diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9ad985b..fda10bd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Custom ignores
 data/
 frontend/build/
+nostr/strfry-db
 
 # Logs
 logs
diff --git a/config.js b/config.js
index 5ea3715..3ac0a88 100644
--- a/config.js
+++ b/config.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const config = {
     ln_wallet: process.env.LN_WALLET,
     ln_api_key: process.env.LN_API_KEY,
     ln_admin_key: process.env.LN_ADMIN_KEY,
+    nostr_key: process.env.NOSTR_KEY,
     data: 'data',
     uploads: 'data/uploads',
     assets: 'data/assets',
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index a2b3db0..573f767 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -47,3 +47,11 @@ services:
       - ./data:/data
     depends_on:
       - ipfs
+
+  nostr:
+    image: dockurr/strfry:latest
+    ports:
+      - 7777:7777
+    volumes:
+      - ./nostr/strfry-db:/app/strfry-db
+      - ./nostr/strfry.conf:/etc/strfry.conf
diff --git a/nostr.js b/nostr.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..167f3a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nostr.js
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+
+const WebSocket = require('ws');
+const config = require('./config');
+
+const {
+    finishEvent,
+    validateEvent,
+    verifySignature,
+    getPublicKey
+} = require('nostr-tools');
+
+const RELAYS = {};
+
+function createMessage(message) {
+    let event = {
+        kind: 1,
+        created_at: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
+        tags: [],
+        content: message,
+        pubkey: getPublicKey(config.nostr_key),
+    };
+
+    finishEvent(event, config.nostr_key);
+
+    const valid = validateEvent(event);
+    const verified = verifySignature(event);
+
+    if (valid && verified) {
+        return event;
+    }
+};
+
+function openRelay(wsurl) {
+    const ws = new WebSocket(wsurl);
+
+    ws.on('open', () => {
+        console.log(`ws open ${wsurl}`);
+        RELAYS[wsurl] = ws;
+    });
+
+    ws.on('error', (error) => {
+        console.log(`ws error from ${wsurl}: ${error}`);
+    });
+
+    ws.on('message', (event) => {
+        console.log(`ws message from ${wsurl}: ${event} `);
+    });
+
+    ws.on('close', () => {
+        console.log(`ws close ${wsurl}`);
+        delete RELAYS[wsurl];
+    });
+}
+
+function closeRelays() {
+    for (let key in RELAYS) {
+        const ws = RELAYS[key];
+        ws.close();
+    }
+}
+
+function countOpenRelays() {
+    let count = 0;
+
+    for (let key in RELAYS) {
+        const ws = RELAYS[key];
+
+        if (ws.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
+            count++;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return count;
+}
+
+function subscribeToRelays() {
+    const filters = {
+        kinds: [1],
+        limit: 1000,
+    };
+
+    sendRequest(filters);
+}
+
+function sendEvent(event) {
+    const message = JSON.stringify(["EVENT", event]);
+
+    for (let key in RELAYS) {
+        const ws = RELAYS[key];
+
+        if (ws.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
+            ws.send(message);
+            console.log(`ws event sent to ${key}`);
+        }
+        else {
+            console.log(`ws ${key} not open`);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+function sendMessage(message) {
+    const event = createMessage(message);
+
+    if (event) {
+        sendEvent(event);
+    }
+}
+
+function sendRequest(filters) {
+    const sub = "foo";
+    const message = JSON.stringify(["REQ", sub, filters]);
+
+    for (let key in RELAYS) {
+        const ws = RELAYS[key];
+
+        if (ws.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
+            ws.send(message);
+            console.log(`ws req sent to ${key}`);
+        }
+        else {
+            console.log(`ws ${key} not open`);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    closeRelays,
+    countOpenRelays,
+    createMessage,
+    openRelay,
+    sendEvent,
+    sendMessage,
+    subscribeToRelays,
+};
diff --git a/nostr/strfry.conf b/nostr/strfry.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4935041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nostr/strfry.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+##
+## Default strfry config
+##
+
+# Directory that contains the strfry LMDB database (restart required)
+db = "./strfry-db/"
+
+dbParams {
+    # Maximum number of threads/processes that can simultaneously have LMDB transactions open (restart required)
+    maxreaders = 256
+
+    # Size of mmap() to use when loading LMDB (default is 10TB, does *not* correspond to disk-space used) (restart required)
+    mapsize = 10995116277760
+
+    # Disables read-ahead when accessing the LMDB mapping. Reduces IO activity when DB size is larger than RAM. (restart required)
+    noReadAhead = false
+}
+
+events {
+    # Maximum size of normalised JSON, in bytes
+    maxEventSize = 65536
+
+    # Events newer than this will be rejected
+    rejectEventsNewerThanSeconds = 900
+
+    # Events older than this will be rejected
+    rejectEventsOlderThanSeconds = 94608000
+
+    # Ephemeral events older than this will be rejected
+    rejectEphemeralEventsOlderThanSeconds = 60
+
+    # Ephemeral events will be deleted from the DB when older than this
+    ephemeralEventsLifetimeSeconds = 300
+
+    # Maximum number of tags allowed
+    maxNumTags = 2000
+
+    # Maximum size for tag values, in bytes
+    maxTagValSize = 1024
+}
+
+relay {
+    # Interface to listen on. Use 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (restart required)
+    #bind = "127.0.0.1"
+    bind = "0.0.0.0"
+
+    # Port to open for the nostr websocket protocol (restart required)
+    port = 7777
+
+    # Set OS-limit on maximum number of open files/sockets (if 0, don't attempt to set) (restart required)
+    nofiles = 1000000
+
+    # HTTP header that contains the client's real IP, before reverse proxying (ie x-real-ip) (MUST be all lower-case)
+    realIpHeader = ""
+
+    info {
+        # NIP-11: Name of this server. Short/descriptive (< 30 characters)
+        name = "artx.market nostr-relay"
+
+        # NIP-11: Detailed information about relay, free-form
+        description = "This is a strfry instance."
+
+        # NIP-11: Administrative nostr pubkey, for contact purposes
+        pubkey = "e8d667dd0c571ba799390a392b690dd7b5491f484690ba922ab3f17965fb2139"
+
+        # NIP-11: Alternative administrative contact (email, website, etc)
+        contact = "davidmc@gmail.com"
+    }
+
+    # Maximum accepted incoming websocket frame size (should be larger than max event) (restart required)
+    maxWebsocketPayloadSize = 131072
+
+    # Websocket-level PING message frequency (should be less than any reverse proxy idle timeouts) (restart required)
+    autoPingSeconds = 55
+
+    # If TCP keep-alive should be enabled (detect dropped connections to upstream reverse proxy)
+    enableTcpKeepalive = false
+
+    # How much uninterrupted CPU time a REQ query should get during its DB scan
+    queryTimesliceBudgetMicroseconds = 10000
+
+    # Maximum records that can be returned per filter
+    maxFilterLimit = 500
+
+    # Maximum number of subscriptions (concurrent REQs) a connection can have open at any time
+    maxSubsPerConnection = 20
+
+    writePolicy {
+        # If non-empty, path to an executable script that implements the writePolicy plugin logic
+        plugin = ""
+    }
+
+    compression {
+        # Use permessage-deflate compression if supported by client. Reduces bandwidth, but slight increase in CPU (restart required)
+        enabled = true
+
+        # Maintain a sliding window buffer for each connection. Improves compression, but uses more memory (restart required)
+        slidingWindow = true
+    }
+
+    logging {
+        # Dump all incoming messages
+        dumpInAll = false
+
+        # Dump all incoming EVENT messages
+        dumpInEvents = false
+
+        # Dump all incoming REQ/CLOSE messages
+        dumpInReqs = false
+
+        # Log performance metrics for initial REQ database scans
+        dbScanPerf = false
+
+        # Log reason for invalid event rejection? Can be disabled to silence excessive logging
+        invalidEvents = true
+    }
+
+    numThreads {
+        # Ingester threads: route incoming requests, validate events/sigs (restart required)
+        ingester = 3
+
+        # reqWorker threads: Handle initial DB scan for events (restart required)
+        reqWorker = 3
+
+        # reqMonitor threads: Handle filtering of new events (restart required)
+        reqMonitor = 3
+
+        # negentropy threads: Handle negentropy protocol messages (restart required)
+        negentropy = 2
+    }
+
+    negentropy {
+        # Support negentropy protocol messages
+        enabled = true
+
+        # Maximum records that sync will process before returning an error
+        maxSyncEvents = 1000000
+    }
+}
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 5ee13d1..5e7cd92 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -19,13 +19,15 @@
         "morgan": "^1.10.0",
         "multer": "^1.4.5-lts.1",
         "node-cron": "^3.0.2",
+        "nostr-tools": "^1.17.0",
         "passport": "^0.6.0",
         "passport-lnurl-auth": "^1.5.1",
         "path": "^0.12.7",
         "rimraf": "^5.0.1",
         "serve-static": "^1.15.0",
         "sharp": "^0.32.1",
-        "uuid": "^9.0.0"
+        "uuid": "^9.0.0",
+        "ws": "^8.14.2"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
         "jest": "^29.7.0"
@@ -1244,16 +1246,35 @@
         "@jridgewell/sourcemap-codec": "^1.4.14"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/@noble/ciphers": {
+      "version": "0.2.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@noble/ciphers/-/ciphers-0.2.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-6YBxJDAapHSdd3bLDv6x2wRPwq4QFMUaB3HvljNBUTThDd12eSm7/3F+2lnfzx2jvM+S6Nsy0jEt9QbPqSwqRw==",
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@noble/curves": {
+      "version": "1.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@noble/curves/-/curves-1.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-091oBExgENk/kGj3AZmtBDMpxQPDtxQABR2B9lb1JbVTs6ytdzZNwvhxQ4MWasRNEzlbEH8jCWFCwhF/Obj5AA==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@noble/hashes": "1.3.1"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/@noble/hashes": {
-      "version": "1.3.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@noble/hashes/-/hashes-1.3.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-ilHEACi9DwqJB0pw7kv+Apvh50jiiSyR/cQ3y4W7lOR5mhvn/50FLUfsnfJz0BDZtl/RR16kXvptiv6q1msYZg==",
-      "funding": [
-        {
-          "type": "individual",
-          "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
-        }
-      ]
+      "version": "1.3.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@noble/hashes/-/hashes-1.3.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-EbqwksQwz9xDRGfDST86whPBgM65E0OH/pCgqW0GBVzO22bNE+NuIbeTb714+IfSjU3aRk47EUvXIb5bTsenKA==",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">= 16"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+      }
     },
     "node_modules/@pkgjs/parseargs": {
       "version": "0.11.0",
@@ -1264,6 +1285,42 @@
         "node": ">=14"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/@scure/base": {
+      "version": "1.1.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@scure/base/-/base-1.1.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-ZxOhsSyxYwLJj3pLZCefNitxsj093tb2vq90mp2txoYeBqbcjDjqFhyM8eUjq/uFm6zJ+mUuqxlS2FkuSY1MTA==",
+      "funding": [
+        {
+          "type": "individual",
+          "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "node_modules/@scure/bip32": {
+      "version": "1.3.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@scure/bip32/-/bip32-1.3.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-osvveYtyzdEVbt3OfwwXFr4P2iVBL5u1Q3q4ONBfDY/UpOuXmOlbgwc1xECEboY8wIays8Yt6onaWMUdUbfl0A==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@noble/curves": "~1.1.0",
+        "@noble/hashes": "~1.3.1",
+        "@scure/base": "~1.1.0"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/@scure/bip39": {
+      "version": "1.2.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@scure/bip39/-/bip39-1.2.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Z3/Fsz1yr904dduJD0NpiyRHhRYHdcnyh73FZWiV+/qhWi83wNJ3NWolYqCEN+ZWsUz2TWwajJggcRE9r1zUYg==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@noble/hashes": "~1.3.0",
+        "@scure/base": "~1.1.0"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://paulmillr.com/funding/"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/@sinclair/typebox": {
       "version": "0.27.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@sinclair/typebox/-/typebox-0.27.8.tgz",
@@ -1968,6 +2025,20 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/buffer-from/-/buffer-from-1.1.2.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-E+XQCRwSbaaiChtv6k6Dwgc+bx+Bs6vuKJHHl5kox/BaKbhiXzqQOwK4cO22yElGp2OCmjwVhT3HmxgyPGnJfQ=="
     },
+    "node_modules/bufferutil": {
+      "version": "4.0.8",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/bufferutil/-/bufferutil-4.0.8.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-4T53u4PdgsXqKaIctwF8ifXlRTTmEPJ8iEPWFdGZvcf7sbwYo6FKFEX9eNNAnzFZ7EzJAQ3CJeOtCRA4rDp7Pw==",
+      "hasInstallScript": true,
+      "optional": true,
+      "peer": true,
+      "dependencies": {
+        "node-gyp-build": "^4.3.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=6.14.2"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/builtin-status-codes": {
       "version": "3.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/builtin-status-codes/-/builtin-status-codes-3.0.0.tgz",
@@ -2458,9 +2529,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/electron-to-chromium": {
-      "version": "1.4.565",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/electron-to-chromium/-/electron-to-chromium-1.4.565.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-XbMoT6yIvg2xzcbs5hCADi0dXBh4//En3oFXmtPX+jiyyiCTiM9DGFT2SLottjpEs9Z8Mh8SqahbR96MaHfuSg==",
+      "version": "1.4.566",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/electron-to-chromium/-/electron-to-chromium-1.4.566.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-mv+fAy27uOmTVlUULy15U3DVJ+jg+8iyKH1bpwboCRhtDC69GKf1PPTZvEIhCyDr81RFqfxZJYrbgp933a1vtg==",
       "dev": true
     },
     "node_modules/elliptic": {
@@ -2885,20 +2956,6 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs.realpath/-/fs.realpath-1.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-OO0pH2lK6a0hZnAdau5ItzHPI6pUlvI7jMVnxUQRtw4owF2wk8lOSabtGDCTP4Ggrg2MbGnWO9X8K1t4+fGMDw=="
     },
-    "node_modules/fsevents": {
-      "version": "2.3.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fsevents/-/fsevents-2.3.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-5xoDfX+fL7faATnagmWPpbFtwh/R77WmMMqqHGS65C3vvB0YHrgF+B1YmZ3441tMj5n63k0212XNoJwzlhffQw==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "hasInstallScript": true,
-      "optional": true,
-      "os": [
-        "darwin"
-      ],
-      "engines": {
-        "node": "^8.16.0 || ^10.6.0 || >=11.0.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/function-bind": {
       "version": "1.1.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/function-bind/-/function-bind-1.1.2.tgz",
@@ -4870,6 +4927,27 @@
         "node": ">=0.10.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/nostr-tools": {
+      "version": "1.17.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/nostr-tools/-/nostr-tools-1.17.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-LZmR8GEWKZeElbFV5Xte75dOeE9EFUW/QLI1Ncn3JKn0kFddDKEfBbFN8Mu4TMs+L4HR/WTPha2l+PPuRnJcMw==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@noble/ciphers": "0.2.0",
+        "@noble/curves": "1.1.0",
+        "@noble/hashes": "1.3.1",
+        "@scure/base": "1.1.1",
+        "@scure/bip32": "1.3.1",
+        "@scure/bip39": "1.2.1"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "typescript": ">=5.0.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "typescript": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/npm-run-path": {
       "version": "4.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/npm-run-path/-/npm-run-path-4.0.1.tgz",
@@ -6300,6 +6378,20 @@
         "browserslist": ">= 4.21.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/utf-8-validate": {
+      "version": "5.0.10",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/utf-8-validate/-/utf-8-validate-5.0.10.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Z6czzLq4u8fPOyx7TU6X3dvUZVvoJmxSQ+IcrlmagKhilxlhZgxPK6C5Jqbkw1IDUmFTM+cz9QDnnLTwDz/2gQ==",
+      "hasInstallScript": true,
+      "optional": true,
+      "peer": true,
+      "dependencies": {
+        "node-gyp-build": "^4.3.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=6.14.2"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/util": {
       "version": "0.10.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/util/-/util-0.10.4.tgz",
@@ -6470,6 +6562,26 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-wnD2ZE+l+SPC/uoS0vXeE9L1+0wuaMqKlfz9AMUo38JsyLSBWSFcHR1Rri62LZc12vLr1gb3jl7iwQhgwpAbGQ==",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "node_modules/ws": {
+      "version": "8.14.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ws/-/ws-8.14.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-wEBG1ftX4jcglPxgFCMJmZ2PLtSbJ2Peg6TmpJFTbe9GZYOQCDPdMYu/Tm0/bGZkw8paZnJY45J4K2PZrLYq8g==",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=10.0.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "bufferutil": "^4.0.1",
+        "utf-8-validate": ">=5.0.2"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "bufferutil": {
+          "optional": true
+        },
+        "utf-8-validate": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/xtend": {
       "version": "4.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/xtend/-/xtend-4.0.2.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 57c86b2..dc7ef0d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@
     "morgan": "^1.10.0",
     "multer": "^1.4.5-lts.1",
     "node-cron": "^3.0.2",
+    "nostr-tools": "^1.17.0",
     "passport": "^0.6.0",
     "passport-lnurl-auth": "^1.5.1",
     "path": "^0.12.7",
     "rimraf": "^5.0.1",
     "serve-static": "^1.15.0",
     "sharp": "^0.32.1",
-    "uuid": "^9.0.0"
+    "uuid": "^9.0.0",
+    "ws": "^8.14.2"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "jest": "^29.7.0"
diff --git a/test-nostr.js b/test-nostr.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..859a31a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-nostr.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+const nostr = require('./nostr');
+
+async function main() {
+
+    nostr.openRelay('ws://taranis.local:4848');
+    nostr.openRelay('ws://localhost:7777');
+
+    while (nostr.countOpenRelays() < 1) {
+        console.log('waiting to open relays...');
+        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
+    }
+
+    nostr.subscribeToRelays();
+
+    while (true) {
+        nostr.sendMessage(`hello again! ${new Date().toISOString()}`);
+        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 10000));
+    }
+}
+
+main();