ORLY Relay Domain Glossary

This glossary defines the ubiquitous language used throughout the ORLY codebase. All contributors should use these terms consistently in code, comments, and documentation.

Core Domain Concepts

Event

A Nostr event as defined in NIP-01. The fundamental unit of data in the Nostr protocol. Contains: id, pubkey, created_at, kind, tags, content, sig.

Code location: git.mleku.dev/mleku/nostr/encoders/event
Key type: event.E

Serial

A monotonically increasing 40-bit identifier assigned to each event upon storage. Used for efficient range queries, synchronization, and garbage collection ordering.

Code location: pkg/database/indexes/types.Uint40
Related types: EventRef, IdPkTs

Pubkey

A 32-byte secp256k1 public key identifying a Nostr user. Stored as binary internally, displayed as 64-character lowercase hex or bech32 npub format externally.

Code location: git.mleku.dev/mleku/nostr/types.Pubkey

Access Level

The permission tier granted to a pubkey. Determines what operations are allowed.

Level	Description
`none`	No access, authentication required
`read`	Read-only access (REQ allowed, EVENT denied)
`write`	Read and write access
`admin`	Write + import/export + arbitrary delete
`owner`	Admin + wipe + system configuration
`blocked`	IP address blocked
`banned`	Pubkey banned

Code location: pkg/interfaces/acl/acl.go constants

ACL (Access Control List)

The authorization system that determines access levels for pubkeys and IP addresses. Supports multiple modes with different authorization strategies.

Code location: pkg/acl/
Interface: pkg/interfaces/acl/acl.go

Event Processing Pipeline

The event processing pipeline transforms incoming WebSocket messages into stored events. Each stage has distinct responsibilities and produces typed results.

Raw JSON → Validation → Authorization → Routing → Processing → Delivery

Validation

The process of verifying event structure, signature, and protocol compliance.

Checks performed:

Raw JSON validation (hex case normalization)
Event ID verification (hash matches content)
Signature verification (schnorr signature valid)
Timestamp validation (not too far in future)
NIP-70 protected tag validation

Code location: pkg/event/validation/
Result type: validation.Result with Valid, Code, Msg

Authorization

The decision process determining if an event is allowed based on ACL and policy. Returns a structured decision with access level and deny reason.

Code location: pkg/event/authorization/
Result type: authorization.Decision with Allowed, AccessLevel, DenyReason, RequireAuth

Routing

Dispatching events to specialized handlers based on event kind. Determines whether events should be processed normally, delivered ephemerally, or handled specially.

Examples:

Ephemeral events (kinds 20000-29999): Deliver without storage
Delete events (kind 5): Trigger deletion cascade
NIP-43 events (kinds 28934, 28936): Membership requests

Code location: pkg/event/routing/
Result type: routing.Result with Action, Error

Processing

The final stage: persisting events, running post-save hooks, and delivering to subscribers. Handles deduplication, replaceable event logic, and event delivery.

Code location: pkg/event/processing/
Result type: processing.Result with Saved, Duplicate, Blocked, Error

ACL Modes

None Mode

Open relay - all pubkeys have write access by default. No authentication required unless explicitly configured via ORLY_AUTH_REQUIRED.

Code location: pkg/acl/none.go

Follows Mode

Whitelist based on admin/owner follow lists (kind 3 events). Followed pubkeys get write access; others get read-only or denied based on configuration. Supports progressive throttling for non-followed users.

Code location: pkg/acl/follows.go
Config: ORLY_ACL_MODE=follows

Managed Mode

Fine-grained control via NIP-86 management API. Supports pubkey bans, event bans, IP blocks, kind restrictions, and custom rules. All management operations require NIP-98 HTTP authentication.

Code location: pkg/acl/managed.go
Config: ORLY_ACL_MODE=managed

Curating Mode

Curator-based content moderation system. Curators can approve/reject events from non-followed users. Events from non-curated users are held pending approval.

Code location: pkg/acl/curating.go
Config: ORLY_ACL_MODE=curating

Protocol Concepts

NIP-42 Authentication

Challenge-response authentication for WebSocket connections. Used to verify pubkey ownership before granting elevated access.

Flow:

Relay sends AUTH challenge with random string
Client signs challenge with private key
Relay verifies signature and grants access level

Code location: pkg/protocol/auth/

NIP-70 Protected Events

Events with - (protected) tag that can only be replaced/deleted by the author. Prevents relays from accepting replacements from unauthorized pubkeys.

Tag format: ["-"] in tags array

NIP-43 Relay Access

Invite-based membership system for restricted relays. Supports join requests, leave requests, and membership tracking.

Kind	Purpose
28934	Join request with invite code
28936	Leave request
8000	Member added (relay-published)

Code location: pkg/protocol/nip43/

NIP-86 Relay Management

HTTP JSON-RPC API for relay administration. Requires NIP-98 HTTP authentication with admin/owner access level.

Endpoint: /api/v1/management
Code location: app/handle-nip86.go

NIP-77 Negentropy

Set reconciliation protocol for efficient relay-to-relay synchronization. Uses negentropy algorithm to identify missing events with minimal bandwidth.

Code location: pkg/sync/negentropy/
Envelope types: NEG-OPEN, NEG-MSG, NEG-CLOSE, NEG-ERR

Infrastructure Concepts

Publisher

The event delivery system that sends events to subscribers. Composed of multiple publisher implementations (socket, internal, etc.).

Code location: pkg/protocol/publish/
Interface: pkg/interfaces/publisher/publisher.go

Sprocket

External event processing plugin (JavaScript/Rhai script). Can accept, reject, or shadow-reject events before normal processing.

Action	Effect
accept	Event proceeds to normal processing
reject	Event rejected with error message
shadowReject	Event appears accepted but is not stored

Code location: app/sprocket.go

Policy Manager

Rule-based event filtering system configured via JSON or kind 30078 events. Evaluates events against configurable rules for allow/deny decisions.

Code location: pkg/policy/
Config file: ~/.config/orly/policy.json

Rate Limiter

PID controller-based adaptive throttling system. Adjusts delays based on system load (memory pressure, write throughput).

Code location: pkg/ratelimit/
Interface: pkg/interfaces/loadmonitor/

Supervisor

Process lifecycle manager for split IPC mode deployment. Manages database, ACL, sync, and relay processes with dependency ordering.

Code location: cmd/orly-launcher/supervisor.go

Data Types

EventRef

Stack-allocated event reference with fixed-size ID and pubkey arrays. 80 bytes total, fits in cache line, safe for concurrent use. Immutable - all fields are unexported with accessor methods.

type EventRef struct {
    id  ntypes.EventID // 32 bytes
    pub ntypes.Pubkey  // 32 bytes
    ts  int64          // 8 bytes
    ser uint64         // 8 bytes
}

Code location: pkg/interfaces/store/store_interface.go

IdPkTs

Event reference with slice-based fields for backward compatibility. Mutable - use ToEventRef() for safe concurrent access.

type IdPkTs struct {
    Id  []byte   // Event ID
    Pub []byte   // Pubkey
    Ts  int64    // Timestamp
    Ser uint64   // Serial number
}

Code location: pkg/interfaces/store/store_interface.go

Decision

Authorization result carrying allowed status, access level, and context. Used to communicate authorization outcomes through the pipeline.

Code location: pkg/event/authorization/authorization.go

Result (Validation)

Validation outcome with Valid bool, ReasonCode enum, and message string. Codes: ReasonNone, ReasonBlocked, ReasonInvalid, ReasonError.

Code location: pkg/event/validation/validation.go

Result (Processing)

Processing outcome indicating whether event was saved, duplicate, or blocked. Includes error field for unexpected failures.

Code location: pkg/event/processing/processing.go

Subscription Terminology

Note: "Subscription" has two distinct meanings in the codebase:

Event Subscription (REQ)

An active filter receiving matching events in real-time. Created via REQ envelope, cancelled via CLOSE envelope. Stored in Listener.subscriptions map with cancel function.

Code location: app/listener.go subscriptions field

Payment Subscription

Paid access tier granting elevated permissions for a time period. Managed via NWC payments or manual extension.

Code location: pkg/database/interface.go Subscription type

Sync Terminology

Spider

Event aggregator that fetches events from external relays. Subscribes to events for followed pubkeys on configured relay lists.

Code location: pkg/spider/

Sync

Peer-to-peer replication between relay instances. Multiple implementations: negentropy, cluster, distributed, relaygroup.

Code location: pkg/sync/

Cluster

Group of relay instances sharing events via HTTP-based pull replication. Membership tracked via kind 39108 events.

Code location: pkg/sync/cluster/

Relay Group

Configuration of relay sets for synchronized operation. Tracked via kind 39105 events.

Code location: pkg/sync/relaygroup/

Driver Pattern

Driver

A pluggable implementation of a core interface. Selected at runtime via configuration or command-line flags.