Decentralized Lists

What is this?

Decentralized Lists is a tool for creating, browsing, and managing collaborative lists on the Nostr protocol. Lists are public and permissionless. Anyone can add items, vote, and build on existing lists.

This app helps you understand and work with decentralized lists: create your own, curate items, synthesize "trusted lists" based on votes and trust metrics, and filter content using Web of Trust (NIP-85/GrapeRank).

Note: The "login" button at the top will allow you to paste an nsec, which is helpful for spamming garbage here with random keys :) By default, the app will look for a browser extension.

Event Kinds

Decentralized Lists uses these Nostr event kinds:

Getting Started

1Set up your "My Lists" bookmark list

Create a list to track which lists you care about. This lets you filter the main view to only show lists you've bookmarked.

1. Go to Create List
2. List name: My Lists / Item name: list (this is just a suggestion, name it whatever you want).
3. Set required tag to e (for event references)
4. Create the list, then copy its event ID from the details panel
5. On the main page, paste the ID into "Set my lists filter" and click "set"
6. Now you can add lists to your bookmark list and filter by "Use my lists filter"

2Set up your Contexts list

Contexts let you categorize lists and items (e.g., by year, region, topic).

1. Go to Settings → Context Management
2. Click "create new" to create a contexts list, or paste an existing list ID
3. Add contexts by going to Create List or adding items and typing new context values

2bSet up Dual-Field Contexts (optional, advanced)

For more precise trust scoping, use the action:category format. This lets you distinguish between different types of trust (e.g., "who can cook Indian food" vs "who can recommend Italian restaurants").

1. Go to Settings → Dual-Field Contexts
2. Create or specify an Actions list (e.g., "cook", "recommend", "review", "teach")
3. Create or specify a Categories list (e.g., "indian cuisine", "italian cuisine", "books", "tools")
4. When adding items, switch to "Dual-field (action:category)" mode
5. Select an action and category to create contexts like cook:indian cuisine

3Try creating a demo list

Create a simple list to see how everything works:

1. Go to Create List
2. List name: Favorite Programming Languages / Item name: language
3. Keep the default required tag (t for text)
4. Optionally set a context like 2024 (simple) or try dual-field mode with action:category
5. Create the list, then add a few items (e.g., "Python", "Rust", "JavaScript")
6. Try voting on items with the thumbs up/down buttons
7. On the list view, try filtering by context using partial matches (e.g., type 2024 or just the action portion)

4Create a Trusted List (synthesize)

Trusted Lists are curated snapshots—ranked items based on votes and optional trust filters.

1. Open any list with items and votes
2. Click "Synthesize Trusted List"
3. Set filters: minimum votes, top N items, or curation list
4. Optionally reorder items manually by dragging
5. Click "Publish Trusted List" to create the snapshot
6. Find your trusted list in the "Trusted Lists" tab on the main page

5Use Web of Trust filtering (NIP-85 / GrapeRank)

1. Go to Settings and configure your NIP-85 relay and POV pubkey
2. On the main page or a list view, click "load NIP-85" in the navigation
3. Once loaded, you'll see trust filter options (e.g., "Only show lists from trusted creators")
4. In Synthesize, you can filter by GrapeRank scores for voters or item creators

6Set up My Tabs for split-view comparison

My Tabs lets you view two lists side-by-side, useful for comparing items, copying IDs between lists, or working with related data.

1. Go to Settings → My Tabs
2. Click "create new" to create a tabs list (this is an e-list that holds references to other lists)
3. Add lists to your tabs list by going to any list and adding it as an item (with an e tag)
4. "my tabs" link appears in the nav bar once configured
5. Left-click a tab to open in the left panel, right-click to open in the right panel
6. Each panel has full list functionality: voting, details, copy IDs, filtering, etc.

Tips

• Sorting: On the main page, sort lists by date, item count, votes, controversy, or activity
• Cloning: Use "Clone List" on any list to create your own copy with selected items
• Tag specs: When creating lists, use "required", "optional", "recommended" to define what tags items should have
• Source lists: Tag specs can reference another list—items will show a dropdown of values from that list
• Contexts: Use contexts to scope items by time, region, or category, then filter by context on list views
• Context filtering: The context filter supports partial matches. Type cook: to match all "cook:*" contexts, or :indian to match "*:indian*" contexts
• Multiple trust relationships: If someone is trusted for multiple action:category combinations, add them as separate items with different contexts

Links

• Report issues / Contribute