Check yourself: Stale lists and dark outboxes

Questions and answers, readable without JavaScript.

1. What kind of thing is an outbox list?

   • A network vote that locks one feed
   • An availability preference. It is not authority and it is not consensus
   • A NIP-11 limitation object
   • Proof the author is online
   Answer 1

   An availability preference. It is not authority and it is not consensus

   The note's cut: outbox lists are availability preferences, not network votes. Relays go dark. Lists go stale. None of that produces a global ordered feed.

   Read the note → · Stale Lists and Dark Outboxes: When NIP-65 Metadata Lies by Age or Uptime

2. What does "latest kind:10002" actually mean?

   • Every relay has agreed
   • The list with the most r tags wins
   • The oldest created_at wins
   • A local retention rule: for that pubkey and kind, keep the latest event. Two relays can still differ for a while
   Answer 2

   A local retention rule: for that pubkey and kind, keep the latest event. Two relays can still differ for a while

   Replaceable events keep the latest per pubkey and kind, with a lowest-id tie-break. That is not agreement across the network.

   Read the note → · Stale Lists and Dark Outboxes: When NIP-65 Metadata Lies by Age or Uptime

3. What is a dark outbox?

   • A fresh list that still points at a dead socket. An r tag is a URL preference, not a heartbeat
   • A list that was never signed
   • A relay that stores only kind 4
   • An inbox with too many readers
   Answer 3

   A fresh list that still points at a dead socket. An r tag is a URL preference, not a heartbeat

   Relays shut down, rate-limit, demand auth, or fail TLS. NIP-65 does not require a liveness proof. A fresh list can still point at a socket that does not answer.

   Read the note → · Stale Lists and Dark Outboxes: When NIP-65 Metadata Lies by Age or Uptime