docs: add NIP-100 draft for WebRTC calls over Nostr
Specifies the signaling protocol for P2P voice/video calls: - 6 event kinds (25050-25055) for offer/answer/ICE/hangup/reject/renegotiate - NIP-59 gift wrap delivery (no seal layer) - Follow-gated spam prevention - Short expiration for ephemeral signaling data https://claude.ai/code/session_017hZm7yu7CzmcQgZGSaqSXS
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NIP-100
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=======
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WebRTC Calls
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------------
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`draft` `optional`
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This NIP defines a protocol for establishing peer-to-peer voice and video calls between Nostr users using WebRTC, with Nostr relays serving as the signaling transport.
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## Motivation
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Nostr users currently lack a way to make real-time voice or video calls without relying on centralized services. By using Nostr relays for WebRTC signaling and public STUN servers for NAT traversal, calls can be established in a fully decentralized manner — no custom server infrastructure is required. Once a WebRTC peer connection is established, the relay is no longer involved in the media stream.
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## Overview
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The protocol works as follows:
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1. **Caller** creates a signed call offer event containing an SDP offer
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2. The event is **gift-wrapped** ([NIP-59](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/59.md)) and published to relays
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3. **Callee** unwraps the event, verifies the signature, and decides whether to accept
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4. If accepted, callee sends back a gift-wrapped call answer event containing an SDP answer
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5. Both parties exchange **ICE candidates** as gift-wrapped events for NAT traversal
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6. A **direct WebRTC peer connection** is established for audio/video
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All signaling events MUST be gift-wrapped using [NIP-59](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/59.md) for metadata privacy. Events are signed by the sender's key and wrapped directly (without the seal layer) — the gift wrap's random ephemeral key already hides the sender from relay operators.
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## Event Kinds
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| Kind | Name | Description |
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|-------|---------------------|----------------------------------------------|
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| 25050 | Call Offer | SDP offer initiating a call |
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| 25051 | Call Answer | SDP answer accepting a call |
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| 25052 | ICE Candidate | ICE candidate for NAT traversal |
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| 25053 | Call Hangup | Terminates an active or pending call |
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| 25054 | Call Reject | Rejects an incoming call |
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| 25055 | Call Renegotiate | New SDP offer for mid-call changes |
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## Tags
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All signaling events MUST include:
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| Tag | Description | Required |
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|---------------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------|
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| `p` | Hex pubkey of the recipient | YES |
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| `call-id` | UUID identifying the call session | YES |
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| `expiration` | Unix timestamp ([NIP-40](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/40.md)), SHOULD be ~5 minutes from `created_at` | YES |
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| `alt` | Human-readable description ([NIP-31](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/31.md)) | YES |
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Additional tags for **Call Offer** (kind 25050):
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| Tag | Description | Required |
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|---------------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------|
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| `call-type` | `"voice"` or `"video"` | YES |
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## Event Structures
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### Call Offer (kind 25050)
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The `content` field contains the SDP offer string.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25050,
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"pubkey": "<caller-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234567890,
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"content": "v=0\r\no=- 4611731400430051336 2 IN IP4 127.0.0.1\r\n...",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<callee-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["call-type", "video"],
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["expiration", "1234568190"],
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["alt", "WebRTC call offer"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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### Call Answer (kind 25051)
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The `content` field contains the SDP answer string.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25051,
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"pubkey": "<callee-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234567895,
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"content": "v=0\r\no=- 4611731400430051337 2 IN IP4 127.0.0.1\r\n...",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<caller-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["expiration", "1234568195"],
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["alt", "WebRTC call answer"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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### ICE Candidate (kind 25052)
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The `content` field contains the ICE candidate as a JSON string with the fields `candidate`, `sdpMid`, and `sdpMLineIndex`.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25052,
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"pubkey": "<sender-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234567896,
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"content": "{\"candidate\":\"candidate:842163049 1 udp 1677729535 203.0.113.1 44323 typ srflx raddr 0.0.0.0 rport 0 generation 0\",\"sdpMid\":\"0\",\"sdpMLineIndex\":0}",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<peer-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["expiration", "1234568196"],
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["alt", "WebRTC ICE candidate"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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### Call Hangup (kind 25053)
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The `content` field MAY contain a human-readable reason or be empty.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25053,
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"pubkey": "<sender-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234568000,
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"content": "",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<peer-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["expiration", "1234568300"],
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["alt", "WebRTC call hangup"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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### Call Reject (kind 25054)
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The `content` field MAY contain a reason or be empty.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25054,
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"pubkey": "<callee-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234567893,
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"content": "",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<caller-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["expiration", "1234568193"],
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["alt", "WebRTC call rejection"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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### Call Renegotiate (kind 25055)
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Used for mid-call changes such as toggling video on/off. The `content` field contains a new SDP offer.
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```json
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{
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"kind": 25055,
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"pubkey": "<sender-hex-pubkey>",
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"created_at": 1234568100,
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"content": "v=0\r\no=- 4611731400430051338 3 IN IP4 127.0.0.1\r\n...",
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"tags": [
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["p", "<peer-hex-pubkey>"],
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["call-id", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"],
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["expiration", "1234568400"],
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["alt", "WebRTC call renegotiation"]
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],
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"id": "<event-id>",
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"sig": "<signature>"
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}
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```
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## Encryption and Delivery
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All signaling events MUST be delivered using [NIP-59](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/59.md) Gift Wraps:
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1. **Sign** the signaling event with the sender's key
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2. **Gift-wrap** the signed event directly using `GiftWrapEvent` (kind 1059) with NIP-44 encryption
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3. **Publish** the gift wrap to the recipient's relay list
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The seal layer (`SealedRumorEvent`) is NOT used. The gift wrap already provides:
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- **NIP-44 encryption** — content is unreadable to relay operators
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- **Random ephemeral pubkey** — the relay cannot identify the sender
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- **`p` tag** — reveals only the recipient (necessary for delivery)
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Recipients unwrap the gift, verify the inner event's signature against the sender's pubkey, and then process the signaling message.
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## Protocol Flow
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### Initiating a Call
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```
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Caller Relay Callee
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|-- GiftWrap(CallOffer) ------->| |
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| |-- GiftWrap(CallOffer) ------->|
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| | [Callee unwraps, verifies signature]
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| | [Checks: is caller followed?]
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| | [YES → ring / NO → ignore]
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|<-- GiftWrap(CallAnswer) ------|<-- GiftWrap(CallAnswer) ------|
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|<-> GiftWrap(IceCandidate) <-->|<-> GiftWrap(IceCandidate) <-->|
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|============= WebRTC P2P Connection Established ===============|
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| (relay no longer involved) |
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```
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### Ending a Call
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Either party may send a `CallHangup` (kind 25053) at any time. The recipient SHOULD close the WebRTC peer connection and release media resources upon receiving it.
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### Rejecting a Call
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The callee may send a `CallReject` (kind 25054) instead of a `CallAnswer`. The caller SHOULD stop ringing and display a "call rejected" state.
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## Spam Prevention
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Clients SHOULD implement call filtering:
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- **Follow-gated ringing**: Only display incoming call notifications for users in the recipient's follow list. Calls from non-followed users SHOULD be silently ignored.
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- **Rate limiting**: Clients SHOULD ignore duplicate call offers from the same pubkey within a short window.
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- **Expiration enforcement**: Clients MUST check the `expiration` tag and discard signaling events that have expired.
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## NAT Traversal
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This NIP does not mandate specific STUN or TURN servers. Clients SHOULD:
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- Ship with a default set of public STUN servers (e.g., `stun:stun.l.google.com:19302`)
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- Allow users to configure custom TURN servers for restrictive network environments
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- Use trickle ICE (sending candidates as they are discovered) rather than waiting for all candidates before sending the offer/answer
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## Implementation Notes
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- The `call-id` tag MUST be a UUID that is unique per call session. All signaling events for the same call share the same `call-id`.
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- Events SHOULD have short expiration times (~5 minutes) since signaling data is ephemeral and has no long-term value.
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- Clients SHOULD implement a ringing timeout (e.g., 60 seconds). If no answer is received, the call transitions to a "timed out" state.
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- Clients SHOULD use a foreground service or equivalent mechanism to keep calls active when the app is backgrounded.
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- The WebRTC `PeerConnection` SHOULD use Unified Plan SDP semantics.
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- Clients MAY support call renegotiation (kind 25055) for toggling video on/off mid-call without tearing down the connection.
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## References
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- [NIP-01: Basic Protocol](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md) — Event structure
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- [NIP-31: Alt Tag](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/31.md) — Human-readable event descriptions
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- [NIP-40: Expiration](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/40.md) — Event expiration timestamps
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- [NIP-44: Encryption](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/44.md) — XChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption
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- [NIP-59: Gift Wraps](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/59.md) — Encrypted event delivery
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- [WebRTC Specification](https://www.w3.org/TR/webrtc/) — Peer-to-peer real-time communication
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- [RFC 8445: ICE](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8445) — Interactive Connectivity Establishment
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- [nostr-protocol/nips#771](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/issues/771) — WebRTC signaling discussion
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