How to Use Encrypted Group Chat
Encrypted Group chat works on principle of using a single shared secret, which is used to encrypt all the messages in a given channel.
Only the participants of the group will know that secret, so only the participants can send and read the messages to that channel.
On Nostr Console, you can create an encrypted group/channel, and then add people to it. The app will automatically send the shared secret to any participant you add to the given encrypted channel. Its proposed NIP is here.
Typically, this is how you'd use the encrypted group chat:
- Using Nostr Console's encrypted channel menu, select 'create encrypted channel'. It will ask you for the name, about, picture of the channel, which you can add. On doing this, a new channel is created, and you are shown its channel id.
- You can now enter the channel by using the 'open channel' from menu, and entering the channel name, or the initial letters of the channel id.
- Once you are in the channel, it will at top show you the participants. Right now you as the creator are the only participant.
- Type '/add ' where pubkey is a 64 byte long pubkey of the user you want to add ( and without the quotes). Press enter. On doing this, this user is automatically sent an encrypted direct message ( kind 104 for now, not the kind 4 of DM's) which will have information (and the shared secret) about the new channel where you have added them.
- Add more people.
- If someone has added you to a encrypted group, you will see that channel listed in the encrypted menu section.
- You can join any of such channels by choosing 'join an encrypted channel' from menu, and then entering the channel name or first few letters of the channel id.
In both of the above mentioned cases, typing /help when inside a group will show the commands you can use in the group chat.
How a group looks:
