames, relay hints
4	Encrypted DM	AES-CBC with IV, NIP-07 or privkey decryption
5	Deletion	Delete own notes and own channel messages (kind 42)
6	Repost	Repost notes
7	Reaction	Like/unlike notes
40	Channel Create	NIP-28 public chat channel
41	Channel Metadata	Channel name, about, picture
42	Channel Message	Messages in public channels (own messages deletable via kind 5)
1984	Report	NIP-56 spam reports
30023	Article (NIP-23)	Long-form content: mixed into feed with “Read” badge, full Markdown view, article composer
9734	Zap Request	Lightning payment metadata
9735	Zap Receipt	Payment confirmation from server
24133	Nostr Connect	NIP-46 remote signing

Feature Overview

Feed Modes

Global, Following, Followers, Topics (hashtag subscriptions), and Hot (engagement-ranked trending).

Direct Messages

NIP-04 encrypted DMs with conversation threads, local DB caching, and extension-based decryption.

Public Channels (NIP-28)

Create, join, and chat in public channels. Channel metadata, pinning, invite links, and creator-only settings. Delete own messages (NIP-09).

Articles (NIP-23)

Long-form content (kind 30023) mixed into the feed with a “Read” badge and deduplication. Full Markdown view. Composer with title, summary, image, and tag fields.

Threading (NIP-10)

Full thread view with root/reply markers, reply counts, chronological ordering, and permalinks.

Lightning Zaps

NIP-57 zaps with internal balance transfers between registered users and external BTCPay invoices via LNURL-pay.

BTCPay Server Integration

Self-hosted Lightning infrastructure via BTCPay Server. LNURL-pay endpoint serves invoices, creates BOLT11 payment requests, and processes zap receipts (kind 9735) with server-side Schnorr signatures. Received sats accumulate in user balance for internal transfers or withdrawal.

Search

NIP-50 text search with multi-relay fallback. Profile search via @username. Entity detection for npub/note/nevent.

Topic Subscriptions

Subscribe to hashtags (#bitcoin, #nostr, etc.) and filter your feed. Suggested topics, bulk toggle, hot filter.

Bookmarks & Muting

Bookmark notes locally. Mute users with optional NIP-56 spam reporting. Unmute management in settings.

Media Handling

Embedded images (lazy-loaded), video players, YouTube/Vimeo embeds. Dead domain detection with 24h TTL auto-retry.

Profile Management

Edit name, bio, avatar, banner. NIP-05 and Lightning address auto-configured from server account.

Relay Management

Add/remove/toggle relays. Live connection status. Exponential backoff reconnection. Subscription rebalancing.

AR Profile Cards

Parse and render AR mesh network profile broadcasts (ar_profile, ar_collaboration) as visual cards with avatar, location, and social actions.

Client Comparison

An impartial comparison of Noxtr against established Nostr clients. Each client has different strengths — this table aims to be factual, not promotional.

✓ Supported ~ Partial — Not supported n/a Not applicable

General

	Noxtr	Damus	Amethyst	Primal	Snort	Iris	Coracle	Nostur
Platform	Web	iOS	Android	Web/iOS/Android	Web	Web/Multi	Web (PWA)	iOS/macOS
Open source	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Self-hosted	✓	—	—	—	✓	✓	✓	—
No build step required	✓	n/a	n/a	—	—	—	—	n/a
Documented NIPs	17	~15	60+	~20	42	~15	~15	~15

Core NIP Support

NIP		Noxtr	Damus	Amethyst	Primal	Snort	Iris	Coracle	Nostur
01	Basic protocol	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
02	Contact list	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
04	Encrypted DMs (legacy)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	read	✓
05	DNS identity	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
07	Browser signer	✓	n/a	n/a	✓	✓	✓	✓	n/a
09	Event deletion	✓	~	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
10	Reply threading	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
19	Bech32 entities	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
23	Long-form content (articles)	✓	—	✓	✓	✓	—	—	—
25	Reactions	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
28	Public channels	✓	—	✓	—	✓	—	—	—
44	Versioned encryption	✓	~	✓	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
46	Nostr Connect	✓	—	~	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
50	Search	✓	~	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
57	Lightning Zaps	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
65	Relay list metadata	✓	✓	~	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Features

Feature	Noxtr	Damus	Amethyst	Primal	Snort	Iris	Coracle	Nostur
Modern DMs (NIP-17/44)	—	~	✓	—	✓	✓	✓	✓
Built-in wallet	balance	Coinos	—	✓	—	Cashu	—	—
Profile search (@user)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Public channels (NIP-28)	✓	—	✓	—	✓	—	—	—
Trending / Hot feed	✓	—	✓	✓	✓	—	—	—
Topic/hashtag subscriptions	✓	—	✓	~	~	—	—	~
NIP-05 hosting	✓	—	—	premium	paid	—	—	—
Lightning address hosting	✓	—	—	✓	paid	—	—	—
Multiple accounts	logout/login	—	✓	—	✓	—	✓	✓
Long-form content (NIP-23)	✓	—	✓	✓	✓	—	—	—
Communities (NIP-72)	—	—	✓	—	—	—	✓	—
File upload (NIP-96)	—	—	✓	—	✓	—	✓	—
BTCPay Server integration	✓	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
AR profile rendering	unique	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

        Note on impartiality: Amethyst leads the ecosystem in raw NIP count (60+). Primal offers the best onboarding and search infrastructure. Coracle excels in relay management. Iris pioneered double-ratchet DM encryption. Nostur has the best Apple ecosystem integration. Noxtr's differentiator is self-hosted identity infrastructure (NIP-05 + Lightning address) and zero-dependency architecture — not NIP breadth.
    

Known Limitations (not for long)

Areas where Noxtr is behind other clients:

NIP-17 (Modern DMs) — Still uses NIP-04. Most modern clients have moved to NIP-17/NIP-44 for DMs, which provides better metadata protection.
NIP-96 (File Upload) — No support for decentralized file storage. Image uploads go to the host server only.
NIP-47 (Wallet Connect) — No NWC integration. Zaps rely on internal balance or BTCPay.
NIP-72/29 (Communities/Groups) — No moderated communities or relay-based group support.
Multiple accounts — No instant account switcher. Changing accounts requires logout and re-login, but is possible.
Outbox model — No per-user relay routing. All subscriptions go to the configured relay pool.
No native app — Web only, but works on mobile via browser and supports “Add to Home Screen” for an app-like experience. No push notifications.

Distinctive Strengths

Self-hosted identity — NIP-05 and Lightning addresses served from your own domain, auto-configured.
Zero-dependency frontend — No npm, no build tools, no framework. Deploy by copying files.
Internal zap transfers — Registered users can zap each other without Lightning network fees.
NIP-28 channels — One of the few web clients with full public chat support (create, join, pin, invite links, delete own messages).
NIP-23 articles — Long-form content integrated in the main feed with replaceable-event deduplication, Markdown rendering, and a dedicated composer with title/summary/image fields.
Topic-based feed filtering — Subscribe to hashtags and filter your global feed without following specific users.
AR mesh profile rendering — The only Nostr client that parses and renders AR collaboration/mesh profile broadcasts as visual cards.
Dead domain detection — Automatically detects and gracefully handles dead image CDNs with 24h retry.
NIP-46 with QR + persistence — Full Nostr Connect flow with QR code, localStorage persistence across sessions.
Server-side Lightning — LNURL-pay endpoint with BTCPay integration and auto-generated server keypair for zap receipts.

Technical Architecture

Component	Technology
Frontend	Vanilla JavaScript (single IIFE), wquery DOM helper
Backend	PHP (JUX framework module)
Database	MySQL or SQLite (dual-compatible SQL)
Web server	Apache (mod_rewrite) or nginx
Cryptography	noble-secp256k1 (BIP-340 Schnorr), noble-ciphers (XChaCha20-Poly1305), Web Crypto API (AES-CBC, HKDF)
Lightning	BTCPay Server (LNURL-pay, BOLT11 invoices)
Storage	Server DB (contacts, topics, bookmarks, DMs, relays, muted, channels) + localStorage/IndexedDB (keys, UI state)

Noxtr Specification Sheet