Nests

Decentralized audio rooms on Nostr, powered by MoQ (Media over QUIC) for real-time audio transport.

Architecture

Nests has two parts:

• Frontend — A React SPA that handles rooms, chat, reactions, theming, and all Nostr interactions directly from the browser
• Audio Server — A MoQ relay + auth sidecar that handles real-time audio transport via WebTransport/QUIC

The frontend is fully static. All Nostr data (rooms, chat, presence, reactions) flows through public Nostr relays. The only backend you run is the MoQ audio server.

Quick Start (Development)

# 1. Generate self-signed TLS certs (required for WebTransport)
./dev-config/generate-certs.sh

# 2. Start MoQ relay + auth
docker compose -f docker-compose-moq.yml up -d

# 3. Start the frontend dev server
cd NestsUI-v2
npm install
VITE_MOQ_CERT_FINGERPRINT=$(cat ../dev-config/certs/fingerprint.b64) npm run dev

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Production Deployment

Full Stack (Frontend + Audio Server)

Use docker-compose.yml to run everything:

# 1. Clone the MoQ relay (built from source)
git clone https://github.com/moq-dev/moq.git

# 2. Configure your domains
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env:
#   MOQ_RELAY_DOMAIN=moq.yourdomain.com
#   MOQ_AUTH_DOMAIN=moq-auth.yourdomain.com

# 3. Get TLS certs for the MoQ relay (WebTransport requires valid TLS)
certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/certbot -d moq.yourdomain.com
ln -s /etc/letsencrypt/live/moq.yourdomain.com ./certs

# 4. Start all services
docker compose up -d

This starts:

Service	Port	Description
nests-web	8080	Frontend (nginx serving the Vite build)
moq-relay	4443 (TCP+UDP)	MoQ audio relay (WebTransport/QUIC)
moq-auth	8090	NIP-98 auth sidecar (issues JWTs)

Put a reverse proxy (Caddy/nginx) in front for the frontend and auth. The MoQ relay handles its own TLS on port 443 — do not proxy it.

# Caddy example
nests.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy nests-web:80
}

moq-auth.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy moq-auth:8080
}

# moq.yourdomain.com:4443 — no proxy, relay handles its own TLS

Firewall: Open TCP + UDP on port 4443 for the MoQ relay subdomain.

DNS: Point all three subdomains to your server.

Standalone Audio Server

Anyone can run their own MoQ audio server. No frontend required — Nests clients can connect to any relay.

# 1. Clone the MoQ relay
git clone https://github.com/moq-dev/moq.git

# 2. Get TLS certs
certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/certbot -d moq.yourdomain.com
ln -s /etc/letsencrypt/live/moq.yourdomain.com ./certs

# 3. Start the relay
docker compose -f docker-compose-moq.yml up moq-relay moq-auth -d

Then add https://moq.yourdomain.com:4443 as an audio server in any Nests client under Settings > Audio.

Users can also publish their preferred audio servers to Nostr as a kind:10112 server list, so their rooms automatically use their own relay.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
VITE_MOQ_RELAY_URL	https://moq.nostrnests.com	MoQ relay URL (build-time)
VITE_MOQ_AUTH_URL	https://moq-auth.nostrnests.com	Auth service URL (build-time)
VITE_MOQ_CERT_FINGERPRINT	—	Dev only: self-signed cert fingerprint
MOQ_RELAY_PORT	4443	MoQ relay port
MOQ_AUTH_PORT	8090	Auth service port

Nostr Protocol

Room Event (kind:30312)

Based on NIP-53 for live activities.

{
  "kind": 30312,
  "tags": [
    ["d", "<unique identifier>"],
    ["title", "<room name>"],
    ["summary", "<description>"],
    ["image", "<preview image url>"],
    ["status", "<live, planned, ended>"],
    ["starts", "<unix timestamp>"],
    ["streaming", "<moq relay url>"],
    ["auth", "<moq auth url>"],
    ["color", "<banner gradient class>"],
    ["relays", "wss://relay1.com", "wss://relay2.com"],
    ["p", "<pubkey>", "<relay>", "<role>"],
    ["c", "#hexcolor", "background"],
    ["c", "#hexcolor", "text"],
    ["c", "#hexcolor", "primary"]
  ],
  "content": ""
}

Participant roles in p tags: host, admin, speaker.

Room theming uses inline c tags (Ditto theme colors) or an a tag referencing a kind:36767 theme.

Live Chat (kind:1311)

Same as NIP-53. Messages reference the room via a tag.

{
  "kind": 1311,
  "tags": [
    ["a", "30312:<pubkey>:<d-tag>"]
  ],
  "content": "Hello from Nests!"
}

Room Presence (kind:10312)

Replaceable event signaling a user's presence in a room.

{
  "kind": 10312,
  "tags": [
    ["a", "<room-a-tag>"],
    ["hand", "1"],
    ["publishing", "1"],
    ["muted", "0"],
    ["onstage", "1"]
  ]
}

Clients publish presence every 2 minutes as a heartbeat. Presence can only be indicated in one room at a time (replaceable event).

Audio Server List (kind:10112)

Users publish their preferred MoQ relay servers.

{
  "kind": 10112,
  "tags": [
    ["server", "https://moq.example.com:4443"],
    ["server", "https://moq2.example.com:4443"]
  ]
}

Ditto Theming

Nests supports Ditto profile themes and room themes:

• kind:16767 — User's active profile theme (colors, font, background)
• kind:36767 — Shareable theme definitions

Avatar shapes use the shape field in kind:0 metadata (an emoji rendered as a CSS mask).

License

MIT