Follows bitlogin's layering: the engine stays headless and the widget is a consumer of the published API, never a dependency of it. Building it was also a test of that API — an element needing something unexposed would have been a finding, the way the commerce example was. Viewer elements: governance-veil (blur on restrict, disclosure on hide, warning on warn), governance-report, governance-status. Moderator elements: governance-capabilities, governance-action, governance-admin-panel. Deliberate behaviors: - hidden content leaves the accessibility tree rather than being visually covered, so a screen reader does not read out what the viewer must not see - a hidden decision renders a disclosure, not nothing: content that silently vanishes is indistinguishable from a bug and leaves no route to appeal - refused moderator actions stay visible and name the missing capability. A hidden button teaches nothing about the authority model, and the command layer enforces the same check independently — the UI is an explanation, never the gate - no element computes policy; wording maps from stable reason identifiers and is overridable per application Found while building it: GovernanceAdminStore emitted only when reduced denial state changed, so revoking a role that denied nobody announced nothing, leaving capability-gated UI and the decision cache stale. The root tsconfig deliberately omits the DOM lib — that absence is what keeps core, nostr, and runtime from reaching for browser globals — so the widget carries its own DOM-aware config rather than relaxing the guarantee globally. 687 tests; lint, typecheck, and the declaration build pass from a cold checkout.
@nostr-governance/widget
Drop-in custom elements for governance UI. Framework-agnostic, no build step required for consumers, and built strictly on the published API.
The rule these elements follow
They render decisions and issue commands. They compute no policy.
If an element here ever needed to compare a count to a threshold, that would mean the policy definition is missing a profile — not that the widget needs a number. Keeping that line is the whole reason the engine was extracted.
Elements
Viewer-facing
| Element | Purpose |
|---|---|
<governance-veil> |
Wraps content and applies the decision: blur on restrict, disclosure on hide, warning on warn |
<governance-report> |
Report dialog. Requires no capability — anyone may report |
<governance-status> |
Readout of effect, reasons, and evidence |
Moderator-facing
| Element | Purpose |
|---|---|
<governance-capabilities> |
What the signed-in account may actually do |
<governance-action> |
A capability-gated button that explains refusals |
<governance-admin-panel> |
Effective state, contributor attribution, and controls |
Usage
<script type="module">
import { createGovernanceRuntime, createCommands } from "@nostr-governance/runtime";
import { defineGovernanceElements } from "@nostr-governance/widget";
defineGovernanceElements();
const runtime = createGovernanceRuntime({
applicationId: "my-app",
namespace: "myapp",
root: ROOT_PUBKEY,
transport: myRelayAdapter,
policy: myPolicy,
now: () => Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
});
await runtime.loadAdministrativeState();
const veil = document.querySelector("governance-veil");
veil.runtime = runtime;
veil.target = { type: "event", id: eventId, author: authorPubkey };
</script>
<governance-veil profile="feed">
<img src="thumbnail.jpg" alt="" />
</governance-veil>
Elements receive a runtime; they never construct one. A widget that owned relay connections would make it impossible to share one governance runtime across a page.
Events
All events are composed so they cross shadow boundaries.
| Event | Fired when |
|---|---|
governance:revealed |
The viewer chose to show hidden content |
governance:reported / governance:report-failed |
A report was published or refused |
governance:action-completed / :action-refused / :action-failed |
An action resolved |
governance:account-restricted |
The admin panel restricted an account |
Wording
The engine emits stable reason identifiers, never prose, so applications phrase them for their own audience:
veil.reasonText = {
"admin-user-deny": "This seller is suspended",
"trusted-report-threshold": "Flagged by several buyers you follow",
};
Design decisions worth knowing
Hidden content is removed from the accessibility tree, not merely covered. A screen reader must not read out something the viewer was not meant to see.
A hidden decision renders a disclosure, not nothing. Content that silently vanishes is indistinguishable from a bug and leaves no route to appeal. Where the profile permits an override, a "Show anyway" control appears; where it does not, the reason still does.
Refused actions stay visible and explain themselves. A moderator who cannot see that they lack a capability will assume the tool is broken, and a hidden button teaches nothing about the authority model. The command layer enforces the same check independently — the UI is an explanation, never the gate.
Styling is yours. Elements expose part attributes and inherit color and
font from the host. Override the CSS custom properties (--gov-fg,
--gov-surface, --gov-warn, --gov-danger, --gov-radius) or target parts:
governance-veil::part(veil) { border: 1px solid red; }
Environment
defineGovernanceElements() is safe to call repeatedly and safe to import in
Node — registration is a no-op without a DOM, so a server-rendering host can
import the helpers without guarding.