Kind 30000: Follow Sets

Overview

Follow Sets (kind 30000) are parameterized replaceable events that allow users to create and manage categorized groups of users they follow. Unlike the standard follow list (kind 3), follow sets enable users to organize followed accounts into different categories or contexts, providing more granular control over their social graph.

Specification

Property	Value
Kind Number	30000
Event Range	Parameterized Replaceable
Defined in	NIP-51

Content Format

The content field may contain encrypted private follow entries using NIP-04 encryption, which follow the same structure as the public entries in tags but are only visible to the creator.

Schema

For encrypted private entries:

"content": "<NIP-04 encrypted JSON array of tags>"

Tags

Tag Name	Description	Format	Required
d	Set identifier	["d", "<set-name>"]	Yes
p	Public keys to follow	["p", "<pubkey>", "<relay-url>", "<petname>"]	No
title	Human-readable name of the set	["title", "<set-title>"]	No
description	Description of the set	["description", "<set-description>"]	No

Client Behavior

Clients should:

1. Allow users to create, view, and manage multiple follow sets
2. Use the d tag parameter to distinguish between different follow sets
3. Display the set's title and description when available
4. Support both public follows (in tags) and private follows (encrypted in content)
5. When displaying content from followed users, provide options to filter based on specific follow sets
6. When a user follows someone, consider offering options for which follow set to add them to

Relay Behavior

Relays should:

1. Handle kind 30000 events as parameterized replaceable events where the d tag is the discriminator
2. Index these events to allow efficient retrieval by pubkey and d tag value
3. Return these events when queried for a specific author and d parameter

Use Cases

• Creating topic-based follow lists (e.g., "Tech", "Art", "Local")
• Separating professional and personal follows
• Building curated lists of recommended accounts
• Managing privacy by keeping some follows private
• Creating temporary follow sets for specific events or discussions
• Subscribing to specific content categories

Example

{
  "id": "ed3505f53471018e2d4221c231d0c0eecc20adedb308dcc4e3a8fbaa5c98fc9d",
  "pubkey": "a48380f4cfcc1ad5378294fcac36439770f9c878dd880ffa94bb74ea54a6f294",
  "created_at": 1683234150,
  "kind": 30000,
  "tags": [
    ["d", "tech-influencers"],
    ["title", "Tech Influencers"],
    ["description", "People I follow for tech news and updates"],
    ["p", "32e1827635450ebb3c5a7d12c1f8e7b2b514439ac10a67eef3d9fd9c5c68e245", "wss://relay.damus.io", "jack"],
    ["p", "3bf0c63fcb93463407af97a5e5ee64fa883d107ef9e558472c4eb9aaaefa459d", "wss://relay.nostr.info", "fiatjaf"],
    ["p", "9ec7a778167afb1d30c4833de9322da0c08ba71a69e1911d5578d3144bb56437", "", "jb55"]
  ],
  "content": "",
  "sig": "6e8f573e83e0c1f3a030f95f89a47e6c641f24f40b1189e1f6de2e49cf3cf230c9a4d304104ca1ef57a3d232bf357fba3e5aef2a537ae615c6c2e30c523a7ab2"
}

Example with private entries:

{
  "id": "97e48183fa8fc78f42e97e534a87182ea9e064bce80a2c9683fe0132c4fec070",
  "pubkey": "a48380f4cfcc1ad5378294fcac36439770f9c878dd880ffa94bb74ea54a6f294",
  "created_at": 1683234250,
  "kind": 30000,
  "tags": [
    ["d", "private-follows"],
    ["title", "Private Interest Group"],
    ["description", "Accounts I follow privately"]
  ],
  "content": "4xy1neXw9B7aypJkYJmYK2h3d3hJSUkYTfiXpoQxJKfU1GNuUUQhPfC7kK569asGjKoTNrgAXu5nrA98p8KsgrTSxV8J3LGEUQw",
  "sig": "b317a8d33e65cdd0ca642a42934e11b26cd4c1ed1d63e12a5e3b83d4e23ea6aa06c1891a80dd0a3e4f56bb86aae4b4fb194b5733ad6fbe247e4a1abd86a3f70"
}

References

• NIP-51: Lists
• NIP-01: Basic Protocol
• NIP-04: Encrypted Direct Messages

Related Kinds

• Kind 3: Follow List - The standard follow list
• Kind 10000: Mute List - Standard list for muted accounts

Notes

• The d tag is required for parameterized replaceable events to work correctly
• Relay URLs in p tags are optional but recommended to help clients find the followed user's content
• Petnames in p tags are useful for displaying human-readable names instead of public keys
• Private follows can be useful for users who don't want to publicly disclose who they follow
• Multiple follow sets can co-exist, each with a different d value