Kind 9802: Highlights

Overview

Kind 9802 events allow users to highlight specific content they find valuable. This could be a quote from a text note, article, or external website, or a reference to a non-text media item like an audio clip or video segment. Highlights serve as a way to save, curate, and share interesting portions of content across the Nostr ecosystem and beyond.

Specification

Property	Value
Kind Number	9802
Event Range	Regular
Defined in	NIP-84

Content Format

The content field contains the highlighted text portion. For non-text media (such as audio or video), the content field may be empty.

Schema

"content": "The important part of this text that I want to highlight and share with others."

Tags

Tag Name	Description	Format	Required
a or e	Nostr event being highlighted	["e", "<event-id>", "<relay-url>"]	Conditional*
r	URL being highlighted	["r", "<url>"]	Conditional*
p	Original content author	["p", "<pubkey-hex>", "<relay-url>", "author"]	No
context	Surrounding context	["context", "<surrounding-text>"]	No

*Either a Nostr event reference (a/e tag) or a URL reference (r tag) should be included

Client Behavior

Clients should:

1. Display highlights with clear attribution to the original source
2. Show the highlighted text prominently, possibly with surrounding context if available
3. Clean URLs of tracking parameters when generating highlight events
4. Allow users to view the original source content via the reference tags
5. When highlighting non-Nostr content, attempt to include attribution to authors if Nostr pubkeys are available

Relay Behavior

Relays should:

1. Store and serve highlight events like other regular events
2. Support filtering by reference tags to enable discovery of highlights for specific content

Use Cases

• Saving memorable quotes from articles, posts, or websites
• Creating a personal collection of valuable content snippets
• Sharing insightful passages with followers
• Curating important information from larger works
• Bookmarking notable segments from audio or video content

Example

Highlight from a Nostr event:

{
  "id": "4376c65d2f232afbe9b882a35baa4f6fe8667c4e684749af565f981833ed6a65",
  "pubkey": "79dff8f82963424e0bb02708a22e44b4980893e3a4be0fa3cb60a43b946764e3",
  "created_at": 1671217411,
  "kind": 9802,
  "tags": [
    ["e", "fe964e758903fc8186283d82b5f7029f0478d9daf9ea9a9ee8f7d620c4c99e98", "wss://relay.example.com"],
    ["p", "3c9849383bdea883b0bd16fece1ed36d37e37cdde3ce43b17ea4e9192ec11289", "", "author"],
    ["context", "The decentralized future of social media requires both technical innovation and thoughtful consideration of human factors. The important part of this text that I want to highlight is how these components interact to create a holistic system. Without this balance, we cannot achieve true resilience."]
  ],
  "content": "The important part of this text that I want to highlight is how these components interact to create a holistic system.",
  "sig": "908a15e46fb4d8675bab026fc230a0e3542bfade63da02d542fb78b2a8513fcd0092619a2c8c1221e581946e0191f2af505dfdf8657a414dbca329186f009262"
}

Highlight from a website:

{
  "id": "fe8b1c9a37218cf5ce604a8dce596c9c3ae0c650df2336f3c60c78e61a7b2031",
  "pubkey": "f7234bd4c1394dda46d09f35bd384dd30cc552ad5541990f98844fb06676e9ca",
  "created_at": 1671217500,
  "kind": 9802,
  "tags": [
    ["r", "https://example.com/article/decentralized-web"],
    ["p", "252f10c83610ebca1a059c0bae8255eba2f95be4d1d7bcfa89d7248a82d9f111", "", "author"],
    ["context", "When we examine the history of communication protocols, we can see that the most successful ones share three key characteristics: simplicity, extensibility, and decentralization. These three pillars form the foundation upon which robust systems are built."]
  ],
  "content": "The most successful protocols share three key characteristics: simplicity, extensibility, and decentralization.",
  "sig": "a76f39224cebd44cf04eeebe01d5ab2e8f7a3e5e56c83cadd252e7bc5e2e34fd7ad7148cf7a2c7620d9490ccf2e1bac521995725f2e1f543159b8eb98bfdd405"
}

References

• NIP-84: Highlights
• NIP-94: File Metadata (for context on non-text media highlights)

Related Kinds

• Kind 1: Short Text Note - Often the source of highlights
• Kind 30023: Long-form Content - Articles that may be highlighted
• Kind 1111: Comment - Can be used alongside highlights to add commentary

Notes

• When highlighting non-Nostr content, clients should clean URLs by removing tracking parameters and unnecessary query string elements
• The context tag is particularly useful when the highlight is a small portion of a larger text, providing surrounding content for better understanding
• Multiple p tags can be included to attribute content to various contributors, with optional roles like "author" or "editor"
• For non-text media like audio or video (NIP-94), the content field may be empty while the reference tags point to the media
• Highlights are subjective and personal, representing what a particular user found valuable or noteworthy