Kind 1068: Poll

Overview

Kind 1068 events define polls in the Nostr ecosystem. Polls allow users to create questions with multiple options for other users to vote on. The polls system supports both single-choice and multiple-choice voting, with configurable end times and relay specifications for where responses should be published.

Specification

Property	Value
Kind Number	1068
Event Range	Regular
Defined in	NIP-88

Content Format

The content field contains the question or title of the poll.

Schema

"content": "What's your favorite programming language?"

Tags

Tag Name	Description	Format	Required
option	Voting option	["option", "<option-id>", "<option-label>"]	Yes
relay	Where responses should be published	["relay", "<relay-url>"]	Yes
polltype	Type of poll	["polltype", "singlechoice"] or ["polltype", "multiplechoice"]	No
endsAt	Expiration time	["endsAt", "<unix-timestamp>"]	No

Client Behavior

Clients should:

1. Display polls with their options in a user-friendly format
2. Allow users to vote by creating Kind 1018 events with appropriate response tags
3. Enforce the poll type (single-choice vs. multiple-choice) when allowing users to vote
4. Respect the poll's end time, preventing votes after expiration
5. When showing poll results:
   • Query vote events from the specified relays
   • Count only one vote per public key (most recent valid vote)
   • Present results clearly with appropriate visualization

Relay Behavior

Relays should:

1. Accept and store poll events
2. Accept related response events (Kind 1018)
3. For optimal poll operation, relays should avoid accepting backdated events and should not honor deletion events for poll responses

Use Cases

• Gauging community opinions on topics
• Making group decisions
• Collecting user feedback
• Creating interactive content
• Organization governance
• Informal surveys

Example

{
  "id": "9d1b6b9562e66f2ecf35eb0a3c2decc736c47fddb13d6fb8f87185a153ea3634",
  "pubkey": "dee45a23c4f1d93f3a2043650c5081e4ac14a778e0acbef03de3768e4f81ac7b",
  "created_at": 1719888496,
  "kind": 1068,
  "tags": [
    ["option", "qj518h583", "JavaScript"],
    ["option", "gga6cdnqj", "Python"],
    ["option", "m3agjsdq1", "Rust"],
    ["option", "p9v27udnc", "Go"],
    ["relay", "wss://relay.example.com"],
    ["relay", "wss://nostr.relay.com"],
    ["polltype", "singlechoice"],
    ["endsAt", "1720493296"]
  ],
  "content": "What's your favorite programming language?",
  "sig": "7fa93bf3c430eaef784b0dacc217d3cd5eff1c520e7ef5d961381bc0f014dde6286618048d924808e54d1be03f2f2c2f0f8b5c9c2082a4480caf45a565ca9797"
}

Multiple-choice poll example:

{
  "id": "5fc80cf813f1af33d5a435862b7ef7fb96b47e68a48f1abcadf8081f5a545550",
  "pubkey": "dee45a23c4f1d93f3a2043650c5081e4ac14a778e0acbef03de3768e4f81ac7b",
  "created_at": 1719888600,
  "kind": 1068,
  "tags": [
    ["option", "qj518h583", "Pizza"],
    ["option", "gga6cdnqj", "Burgers"],
    ["option", "m3agjsdq1", "Sushi"],
    ["option", "p9v27udnc", "Tacos"],
    ["relay", "wss://relay.example.com"],
    ["polltype", "multiplechoice"],
    ["endsAt", "1720493600"]
  ],
  "content": "Which foods do you enjoy? (Select all that apply)",
  "sig": "93bf3c430eaef784b0dacc217d3cd5eff1c520e7ef5d961381bc0f014dde6286618048d924808e54d1be03f2f2c2f0f8b5c9c2082a4480caf45a565ca97977fa"
}

References

• NIP-88: Polls

Related Kinds

• Kind 1018: Poll Response - Responses to polls
• Kind 30000: Follow Sets - Can be used for curation of poll results

Notes

• Option IDs can be any alphanumeric identifier and should be unique within the poll
• If polltype is omitted, the poll should be considered "singlechoice" by default
• The endsAt timestamp is in seconds since the Unix epoch
• For best results, polls should be published to relays that:
  • Do not allow backdated events (to prevent vote manipulation)
  • Do not honor deletion requests for vote events (to maintain vote integrity)
• The integrity of poll results depends on the honesty of relays and the curation mechanisms in place
• Clients may implement additional result curation methods, such as:
  • Showing only votes from followed users
  • Using proof-of-work requirements
  • Applying web of trust principles to vote validity