NIP-53 - Live Activities
Table of Contents
Live Activities
draft optional
This NIP introduces event kinds to advertise live spaces and the participation of pubkeys in them.
Live Streaming
A special event with kind:30311 "Live Streaming Event" is defined as an addressable event whose tags advertise the content and participats of a live stream.
Each p tag SHOULD have a displayable marker name for the current role (e.g. Host, Speaker, Participant) of the user in the event and the relay information MAY be empty. This event will be constantly updated as participants join and leave the activity.
For example:
{
"kind": 30311,
"tags": [
["d", "<unique identifier>"],
["title", "<name of the event>"],
["summary", "<description>"],
["image", "<preview image url>"],
["t", "hashtag"]
["streaming", "<url>"],
["recording", "<url>"], // used to place the edited video once the activity is over
["starts", "<unix timestamp in seconds>"],
["ends", "<unix timestamp in seconds>"],
["status", "<planned, live, ended>"],
["current_participants", "<number>"],
["total_participants", "<number>"],
["p", "91cf9..4e5ca", "wss://provider1.com/", "Host", "<proof>"],
["p", "14aeb..8dad4", "wss://provider2.com/nostr", "Speaker"],
["p", "612ae..e610f", "ws://provider3.com/ws", "Participant"],
["relays", "wss://one.com", "wss://two.com", /*...*/],
["pinned", "<event id of pinned live chat message>"],
],
"content": "",
// other fields...
}
A distinct d tag should be used for each activity. All other tags are optional.
Providers SHOULD keep the participant list small (e.g. under 1000 users) and, when limits are reached, Providers SHOULD select which participants get named in the event. Clients should not expect a comprehensive list. Once the activity ends, the event can be deleted or updated to summarize the activity and provide async content (e.g. recording of the event).
Clients are expected to subscribe to kind:30311 events in general or for given follow lists and statuses. Clients MAY display participants' roles in activities as well as access points to join the activity.
Live Activity management clients are expected to constantly update kind:30311 during the event. Clients MAY choose to consider status=live events after 1hr without any update as ended. The starts and ends timestamp SHOULD be updated when the status changes to and from live
The activity MUST be linked to using the NIP-19 naddr code along with the a tag.
Proof of Agreement to Participate
Event owners can add proof as the 5th term in each p tag to clarify the participant's agreement in joining the event. The proof is a signed SHA256 of the complete a Tag of the event (kind:pubkey:dTag) by each p's private key, encoded in hex.
Clients MAY only display participants if the proof is available or MAY display participants as "invited" if the proof is not available.
This feature is important to avoid malicious event owners adding large account holders to the event, without their knowledge, to lure their followers into the malicious owner's trap.
Live Chat Message
Event kind:1311 is live chat's channel message. Clients MUST include the a tag of the activity. An e tag denotes the direct parent message this post is replying to.
{
"kind": 1311,
"tags": [
["a", "30311:<Community event author pubkey>:<d-identifier of the community>", "<Optional relay url>"],
],
"content": "Zaps to live streams is beautiful.",
// other fields...
}
q tags MAY be used when citing events in the .content with NIP-21.
["q", "<event-id> or <event-address>", "<relay-url>", "<pubkey-if-a-regular-event>"]
Hosts may choose to pin one or more live chat messages by updating the pinned tags in the live event kind 30311.
Examples
Live Streaming
{
"id": "57f28dbc264990e2c61e80a883862f7c114019804208b14da0bff81371e484d2",
"pubkey": "1597246ac22f7d1375041054f2a4986bd971d8d196d7997e48973263ac9879ec",
"created_at": 1687182672,
"kind": 30311,
"tags": [
["d", "demo-cf-stream"],
["title", "Adult Swim Metalocalypse"],
["summary", "Live stream from IPTV-ORG collection"],
["streaming", "https://adultswim-vodlive.cdn.turner.com/live/metalocalypse/stream.m3u8"],
["starts", "1687182672"],
["status", "live"],
["t", "animation"],
["t", "iptv"],
["image", "https://i.imgur.com/CaKq6Mt.png"]
],
"content": "",
"sig": "5bc7a60f5688effa5287244a24768cbe0dcd854436090abc3bef172f7f5db1410af4277508dbafc4f70a754a891c90ce3b966a7bc47e7c1eb71ff57640f3d389"
}
Live Streaming chat message
{
"id": "97aa81798ee6c5637f7b21a411f89e10244e195aa91cb341bf49f718e36c8188",
"pubkey": "3f770d65d3a764a9c5cb503ae123e62ec7598ad035d836e2a810f3877a745b24",
"created_at": 1687286726,
"kind": 1311,
"tags": [
["a", "30311:1597246ac22f7d1375041054f2a4986bd971d8d196d7997e48973263ac9879ec:demo-cf-stream", "", "root"]
],
"content": "Zaps to live streams is beautiful.",
"sig": "997f62ddfc0827c121043074d50cfce7a528e978c575722748629a4137c45b75bdbc84170bedc723ef0a5a4c3daebf1fef2e93f5e2ddb98e5d685d022c30b622"
}
Meeting Spaces
Meeting spaces contain one or more video/audio rooms where users can join and participate in the streaming.
Meeting Space Event (kind:30312)
A special event with kind:30312 "Space Host" defines the configuration and properties of a virtual interactive space. Each space has a unique identifier and can host multiple events/meetings.
{
"kind": 30312,
"tags": [
["d", "<unique identifier>"], // Required: Room identifier
["room", "<name of the room>"], // Required: Display name
["summary", "<description>"], // Optional: Room description
["image", "<preview image url>"], // Optional: Room image
["status", "<open, private, closed>"], // Required: Room accessibility
["service", "<url>"], // Required: URL to access the room
["endpoint", "<url>"], // Optional: API endpoint for status/info
["t", "<hashtag>"], // Optional: Multiple hashtags allowed
["p", "<pubkey>", "<url>", "<role>", "<proof>"], // Required: At least one provider
["relays", "<url>", "<url>", /*...*/] // Optional: Preferred relays
],
"content": "" // Usually empty, may contain additional metadata
}
Space properties:
- MUST be either open, private or closed. Closed means the room is not in operation.
- MAY specify access control policy for private rooms (e.g. invite-only, payment required)
- MAY persist when not in use
- MUST have at least one provider with "Host" role
- MAY have multiple providers with different roles
Provider roles (p tags):
- Host: Full room management capabilities
- Moderator: Room moderation capabilities
- Speaker: Allowed to present/speak
- Optional proof field for role verification
Meeting Room Events (kind:30313)
A special event with kind:30313 represents a scheduled or ongoing meeting within a room. It MUST reference its parent room using the d tag.
{
"kind": 30313,
"tags": [
["d", "<event-unique-identifier>"], // Required: Event identifier
["a", "30312:<pubkey>:<room-id>", "wss://nostr.example.com"], // Required: Reference to parent space, 'd' from 30312
["title", "<meeting-title>"], // Required: Meeting title
["summary", "<description>"], // Optional: Meeting description
["image", "<preview image url>"], // Optional: Meeting image
["starts", "<unix timestamp>"], // Required: Start time
["ends", "<unix timestamp>"], // Optional: End time
["status", "<planned, live, ended>"], // Required: Meeting status
["total_participants", "<number>"], // Optional: Total registered
["current_participants", "<number>"], // Optional: Currently active
["p", "<pubkey>", "<url>", "<role>"], // Optional: Participant with role
],
"content": "" // Usually empty, may contain additional metadata
}
Event properties:
- MUST reference parent room via d tag
- MUST have a status (planned/live/ended)
- MUST have a start time
- MAY track participant counts
- MAY include participant roles specific to the event
Event management:
- Clients SHOULD update event status regularly when live
- Events without updates for 1 hour MAY be considered ended
- starts and ends timestamps SHOULD be updated when status changes
Examples
Meeting Space (kind:30312)
{
"kind": 30312,
"tags": [
["d", "main-conference-room"],
["room", "Main Conference Hall"],
["summary", "Our primary conference space"],
["image", "https://example.com/room.jpg"],
["status", "open"],
["service", "https://meet.example.com/room"],
["endpoint", "https://api.example.com/room"],
["t", "conference"],
["p", "f7234bd4c1394dda46d09f35bd384dd30cc552ad5541990f98844fb06676e9ca", "wss://nostr.example.com/", "Owner"],
["p", "14aeb..8dad4", "wss://provider2.com/", "Moderator"],
["relays", "wss://relay1.com", "wss://relay2.com"]
],
"content": ""
}
Meeting room (kind:30313)
{
"kind": 30313,
"tags": [
["d", "annual-meeting-2025"],
["a", "30312:f7234bd4c1394dda46d09f35bd384dd30cc552ad5541990f98844fb06676e9ca:main-conference-room", "wss://nostr.example.com"]
["title", "Annual Company Meeting 2025"],
["summary", "Yearly company-wide meeting"],
["image", "https://example.com/meeting.jpg"],
["starts", "1676262123"],
["ends", "1676269323"],
["status", "live"],
["total_participants", "180"],
["current_participants", "175"],
["p", "91cf9..4e5ca", "wss://provider1.com/", "Speaker"],
],
"content": ""
}
Room Presence
New kind: 10312 provides an event which signals presence of a listener.
The presence event SHOULD be updated at regular intervals and clients SHOULD filter presence events older than a given time window.
This kind 10312 is a regular replaceable event, as such presence can only be indicated in one room at a time.
{
"kind": 10312,
"tags": [
["a" , "<room-a-tag>", "<relay-hint>", "root"],
["hand", "1"] // hand raised flag
]
}