keygen

README

keygen - NOSTR Keypair Generator

Generate NOSTR keypairs (nsec/npub) for testing and development.

Installation

go install github.com/niallyoung/goNDK/examples/keygen@latest

Or build locally:

cd examples/keygen
go build

Usage

Default (bech32 format)

$ keygen
nsec1...|npub1...

JSON format

$ keygen -format json
{
  "nsec": "nsec1...",
  "npub": "npub1...",
  "privkey_hex": "...",
  "pubkey_hex": "..."
}

Hex format

$ keygen -format hex
<64-char-privkey>|<64-char-pubkey>

Examples

Generate and store in variables

KEY=$(keygen)
NSEC=$(echo $KEY | cut -d'|' -f1)
NPUB=$(echo $KEY | cut -d'|' -f2)
echo "Private: $NSEC"
echo "Public: $NPUB"

Generate and save to files

keygen -format json > keypair.json

Use in scripts

#!/bin/bash
KEY=$(keygen)
NSEC=$(echo $KEY | cut -d'|' -f1)

# Store in AWS SSM
aws ssm put-parameter \
  --name "/my-service/PrivateKey" \
  --value "$NSEC" \
  --type "SecureString"

Output Formats

bech32 (default)

• Format: nsec1...|npub1...
• Use: Human-readable, NOSTR standard
• Length: 63 characters each

hex

• Format: <privkey>|<pubkey>
• Use: Programming, cryptographic operations
• Length: 64 hex characters each

json

• Format: JSON object with all representations
• Use: Structured data, APIs
• Fields: nsec, npub, privkey_hex, pubkey_hex

Testing

go test -v

Security Notes

• Private keys (nsec): Keep secret, never commit to git
• Public keys (npub): Safe to share
• Production: Use hardware security modules or key management services
• Storage: Encrypt private keys at rest

See Also

• NIP-19: bech32-encoded entities
• goNDK identity package

Documentation

Overview

Package main provides a command-line tool for generating NOSTR keypairs.

Usage:

keygen                    # Generate new keypair
keygen -format json       # Output as JSON
keygen -format bech32     # Output as nsec|npub (default)
keygen -format hex        # Output as hex private|public