I’ve finally decided to get my hands dirty and look into Nostr.

I learned something interesting that I thought might be useful to others.

A domain can be used to validate user accounts. This is done in practice by creating a file called “nostr.json”, populating it with a list of usernames and their public keys (in hex format), and making it reachable at https://{domain}/.well-known/nostr.json

For more detailed instructions, see: https://nostr.how/en/guides/get-verified

The syntax of the nostr.json file is:

{
    "names": {
        "YOUR_NOSTR_NAME1": "YOUR_NOSTR_PUBLIC_KEY_HEX1",
        "YOUR_NOSTR_NAME2": "YOUR_NOSTR_PUBLIC_KEY_HEX2"
    }
}

This file can be presented via nginx with a block such as this one:

    location = /.well-known/nostr.json {
     alias /path/to/nostr.json;
     add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
     }

Here is the list of mander.xyz: https://mander.xyz/.well-known/nostr.json

And here is an example of a large list: https://nostr-check.com/.well-known/nostr.json

Once a user is added to this file, they need to go to their settings and add their Nostr address. If using iris.to as the client, it looks like this:

In Iris, I had the best results when I writethe address and then did not click anything else for like a minute.

After verification, your profile gets labeled with the verified username:

This is not permanent. The Nostr address can be easily removed or changed to a different one.

I can think of two benefits of “verifying”. One is that it is easier to share your username. For example, if one uses iris.to as a client, they can find me at: iris.to/Sal@mander.xyz, or search for Sal@mander.xyz. This is a lot better than using the public key or trying to search only with the username that can be duplicated.

The other benefit is that the nostr.json file can serve as a directory to link members in other communities in Nostr. Theoretically, if members of mander.xyz were to join the nostr.json file, then they would also be able to easily find each other in the site. That’s a good feature now since Nostr is not very populated.

If any user from Mander would like me to add them to the “verified” list, just send me a message with your public key and I will add you!