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Relay Explorers

Relay explorers allow you to view and monitor specific relays, check their status, and analyze their content.

Relay Monitoring Services​

nostr.watch​

The primary relay monitoring service.

Website: nostr.watch

Features:

  • Real-time relay status
  • NIP support detection
  • Performance metrics
  • Historical uptime data
  • Geographic distribution

Nostr Pulse​

Web-based relay explorer.

Website: nostrpul.se

Features:

  • Relay information display
  • Event statistics
  • Connection testing

Relay Explorers​

relays.vercel.app​

Interactive relay explorer interface.

Website: relays.vercel.app

Usage:

https://relays.vercel.app/relay/nrelay1qqghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yv339e3k7mgftj9ag

relay.tools​

Relay exploration and management platform.

Website: relay.tools

Features:

  • Relay dashboard
  • Event inspection
  • Filter testing

Command Line Tools​

websocat​

Connect and query relays directly.

Installation:

cargo install websocat

Test connectivity:

websocat -k -v wss://relay.damus.io/ --ping-interval 5

Subscribe to events:

echo '["REQ", "x", {"kinds": [1], "limit": 5}]' | \
  websocat -n --ping-interval 20 wss://relay.damus.io

Query specific author:

echo '["REQ", "x", {"kinds":[0,2,10002], "authors": ["pubkey-hex"]}]' | \
  timeout 2 websocat -n --ping-interval 20 wss://relay.damus.io

nak (Nostr Army Knife)​

Swiss army knife for Nostr.

Installation:

go install github.com/fiatjaf/nak@latest

Query relay:

nak req -k 1 -l 10 wss://relay.damus.io

Get relay info:

curl -H "Accept: application/nostr+json" https://relay.damus.io/

wscat​

Node.js WebSocket client.

npm install -g wscat
wscat -c wss://relay.damus.io

Checking Relay Status​

Basic Health Check​

# Check if relay accepts connections
curl -I https://relay.example.com/

# Get NIP-11 info
curl -H "Accept: application/nostr+json" https://relay.example.com/ | jq

Supported NIPs​

curl -s -H "Accept: application/nostr+json" https://relay.example.com/ | \
  jq '.supported_nips'

Connection Test Script​

#!/bin/bash
# test-relay.sh

RELAY=$1

echo "Testing $RELAY..."

# HTTP check
if curl -s -I "$RELAY" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "✓ HTTP reachable"
else
    echo "✗ HTTP not reachable"
fi

# NIP-11 info
INFO=$(curl -s -H "Accept: application/nostr+json" "$RELAY" 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$INFO" ]; then
    echo "✓ NIP-11 info available"
    echo "  Name: $(echo $INFO | jq -r '.name')"
    echo "  NIPs: $(echo $INFO | jq -r '.supported_nips')"
else
    echo "✗ NIP-11 info not available"
fi

# WebSocket test
WS_URL=$(echo "$RELAY" | sed 's/https/wss/' | sed 's/http/ws/')
if echo '["REQ","test",{"limit":1}]' | timeout 5 websocat -n "$WS_URL" 2>/dev/null | head -1 | grep -q "EVENT\|EOSE"; then
    echo "✓ WebSocket working"
else
    echo "✗ WebSocket not working"
fi

Relay Statistics​

Get Event Counts​

Using NIP-45 (if supported):

echo '["COUNT", "stats", {"kinds": [1]}]' | \
  websocat -n wss://relay.example.com

Monitor Firehose​

Stream all events (use sparingly):

echo '["REQ", "firehose", {"kinds": [1], "limit": 0}]' | \
  websocat -n --ping-interval 20 wss://relay.damus.io | \
  while read -r line; do
    echo "$line" | jq -r '.[2].content // empty' | head -c 100
    echo
  done

Relay Lists​

Fetch from Relay​

# Get user's relay list (NIP-65)
echo '["REQ", "x", {"kinds": [10002], "authors": ["pubkey"], "limit": 1}]' | \
  websocat -n wss://relay.damus.io

Online Lists​

Debugging Tips​

Common Issues​

IssueCheck
Connection refusedFirewall, relay down
SSL errorCertificate, domain
TimeoutRelay overloaded
No eventsFilter too restrictive

Verbose Connection​

websocat -v wss://relay.example.com 2>&1

Check Response Time​

time (echo '["REQ","x",{"limit":1}]' | \
  timeout 5 websocat -n wss://relay.example.com | head -1)

See Also​