We have identified the main issues with Nostr direct messages (DM), listed roughly from most to least significant:
1. Different clients implement different DM NIPs (NIP-4 vs NIP-17), causing a lack of interoperability.
2. Users connect to different relays with little or no overlap, so recipients may never receive messages.
3. Message notifications are unreliable.
4. Spam — the system is vulnerable to unwanted messages.
5. Metadata privacy concerns: with NIP-4, others can see who is messaging whom; with NIP-17, others can see who is receiving DMs.
6. No forward or backward secrecy: if a private key is compromised, both past and future messages can be decrypted.
Note: “Nostr DM” here refers to the direct‑messaging feature of Nostr Microblog, not a standalone chat application.
They embody different design trade‑offs. This is why we ranked metadata privacy concerns and the lack of forward/backward secrecy lower in the issue list.
When you need to contact a Nostr microblog user, consider whether using Nostr DM is sufficient or whether you should use a dedicated chat app.
