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README.md
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# nostr-keygen
# NostrKeyGen
🔐 A minimal CLI tool to generate Nostr-compatible key pairs using file-based entropy.
A tiny, interactive commandline tool that lets you generate a Nostr key pair from any file you choose. It works on macOS, Linux and (with a few tweaks) Windows. The script is intentionally lightweight no fancy GUI, just an easytofollow wizard run from your terminal.
## Features
## Features
- Uses the contents of any file as a secure entropy source
- Outputs:
- `nsec` (private key)
- `npub` (public key)
- Drag and drop file support on macOS/Linux Terminal
- **Draganddrop friendly**: on macOS and Linux you can simply drop the file into the Terminal window.
- **Clear, stepbystep tutorial**: every run prints a short intro, an explanation, a quick demo, asks for your file and finishes with the keypair in *both* NostrBech32 and raw hex.
- **No external binaries** it just uses the purePython `ecdsa` and `bech32` packages.
- **Portable**: you can ship it as a single Python file or compile to a binary with tools such as PyInstaller.
---
## 🚀 Install
##
### 1. Clone & Set Up
## Install
### 1. Clone the repo
```bash
git clone https://github.com/btcforplebs/nostr-keygen.git
cd nostr-keygen
chmod +x nostr-keygen
sudo ln -s "$PWD/nostr-keygen" /usr/local/bin/nostr-keygen
```
# Activate virtual environment
### 2. Create and activate a virtual environment
```bash
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
```
# Install required packages globally
pip3 install ecdsa bech32
### 3. Install dependencies
```bash
pip install ecdsa bech32
```
Now just run:
### 4. Make it executable and optional symlink
```bash
chmod +x nostr-keygen
```
## Usage
Run the script directly from the project directory:
```bash
./nostr-keygen
```
or, if you added the symlink:
```bash
nostr-keygen
```
Youll be guided through the following steps:
Returns
🔐 Drop a file to use as entropy (or enter path):
1. Welcome screen press **Enter** to continue.
2. Tool overview press **Enter** to continue.
3. Demo key generation using a temporary file press **Enter** to continue.
4. Prompt for the path to your entropy file. You can drop a file into the terminal on macOS/Linux or type the absolute/relative path.
5. The script shows you the generated `nsec`, `npub`, and the hex representation of both keys.
6. Press **Enter** again, the terminal is cleared and the program exits.
Drop file to use as entropy: /Users/username/Desktop/file.txt
## Example Output
```
🛠️ Welcome to NostrKeyGen
This tool will:
- Pick any file as your entropy source
- Hash the file → 32byte seed
- Derive a secp256k1 key pair
- Print the Nostr `nsec`/`npub` and the raw hex values
💡 Demo (using a random file in /tmp)...
Demo nsec: nsec1q4...
Demo npub: npub1p8...
Demo priv hex: 1f4c...
Demo pub hex: 03a1...
📂 Enter the path to your entropy file: /Users/me/secret.txt
✅ Your new key pair:
- nsec : nsec1q8...
- npub : npub1p9...
- priv hex : 7c2d...
- pub hex : 029b...
🧹 Cleaning up...
🚀 Done. Goodbye!
```
## FAQs
| Question | Answer |
|----------|--------|
| Why does it read *any* file as entropy? | Nostr requires a 32byte seed. Hashing a file guarantees a deterministic, pseudorandom 32byte output irrespective of the file size or content. |
| Will it always produce the same key for the same file? | Yes the seed is derived from a SHA256 hash of the file contents. |
| Can I use a password instead? | The current script accepts files only, but you could easily pipe a password string using `echo -n 'mypassword' > pwd.txt` first. |
## Contributing
Pull requests are welcome! Just make sure the code passes `flake8`/`black` and contains an updated README.
## License
MIT see [LICENSE](LICENSE).

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main.py
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#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Generate a fresh Nostr key (npub/nsec) using a file as entropy source.
Usage:
nostr-keygen <path-to-file>
The file is read in binary mode and its bytes are hashed with SHA256 to
produce the 32byte seed which is then used to generate a secp256k1
private key. The private key is hexencoded as an nsec, and the
corresponding public key is converted to a Bech32 npub. The example
uses the official Nostr prefix "nsec"/
"""
import argparse
import hashlib
import os
import sys
from ecdsa import SigningKey, SECP256k1
from bech32 import bech32_encode, convertbits
# Constants for Nostr bech32 encoding
NSEC_PREFIX = "nsec"
NPUB_PREFIX = "npub"
# convertbits helper adapted from bech32 library; using provided function for clarity
def _to_bech32(data: bytes, hrp: str) -> str:
"""Encode raw bytes into a Bech32 string with the given humanreadable part."""
# Convert 8bit bytes to 5bit groups
five_bits = convertbits(list(data), 8, 5, True)
if five_bits is None:
raise ValueError("Error converting data to 5bit groups")
return bech32_encode(hrp, five_bits)
def _entropy_to_pri_key(entropy: bytes) -> SigningKey:
"""Return an ECDSA SECP256k1 private key derived from entropy."""
# Use SHA256 of the provided entropy for deterministic key generation
seed = hashlib.sha256(entropy).digest()
return SigningKey.from_string(seed, curve=SECP256k1)
def generate_key_from_file(file_path: str) -> (str, str):
"""Return (nsec, npub) for the key derived from the file content."""
if not os.path.isfile(file_path):
raise FileNotFoundError(f"File not found: {file_path}")
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
data = f.read()
sk = _entropy_to_pri_key(data)
vk = sk.get_verifying_key()
# Private key bytes
private_bytes = sk.to_string()
# Public key bytes, compressed (33 bytes)
public_bytes = vk.to_string("compressed")
nsec = _to_bech32(private_bytes, NSEC_PREFIX)
npub = _to_bech32(public_bytes, NPUB_PREFIX)
return nsec, npub
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Generate Nostr key pair from file entropy")
parser.add_argument("file", help="Path to file used as entropy source")
args = parser.parse_args()
try:
nsec, npub = generate_key_from_file(args.file)
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
sys.exit(1)
print("nsec:", nsec)
print("npub:", npub)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()

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nostr-keygen Executable file
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#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""A friendly CLI that walks you through generating a Nostr key pair
from a file you pick on the fly.
Run it with:
./nostr-keygen
"""
import time
import argparse
import hashlib
import os
import sys
from pathlib import Path
# ----- IMPORTS ---------------------------------------------------------------
try:
from ecdsa import SigningKey, SECP256k1
from bech32 import bech32_encode, convertbits
except ImportError as e:
print("⚠️ Required packages are missing.\nRun 'pip install ecdsa bech32' first.", file=sys.stderr)
sys.exit(1)
# ----- CONSTANTS -------------------------------------------------------------
NSEC_PREFIX = "nsec"
NPUB_PREFIX = "npub"
# ----- HELPER FUNCTIONS ------------------------------------------------------
def _to_bech32(data: bytes, hrp: str) -> str:
"""Encode raw bytes into a Bech32 string with the given humanreadable part."""
five_bits = convertbits(list(data), 8, 5, True)
if five_bits is None:
raise ValueError("Error converting data to 5bit groups")
return bech32_encode(hrp, five_bits)
def _entropy_to_pri_key(entropy: bytes) -> SigningKey:
"""Return a SECP256k1 private key derived from SHA256 of the entropy."""
seed = hashlib.sha256(entropy).digest()
return SigningKey.from_string(seed, curve=SECP256k1)
def generate_key_from_file(file_path: Path):
"""Return (nsec, npub, private_hex, public_hex)."""
if not file_path.is_file():
raise FileNotFoundError(f"File not found: {file_path}")
with file_path.open("rb") as f:
data = f.read()
sk = _entropy_to_pri_key(data)
vk = sk.get_verifying_key()
private_bytes = sk.to_string()
public_bytes = vk.to_string("compressed")
nsec = _to_bech32(private_bytes, NSEC_PREFIX)
npub = _to_bech32(public_bytes, NPUB_PREFIX)
return nsec, npub, private_bytes.hex(), public_bytes.hex()
# ----- CLI / UI ---------------------------------------------------------------
def welcome():
clear_terminal()
print("\n" + "="*30)
print("🛠️ Welcome to NostrKeyGen")
print("="*30 + "\n")
def info():
clear_terminal()
print("This tool will help you:")
print("- Pick any file as your entropy source")
print("- Hash the file → 32byte seed")
print("- Derive a secp256k1 key pair")
print("- Print the Nostr `nsec`/`npub` and the raw hex values")
print()
def demo():
clear_terminal()
print("💡 EXAMPLE (using a random file in /tmp)...")
example = Path("/tmp/nostr_demo_entropy.txt")
example.write_bytes(os.urandom(256))
try:
nsec, npub, priv_hex, pub_hex = generate_key_from_file(example)
print(f" DEMO nsec: {nsec}")
print(f" DEMO npub: {npub}")
print(f" DEMO priv hex: {priv_hex}")
print(f" DEMO pub hex: {pub_hex}")
except Exception as e:
print(f" Cannot generate demo key: {e}")
finally:
example.unlink(missing_ok=True)
print()
def ask_file() -> Path:
clear_terminal()
while True:
path = input("📂 Enter the path or drop your file: ").strip()
if not path:
print(" ✨ Nothing entered, try again.")
continue
p = Path(path).expanduser().resolve()
if p.is_file():
return p
print(" ❌ That path isnt a file. Try again.")
def show_keys(nsec, npub, priv_hex, pub_hex):
clear_terminal()
print("\n✅ Your new key pair:")
print(f" - nsec : {nsec}")
print(f" - npub : {npub}")
print(f" - priv hex : {priv_hex}")
print(f" - pub hex : {pub_hex}\n")
def clear_terminal():
"""Clear the screen for a clean exit."""
os.system("clear" if os.name != "nt" else "cls")
def pause(prompt="[Enter] to continue"):
"""Wait for the user to hit Enter."""
input(f"\n{prompt}")
def main():
welcome()
pause("Press [Enter] to continue...")
info()
pause("Press [Enter] to continue...")
demo()
pause("Press [Enter] to continue...")
entropy_file = ask_file()
try:
nsec, npub, priv_hex, pub_hex = generate_key_from_file(entropy_file)
except Exception as e:
print(f"\n❌ Failed to generate keys: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
sys.exit(1)
show_keys(nsec, npub, priv_hex, pub_hex)
pause("Press [Enter] to clear the screen and exit...")
clear_terminal()
print("🚀 Done. Goodbye!\n")
sys.exit(0)
if __name__ == "__main__":
# If the script is run directly, invoke main()
main()