System Overview

High-level architecture of the Gozzip network.

Components

  • Root identity — secp256k1 keypair, same as Nostr. The user's permanent identity.
  • Device subkeys — per-device keypairs, plus derived DM and governance keys. Authorized by root key via kind 10050.
  • Relays — store and forward events. Also act as oracles resolving device → root identity.
  • Clients — user-facing apps (mobile, desktop, web). Sign events with device keys.
  • Storage peers — WoT peers that hold your recent events via reciprocal pacts. Serve your data when your devices are offline.
  • WoT oracle — indexes and caches checkpoints (kind 10051), indexes web of trust for discovery. Checkpoint delegates (authorized devices) publish checkpoints.
  • Bridges — connect to other networks (Nostr, ActivityPub, etc.)

What We Build on Top of Nostr

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Gozzip Layer                      │
│                                                   │
│  Kind 10050 (device delegation)                  │
│  Kind 10051 (checkpoint)                         │
│  Kind 10052 (conversation state)                 │
│  Kind 10053-10059 (storage pacts + endpoint hints)│
│  Kind 10060-10061 (social recovery)               │
│  root_identity tag convention                     │
│  Oracle/relay resolution logic                   │
│  Follow-as-commitment indexing                   │
│  BLE mesh transport (bitchat interop)              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                 Nostr Layer                       │
│                                                   │
│  Event structure, signatures, relay protocol     │
│  Kind 0, 1, 3, 6, 7, 14, 30023, 9734/9735       │
│  NIP-10, NIP-23, NIP-29, NIP-44, NIP-57, NIP-59│
│  secp256k1 keys, WebSocket transport             │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Design Principles

  • User sovereignty — users are not dependent on relays. They index their own social graph.
  • Follow-as-commitment — following costs you indexing resources. You curate wisely.
  • Nostr compatibility — existing keys, events, and relays work. Migration cost is minimal.
  • Light by default — checkpoints enable light nodes. Full history is opt-in.
  • Device isolation — compromise one device, revoke it. Identity survives.
  • Emergent incentives — contribution to the network (storage, curation) translates to content reach through pact-aware gossip routing. No tokens or subscriptions.

What Needs to Be Built

Component Scope
Kind 10050 NIP draft for device delegation
Kind 10051 NIP draft for checkpoints
Kind 10052 DM read-state sync (conversation state)
root_identity tag Convention, documented in NIP
Oracle/relay logic Resolve device → root on subscription
WoT indexer Update to nostr-wot indexer for checkpoints
Client resolver Client-side device ↔ root resolution
Kind 10053–10058 Storage pact events (pact, challenge, request, offer, data request/offer)
Kind 10059 Storage endpoint hints for gossip discovery
Kind 10060–10061 Social recovery (recovery delegation + attestation)
Key derivation KDF for DM key, governance key from root
Per-event chain seq + prev_hash on device-signed events