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Web of Trust

Understanding and configuring Lighthouse's trust system.

Overview

Lighthouse uses a Web of Trust model to filter content. Instead of relying on a central authority to moderate content, trust flows through cryptographic relationships.

The Problem with Centralization

Traditional torrent indexers are:

  • Single points of failure - Take down the site, lose everything
  • Centrally moderated - One entity decides what's acceptable
  • Easy to censor - Clear targets for legal action

The Solution

Lighthouse distributes trust through three actors:

Actor Role
Emitter Creates and signs torrent metadata
Curator Validates emitters, maintains trust lists
User Chooses which curators to trust

How Trust Works

Trust Depth

The trust.depth setting controls how far trust extends:

Depth What You See
0 Only whitelisted publishers
1 Whitelist + people you follow on Nostr
2 Above + friends of friends

Depth 0: Whitelist Only

Most restrictive. Only content from manually added npubs appears.

trust:
  depth: 0

Use when:

  • Running a private instance
  • Only want specific publishers
  • Maximum control over content

Depth 1: Direct Follows

Content from your Nostr contact list plus whitelist.

trust:
  depth: 1

Use when:

  • Already have a Nostr identity with follows
  • Trust your social graph
  • Recommended for most users

Depth 2: Extended Network

Content from follows of follows. Use carefully - can be noisy.

trust:
  depth: 2

Use when:

  • Want maximum discovery
  • Have a well-curated follow list
  • Accept more noise for more content

Managing Trust

Whitelist

Manually trusted publishers. Always visible regardless of depth.

Add via UI:

  1. Go to Trust page
  2. Click Add to Whitelist
  3. Enter npub and optional note
  4. Save

Add via API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:9999/api/trust/whitelist \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"npub": "npub1...", "note": "Trusted uploader"}'

Blacklist

Blocked publishers. Content never appears, regardless of trust.

Add via UI:

  1. Go to Trust page
  2. Click Block User
  3. Enter npub and reason
  4. Save

Blacklisting:

  • Immediately removes all content from that publisher
  • Prevents future content from appearing
  • Syncs across sessions

Add via API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:9999/api/trust/blacklist \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"npub": "npub1...", "reason": "Spam"}'

Import Follows

Import your Nostr contact list:

  1. Go to Trust page
  2. Click Import Follows
  3. Your Kind 3 (contact list) events are fetched
  4. Follows are added to the trust graph

Federated Curation

For more sophisticated trust, use Curators.

What is a Curator?

A curator is a trusted entity that:

  • Reviews content
  • Applies rulesets (moderation policies)
  • Signs verification decisions
  • Publishes decisions to Nostr

Why Use Curators?

Approach Pros Cons
Simple WoT Easy, automatic Limited moderation
Curators Active moderation, rulesets More setup

Adding Curators

  1. Go to Trust → Curators tab
  2. Click Add Curator
  3. Enter curator's npub
  4. Set weight (for aggregation)
  5. Save

Aggregation Policy

When multiple curators exist, decisions are aggregated:

Mode Behavior
any Any accept = content appears
all All must accept
quorum N of M must agree
weighted Weight-based voting

Configure in UI:

  1. Go to Trust → Curators
  2. Click Aggregation Settings
  3. Choose mode
  4. Set quorum (if applicable)
  5. Save

Configure via API:

curl -X PUT http://localhost:9999/api/trust/aggregation \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode": "quorum", "quorum_required": 2}'

Trust Flow

Simple Mode (Depth 1)

You → follow → Alice → uploads content → You see it
You → follow → Bob → follows → Carol → uploads → You DON'T see it (depth 1)

With Curators

Curator → accepts → Torrent
You → trust → Curator
Result: You see the torrent

Multiple Curators (Quorum)

Curator A → accepts
Curator B → accepts
Curator C → rejects

Policy: quorum=2
Result: Content appears (2/3 accept)

Verification Decisions

Curators create signed decisions:

{
  "decision": "accept",
  "reason_codes": [],
  "ruleset_type": "semantic",
  "ruleset_version": "1.0.0",
  "ruleset_hash": "sha256...",
  "target_infohash": "aabbccdd...",
  "curator_pubkey": "npub1...",
  "signature": "sig..."
}

Viewing Decisions

  1. Go to Curation page
  2. Browse decisions
  3. Filter by status, curator

Legal Codes Priority

Certain rejection codes always take priority:

Code Description Behavior
LEGAL_DMCA DMCA takedown Always reject
LEGAL_ILLEGAL Illegal content Always reject
ABUSE_SPAM Spam Always reject
ABUSE_MALWARE Malware Always reject

These override aggregation policy - one rejection with these codes means content is rejected.

Security Considerations

Key Management

Your Nostr identity is:

  • Your reputation - How others trust you
  • Your access - What content you can see
  • Your signature - For publishing

Protect your nsec:

  • Don't share it
  • Don't commit to version control
  • Consider hardware key for high security

Curator Trust

Before trusting a curator:

  • Review their reputation
  • Check their ruleset version
  • Consider their moderation style
  • Start with low weight, increase over time

Rogue Curators

If a curator goes rogue:

  1. Remove from trust list
  2. Their decisions stop affecting your index
  3. Content they accepted remains (re-evaluate manually if needed)

Best Practices

Starting Out

  1. Set depth to 1
  2. Add a few known-good publishers to whitelist
  3. Import your Nostr follows
  4. Gradually discover more through your network

Growing Your Network

  1. Follow active uploaders on Nostr
  2. Trust curators with good reputations
  3. Blacklist bad actors promptly
  4. Adjust depth based on noise level

Running a Curator Node

  1. Set depth to 0 (strict whitelist)
  2. Enable tag filtering
  3. Import/create rulesets
  4. Sign and publish decisions
  5. Share your npub with users

Troubleshooting

No Content Appearing

  1. Check trust depth (0 = whitelist only)
  2. Verify relays are connected
  3. Confirm whitelist has entries (if depth 0)
  4. Check indexer is running

Too Much Spam

  1. Lower trust depth
  2. Use curators instead of simple WoT
  3. Add spammers to blacklist
  4. Enable tag filtering

Content Disappearing

  1. Check blacklist (may have blocked publisher)
  2. Verify curator decisions
  3. Check if publisher was removed from follows

Next Steps