Quartz Integration Guide

Android-only project

dependencies {
    implementation("com.vitorpamplona.quartz:quartz:1.08.0")
}

Transitive dependencies pulled in automatically

Quartz exposes these as api (you get them transitively):

For Android, add to build.gradle.kts:

android {
    packaging {
        resources.excludes += "/META-INF/{AL2.0,LGPL2.1}"
    }
}

2. Key Concepts

Core Types

typealias HexKey = String        // 64-char hex string (pubkey, event id, sig)
typealias Kind = Int             // Event kind number
typealias TagArray = Array<Array<String>>

Event Anatomy

@Immutable
open class Event(
    val id: HexKey,        // SHA-256 of canonical JSON (64 hex chars)
    val pubKey: HexKey,    // Author public key (64 hex chars)
    val createdAt: Long,   // Unix timestamp (seconds)
    val kind: Kind,        // Event type
    val tags: TagArray,    // [["e","eventid"], ["p","pubkey"], ...]
    val content: String,
    val sig: HexKey,       // Schnorr signature (128 hex chars)
)

Kind Classification

// Regular events — stored by relays forever
val isRegular = kind in 1..9999

// Replaceable events — relay keeps only latest per (pubkey, kind)
val isReplaceable = kind == 0 || kind == 3 || kind in 10000..19999

// Addressable events — relay keeps latest per (pubkey, kind, d-tag)
val isAddressable = kind in 30000..39999

// Ephemeral events — relays don't persist
val isEphemeral = kind in 20000..29999

3. Key Management

Generate a new keypair

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.crypto.KeyPair

// Generate fresh random keys
val keyPair = KeyPair()

// From existing private key bytes
val keyPair = KeyPair(privKey = myPrivKeyBytes)

// Read-only (public key only, cannot sign)
val keyPair = KeyPair(pubKey = myPubKeyBytes)

// Access
val pubKeyHex: String = keyPair.pubKey.toHexKey()
val privKeyHex: String? = keyPair.privKey?.toHexKey()

Convert between formats

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.toHexKey
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip19Bech32.Nip19Parser

// ByteArray → hex
val hex = byteArray.toHexKey()

// hex → ByteArray
val bytes = HexKey.decodeHex(hex)

// Bech32 import (npub, nsec)
val parsed = Nip19Parser.uriToRoute("npub1abc...")
// or
val parsed = Nip19Parser.uriToRoute("nsec1abc...")

4. Signing Events

NostrSignerInternal (local key, JVM + Android)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.crypto.KeyPair
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.signers.NostrSignerInternal

val keyPair = KeyPair()
val signer = NostrSignerInternal(keyPair)

// Sign any EventTemplate
val template = TextNoteEvent.build("Hello Nostr!")
val signedEvent: TextNoteEvent = signer.sign(template)

NostrSignerSync (synchronous, for testing)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.signers.NostrSignerSync

val signerSync = NostrSignerSync(keyPair)
val event = signerSync.sign<TextNoteEvent>(
    createdAt = TimeUtils.now(),
    kind = 1,
    tags = emptyArray(),
    content = "Hello!"
)

NostrSigner interface (for custom signers)

abstract class NostrSigner(val pubKey: HexKey) {
    abstract fun isWriteable(): Boolean
    abstract suspend fun <T : Event> sign(createdAt: Long, kind: Int, tags: Array<Array<String>>, content: String): T
    abstract suspend fun nip04Encrypt(plaintext: String, toPublicKey: HexKey): String
    abstract suspend fun nip04Decrypt(ciphertext: String, fromPublicKey: HexKey): String
    abstract suspend fun nip44Encrypt(plaintext: String, toPublicKey: HexKey): String
    abstract suspend fun nip44Decrypt(ciphertext: String, fromPublicKey: HexKey): String
    abstract suspend fun deriveKey(nonce: HexKey): HexKey
    abstract fun hasForegroundSupport(): Boolean
    // Convenience: auto-detects NIP-04 vs NIP-44 by ciphertext format
    suspend fun decrypt(encryptedContent: String, fromPublicKey: HexKey): String
}

5. Creating Events

Using typed event builders (recommended)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip10Notes.TextNoteEvent
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip25Reactions.ReactionEvent

// Kind 1 — Text note
val template = TextNoteEvent.build("Hello Nostr!")
val event: TextNoteEvent = signer.sign(template)

// Kind 1 — Reply
val replyTemplate = TextNoteEvent.build(
    note = "Interesting thread!",
    replyingTo = originalEventHintBundle
)

// Kind 7 — Reaction
val reactionTemplate = ReactionEvent.build(
    content = "+",          // "+" = like, "-" = dislike, emoji = custom
    originalNote = targetEvent
)

Using low-level Event.build DSL

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.Event

val template = Event.build(
    kind = 1,
    content = "Hello world",
    createdAt = TimeUtils.now()
) {
    // TagArrayBuilder DSL
    add(arrayOf("p", mentionedPubKey))
    add(arrayOf("t", "nostr"))
    add(arrayOf("subject", "Greeting"))
}

val event: Event = signer.sign(template)

TagArrayBuilder DSL methods

// In the DSL lambda:
add(arrayOf("tagname", "value"))          // append
addFirst(arrayOf("tagname", "value"))     // prepend
addUnique(arrayOf("d", "my-slug"))        // replace all tags with same name
addAll(listOf(arrayOf("t", "tag1"), ...)) // bulk add
remove("tagname")                          // remove all with this name

6. Relay Client Setup (JVM / Android)

The relay client requires an OkHttp WebSocket builder (available on JVM + Android).

Minimal setup

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.client.NostrClient
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.sockets.okhttp.BasicOkHttpWebSocket
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient

// Build the WebSocket factory
val okHttpClient = OkHttpClient.Builder().build()
val wsBuilder = BasicOkHttpWebSocket.Builder { _ -> okHttpClient }

// Create client (manages its own CoroutineScope internally)
val nostrClient = NostrClient(websocketBuilder = wsBuilder)
nostrClient.connect()

With custom OkHttpClient per relay

val wsBuilder = BasicOkHttpWebSocket.Builder { normalizedUrl ->
    if (normalizedUrl.url.contains(".onion")) {
        torEnabledOkHttpClient   // Tor proxy for .onion relays
    } else {
        regularOkHttpClient
    }
}

With custom CoroutineScope

val appScope = CoroutineScope(Dispatchers.IO + SupervisorJob())
val nostrClient = NostrClient(wsBuilder, scope = appScope)

7. Subscribing to Events

Normalize relay URLs first

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.normalizer.RelayUrlNormalizer

// Returns NormalizedRelayUrl (wrapper with validated wss:// URL)
val relayUrl = RelayUrlNormalizer.normalize("wss://relay.damus.io")
val relayUrlOrNull = RelayUrlNormalizer.normalizeOrNull("wss://relay.damus.io")

// Handles common fixes: https:// → wss://, strips whitespace, etc.

Build a Filter

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.filters.Filter

// Fetch a user's notes
val filter = Filter(
    authors = listOf(pubKeyHex),
    kinds = listOf(1),
    limit = 50
)

// Since a timestamp
val filter = Filter(
    kinds = listOf(1, 6),
    since = System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 - 3600  // last hour
)

// By event tags
val filter = Filter(
    kinds = listOf(7),
    tags = mapOf("e" to listOf(eventId))   // reactions to an event
)

// AND tag filter (NIP-91)
val filter = Filter(
    kinds = listOf(1),
    tagsAll = mapOf(
        "t" to listOf("nostr"),
        "p" to listOf(specificPubKey)
    )
)

// Full-text search (NIP-50)
val filter = Filter(
    kinds = listOf(1),
    search = "bitcoin lightning"
)

Open a subscription

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.client.listeners.IRelayClientListener
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.client.single.IRelayClient
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.commands.toClient.Message
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.commands.toClient.EventMessage
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.commands.toClient.EoseMessage

val relay = RelayUrlNormalizer.normalize("wss://relay.damus.io")

val subId = "my-sub-${System.currentTimeMillis()}"
val filtersMap = mapOf(relay to listOf(filter))

nostrClient.openReqSubscription(
    subId = subId,
    filters = filtersMap,
    listener = object : IRequestListener {
        override fun onEvent(subId: String, event: Event, relay: IRelayClient) {
            println("Got event: ${event.id}")
        }
        override fun onEOSE(subId: String, relay: IRelayClient) {
            println("End of stored events from ${relay.url}")
        }
    }
)

// Close when done
nostrClient.close(subId)

Global relay listener

nostrClient.subscribe(object : IRelayClientListener {
    override fun onIncomingMessage(relay: IRelayClient, msgStr: String, msg: Message) {
        when (msg) {
            is EventMessage -> handleEvent(msg.subscriptionId, msg.event)
            is EoseMessage  -> handleEose(msg.subscriptionId)
            else -> {}
        }
    }
    override fun onConnected(relay: IRelayClient, pingMillis: Int, compressed: Boolean) {
        println("Connected to ${relay.url} in ${pingMillis}ms")
    }
    override fun onDisconnected(relay: IRelayClient) {
        println("Disconnected from ${relay.url}")
    }
    // other callbacks: onConnecting, onSent, onCannotConnect
})

8. Publishing Events

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.relay.normalizer.RelayUrlNormalizer

val relaySet = setOf(
    RelayUrlNormalizer.normalize("wss://relay.damus.io"),
    RelayUrlNormalizer.normalize("wss://nos.lol"),
)

// Sign the event
val template = TextNoteEvent.build("Hello Nostr!")
val event: TextNoteEvent = signer.sign(template)

// Send to relays (handles retry + reconnect automatically)
nostrClient.send(event, relaySet)

9. Event Serialization

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.Event

// Serialize to JSON string
val json: String = event.toJson()

// Parse from JSON string
val event: Event = Event.fromJson(json)

// Null-safe parse
val event: Event? = Event.fromJsonOrNull(json)

// Specific typed parse (returns base Event, cast if needed)
val textNote = Event.fromJson(json) as? TextNoteEvent

10. Bech32 Encoding / Decoding (NIP-19)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip19Bech32.Nip19Parser

// Decode any bech32 entity
val result = Nip19Parser.uriToRoute("npub1abc...")
// Returns: NPub | NSec | Note | NEvent | NProfile | NAddr | null

when (val r = Nip19Parser.uriToRoute(input)) {
    is Nip19Parser.Return.NPub    -> println("pubkey: ${r.hex}")
    is Nip19Parser.Return.Note    -> println("event id: ${r.hex}")
    is Nip19Parser.Return.NEvent  -> println("event: ${r.hex}, relays: ${r.relays}")
    is Nip19Parser.Return.NProfile -> println("profile: ${r.hex}")
    is Nip19Parser.Return.NAddr   -> println("address: ${r.kind}:${r.pubKey}:${r.dTag}")
    null -> println("not a valid bech32 entity")
    else -> {}
}

// The parser also handles nostr: URI scheme
val result = Nip19Parser.uriToRoute("nostr:npub1abc...")

11. Encryption

NIP-44 (modern, recommended)

// Via signer (preferred)
val encrypted = signer.nip44Encrypt(
    plaintext = "Secret message",
    toPublicKey = recipientPubKeyHex
)
val decrypted = signer.nip44Decrypt(
    ciphertext = encrypted,
    fromPublicKey = senderPubKeyHex
)

// Auto-detect format (NIP-04 or NIP-44)
val plaintext = signer.decrypt(encryptedContent, fromPublicKeyHex)

NIP-04 (legacy, avoid for new code)

val encrypted = signer.nip04Encrypt(plaintext, recipientPubKeyHex)
val decrypted = signer.nip04Decrypt(ciphertext, senderPubKeyHex)

12. Common NIP Event Builders

NIP-02 — Follow list (kind 3)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip02FollowList.ContactListEvent

val template = ContactListEvent.build(
    follows = listOf(
        ContactListEvent.Contact(pubKey = alicePubKey, relayUrl = "wss://relay.damus.io", petname = "alice"),
        ContactListEvent.Contact(pubKey = bobPubKey)
    )
)

NIP-25 — Reaction (kind 7)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip25Reactions.ReactionEvent

val like = ReactionEvent.build("+", targetEvent)
val dislike = ReactionEvent.build("-", targetEvent)
val custom = ReactionEvent.build("🤙", targetEvent)

NIP-57 — Zap request (kind 9734)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip57Zaps.LnZapRequestEvent

val template = LnZapRequestEvent.build(
    message = "Great post!",
    relays = listOf("wss://relay.damus.io"),
    target = targetEvent,
    zapType = LnZapRequestEvent.ZapType.PUBLIC
)
val zapRequest: LnZapRequestEvent = signer.sign(template)

NIP-59 — Gift wrap / sealed DM (kind 1059 + 14)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip17Dm.NIP17Factory

// Creates sealed rumor + gift wrap pair
val (dmEvent, giftWrap) = NIP17Factory.create(
    msg = "Private message",
    fromSigner = senderSigner,
    toUsers = listOf(recipientPubKey),
    relayList = listOf("wss://relay.damus.io")
)

NIP-23 — Long-form article (kind 30023)

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip23LongContent.LongTextNoteEvent

val template = LongTextNoteEvent.build(
    body = markdownContent,
    title = "My Article",
    image = "https://example.com/cover.jpg",
    summary = "A brief summary",
    slug = "my-article"   // d-tag
)

13. Platform-Specific Notes

JVM / Desktop

// jvmMain dependencies needed in consuming project:
// secp256k1-kmp-jni-jvm and lazysodium-java are transitive from quartz
// But you need JNA on the classpath for libsodium:
implementation("net.java.dev.jna:jna:5.18.1")

Android

// androidMain dependencies (transitive from quartz):
// secp256k1-kmp-jni-android, lazysodium-android, jna (aar)
// No extra setup needed beyond the maven dependency.

// For NIP-55 (Android external signer apps):
import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip55AndroidSigner.ExternalSignerLauncher

iOS

The library produces an XCFramework named quartz-kmpKit.

# Build XCFramework
./gradlew :quartz:assembleQuartz-kmpKitReleaseXCFramework
# Output: quartz/build/XCFrameworks/release/quartz-kmpKit.xcframework

In Xcode: drag & drop the .xcframework into your project, then use from Swift via Kotlin/Native interop.

14. Event Store (Android only)

SQLite-based storage with full NIP support (NIP-09, NIP-40, NIP-45, NIP-50, NIP-62):

import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.store.EventStore
import android.content.Context

val store = EventStore()

// Insert
store.insert(event)

// Query
val events = store.query(
    Filter(authors = listOf(pubKey), kinds = listOf(1), limit = 50)
)

// Count (NIP-45)
val count = store.count(Filter(kinds = listOf(1)))

// Full-text search (NIP-50)
val results = store.query(Filter(search = "bitcoin"))

15. Quick Reference

Common Event Kinds

Related Skills

• nostr-expert — Internal Quartz patterns for Amethyst development
• kotlin-multiplatform — KMP source sets, expect/actual patterns
• kotlin-coroutines — Flow patterns for relay event streams