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Quick Start

Get up and running with nostr-mail in just a few steps!

Initial Setup

Generate or Import Keypair:

  • Navigate to Settings → Nostr Settings
  • Click "Generate New Keypair" or paste your existing nsec/npriv key
  • Important: Save your private key securely! You'll need it to decrypt messages.

Configure Email:

  • Navigate to Settings → Email Settings
  • Select your email provider (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or Custom)
  • For Gmail and Yahoo:
    • Generate an app password:
      • google: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833
      • yahoo: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15241.html
    • Enable IMAP in settings
  • Click "Test Email Connection" to verify settings

Configure Relays:

Nostr relays are used to communicate with the nostr network. They allow you to: - publish your profile - receive incoming direct messages (DMs), which are linked to specific emails in nostr-mail - publish/retreive your public contacts - receive/publish other nostr events

When the app starts, you will automatically connect to a few nostr relays, but you may add to or remove them:

  • Navigate to Settings → Relay Settings
  • Add Nostr relays (e.g., wss://relay.damus.io, wss://nostr-pub.wellorder.net)

Load Contacts:

  • Navigate to Contacts tab
  • Click "Refresh" to load contacts from your Nostr follow list
  • Contacts with email addresses will appear at the top of your contacts list with the envelope icon (✉️)
  • Click on a contact to view their profile details
  • If a contact has published their email address, you can click "Send Email" within their profile, which will you to the compose page with their information filled in.

Compose Your First Email

1. Navigate to Compose tab

2. Select Recipient: - Use the dropdown to select a Nostr contact (if they have an email in their profile) - Or manually enter an email address in the "To:" field

3. Write Your Message: - Enter a subject line - Write your message in the text area

4. Send: - Click "Send" to send the encrypted email - By default, the message is automatically encrypted with NIP-44 and signed with your nostr key (see Advanced settings for fine-grained control)

Next Steps

Tips

  • Enable "Automatically Encrypt" and "Automatically Sign" in Settings for convenience
  • Use multiple relays for better reliability
  • Keep your private key backed up securely
  • Profile pictures are cached locally for offline access