Discharges most of the 'live-fire passkey on a real device' TODO without hardware. Playwright drives headless Chromium with a CDP virtual authenticator (hasPrf: true) against the built demo served locally and pointed at three in-process mock relays, so the test is hermetic -- no public relays, no platform passkey provider, no network. Covered end to end: navigator.credentials.create, PRF extension results crossing the browser boundary, worker-side derivation, account registration (asserted at the PROTOCOL layer -- kind-30078 capsules really land on the relays, not just a UI state), the Tier B2 phrase card appearing for a first session and not a returning one, window.bitlogin.activeSession() reporting, logout, then navigator.credentials.get signing back in to the SAME npub. A second test proves PRF is per-credential: a different passkey derives a different account. Two things the harness taught us, both now encoded: WebAuthn rejects a bare 127.0.0.1 as an RP id (localhost only), and the options menu's disclosure state survives re-renders by design, so the driver opens it conditionally. Runs inside npm test and skips itself when the Playwright browser isn't installed, so CI and other machines stay green. MockRelay gains storedEventKinds() for protocol-level assertions. Remaining real-device gap is recorded in TODO: a genuine platform authenticator and the create-time-PRF-absent fallback, which the virtual authenticator does not exercise. 268 tests green. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
BitLogin Documentation
BitLogin is a static, relay-backed portable account protocol that gives users a familiar login name and password while preserving a user-controlled Nostr identity and independent phrase recovery.
This directory contains the core protocol specification, implementation notes, and experimental designs for expanding BitLogin into a portable account layer for compatible applications.
Core protocol
spec.md— canonical BitLogin protocol specificationsecond-factor.md— second-factor design noteslogin-methods.md— the widget as the single login surface: NIP-07 and NIP-46 sign-in behind the existing provider facade (implemented; nsec-paste login rejected on the record)passkey-login.md— passkey sign-in via the WebAuthn PRF extension (implemented): zero registration, zero servers, a frozen derivation contract, and the graduation ladder to self-custodycentralized-onramps.md— superseded, kept on the record: the OAuth on-ramp designs (external service, serverless Google Drive) and the analysis of why OAuth cannot be static without per-site provider registration — the requirement that led to the passkey rail
Portable account layer
These documents describe proposed capabilities that build on BitLogin's core identity and recovery model.
account-switching.md— multiple independent accounts on one device, fast switching, locking, logout, and account-aware signer behaviorportable-app-state.md— encrypted, user-owned application settings and lightweight state that follow the account across devicesportable-entitlements.md— discovery, verification, recovery, and presentation of purchases, licenses, memberships, and access rightsrelay-and-messaging-portability.md— relay-role management, DM inbox and outbox synchronization, sent-message recovery, and conversation reconstruction
Connection Vault
The Connection Vault stores portable application credentials outside the core
identity capsules as independently encrypted records. Its protocol layer
(records, key hierarchy, relay sync, migration, tiers) is implemented in
@bitlogin/core's src/vault/; the widget authorization layer shipped 2026-07-30 in REVEAL mode
(requestNwcConnection, offerNwcConnection, and a Wallet-connections
screen). Durable per-origin grants and a Connected-apps page are still to
come; see connection-vault.md §19 for the open limitations.
connection-vault.md— overall vault architecture, key hierarchy, relay storage, authorization, recovery, and deletion; §18 records the implementation-time decisions (tier model, sudo key)vault-ux.md— the agreed user-experience walkthroughs, serving as the authorization layer's acceptance criterianwc-connections.md— Nostr Wallet Connect credential profile (parser/exporter implemented insrc/vault/nwc.ts)s3c-format.md— portables3c1:format for S3-compatible storage connections
How the pieces fit together
BitLogin account
├── Identity and recovery
│ ├── Credential capsule
│ ├── Recovery capsule
│ └── Everyday Nostr identity
│
├── Accounts and sessions
│ └── Multiple-account switching
│
├── Communication
│ ├── Relay preferences
│ ├── DM inbox synchronization
│ ├── DM outbox and sent-message recovery
│ └── Conversation reconstruction
│
├── Portable application experience
│ ├── App settings
│ ├── Saved state
│ └── Per-app authorization
│
├── Ownership
│ ├── Purchases
│ ├── Licenses
│ ├── Memberships
│ └── Access entitlements
│
└── Connection Vault
├── NWC wallet connections
├── S3-compatible storage connections
└── Future service credentials
Status terminology
Documents use these labels:
- Implemented — available in the current codebase
- Partially implemented — some required primitives or flows exist, but the complete user-facing feature does not
- Experimental design — documented for review and future implementation; wire formats and APIs may change
Experimental documents are not part of the stable BitLogin protocol until their schemas, security properties, migrations, and test vectors are finalized.
Recommended product sequence
A practical development sequence is:
- Complete the core account and messaging foundations.
- Add independent multi-account sessions and switching.
- Add relay management, inbox synchronization, and sent-message recovery.
- Add portable application state and per-app permissions.
- Add entitlement discovery and a portable ownership library.
- Implement the Connection Vault and its NWC and S3 profiles.
- Move high-value authorization into stronger extension, native, or cross-origin execution boundaries.
Design principle
BitLogin should coordinate portable identity, state, ownership, and service access without becoming the centralized custodian of the user's identity, money, files, messages, or purchases.