Files
coop-mobile/PLAN.md
T
2026-09-15 07:19:58 +07:00

53 KiB
Raw Blame History

Concord Protocol Implementation Plan

Implementation plan for adding Concord communities and channels to Coop.

Requirements this plan honors

  1. No over-engineering, no over-complication.
  2. Reuse existing APIs and types from the nostr SDK; only create new code where the SDK has nothing.
  3. Follow the existing Coop architecture (no new patterns, no new DI framework, no new persistence layer).

Table of contents

  1. Verdict
  2. Capability check — exists vs. must be written
  3. Scope — v1 vs. deferred
  4. Architecture
  5. Files
  6. Crypto layer — exact algorithm
  7. Wire format — exact stack
  8. Subscriptions
  9. Persistence
  10. Invites
  11. UI
  12. Milestones
  13. Risks and open decisions
  14. Test plan
  15. Appendix A — Concord constants reference
  16. Appendix B — Coop architecture reference

1. Verdict

Feasible without touching the Rust SDK. Every cryptographic primitive Concord needs is reachable through nostr-sdk-kmp except HKDF-SHA256, which Okio already gives us the pieces for (ByteString.hmacSha256) — and Okio is already a commonMain dependency.

The hard part is not crypto. It's that Concord's wrap is NIP-59 inverted (fixed author, ephemeral p), so it cannot ride the existing MessageManager giftwrap pipeline. It needs a parallel plane.


2. Capability check — exists vs. must be written

Verified against the published artifact su.reya:nostr-sdk-kmp:0.3.2 (sources jar), not just documentation.

2.1 Exists — use it, don't wrap it

Concord need Existing API Notes
NIP-44 with an arbitrary keypair nip44Encrypt(sk, pk, content, Nip44Version.V2)
nip44Decrypt(sk, pk, payload)
Concord's conv_key = nip44_conversation_key(sk, pk) is NIP-44's conversation key. Pass the plane's own keypair → self-ECDH happens for free. Do not hand-roll this.
x-only pubkey from a secret Keys(secretKey).publicKey() secp256k1 x-only, matches Concord's byte-exact rule
Arbitrary kind numbers Kind(1059u), Kind(20013u), Kind(20014u), Kind(3308u), Kind(9u) Kind(kind: UShort) is a public constructor
Sign a wrap with a derived key EventBuilder(kind, content).tags(…).finalize(Keys(sk)) Keys implements NostrSigner
Sign a seal with the user's key (incl. NIP-46 bunker) .finalizeAsync(nostr.signer) UniversalSigner already proxies this
Decode events Event.fromJson, UnsignedEvent.fromJson(…).ensureId(), Event.verify() Already used in Messaging.extractRumor
Multi-letter tags Tag.custom("channel", listOf("…")), Tag.parse(List<String>), tag.kind(), tag.asVec() Filters only support single-letter tags
Subscribe / publish to specific relays client.subscribe(ReqTarget.manual(mapOf(relay to filters)), id)
client.addRelay(url, RelayCapabilities.read())
SendEventTarget.to(relays)
Same idiom as MessageManager.getUserMessages
Local persistence client.database().saveEvent/query (LMDB) Mirror MessageManager.setCachedRumor
Secret storage AppStorage.setSecret (AES-GCM via Android Keystore) Room storage does not; roots must use this
NIP-40 expiry Tag.expiration(Timestamp) For deferred CORD-08
SHA-256 Okio ByteString.sha256() okio already in shared/commonMain
HMAC-SHA256 Okio ByteString.hmacSha256(key) In commonMain → works on iOS targets too
base64url unpadded kotlin.io.encoding.Base64.UrlSafe (Kotlin 2.4) Base64 already imported in BlossomClient
scalar validity test SecretKey.fromBytes(bytes) throws for invalid scalars This is scalar_normalize's reject branch
hex ↔ bytes Okio ByteString.decodeHex(), ByteString.hex()

2.2 Missing — must be written (small, pure Kotlin)

Need Size Where
HKDF-SHA256 (Extract + Expand) ~15 lines on top of Okio concord/ConcordCrypto.kt
hkdf info layout (label ‖ 0x00 ‖ id[32] ‖ epoch_be[8]) ~10 lines same
scalar_normalize retry loop ~10 lines same
community_id, edition_hash, prevcommit ~15 lines same

Everything else is composition of existing SDK calls.


3. Scope — v1 vs. deferred

Concord is 8 CORDs. Building all at once contradicts requirement 1.

3.1 v1 — ships

CORD What ships
01 Private Streams Full wrap/seal/rumor stack: 1059 / 20013 / 20014 + ephemeral p
02 Communities community_id, community_root, control_root (held, not used), epochs, Control/Chat/Guestbook planes. Read-only Control fold for vsk 0 (metadata) + vsk 2 (channels) only. Guestbook: publish join on join, do not fold.
03 Channels Public + Private, key derivation, channel/epoch binding checks, send/receive kind 9
05 Invites Redeem only: Direct Invite (3313) + public link bundle (33301) + fragment decoder. No minting.

3.2 Deferred — explicitly out of v1

CORD / feature Why deferred
04 Roles Roster fold + vac citation + outranking rules. Large. Needed for moderation, not for chat.
06 Rekeys Epoch rotation. v1 reads the epoch it was invited to and holds old keys read-only.
05 minting Invite List (13303), Registry (vsk 8), revocation tombstones.
07 A/V Needs a broker + SFU and WebRTC. Genuinely a separate project.
08 Disappearing Cheap to add later; Tag.expiration exists.
Pins / Edits / Threads / WebXDC Not needed for a first cut.
Community List (33302) Cross-device sync; single-device + AppStorage covers v1.
Dissolution Rare path.

Consequence to be honest about: the v1 Control fold does not enforce authorization. A control_root holder could publish forged metadata or channels and v1 would display it. This is bounded (only staff hold control_root, and the spec itself calls it "a spam gate, never authority") but it is a real gap. Document it in code and label the feature beta in the UI.


4. Architecture

4.1 Where it plugs in

graph TD
    NF[Notifications stream] --> N[Nostr.handleNotifications]
    N --> R{route by kind and author}
    R -->|kind 1059, known plane pk| CM[ConcordManager]
    R -->|kind 1059, otherwise| MW[MessageManager - unchanged]
    R -->|rumor kind 3313| CM
    CM --> CP[ConcordCrypto]
    CM --> PL[ConcordPlane wrap and unwrap]
    CM --> ST[ConcordStore]
    ST --> AS[AppStorage - secrets]
    ST --> DB[LMDB index events]
    CM --> CR[ConcordRepository]
    CR --> CV[ConcordViewModel]
    CV --> CS[Screens]

4.2 The critical integration point

Nostr.handleNotifications is a single notification pump (client.notifications()). Calling client.notifications() a second time would race two consumers over the same stream. Concord must therefore be routed through the existing loop, with two new branches.

// shared/.../nostr/Nostr.kt
class Nostr(...) {
    val messages = MessageManager(this)
    val profiles = ProfileManager(this)
    val relays   = RelayManager(this)
    val concord  = ConcordManager(this)   // NEW

Branch A — plane wraps. Concord wraps are kind 1059 whose author is the plane's stream pubkey. The existing extractRumor would call signer.nip44DecryptAsync(event.author(), …) on them and fail. Route by author instead:

KindStandard.GIFT_WRAP -> {
    if (concord.isPlaneAddress(event.author())) {
        concord.handlePlaneEvent(event)      // own decrypt path
    } else {
        giftWrapQueue.send(event)            // existing NIP-17 path, untouched
    }
}

Branch B — Direct Invites. A kind 3313 invite rides a standard NIP-59 wrap (ephemeral author, p = recipient, k = 3313), so it flows through the existing extractRumor fine — but ChatRepository.updateRoomState would then build a garbage Room from it. Intercept it before the app-level callback:

// inside the giftWrapQueue consumer, after extractRumor
if (rumor != null && concord.onInboxRumor(rumor)) continue

ConcordManager.onInboxRumor returns true when it consumed the rumor (i.e. it was a 3313). This keeps all Concord kind knowledge inside the concord package, and requires no changes to ChatRepository.

Add a comment on handleNotifications recording that it must remain the only client.notifications() consumer.


5. Files

5.1 New — shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/su/reya/coop/concord/

File Contents
ConcordKind.kt All frozen constants in one place: kind numbers, vsk registry, permission bits, KDF label strings, tag names. Pure data, no SDK import — a spec revision is a one-file change
ConcordCrypto.kt hkdfSha256, hkdfInfo, groupSeed, isValidScalar, groupKey, communityId, editionHash, prevCommit, hex/bytes helpers
ConcordModels.kt Membership, CommunityInvite, CommunityMeta, ChannelMeta, ConcordChannel, ConcordMessage, ControlEdition
ConcordPlane.kt PlaneKeys (sk/pk/relays), wrap(), unwrap(), rumor builders — the CORD-01 stack
ConcordInvite.kt CommunityInvite JSON validation, $BASE/invite/<naddr>#<fragment> decoder, relay dictionary
ConcordStore.kt Membership persistence (AppStorage.setSecret), LMDB index events, Control edition storage
ConcordControl.kt Control fold: group by eid, take highest ev with intact ep chain; project vsk 0 / vsk 2
ConcordManager.kt Subscriptions, relay connect, notification routing, send-message, join/leave

5.2 New — shared/src/commonMain/kotlin/su/reya/coop/

File Contents
Community.kt UI-facing models + derived flows, mirroring Room.kt / RoomUiState
repository/ConcordRepository.kt ErrorHost by createErrorHost(), MutableStateFlow, stateIn(scope, WhileSubscribed(5000), …)
viewmodel/ConcordViewModel.kt Façade over the repository, mirrors ChatViewModel
viewmodel/ChannelScreenViewModel.kt Entry-scoped, mirrors ChatScreenViewModel (mutableStateListOf<UnsignedEvent>)

5.3 New — composeApp/src/androidMain/kotlin/su/reya/coop/screens/

File Contents
CommunitiesScreen.kt Joined communities list + FAB → Join
CommunityScreen.kt Channel list for one community
JoinCommunityScreen.kt Paste link / scan QR → preview → Join
communities/CommunityComponents.kt ChannelRow, CommunityRow, ChannelInput, empty states

5.4 New — tests

File Contents
shared/src/commonTest/kotlin/su/reya/coop/concord/ConcordCryptoTest.kt RFC 5869 HKDF vectors, hkdfInfo layout golden bytes, community_id / prevcommit / edition_hash golden digests, groupSeed determinism + counter path, isValidScalar boundaries, hex round trip
shared/src/commonTest/kotlin/su/reya/coop/concord/ConcordPlaneTest.kt wrap→unwrap round trip, impersonation rejection, channel/epoch mismatch rejection — must be pure, see risk 13
shared/src/iosTest/kotlin/su/reya/coop/concord/ConcordSdkInteropTest.kt The SDK-backed half: groupKeypk == xonly(sk), isValidScalar cross-checked against SecretKey.fromBytes, NIP-44 self-ECDH round trip, wrong-plane rejection

commonTest runs on JVM and iOS, so nothing in it may touch the SDK. Anything that does goes in iosTest (or appleTest), which is the only executable target that can load the SDK's native library here.

5.5 Modified (6 files, all small)

File Change
shared/.../nostr/Nostr.kt add val concord, 2 routing branches
composeApp/.../MainActivity.kt private val concordRepository by lazy { … }, add to App(...) params
composeApp/.../App.kt factory branch, viewModel(...), 3 × entry<…>, snackbar collector
composeApp/.../Navigation.kt Screen.Communities, Screen.Community(id), Screen.Channel(communityId, channelId), Screen.JoinCommunity
composeApp/.../screens/HomeScreen.kt one entry in BottomMenuList
composeApp/src/androidMain/composeResources/drawable/ic_communities.xml icon

6. Crypto layer — exact algorithm

This is the part that must be byte-exact or nothing interoperates. Freeze it in one file, with the governing spec section quoted above each function.

6.1 HKDF info layout (CORD-02 A.1)

info  = utf8(label) ‖ 0x00 ‖ id[32] ‖ epoch_be[8]   // epoch omitted for labels marked "—"
salt  = ∅ (zero-length, NOT 32 zero bytes)
len   = 32

id is always present, 32 bytes, all-zeroes where a label has no meaningful id. The epoch is the only omittable field.

fun hkdfInfo(label: String, id: ByteArray, epoch: ULong?): ByteArray {
    require(id.size == 32)
    return Buffer().apply {
        writeUtf8(label)                 // 1. label bytes
        writeByte(0)                     // 2. separator
        write(id)                        // 3. id, always present
        if (epoch != null) writeLong(epoch.toLong())   // 4. BE u64, only when the label has an epoch
    }.readByteArray()
}

/** HKDF-SHA256. Okio gives us HMAC-SHA256 on every target. */
fun hkdfSha256(
    ikm: ByteArray,
    info: ByteArray,
    salt: ByteArray = ByteArray(0),          // Concord always omits it; see note below
    length: Int = 32,
): ByteArray {
    // Okio refuses a zero-length HMAC key, so substitute HashLen zero octets — the value RFC
    // 5869 defines for an absent salt, and one HMAC's block padding makes identical anyway.
    val saltKey = if (salt.isEmpty()) ByteArray(32).toByteString() else salt.toByteString()
    val prk = ikm.toByteString().hmacSha256(saltKey)             // Extract(salt, ikm)
    val out = Buffer()
    var t = ByteString.EMPTY
    var counter = 1
    while (out.size < length) {                                  // Expand
        t = Buffer().write(t).write(info).writeByte(counter).readByteString()
            .hmacSha256(prk)
        out.write(t)
        counter++
    }
    return out.readByteArray(length.toLong())
}

Two deliberate widenings of the Concord-specialised form, both bought for verification:

  1. The general length loop (rather than hardcoding 32) unlocks RFC 5869's L=42 and L=82 vectors.
  2. The optional salt unlocks Cases 1 and 2; Concord always takes the default. Concord ships no test vectors of its own ("Examples are illustrative, not verifiable test vectors"), so the RFC is the only ground truth available.

6.2 scalar_normalize (CORD-02 A.3)

Must yield a valid secp256k1 secret key: if seed is not a valid scalar, append one incrementing counter byte to the hkdf info and retry, the counter starting at 0. The reject branch is ~2⁻¹²⁸ rare; the counter keeps it deterministic across implementations.

The counter is appended to the info, after whatever fields are present.

6.3 group_key (CORD-02 A.2)

Split in two on purpose: groupSeed is pure byte manipulation and therefore unit-testable, while groupKey's secp256k1 half needs the SDK, which cannot load under a host JVM unit test (see risk 13). isValidScalar replaces the SecretKey.fromBytes probe with a plain big-endian range check against the secp256k1 order, so A.3's retry needs no crypto library.

data class GroupKey(val secretKey: SecretKey, val publicKey: PublicKey)

/** group_key up to and including scalar_normalize: returns the normalized seed. */
fun groupSeed(
    label: String,
    secret: ByteArray,
    id: ByteArray,
    epoch: ULong? = null,
    isValid: (ByteArray) -> Boolean = ::isValidScalar,   // seam for A.3's ~2⁻¹²⁸ branch
): ByteArray {
    val base = hkdfInfo(label, id, epoch)
    var counter = -1                                    // -1 = no counter byte (first attempt)
    while (counter <= 255) {
        val info = if (counter < 0) base else base + byteArrayOf(counter.toByte())
        val seed = hkdfSha256(secret, info)
        if (isValid(seed)) return seed
        counter++                                       // A.3: counter starts at 0 on first retry
    }
    error("Concord group_key: scalar_normalize exhausted for label $label")
}

/** A secp256k1 secret key is any integer in [1, n-1]. */
fun isValidScalar(seed: ByteArray): Boolean {
    if (seed.size != 32) return false
    // reject all-zeroes, then big-endian compare against SECP256K1_ORDER
}

fun groupKey(label: String, secret: ByteArray, id: ByteArray, epoch: ULong? = null): GroupKey {
    val secretKey = SecretKey.fromBytes(groupSeed(label, secret, id, epoch))
    return GroupKey(secretKey, Keys(secretKey).publicKey())
}

The conv_key from A.2 needs no separate implementation: nip44Encrypt(groupSk, groupPk, …) derives exactly it.

6.4 community_id (CORD-02 A.4) — note: no 0x00 separator

fun communityId(ownerXonly: ByteArray, ownerSalt: ByteArray): ByteArray =
    sha256("concord/community".encodeToByteArray(), ownerXonly, ownerSalt)

This is a plain SHA-256 commitment, not the HKDF construction.

6.5 Labels required in v1

Label secret (ikm) id epoch
concord/control community_root community_id yes
concord/control-signer control_root community_id yes
concord/channel community_root (public) or channel_key (private) channel_id yes
concord/guestbook community_root community_id yes
concord/dissolved community_id 0…0

Only concord/channel, concord/guestbook, and concord/control are exercised in v1. concord/control-signer is needed only if community creation is added (M4.5).

6.6 Encoding rules (CORD-01, normative)

Rule
Hex is lowercase Every 32-byte value in fields and tags is 64 lowercase hex chars
Pubkeys are x-only hex, never bech32 Not npub, not 33-byte compressed
Tag values are strings "4", never 4
Empty content is "" Never null, never omitted
created_at is unix seconds, untweaked Sub-second ordering rides the ms tag

7. Wire format — exact stack

7.1 Sending a channel message

suspend fun sendChannelMessage(ch: ConcordChannel, text: String) {
    val author = signer.getPublicKeyAsync() ?: error("not signed in")
    val now    = Clock.System.now()
    val secs   = now.epochSeconds.toULong()
    val ms     = (now.toEpochMilliseconds() % 1000).toInt()

    // 1. rumor — kind 9, NEVER signed, MUST carry the binding tags
    val rumor = EventBuilder(Kind(9u), text)
        .tags(listOf(
            Tag.custom("channel", listOf(ch.idHex)),
            Tag.custom("epoch",   listOf(ch.epoch.toString())),
            Tag.custom("ms",      listOf(ms.toString())),
        ))
        .finalizeUnsigned(author)
        .ensureId()

    // 2. seal — kind 20013, signed by the REAL author (works with a bunker signer)
    val seal = EventBuilder(
        Kind(20013u),
        nip44Encrypt(ch.sk, ch.pk, rumor.asJson(), Nip44Version.V2)   // self-ECDH conv key
    ).finalizeAsync(signer) ?: error("seal failed")

    // 3. wrap — kind 1059, signed by the STREAM key, ephemeral `p` (NIP-59 reversed)
    val wrap = EventBuilder(
        Kind(1059u),
        nip44Encrypt(ch.sk, ch.pk, seal.asJson(), Nip44Version.V2)     // same conv key, second layer
    )
        .tags(listOf(Tag.publicKey(Keys.generate().publicKey())))      // ephemeral; discard the secret
        .finalize(Keys(ch.secretKey))                                  // stream signature

    client.sendEvent(wrap, SendEventTarget.to(communityRelays), AckPolicy.none())
}

Two things that are easy to get wrong:

  • The wrap content is encrypted under the same conversation key as the seal. It is double encryption under one key — not a second key.
  • created_at is never tweaked. Sub-second ordering lives in the ms tag; true time = created_at * 1000 + ms.

7.2 Receiving

fun unwrap(event: Event, keys: PlaneKeys): UnsignedEvent? {
    val seal = Event.fromJson(nip44Decrypt(keys.sk, keys.pk, event.content()))
    if (!seal.verify()) return null
    val rumorJson = when (seal.kind().asU16()) {
        20013u   -> nip44Decrypt(keys.sk, keys.pk, seal.content())   // Chat / Guestbook / rekey
        20014u   -> seal.content()                                    // Control only, byte-verbatim
        else     -> return null
    }
    val rumor = UnsignedEvent.fromJson(rumorJson).ensureId()
    if (rumor.author() != seal.author()) return null                  // NIP-59 impersonation check
    return rumor
}

Then the mandatory CORD-03 §3 binding check — drop on mismatch, never render:

val tChannel = rumor.tags().toVec().firstOrNull { it.kind() == "channel" }?.content()
val tEpoch   = rumor.tags().toVec().firstOrNull { it.kind() == "epoch" }?.content()
if (tChannel != ch.idHex || tEpoch != ch.epoch.toString()) return   // re-wrap / cross-epoch replay

7.3 Seal discipline (CORD-02 §5) — normative

Plane Seal kind
Control 20014 plaintext — a signature over ciphertext could not survive a compaction re-wrap across epochs
Chat, Guestbook, rekey 20013 encrypted

Enforce the NIP-44 65,535-byte plaintext cap yourself at every layer before publishing. Libraries are lenient; a lenient publisher mints events a strict reader cannot decrypt.

7.4 Event kinds used in v1

Kind Function Plane
1059 Stream wrap (durable envelope) all
21059 Ephemeral gift wrap — relays MUST NOT store all (deferred)
20013 Encrypted seal Chat, Guestbook, rekey
20014 Plaintext seal Control
9 Message Chat
3308 Control edition, sub-kinded by vsk Control
3306 Join / Leave Guestbook
3313 Direct invite (standard NIP-59 wrap, k-tagged) person-to-person
33301 Public invite bundle outside the wrap
30078 (Coop-internal) LMDB index bucket for cached rumors local only

Full registry: Appendix A.


8. Subscriptions

One subscription id per community, refreshed whenever the relay set or channel set changes:

val id = "concord:${community.idHex}"
client.unsubscribe(id)

// 1. connect the community's relays (from the invite, then the Control fold)
community.relays.forEach {
    client.addRelay(RelayUrl.parse(it), RelayCapabilities.read())
    client.connectRelay(RelayUrl.parse(it))
}

// 2. one filter per plane; group them so each relay gets the ones it should
val control  = Filter().kind(Kind(1059u)).author(controlPk)          // signer pk, from the invite
val guestb   = Filter().kind(Kind(1059u)).author(guestbook.pk)
val channels = channels.map { Filter().kind(Kind(1059u)).author(it.pk) }

val targets = mutableMapOf<RelayUrl, List<Filter>>()
community.relays.forEach { url ->
    targets[RelayUrl.parse(url)] = listOf(control, guestb) + channels
}
client.subscribe(ReqTarget.manual(targets), id = id)

You cannot filter on channel / epoch — they are multi-letter tags and Filter.customTags only accepts SingleLetterTag. Plane-level filtering by author is the correct granularity anyway (one key per plane), and the channel / epoch binding is checked post-decrypt.

For paginated history, mirror MessageManager.getUserMessages: Filter().kind(Kind(1059u)).author(planePk).limit(n) with until cursors.

Relay compatibility. Concord wraps reverse NIP-59 (fixed author, ephemeral p). Relays enforcing the optional NIP-59 p-tag guard will drop them. The bootstrap set (relay.ditto.pub, relay.primal.net, …) is tuned for NIP-17 — always use the community's relay set from the invite, never the app defaults.


9. Persistence

Two mechanisms, both already established in the codebase.

9.1 Roots and keys → AppStorage.setSecret

Android Keystore-backed AES-GCM. One JSON blob, mirroring SettingsRepository's single-key pattern exactly.

@Serializable
data class Membership(
    val communityId: String,      // hex
    val owner: String,            // hex — proves the community_id
    val ownerSalt: String,        // hex
    val communityRoot: String,    // hex 32B — never leave setSecret
    val rootEpoch: ULong,
    val controlPk: String?,       // hex, from invite; trusted-on-trust until a rotation
    val controlRoot: String?,     // hex — staff only, usually null
    val relays: List<String>,
    val name: String?,
    val channels: List<StoredChannelKey>,   // id, key(hex), epoch, name, private
)

@Serializable
data class StoredChannelKey(
    val id: String,               // hex
    val key: String,              // hex 32B
    val epoch: ULong,
    val name: String?,
    val private: Boolean,
)

Storage keys: concord_memberships via getSecret / setSecret.

Never use set() for these — it is plaintext DataStore.

9.2 Community state → LMDB index events

Mirror MessageManager.setCachedRumor precisely. Kind 30078 (APPLICATION_SPECIFIC_DATA) is addressable, so the d tag is what makes each row a unique slot.

val event = EventBuilder(Kind.fromStd(KindStandard.APPLICATION_SPECIFIC_DATA), rumor.asJson())
    .tags(listOf(
        Tag.identifier(wrapId.toHex()),                             // `d` — unique slot, and dedupe key
        Tag.custom("r", listOf(scopeIdHex)),                        // index: channel_id or community_id
        Tag.custom("k", listOf(rumor.kind().asU16().toString())),   // rumor kind
    ))
    .finalizeAsync(Keys.generate()) ?: return                        // throwaway key, as MessageManager does
client.database().saveEvent(event)

Reading a channel:

Filter()
    .kind(Kind.fromStd(KindStandard.APPLICATION_SPECIFIC_DATA))
    .reference(channelIdHex)

then UnsignedEvent.fromJson(it.content()). The Control plane uses the same mechanism with r = communityIdHex.

Do not skip Tag.identifier. Without a unique d, LMDB replaces every message with the previous one sharing the coordinate, silently eating the history. MessageManager.setCachedRumor uses the same trick for the same reason.

9.3 Control fold (v1, non-gating)

  1. Query all stored editions for the community (r = communityIdHex).
  2. Parse to ControlEdition { vsk, eid, ev, ep, content, actor }.
  3. Group by (vsk, eid); per group take the highest ev (refuse to downgrade) whose ep chain is intact. Same-version ties break on the lower rumor id — never created_at.
  4. Project:
    • vsk 0CommunityMeta (name, description, relays, icon, banner, message_expiration, custom)
    • vsk 2ChannelMeta (name, private, deleted, custom)
  5. Ignore every other vsk in v1.

Not implemented in v1: authority resolution against the Roster (vsk 1 / vsk 3), vac citation validation, and vsk 4 banlist filtering. See Risks.


10. Invites

10.1 Direct Invite — kind 3313

Rides a standard NIP-59 wrap, so it arrives through the existing giftwrap pipeline and only needs an interception in handleNotifications:

Layer Kind Details
Wrap 1059 ephemeral single-use author, ["p", "<recipient>"], ["k", "3313"], optional NIP-40 ["expiration", "<secs>"]
Seal 13 standard NIP-59 — not the reversed stream wrap
Rumor 3313 content = the CommunityInvite JSON, tags: []

Indexed fetch, if ever needed: {"kinds":[1059], "#p":["<me>"], "#k":["3313"]}.

The k tag is unsigned relay-visible bytes — a hint, never authority. An invite is whatever unwraps to a kind 3313 rumor, so accept an untagged one too.

Part Contents
naddr NIP-19 addressable pointer for (kind 33301, link_signer, "") — a locator, not a secret
fragment base64url (unpadded) of [version][flags][relays?][token:16]never sent to any server
version must be 4; reject lower as legacy
flags stock-set bit → zero relay bytes follow
relay encoding 1..254 = dictionary id, 0 = [len][host] wss-implied, 255 = [len][full URL]
max bootstrap relays 3

Stock dictionary: 1 = wss://jskitty.com/nostr, 2 = wss://asia.vectorapp.io/nostr, 3 = wss://relay.ditto.pub, 4 = wss://relay.dreamith.to.

bundle_key = hkdf(token, "concord/invite-key") — the token derives exactly this one thing.

10.3 Bundle (CommunityInvite) and its validation

{
  "community_id": "<hex>",
  "owner":        "<hex>",
  "owner_salt":   "<hex>",       // verify: community_id == sha256("concord/community" ‖ owner ‖ salt)
  "community_root": "<hex>",
  "root_epoch":   0,
  "control_pk":   "<hex>",       // taken on trust — nothing in the bundle can prove it
  "channels": [ { "id": "<hex>", "key": "<hex>", "epoch": 1, "name": "testers" } ],
  "relays":   ["wss://…"],
  "name":     "Vector",
  "icon":     { "url": "…", "key": "…", "nonce": "…", "hash": "…" },
  "expires_at":     1735689600000,   // optional, unix MILLISECONDS
  "creator_npub":   "<hex>",         // optional attribution
  "label":          "Reddit"         // optional attribution
}

Required validation, in order:

  1. community_id == sha256("concord/community" ‖ owner ‖ owner_salt) — refuse the bundle otherwise.
  2. Reject more than a sane channel count (spec's reference ceiling is 256).
  3. Truncate relays to the Community's cap (5 recommended).
  4. If expires_at is in the past: preview still renders, joining refuses.

10.4 Join flow

  1. Parse link → decode fragment → require version == 4.
  2. Derive bundle_key.
  3. Fetch coordinate (33301, link_signer, "") from the bootstrap relays.
  4. Check liveness — a ["vsk","9"] tombstone at the coordinate replaces the bundle.
  5. Decrypt content → CommunityInvite.
  6. Validate per §10.3.
  7. Preview only. No join, no subscribe, no icon fetch, no presence.
  8. On explicit accept: persist Membership → connect relays → subscribe → publish Guestbook join.
// kind 3306
{ "kind": 3306, "pubkey": "<member>", "content": "join",
  "tags": [ ["ms", "128"], ["invite", "<creator hex>", "<label>"] ] }   // invite tag optional

expires_at unit trap. The bundle uses unix milliseconds; the Invite List entry (13303) uses unix seconds; the NIP-40 tag uses seconds. Three representations of the same instant. Easy silent bug — keep the conversions in one function.

Concord invite links are https://<base>/invite/<naddr>#<fragment>. The fragment never reaches a server, and Android intent filters strip fragments unreliably — so paste-text and QR scan are the sanctioned paths. Do not build an https deep-link filter.

If a deep link is wanted later, add coop://invite?url=<urlencoded> and let Coop's own handler carry the fragment.


11. UI

Mirrors the DM screens structurally so it feels native to Coop.

Screen Mirrors Notes
CommunitiesScreen HomeScreen list + FAB Community avatar (Avatar), name, channel count. Empty state per ContactListScreen convention.
CommunityScreen HomeScreen Channel rows split public / private, lock icon on private. #general comes from genesis.
ChannelScreen ChatScreen Reuse DateSeparator, ChatInput, Avatar. Discord-style (author shown per message) rather than Coop's DM style.
JoinCommunityScreen NewChatScreen Paste link or QR scan (reuse LocalScanResult / Screen.Scan), preview card, Join button.

11.1 Wiring, following existing conventions

// MainActivity.kt — lazy field next to chatRepository
private val concordRepository by lazy {
    ConcordRepository(NostrManager.instance, AppStore(this@MainActivity), scope)
}

// App.kt — factory branch
modelClass.isAssignableFrom(ConcordViewModel::class.java) -> ConcordViewModel(concordRepository)

Plus, in App.kt:

  • val concordViewModel: ConcordViewModel = viewModel(factory = viewModelFactory) (activity-scoped)
  • entry<Screen.Communities> { CommunitiesScreen(concordViewModel) }
  • entry<Screen.Community> { key -> … } (entry-scoped CommunityScreenViewModel)
  • entry<Screen.Channel> { key -> … } (entry-scoped ChannelScreenViewModel, keyed like Screen.Chat)
  • a fourth launch { concordViewModel.errorEvents.collect { snackbarHostState.showSnackbar(it) } } in the existing LaunchedEffect at App.kt:162-178

And one entry in BottomMenuList (HomeScreen.kt:785-791) plus ic_communities.xml in composeApp/src/androidMain/composeResources/drawable/.

11.2 UI honesty

  • Label the feature beta and surface the "no authority enforcement yet" limitation in a community settings/info row.
  • Warn on community creation (if implemented) that losing the owner key kills the community — there is no succession by design.

12. Milestones

Each milestone ends with something runnable.

M1 — Crypto core (no UI, no networking) — done

ConcordCrypto.kt + ConcordKind.kt + ConcordCryptoTest.kt.

Done when:

  • RFC 5869 Test Cases 1, 2 & 3 pass
  • hkdfInfo matches a golden hex annotated with the A.1 layout
  • communityId / prevCommit / editionHash match digests computed outside the codebase
  • groupSeed is deterministic, separates label/id/epoch/secret, and retries with the A.3 counter
  • isValidScalar agrees with the secp256k1 range at 0, 1, n-1, n, above n
  • groupKeypk == xonly(sk) (in shared/src/iosTest, the only target that can load the SDK)
  • isValidScalar accepts/rejects exactly what SecretKey.fromBytes does

M2 — Plane stack (no networking)

ConcordPlane.kt + ConcordPlaneTest.kt.

Done when:

  • build a kind 9 message for a test channel → unwrap → identical rumor JSON
  • a tampered seal fails verify()
  • a channel / epoch mismatch is rejected
  • a 20013 seal is rejected where 20014 is required

M3 — Join + read

ConcordStore.kt, ConcordInvite.kt, ConcordControl.kt, ConcordManager read path, Nostr.kt routing.

Done when: pasting a real invite link stores the membership, connects the community's relays, folds metadata + channel list, and renders channel messages from a real community.

M4 — Write

sendChannelMessage, Guestbook join (3306, content: "join"), unreadCount.

Done when: a message sent from Coop appears in another Concord client, and a message from that client appears in Coop.

M4.5 — Community creation (optional)

Owner mints community_id, community_root, control_root, genesis metadata (vsk 0) + #general (vsk 2); writes to the Control plane via the 20014 plaintext-seal path signed by concord/control-signer.

Why consider it: ~150 lines on top of M3, makes the feature demoable without depending on an existing Concord client, and exercises the Control-plane write path that join-only never touches.

Why it might wait: requires control_root handling and careful 20014 discipline.

M5 — UI polish

ConcordRepository / view models / 4 screens / BottomMenuList entry / icon / error snackbars.

Done when: the whole flow works without adb logcat.

M6 — Cheap wins (optional)

Reactions (kind 7) and edits (kind 3302) reusing the existing DM reaction UI. Threads (kind 1111) are more work — separate milestone.


13. Risks and open decisions

13.1 Spec conflicts — resolve before writing byte-exact code

# Conflict Resolution
1 community_id owner proof. CORD-05 §1 writes sha256(owner ‖ salt). examples.md §6.1 writes sha256("concord/community" ‖ owner ‖ salt). CORD-02 A.4 (marked frozen, normative) writes sha256(utf8("concord/community") ‖ owner_xonly[32] ‖ owner_salt[32]). Implement A.4. It is a hard-fail interop check, so validate against a reference implementation at the first opportunity.
2 expires_at units differ in three places — bundle = unix ms, Invite List entry = unix s, NIP-40 tag = s. Keep all conversions in one function; unit-test it.
3 vac on 3303. CORD-06 §3 says a rotation cites its Grant, but neither its §1 JSONC nor examples.md shows the tag. Deferring rekeys sidesteps this.

13.2 Design risks

# Risk Mitigation
4 Relay compatibility. Reversed NIP-59 wraps may be dropped by relays enforcing the p-tag guard. Always use the community's relay set from the invite. Never the app defaults.
5 No owner recovery, by design. community_id commits to the owner's key; lose it and the community is dead. Surface a backup warning on community creation.
6 control_pk is taken on trust at join — nothing in the invite can prove it. Build nothing security-relevant on it beyond the subscription address.
7 v1 has no authority enforcement. Staff hold control_root, so blast radius is limited, but a hostile staffer can forge metadata/channels. Document in code; label beta in UI; close with a CORD-04 milestone.
8 One notification pump. A second client.notifications() consumer would silently split subscriptions. Comment on handleNotifications stating it must stay the only consumer.
9 LMDB replaces addressable events by d. Would silently eat messages. Always set Tag.identifier(wrapId).
10 No succession ↔ no honest rollback. Dissolution and refoundings are one-way. Do not build UI implying otherwise.
11 Spec is young (71 commits, no reference implementation in-repo, examples explicitly non-normative). Keep every frozen constant in ConcordKind.kt so a spec revision is a one-file change.
12 scalar_normalize's retry branch is ~2⁻¹²⁸ rare. It will never fire in practice, so a bug there would never surface either. Split the pure groupSeed out of groupKey and unit-test the counter path through its isValid seam.
13 The nostr SDK cannot run in a host JVM unit test. Its uniffi bindings are JNA-backed, and the Android artifact carries Android-ABI .so files, so testDebugUnitTest on macOS fails with UnsatisfiedLinkError: libjnidispatch.jnilib. Discovered while running M1. Keep every SDK-free derivation in pure functions so commonTest (which runs on both JVM and iOS) covers the byte-exact half — groupSeed, isValidScalar, all the hashes. Put anything touching SecretKey, Keys, nip44* or EventBuilder in shared/src/iosTest, which runs via :shared:iosSimulatorArm64Test and can load the SDK. Design M2's plane stack the same way: a pure core plus a thin SDK shell.

13.3 Open decision

Community creation in v1? See M4.5. Recommendation: yes, after M4 — it makes the feature demoable standalone.


14. Test plan

shared/src/commonTest currently holds only the template stub, so this introduces the convention. Worth it: this is frozen-by-spec crypto with no spec test vectors, and a byte-layout mistake would silently break interop rather than fail loudly.

M1 status: 25 tests, all passing — 20 on the host JVM (:shared:testDebugUnitTest, which runs commonTest only) and 25 on the iOS simulator (:shared:iosSimulatorArm64Test, which runs commonTest plus iosTest). Both commands are offline-capable.

The "Runs on" column matters: risk 13 means the SDK half of every milestone is untestable on a host JVM, so it needs a device or the iOS test target.

Test Type Runs on
RFC 5869 TC1 / TC2 / TC3 known-answer host JVM + iOS
hkdfSha256 rejects L > 255·32 boundary host JVM + iOS
hkdfInfo(channel, id32, 4u) / epoch-omitted length golden hex, annotated with the A.1 layout host JVM + iOS
communityId, prevCommit, editionHash golden SHA-256 computed outside the codebase host JVM + iOS
editionHash absent-vs-zero-prev negative host JVM + iOS
groupSeed determinism + label/id/epoch/secret separation property host JVM + iOS
groupSeed counter path (counter appended to info, starts at 0) injected failing seed host JVM + iOS
isValidScalar at 0, 1, n-1, n, above n, short boundary host JVM + iOS
groupKeypk == xonly(sk) property iosTest
isValidScalar vs SecretKey.fromBytes on the same seeds cross-check iosTest
groupKeynip44 self-ECDH round trip smoke iosTest
a different plane cannot read the payload negative iosTest
hex round trip, lowercase, 64 chars unit host JVM + iOS
wrap → unwrap round trip integration, no network iosTest M2
impersonation rejection negative iosTest M2
channel / epoch tag mismatch rejection negative iosTest M2
20013 vs 20014 plane discipline negative iosTest M2
32 bytes → base64url = 43 chars, unpadded unit host JVM M3
expires_at ms/s conversion unit host JVM M3

RFC 5869 Test Case 1 (for reference):

IKM  = 0x0b × 22
salt = 0x000102030405060708090a0b0c
info = 0xf0f1f2f3f4f5f6f7f8f9
L    = 42
PRK  = 0x077709362c2e32df0ddc3f0dc47bba6390b6c73bb50f9c3122ec844ad7c2b3e5
OKM  = 0x3cb25f25faacd57a90434f64d0362f2a2d2d0a90cf1a5a4c5db02d56ecc4c5bf34007208d5b887185865

RFC 5869 Test Case 3 (zero-length salt — closest to Concord's usage):

IKM  = 0x0b × 22
salt = (empty)
info = (empty)
L    = 42
PRK  = 0x19ef24a32c717b167f33a91d6f648bdf96596776afdb6377ac434c1c293ccb04
OKM  = 0x8da4e775a563c18f715f802a063c5a31b8a11f5c5ee1879ec3454e5f3c738d2d9d201395faa4b61a96c8

Test Case 2 (80-octet inputs, L = 82) is transcribed in ConcordCryptoTest too. It is worth keeping even though Concord never asks for more than 32 bytes: it is the only vector that drives Expand across three blocks, and it is what caught the empty-salt handling.

Additionally, run one interop smoke test against a real community before declaring M3 done. Nothing catches a label typo faster.


Appendix A — Concord constants reference

A.1 Durable plane kinds (inner rumor kinds)

Kind Function Plane
9 Message (NIP-C7 shape) Chat
1111 Threaded reply (NIP-22 shape) Chat
7 Reaction (NIP-25 shape) Chat
5 Delete (NIP-09 shape) Chat
1740 Timer notice (CORD-08 §4) Chat
3302 Edit Chat
3303 Rekey blobs (CORD-06) rekey addresses
3306 Join / Leave Guestbook
3308 Control edition, sub-kinded below Control
3309 Kick Guestbook
3310 WebXDC peer signal Chat
3312 Guestbook snapshot, chunked, refounder-signed Guestbook

A.2 Ephemeral kinds (outer wrap 21059)

Kind Function Plane
23311 Typing indicator Chat
23313 Voice presence (CORD-07) Chat

A.3 Kinds outside the wrap

Kind Function
33301 Public invite bundle — addressable, signed by its per-link keypair at an empty d, vsk 6 (live) / 9 (revocation tombstone)
33302 Community List — addressable, one event per fragment at d = fragment index, NIP-44 to self
13303 Invite List — replaceable, NIP-44 to self

A.4 Control edition sub-kinds (vsk)

vsk Entity
0 Community metadata
1 Role
2 Channel metadata
3 Grant
4 Banlist
5 reserved (role ordering)
6, 9 claimed by the addressable invite marker
7 retired (v1 owner attestation)
8 Invite-link registry
10 Dissolved tombstone — chainless, exempt from version discipline
11 Pin List

A.5 Tags

Tag Where Semantics
["ms", "<0..999>"] every rumor true time = created_at * 1000 + ms; outside 0..999 is malformed → drop
["p", "<ephemeral pubkey>"] outer stream wrap NIP-59 reversed: fixed author, ephemeral p
["channel", "<channel_id>"] every Chat rumor MUST be committed inside the author-signed rumor; receiver MUST strict-equal check
["epoch", "<n>"] every Chat rumor same strict-equal check
["q", "<rumor id>", "", "<author>"] kind 9 inline quote NIP-C7
K/E/P, k/e/p kind 1111 reply uppercase = thread root, lowercase = immediate parent (all rumor ids)
["vsk", "<n>"] kind 3308 entity type
["eid", "<hex32>"] kind 3308 stable coordinate
["ev", "<n>"] kind 3308 this edition's version, climbs from 1
["ep", "<hash hex>"] kind 3308 previous edition hash; absent on the first
["vac", "<grant eid>", "<version>", "<hash>"] kind 3308, 3309 authority citation; absent when the owner acts
["expiration", "<secs>"] Chat wrap + rumor NIP-40; MUST be on both, same value; never on kind 5 or 1740
["d", ""] kind 33301 empty identifier — the per-link pubkey makes the coordinate unique
["d", "<index>"] kind 33302 fragment index in decimal
["snap", "<id>", "<i>", "<n>"] kind 3312 snapshot chunk; one id + one created_at across all n
["invite", "<creator hex>", "<label>"] kind 3306 join optional invite attribution
["k", "3313"] outer Direct Invite wrap the one deliberate outer-tag exception besides expiration

A.6 Permission bits (CORD-04 §3)

Bit Permission
1<<0 MANAGE_ROLES
1<<1 MANAGE_CHANNELS
1<<2 MANAGE_METADATA
1<<3 KICK
1<<4 BAN
1<<5 MANAGE_MESSAGES
1<<6 CREATE_INVITE
1<<7 retired (was MANAGE_INVITES)
1<<8 VIEW_AUDIT_LOG
1<<9 MENTION_EVERYONE
1<<10, 1<<12 reserved
1<<11 PIN_MESSAGES

Staff = any of MANAGE_ROLES, MANAGE_CHANNELS, MANAGE_METADATA, BAN, CREATE_INVITE, PIN_MESSAGES, plus always the owner. Staff hold control_root.

position orders authority, lower is higher; owner is position 0 and never a Role; a member's rank is the lowest position among their Roles; an actor must strictly outrank its target.

A.7 KDF label registry (CORD-02 A.6)

Label secret (ikm) id epoch Yields
concord/channel channel key or community_root channel_id yes a Channel's group key
concord/control community_root community_id yes Control Plane read key
concord/control-signer control_root community_id yes Control Plane signer (staff only)
concord/rekey-pseudonym prior community_root channel_id new_epoch a channel rekey address
concord/base-rekey-pseudonym prior community_root community_id new_epoch a base rekey address
concord/recipient-pseudonym rotator_xonly ‖ recipient_xonly scope_id new_epoch a rekey blob locator
concord/guestbook community_root community_id yes Guestbook Plane group key
concord/voice-signer channel key or community_root channel_id yes SFU room keypair
concord/voice-media channel key or community_root channel_id yes 32-byte call media key
concord/voice-sender voice_media_key sha256(identity) per-sender frame key
concord/dissolved community_id 0…0 dissolution tombstone address
concord/grant community_id member_xonly a member's Grant coordinate
concord/banlist community_id 0…0 Banlist coordinate
concord/pins community_id channel_id a Channel's Pin List coordinate
concord/invite-links community_id creator_xonly a creator's Registry coordinate
concord/invite-key token 0…0 public-invite decrypt key
concord/invite-locator, concord/invite-signer retired

A.8 Other frozen derivations

community_id = sha256( utf8("concord/community") ‖ owner_xonly[32] ‖ owner_salt[32] )

prevcommit   = sha256( utf8("concord/epoch-key-commitment") ‖ prev_epoch_be[8] ‖ prev_key[32] )

dissolved_pk = group_key("concord/dissolved", community_id, 0…0).pk

edition_hash = sha256(
    len64(label) ‖ label                          // label = utf8 "vector-community/v1/edition"
    ‖ entity_id[32]
    ‖ version_be[8]
    ‖ (prev ? 0x01 ‖ prev[32] : 0x00 ‖ zero[32])
    ‖ len64(content) ‖ content )                  // content bytes verbatim, never re-serialized

edition_hash's label string is literally vector-community/v1/edition in the spec — the reference implementation's vector prefix, not the concord/ prefix used by every KDF label. Reproduce it exactly.


Appendix B — Coop architecture reference

Points that constrain the implementation. Verified against the current tree (feat/group-chat, clean).

B.1 Module layout

Module Targets Notes
:shared androidTarget, iosArm64, iosSimulatorArm64 All domain/data code in commonMain
:composeApp androidTarget only androidMain only — no commonMain UI, no working iOS app

shared has Compose runtime but not UI/foundation/material3, so it can use mutableStateOf but cannot declare composables. All new screens go in composeApp/src/androidMain.

B.2 Dependency wiring

No DI framework. The graph is hand-built as by lazy fields on MainActivity, passed positionally into App(...), then:

  • global values via staticCompositionLocalOf (LocalNavigator, LocalProfileCache, LocalSettings, LocalConnectivity, LocalSnackbarHostState, LocalScanResult)
  • view models via an ad-hoc ViewModelProvider.Factory with a when on modelClass
  • Activity-scoped VMs created above NavDisplay; parameterized VMs created inside entry<…> with a key

Repositories receive the Activity's MainScope() and hop to Dispatchers.Default per call via a defaultDispatcher constructor param. They never create their own scope.

B.3 Navigation

JetBrains Navigation 3. Routes are a @Serializable sealed interface Screen : NavKey, a rememberNavBackStack(Screen.Home), a NavDisplay with entryProvider { entry<Screen.X> { … } }, and a tiny Navigator wrapper exposing navigate(route) / goBack().

Adding a screen = declare the route, create the file, register the entry, wire the VM (if any), wire the repository (if any), add a nav entry point and an icon.

B.4 View models

androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel subclasses in shared/commonMain. Two shapes:

  • Façade (ChatViewModel, 21 lines): re-exposes repository StateFlows 1:1, forwards calls, ErrorHost by repository.
  • Stateful screen VM (ChatScreenViewModel): mutableStateListOf / mutableStateOf + viewModelScope, still ErrorHost by repository.

UI collects with collectAsStateWithLifecycle().

B.5 Errors

ErrorHost (errorEvents: SharedFlow<String> + showError(message)) with createErrorHost().

Chain: repository : ErrorHost by createErrorHost() → view model : ErrorHost by repository → one collector per VM in App.kt:162-178 pushing into snackbarHostState.

A new feature's errors are only visible if a collector is added there.

B.6 Persistence

Mechanism Use
AppStorage.get/set Plaintext DataStore preferences
AppStorage.getSecret/setSecret AES-GCM via Android Keystore (<key>_encrypted + <key>_iv)
LMDB (client.database()) Nostr events, at filesDir/nostr; wiped by nostr.prune() on logout

Current keys: app_settings (plain), user_signer / app_keys (secret), notification_banner_dismissed (plain).

The only JSON persistence pattern is SettingsRepository: one key, Json { ignoreUnknownKeys = true; encodeDefaults = true }, a MutableStateFlow, and update(transform).

B.7 Established idioms to mirror

Concern Mirror
Synthetic LMDB index rows MessageManager.setCachedRumor / getCachedRumor
Relay connect + subscribe MessageManager.getUserMessages
Secret-backed single-blob repository SettingsRepository
Repository shape ChatRepository (ErrorHost, MutableStateFlow, stateIn(scope, WhileSubscribed(5000), …), catch (e: CancellationException) { throw e })
List row / empty state / dialogs HomeScreen, ContactListScreen, SettingsScreen

B.8 Known constraints

  • Nostr.handleNotifications must remain the only client.notifications() consumer.
  • shared cannot declare composables.
  • No @Preview composables exist anywhere — don't introduce one just for this feature.
  • All user-facing text is hardcoded English literals; there is no Res.string convention. Matching existing convention means inline literals.
  • client.database().saveEvent replaces addressable events by d tag.
  • concord's repository must be constructed in MainActivity, not in shared.