A Nostr relay in your pocket.

The basics

What your vault is

Most Nostr apps only read and write to other people's relays. Nostr Vault also runs one on your device. Your vault is a Nostr relay and media server of your own, and it keeps a copy of:

• Your own notes, everything you post, like, zap and save.
• Notes that mention you, from people you trust (see Who Can Reach You).
• Your direct messages, still encrypted.
• Recent notes from people you follow, so your feed loads fast. Older ones are cleared out over time.
• Your media, in its own media server.

The vault's address (wss://127.0.0.1:… on a phone) only works on that device. Other apps and people can't connect to it directly. What reaches it over the mesh or the web is set out in Who Can Reach You. Your notes still go to your normal relays too. The vault is the copy you own.

To see it explained in the app, open Settings → Help → Tutorials and play Your Vault at Work or How Your Vault Works.

iPhone and Android

The Vault tab

The Vault tab opens on Vault, a list of everything new. Tap the Vault button at the bottom right (or pick Vault Dashboard at the end of the mode menu) to see how your vault is doing. At the top it says Your vault is running, starting, paused or needs a restart, with how long it's been up. If it stops, a button lets you start it again so it catches up on new notes and messages. The menu on that card has Copy Address, Restart, Stop and Start.

Below that:

• Is it safe?: four checks (your key, a saved follow list, a copy on your Mac, a backup file), with a button to make a backup.
• Who can reach you: how many people can send to your inbox, and how many people you've blocked.
• In your vault: how many events it holds and how much space notes, media and cache use. The cache is other people's media kept for quick loading, and you can clear it.
• Keep it full: Import notes, import media, back up media and export notes.
• Vault settings: shortcuts to Relays, Who Can Reach You, Media Servers, Sync with Vault on Mac and Start automatically.
• Then relay activity, and Advanced with relay details and media servers.

On iPhone and Android this screen is called Vault Dashboard.

With more than one account on the device, chips over the Vault list switch between All and each account. Each chip shows that account's new count, and each line is marked with its account.

Settings

Vault settings

Everything about the vault is grouped under Settings → Your Vault. The card at the top of Settings shows whether it's running, with a Start Vault button if it isn't.

• Start Vault Automatically: start the vault when the app opens. Leave it on.
• Home vault sync: send your notes and photos to Nostr Vault on your Mac (see The mesh).
• Who Can Reach You: who may send to your inbox and messages. More.
• Import Notes: fill the vault with your past notes. See below.
• Backup & Restore: save or restore your vault as a file. More.

Bring your history

Import your past notes

A new vault starts empty. Import Notes pulls your old notes, and notes where you are tagged, from your other relays into the vault, starting at a date you pick.

1. Open Settings → Your Vault → Import Notes and set the Start Date.
2. Run it from the Vault Dashboard: Keep it full → Import notes. On Android you can also tap Start Import on the Import Notes page.

It reads from the relays that have Import switched on in Settings → Relays. Notes that tag you are kept only if they come from people you trust, or if they reply to or quote your own posts.

Where it runs

Phone, Mac and web