Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@melvincarvalho

melvincarvalho/NIP-XX-Playlists.md

Created May 30, 2025 12:04
Show Gist options
  • Save melvincarvalho/17fc924f9f8029c96ad0f39a9a701f2e to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save melvincarvalho/17fc924f9f8029c96ad0f39a9a701f2e to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
NIP-XX-Playlists.md
Raw
NIP-XX-Playlists.md

NIP-XX — Sharing .m3u Playlists via Event Content

Author: Melvin Carvalho Status: Draft Type: Standard Created: 2025-05-30 License: Public Domain

Abstract

This NIP proposes a convention for embedding .m3u (or .m3u8) playlist data directly in the content field of a Nostr event, enabling lightweight media playlist sharing and interoperability across Nostr clients.

Motivation

Music and media curation is a core part of internet culture. By supporting .m3u playlists in Nostr events, clients can display or play a stream of media from a user without additional protocol complexity. It enables community radio, shared mixtapes, curated video queues, and more — all within Nostr's existing event model.

Event Kind

This NIP recommends a new kind value:

  • 3XXXX — M3U Playlist Event (ephemeral or persistent)

Alternatively, clients MAY use a generic kind (e.g. 1) if playlists are mixed with textual commentary.

Content Format

The content field MUST contain a valid .m3u or .m3u8 text format. Clients SHOULD treat it as UTF-8. It MAY begin with #EXTM3U and include lines of metadata and media URLs.

Example

{
  "kind": 31XXX,
  "content": "#EXTM3U\n#EXTINF:123, Sample artist - Sample title\nhttp://www.example.com/music/sample.mp3\n#EXTINF:321, Another track\nhttps://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmExample",
  "tags": [["d", "lofi-mixtape"], ["alt", "M3U playlist"]]
}

Tags

The following tags are RECOMMENDED:

  • d (descriptor): A short name or label for the playlist.
  • alt: Human-readable description.
  • t (optional): Tags/keywords (e.g. genre).
  • u (optional): Source URL if playlist is mirrored elsewhere (e.g. NosDAV, Blossom, HTTP).

Client Behavior

Clients that support this NIP:

  • MAY detect if the content is valid .m3u and render a "Play Playlist" button or embedded player.
  • SHOULD sanitize and filter URLs before autoplaying.
  • MAY cache or prefetch media responsibly.
  • MAY provide export options to .m3u files.
  • MAY expand nevent strings.

Extensions

  • Live updates: Combine with kind:131000 for real-time, collaborative playlist editing.
  • NFT-style ownership: Combine with NIP-50 or DID methods to anchor ownership or curation rights.

Security Considerations

  • Clients MUST validate and sandbox media URLs to avoid unsafe redirects or autoplay abuse.
  • Events SHOULD NOT be used to store large media files directly; only references (e.g. URLs or IPFS hashes) are recommended.
  • Respect copyright and licensing of referenced media.

Compatibility

This format is compatible with .m3u-aware players and can be exported for use in VLC, Winamp, and web-based streamers. Clients without media support will still display the raw text or a download link.

Copyright

This NIP is released into the public domain.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment