Introducing Nostr Web of Trust
The Nostr ecosystem is growing rapidly, but with growth comes noise. Web of Trust provides a decentralized solution for trust-based content filtering, powered by your social graph.
Leon Acosta
The Nostr ecosystem is growing rapidly. Every day, thousands of new users join the network, creating notes, sharing content, and building connections. But with this growth comes a familiar challenge: how do you separate signal from noise?
The Problem with Open Networks
Open, permissionless networks are powerful precisely because anyone can participate. But this openness also means dealing with:
- Spam and bot accounts flooding your feed
- Impersonators pretending to be someone they're not
- Low-quality content drowning out valuable discussions
Traditional solutions rely on centralized moderation—a team deciding what's acceptable. But that defeats the purpose of a decentralized network.
Enter Web of Trust
Web of Trust takes a different approach. Instead of relying on a central authority, it leverages something you already have: your social connections.
The concept is simple:
- You trust the people you follow
- They trust the people they follow
- Trust flows through these connections
If someone is 1 hop away (you follow them directly), they're highly trusted. 2 hops away (a friend of a friend), somewhat trusted. 3 or more hops? Probably noise.
// Check if someone is in your Web of Trust
const inNetwork = await window.nostr.wot.isInMyWoT(pubkey);
// Get their exact distance
const hops = await window.nostr.wot.getDistance(pubkey);
// Get a trust score (0-1)
const score = await window.nostr.wot.getTrustScore(pubkey);How It Works
Our browser extension builds a local graph of your social connections. When you visit any Nostr app, it can query this graph to determine trust levels for any pubkey.
The extension works with any Nostr app that implements the WoT API. No changes needed to your favorite client!
Privacy First
We designed the system with privacy as a core principle:
- Local Mode: Everything stays in your browser. Zero external requests.
- Remote Mode: Only pubkey lookups—no content, no tracking.
- Hybrid Mode: Best of both worlds with caching.
What's Next
This is just the beginning. We're working on:
- SDK for developers to integrate WoT into their apps
- Oracle server for apps that can't run client-side computations
- Advanced scoring with mutual follows and bridging bonuses
Get Started
Ready to try it? Download the extension and start filtering your Nostr experience based on real human connections.
Have questions? Reach out on Nostr or check our documentation.
