From 8a64a34e9016cc60cab80ccdd3d8cf9ecb9b4da3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: DanConwayDev <DanConwayDev@protonmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 19:27:49 +0000
Subject: docs: relay-limits

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+# nostr-relay-builder Limits
+
+This document describes the rate limiting, throttling, and query limits in `nostr-relay-builder` version 0.44. These are the limits that apply to ngit-grasp and any relay built with this crate.
+
+**Note:** Other relay implementations (strfry, nostream, etc.) have different limits. This document focuses on `nostr-relay-builder` specifically.
+
+## Hard Limits (Cannot Be Changed)
+
+These limits are enforced and cannot be overridden by configuration:
+
+### WebSocket Message Limits (from tungstenite)
+
+| Limit | Default Value | Source |
+|-------|--------------|--------|
+| `max_message_size` | **64 MB** (67,108,864 bytes) | tungstenite default |
+| `max_frame_size` | **16 MB** (16,777,216 bytes) | tungstenite default |
+
+nostr-relay-builder does **not** override these tungstenite defaults.
+
+**Practical impact:** A single REQ message or EVENT with extremely large content could hit these limits. A filter with ~1,000,000 32-byte event IDs (~32MB in JSON) would fit, but 2 million would not.
+
+### Negentropy Frame Limit
+
+| Limit | Value | Source |
+|-------|-------|--------|
+| `frame_size_limit` | **60,000 bytes** (60KB) | Hardcoded in inner.rs |
+
+```rust
+let mut negentropy = Negentropy::owned(storage, 60_000)?;
+```
+
+If reconciliation needs more data, negentropy splits across multiple NEG-MSG round-trips automatically.
+
+### No Hard Limits On
+
+nostr-relay-builder does **NOT** enforce hard limits on:
+
+| Item | Hard Limit? | Notes |
+|------|-------------|-------|
+| Tag values per filter (`#e`, `#p`, etc.) | ❌ None | Only limited by message size |
+| Filters per REQ array | ❌ None | Only limited by message size |
+| Filter JSON size | ❌ None | Only limited by WebSocket message |
+| Authors per filter | ❌ None | Only limited by message size |
+| Kinds per filter | ❌ None | Only limited by message size |
+| IDs per filter | ❌ None | Only limited by message size |
+
+## Configurable Limits (Server-Side)
+
+These limits have defaults but can be configured via `RelayBuilder`:
+
+### Query/Response Limits
+
+| Setting | Default | Builder Method |
+|---------|---------|----------------|
+| `default_filter_limit` | **500** | `.default_filter_limit(n)` |
+| `max_filter_limit` | `None` (no cap) | `.max_filter_limit(n)` |
+
+**Behavior:**
+1. If filter has no `limit` field → server applies `default_filter_limit` (500)
+2. If filter has `limit > max_filter_limit` → clamped to `max_filter_limit`  
+3. If filter has specific `ids` → uses `ids.len()` as limit
+
+### Rate Limiting
+
+| Setting | Default | Description |
+|---------|---------|-------------|
+| `max_reqs` | **500** | Max active subscriptions per session |
+| `notes_per_minute` | **60** | Token bucket rate for EVENT writes |
+
+Rate limiting uses a token bucket: tokens regenerate proportionally over time, each EVENT consumes 1 token.
+
+### Connection/Session Limits
+
+| Setting | Default | Description |
+|---------|---------|-------------|
+| `max_connections` | `None` | Max concurrent WebSocket connections |
+| `max_subid_length` | **250** | Max characters in subscription ID |
+
+## REQ vs Negentropy Limits
+
+| Aspect | REQ (NIP-01) | Negentropy (NIP-77) |
+|--------|--------------|---------------------|
+| Events returned | Limited (default: 500) | **Unlimited** (all IDs returned) |
+| Filter limit applies? | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
+| Returns full events? | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (only EventId + Timestamp) |
+| Message size limit | 64MB (WebSocket) | 60KB per frame |
+
+**Why negentropy returns all:** It only returns ~40 bytes per event (ID + timestamp) for set reconciliation. Full events are fetched separately after identifying what's missing.
+
+## Quick Reference
+
+| Limit | Value | Type |
+|-------|-------|------|
+| **WebSocket message** | 64 MB | Hard (tungstenite) |
+| **WebSocket frame** | 16 MB | Hard (tungstenite) |
+| **Negentropy frame** | 60 KB | Hard (hardcoded) |
+| Tags per filter | **None** | Soft (message size only) |
+| Filters per REQ | **None** | Soft (message size only) |
+| Events per REQ | 500 | Configurable default |
+| Max subscriptions | 500 | Configurable default |
+| Write rate | 60/min | Configurable default |
+
+## ngit-grasp Configuration
+
+ngit-grasp uses defaults (no custom limits configured):
+
+```rust
+let builder = RelayBuilder::default()
+    .database(database.clone())
+    .write_policy(write_policy.clone());
+```
+
+Additionally, ngit-grasp's memory database limits to **100,000 events** (LMDB has no such limit).
+
+## Related
+
+- [NIP-01: Basic Protocol](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md)
+- [NIP-77: Negentropy Sync](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/77.md)
+- [nostr-relay-builder docs](https://docs.rs/nostr-relay-builder)
+- [tungstenite WebSocket limits](https://docs.rs/tungstenite/latest/tungstenite/protocol/struct.WebSocketConfig.html)
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