NIP-57 defines zaps, a way to send Lightning payments to Nostr users and content with cryptographic proof that the payment occurred.

How It Works

  1. Client fetches recipient’s Lightning address from their kind 0 profile
  2. Client requests an invoice from the recipient’s LNURL server, including a zap request event
  3. User pays the invoice
  4. LNURL server publishes a kind 9735 zap receipt to Nostr relays
  5. Clients display the zap on the recipient’s content

Zap Request (kind 9734)

The zap request is a signed event that proves who sent the zap and to what content. It includes:

  • p tag with recipient pubkey
  • e tag with event being zapped (optional)
  • amount tag in millisatoshis
  • relays tag listing where to publish the receipt

Zap Receipt (kind 9735)

Published by the LNURL server after payment confirmation. Contains:

  • The original zap request in a description tag
  • bolt11 tag with the paid invoice
  • preimage tag proving payment

Primary sources:

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See also: