A small relay in a browser tab.

The basics

What the browser relay is

A relay is a server that stores Nostr notes and hands them out. The browser relay is one that runs inside a web page, at nostrvault.app/relay/. It stores notes in the browser's own storage on that device and joins the FIPS mesh, so your own devices can reach it by its key. New to the mesh? Read The mesh first.

The page keeps no Nostr key of yours. Your notes arrive already signed, and the page checks each signature. A good spot for it is an old phone or tablet on a charger.

Set it up

Pair your iPhone with the page

1. On your iPhone, open FIPS Mesh and turn the mesh on. Under This Device, tap Copy. That's the phone's mesh address.
2. On the device that will run the page, open nostrvault.app/relay/. Paste the address into the box under the FIPS heading (one address per line) and tap Save owners. The page reloads.
3. Tap Start FIPS. The status shows the page's own mesh address. Copy it.
4. On the iPhone, go to My Devices → Add a device by address, paste the page's address, and pick Browser page.

The phone then connects for the page. If it doesn't, open the page's entry in My Devices and tap Connect this phone. Copy this phone's mesh address is there too.

A link of the form nostrvault.app/relay/#owner=npub1… also adds an owner. The page asks you to confirm each address first, because an owner can write to the page and read everything on it. Only accept your own.

What it does

What it keeps and serves

• Your new notes. While the iPhone app is open, each new note you post also goes to the page. Send my latest notes sends your 20 most recent notes from the phone. The result line says how many the page kept. In this testing build, check that number: if it says 0 kept, the page did not take your notes.
• Checked notes only. The page checks each note's signature and turns away notes from authors it isn't set up for.
• Owners only. The page serves notes on the mesh only to the addresses saved as owners. Anyone else's connection is dropped without an answer.
• Photos, read only. Under Show photo, you can paste a photo's fingerprint (sha256) or a .fips link and the page fetches it from a paired vault. It shows the photo only if the fingerprint matches. Photos aren't stored on the page.

The page reaches your phone through the public mesh entry points (seeds). Once both ends are connected it tries a direct link. On the iPhone, leave the middle server under Advanced on its public setting. With None, a browser page only connects on the same network.

Keep it awake

The screensaver

Start screensaver fills the screen with a black "relay running" view: a count, the uptime, whether the screen is kept awake (the wake lock), and whether the seed is up. Tap anywhere to leave it. After a reload, start it again.

The count on this screen is the page's own test notes, not your notes. Report shows storage, uptime gaps and a signature self-test, if you want the details.

When it stops

When the tab closes

• The relay only runs while the page is open and the screen is on. Closed, locked or in the background, nothing reaches it.
• Notes the phone sends while the page is down are not queued. Tap Send my latest notes once it's back.
• Stored notes stay in the browser and are there when you reopen the page. Tap Start FIPS again; it doesn't start by itself. Stop FIPS takes the page off the mesh.
• The page's mesh key lives in the browser's site data. Clear that data and the page gets a new address, so pair it again.

Your devices list

In My Devices

The page shows up in My Devices as a Browser page, the role whose job reads "Gets your new notes while this app is open." You can have one browser page per account; adding a new one replaces the old.

To stop sending, open its entry and tap Remove from my devices. Anything already on the page stays there.

Android and Mac also offer Browser page under My Devices → Add a device by address. In this build, only the iPhone app sends notes to the page.

Be candid

Limits and privacy

• The tab must stay open. A browser can pause or close a page at any time. Not every browser can hold the screen awake; the screensaver says whether it can.
• Storage is the browser's. The page asks the browser to keep its data, but the browser decides. Report shows whether it agreed and how much room there is.
• Seeds see IPs. To connect, your phone joins the middle server, which sees its IP address the way any server does. The same goes for the page's device.
• Nothing public. The page isn't listed in your profile, and its mesh key is its own, never your Nostr key.