.env.example

@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS=
 # Default UI theme id.
 PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME=nord
 
+# Channel auto-joined on startup, on the first default relay (bare name, no '#').
+# Leave blank to disable auto-join.
+PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL=nosterm
+
 # Max lines kept in the terminal scrollback.
 PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES=1000
 

.gitignore

@@ -15,3 +15,6 @@ playwright-report/
 !.env.example
 
 .DS_Store
+
+# local AI assistant instructions
+CLAUDE.local.md

Dockerfile

@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ RUN npm ci
 COPY . ./
 ARG PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS=""
 ARG PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME="nord"
+ARG PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL="nosterm"
 ARG PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES="1000"
 ARG PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH="2000"
 ARG PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM="500"
 ENV PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS=$PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS \
 	PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME=$PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME \
+	PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL=$PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL \
 	PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES=$PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES \
 	PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH=$PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH \
 	PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM=$PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM

README.md

@@ -19,6 +19,53 @@ Open a pull request against `main` — see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md). E
 merge to `main` builds the container image and publishes it to ECR Public for
 anonymous pulls (see [Deploy](#deploy)).
 
+## Mission
+
+Nosterm aims to be the premier, full-featured **Nostr Relay Chat (NRC)**
+client — the terminal-native way to talk over Nostr. We believe private
+communication is a right, not a feature, so Nosterm is built to advocate for and
+promote **anonymity, end-to-end encryption, and censorship resistance** by
+default rather than as opt-in extras.
+
+Three principles guide every decision:
+
+- **Small footprint.** A static SPA with no application backend, served from a
+  single lightweight container. It should stay auditable, fast to load, and cheap
+  to self-host — no build-time secrets, no telemetry, no lock-in.
+- **Easy to deploy, anywhere.** One prebuilt image, configured at runtime, that
+  drops cleanly onto different **overlay network protocols** (Tor, I2P, Yggdrasil,
+  Nym, and WireGuard-style meshes) so operators can run it wherever they trust
+  the transport.
+- **Privacy as the default.** Anonymity, encryption, and anti-censorship are the
+  baseline behavior. The client should make the private path the easy path.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+The roadmap turns the mission into concrete direction. Items are aspirational and
+unordered — contributions that move any of them forward are welcome.
+
+- **Full NRC feature set** — channels, threads, DMs, presence, and moderation
+  tools that make Nosterm a complete relay-chat experience, not just a demo.
+- **Overlay-network first** — first-class, documented deployment recipes for Tor
+  hidden services, I2P, and other overlay transports, keeping the same single
+  runtime-configured image.
+- **Encryption everywhere** — modern encrypted DMs and private groups (e.g.
+  NIP-17 / gift-wrapped events), with sensible key handling and no plaintext
+  fallbacks that surprise the user.
+- **Anonymity by design** — minimize metadata leakage, support ephemeral and
+  disposable identities, and avoid any client behavior that fingerprints or
+  phones home.
+- **Censorship resistance** — graceful multi-relay failover, easy relay
+  discovery and rotation, and resilience when individual relays are blocked or
+  disappear.
+- **Mature the Nostermd companion relay** — grow the
+  [nostermd-relay](https://git.nerdworks.io/nerdworks/nostermd-relay) home relay
+  into a first-class **NIP-29** (relay-based groups) implementation, deepening
+  its federation and group-chat features so a self-hosted relay is a complete
+  NRC backend for the client.
+- **Stay small** — hold the line on bundle size, dependency count, and container
+  footprint as features grow.
+
 ## Layout
 
 ```
@@ -83,9 +130,10 @@ secrets) — change one → rebuild the image.
 **Build-time** (baked into the bundle; rebuild to change):
 
 | Variable                              | Default   | Purpose                                           |
-| ------------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------- |
+| ------------------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
 | `PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS`               | _empty_   | Fallback relays when no runtime config is set     |
 | `PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME`                | `nord`    | Theme applied before the user picks one           |
+| `PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL`              | `nosterm` | Channel auto-joined on startup (blank = disabled) |
 | `PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES`         | `1000`    | Terminal entries kept in memory / rendered        |
 | `PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH`           | `2000`    | Max outbound message length (characters)          |
 | `PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM` | `500`     | Messages retained per room in IndexedDB           |

assets/nosterm-banner.svg

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="820" height="240" viewBox="0 0 820 240" role="img" aria-label="Nosterm — a terminal-style Nostr chat application">
+<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="820" height="320" viewBox="0 0 820 320" role="img" aria-label="Nosterm — a terminal-style Nostr chat window with user and relay lists">
-	<title>Nosterm — a terminal-style Nostr chat application</title>
+	<title>Nosterm — a terminal-style Nostr chat window with user and relay lists</title>
 
-	<!-- Nord palette: bg #2e3440, surface #3b4252, frame #434c5e,
+	<!-- Nord palette: bg #2e3440, surface #3b4252, frame #434c5e, muted #4c566a,
-	     cyan #88c0d0, snow #eceff4, comment #616e88, green #a3be8c -->
+	     comment #616e88, snow #d8dee9/#eceff4, frost #81a1c1/#88c0d0,
+	     aurora red #bf616a, yellow #ebcb8b, green #a3be8c, purple #b48ead -->
 	<defs>
 		<linearGradient id="bg" x1="0" y1="0" x2="0" y2="1">
 			<stop offset="0" stop-color="#3b4252" />
@@ -11,34 +12,85 @@
 	</defs>
 
 	<!-- outer canvas -->
-	<rect width="820" height="240" rx="14" fill="#2e3440" />
+	<rect width="820" height="320" rx="14" fill="#2e3440" />
 
-	<!-- terminal window -->
+	<!-- chat window -->
-	<rect x="40" y="34" width="740" height="172" rx="10" fill="url(#bg)" stroke="#434c5e" stroke-width="1.5" />
+	<rect x="30" y="26" width="760" height="268" rx="10" fill="url(#bg)" stroke="#434c5e" stroke-width="1.5" />
 
 	<!-- title bar -->
-	<rect x="40" y="34" width="740" height="34" rx="10" fill="#434c5e" />
+	<rect x="30" y="26" width="760" height="34" rx="10" fill="#434c5e" />
-	<rect x="40" y="58" width="740" height="10" fill="#434c5e" />
+	<rect x="30" y="50" width="760" height="10" fill="#434c5e" />
-	<circle cx="64" cy="51" r="5.5" fill="#bf616a" />
+	<circle cx="54" cy="43" r="5.5" fill="#bf616a" />
-	<circle cx="84" cy="51" r="5.5" fill="#ebcb8b" />
+	<circle cx="74" cy="43" r="5.5" fill="#ebcb8b" />
-	<circle cx="104" cy="51" r="5.5" fill="#a3be8c" />
+	<circle cx="94" cy="43" r="5.5" fill="#a3be8c" />
-	<text x="410" y="55" text-anchor="middle" font-family="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Consolas, monospace" font-size="13" fill="#616e88">nosterm — /home/you</text>
+	<text x="410" y="47" text-anchor="middle" font-family="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Consolas, monospace" font-size="13" fill="#616e88">nosterm — #general</text>
+
+	<!-- sidebar divider -->
+	<line x1="598" y1="60" x2="598" y2="294" stroke="#434c5e" stroke-width="1.5" />
 
-	<!-- terminal body -->
 	<g font-family="ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Consolas, monospace">
-		<!-- wordmark: prompt + name -->
+		<!-- ===== chat transcript ===== -->
-		<text x="70" y="126" font-size="46" font-weight="700" fill="#88c0d0">&gt;_</text>
+		<g font-size="13">
-		<text x="152" y="126" font-size="46" font-weight="700" fill="#eceff4">nosterm</text>
+			<!-- msg 1 -->
+			<text x="50" y="92" fill="#616e88">09:42</text>
+			<text x="104" y="92" fill="#88c0d0">@satoshi</text>
+			<text x="190" y="92" fill="#d8dee9">gm — anyone on a home relay?</text>
+			<!-- msg 2 -->
+			<text x="50" y="120" fill="#616e88">09:43</text>
+			<text x="104" y="120" fill="#a3be8c">@you</text>
+			<text x="190" y="120" fill="#d8dee9">yeah: ws://localhost/relay</text>
+			<!-- msg 3 -->
+			<text x="50" y="148" fill="#616e88">09:44</text>
+			<text x="104" y="148" fill="#ebcb8b">@nostrich</text>
+			<text x="190" y="148" fill="#d8dee9">clean. nostr, in a terminal.</text>
+			<!-- msg 4 -->
+			<text x="50" y="176" fill="#616e88">09:45</text>
+			<text x="104" y="176" fill="#b48ead">@hodl</text>
+			<text x="190" y="176" fill="#d8dee9">/theme nord</text>
+			<text x="286" y="176" fill="#a3be8c">✓</text>
+			<!-- msg 5 -->
+			<text x="50" y="204" fill="#616e88">09:46</text>
+			<text x="104" y="204" fill="#88c0d0">@satoshi</text>
+			<text x="190" y="204" fill="#d8dee9">🔥 no backend, just relays</text>
+			<!-- msg 6 -->
+			<text x="50" y="232" fill="#616e88">09:47</text>
+			<text x="104" y="232" fill="#a3be8c">@you</text>
+			<text x="190" y="232" fill="#d8dee9">signed &amp; broadcast. gg</text>
+		</g>
 
-		<!-- tagline as a shell comment -->
+		<!-- input line -->
-		<text x="72" y="162" font-size="16" fill="#616e88"># a terminal-style Nostr chat client + home relay</text>
+		<line x1="46" y1="256" x2="566" y2="256" stroke="#434c5e" stroke-width="1" />
-
+		<text x="50" y="282" font-size="15" fill="#88c0d0">&gt;</text>
-		<!-- a sample command line -->
+		<text x="68" y="282" font-size="15" fill="#eceff4">/msg #general </text>
-		<text x="72" y="190" font-size="16" fill="#a3be8c">$</text>
+		<rect x="200" y="270" width="8" height="16" fill="#88c0d0">
-		<text x="92" y="190" font-size="16" fill="#d8dee9">/join</text>
-		<text x="150" y="190" font-size="16" fill="#88c0d0">#general</text>
-		<rect x="238" y="177" width="9" height="17" fill="#88c0d0">
 			<animate attributeName="opacity" values="1;1;0;0" dur="1.1s" repeatCount="indefinite" />
 		</rect>
+
+		<!-- ===== sidebar: users ===== -->
+		<text x="618" y="88" font-size="11" letter-spacing="1.5" fill="#616e88">USERS · 4</text>
+		<g font-size="13">
+			<circle cx="624" cy="110" r="4" fill="#a3be8c" />
+			<text x="640" y="114" fill="#d8dee9">satoshi</text>
+			<circle cx="624" cy="134" r="4" fill="#a3be8c" />
+			<text x="640" y="138" fill="#d8dee9">nostrich</text>
+			<circle cx="624" cy="158" r="4" fill="#88c0d0" />
+			<text x="640" y="162" fill="#88c0d0">you</text>
+			<circle cx="624" cy="182" r="4" fill="#4c566a" />
+			<text x="640" y="186" fill="#616e88">hodl</text>
+		</g>
+
+		<!-- sidebar divider between sections -->
+		<line x1="614" y1="204" x2="774" y2="204" stroke="#434c5e" stroke-width="1" />
+
+		<!-- ===== sidebar: relays ===== -->
+		<text x="618" y="228" font-size="11" letter-spacing="1.5" fill="#616e88">RELAYS · 3</text>
+		<g font-size="12">
+			<circle cx="624" cy="250" r="4" fill="#a3be8c" />
+			<text x="640" y="254" fill="#d8dee9">relay.damus.io</text>
+			<circle cx="624" cy="272" r="4" fill="#a3be8c" />
+			<text x="640" y="276" fill="#d8dee9">nos.lol</text>
+			<circle cx="624" cy="290" r="4" fill="#bf616a" />
+			<text x="640" y="294" fill="#616e88">relay.snort.social</text>
+		</g>
 	</g>
 </svg>

docker-compose.yml

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ services:
         # Non-relay tunables are still baked in at build time. Relays are set at
         # runtime via NOSTERM_DEFAULT_RELAYS below (no rebuild to change them).
         PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME: ${PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME:-nord}
+        PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL: ${PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL:-nosterm}
         PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES: ${PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES:-1000}
         PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH: ${PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH:-2000}
         PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM: ${PUBLIC_MAX_CACHED_MESSAGES_PER_ROOM:-500}

src/lib/config.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ export const DEFAULT_RELAYS: string[] = (env.PUBLIC_DEFAULT_RELAYS ?? '')
 
 export const DEFAULT_THEME_ID: string = (env.PUBLIC_DEFAULT_THEME ?? 'nord').trim() || 'nord';
 
+/**
+ * channel auto-joined on startup, on the first default relay. bare group name
+ * (no leading '#'). set to empty to disable auto-join.
+ */
+export const DEFAULT_CHANNEL: string = (env.PUBLIC_DEFAULT_CHANNEL ?? 'nosterm')
+	.trim()
+	.replace(/^#/, '');
+
 export const MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES: number = parseIntOr(env.PUBLIC_MAX_TERMINAL_ENTRIES, 1000);
 
 export const MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH: number = parseIntOr(env.PUBLIC_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH, 2000);

src/routes/+page.svelte

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 	import { uiStore } from '$lib/stores/ui-store';
 	import { pluginHost } from '$lib/plugins/plugin-host';
 	import { loadDefaultRelays } from '$lib/runtime-config';
+	import { DEFAULT_CHANNEL } from '$lib/config';
+	import { roomService } from '$lib/nostr/room-service';
 	import { BRAND } from '$lib/brand';
 
 	const { dispatcher, registry } = createAppDispatcher();
@@ -35,11 +37,19 @@
 		// relays come from runtime /config.json (per-deployment, no rebuild)
 		// and fall back to the build-time defaults.
 		const relays = await loadDefaultRelays();
-		if (relays.length > 0) {
+		const [firstRelay] = relays;
+		if (firstRelay) {
 			terminalStore.system(`Connecting to ${relays.length} relay(s)…`, 'system');
 			for (const url of relays) {
 				void relayService.connect(url);
 			}
+
+			// auto-join the default channel on the first relay so the app opens on a
+			// room instead of an empty terminal. join() handles waiting for the relay
+			// to connect; a NIP-29 join request needs no login (reading is open).
+			if (DEFAULT_CHANNEL) {
+				void roomService.join({ relayUrl: firstRelay, groupId: DEFAULT_CHANNEL });
+			}
 		} else {
 			terminalStore.system('No default relays configured. Use /connect <relay-url>.', 'system');
 		}