gitrepublic-web/docs/98.md

NIP-98

HTTP Auth

draft optional

This NIP defines an ephemeral event used to authorize requests to HTTP servers using nostr events.

This is useful for HTTP services which are built for Nostr and deal with Nostr user accounts.

Nostr event

A kind 27235 (In reference to RFC 7235) event is used.

The content SHOULD be empty.

The following tags MUST be included.

• u - absolute URL
• method - HTTP Request Method

Example event:

{
  "id": "fe964e758903360f28d8424d092da8494ed207cba823110be3a57dfe4b578734",
  "pubkey": "63fe6318dc58583cfe16810f86dd09e18bfd76aabc24a0081ce2856f330504ed",
  "content": "",
  "kind": 27235,
  "created_at": 1682327852,
  "tags": [
    ["u", "https://api.snort.social/api/v1/n5sp/list"],
    ["method", "GET"]
  ],
  "sig": "5ed9d8ec958bc854f997bdc24ac337d005af372324747efe4a00e24f4c30437ff4dd8308684bed467d9d6be3e5a517bb43b1732cc7d33949a3aaf86705c22184"
}

Servers MUST perform the following checks in order to validate the event:

1. The kind MUST be 27235.
2. The created_at timestamp MUST be within a reasonable time window (suggestion 60 seconds).
3. The u tag MUST be exactly the same as the absolute request URL (including query parameters).
4. The method tag MUST be the same HTTP method used for the requested resource.

When the request contains a body (as in POST/PUT/PATCH methods) clients SHOULD include a SHA256 hash of the request body in a payload tag as hex (["payload", "<sha256-hex>"]), servers MAY check this to validate that the requested payload is authorized.

If one of the checks was to fail the server SHOULD respond with a 401 Unauthorized response code.

Servers MAY perform additional implementation-specific validation checks.

Request Flow

Using the Authorization HTTP header, the kind 27235 event MUST be base64 encoded and use the Authorization scheme Nostr

Example HTTP Authorization header:

Authorization: Nostr 
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

Reference Implementations

• C# ASP.NET AuthenticationHandler NostrAuth.cs

GitRepublic Usage

NIP-98 is used extensively in GitRepublic for authenticating git operations (clone, push, pull) and API requests. This enables secure git operations without requiring traditional username/password authentication.

Git Operations Authentication

All git operations (push, pull, clone) use NIP-98 authentication:

1. Client Creates Auth Event: User's browser extension creates a kind 27235 event with:

   • u tag: Absolute URL of the git endpoint
   • method tag: HTTP method (POST for push, GET for pull/clone)
   • payload tag: SHA256 hash of request body (for POST requests)

2. Base64 Encoding: The event is base64-encoded and sent in Authorization: Nostr {base64_event} header

3. Server Verification: GitRepublic verifies:

   • Event kind is 27235
   • Timestamp is within 60 seconds
   • URL matches exactly (normalized, trailing slashes removed)
   • HTTP method matches
   • Payload hash matches (for POST requests)
   • Event signature is valid

API Endpoint Authentication

API endpoints that modify repository state also use NIP-98:

• File creation/editing
• Repository settings updates
• PR/issue creation
• Comment posting

URL Normalization

GitRepublic normalizes URLs before comparison to handle trailing slashes and ensure consistent matching:

• Removes trailing slashes
• Preserves query parameters
• Handles both HTTP and HTTPS

Fallback to Kind 24

If NIP-98 authentication fails, GitRepublic can fall back to kind 24 (public message) events for relay write proofs.

Implementation: src/lib/services/nostr/nip98-auth.ts, used in all git operation endpoints and API routes