welshman-feeds

name	welshman-feeds
description	Use this skill when working with @welshman/feeds: building nostr feeds, FeedController, FeedCompiler, feed definitions, dynamic filtering, or composing feed sources.

welshman/feeds — Dynamic Feed Construction

@welshman/feeds provides a declarative, composable system for defining and executing Nostr event feeds. You describe what you want (authors, kinds, tags, set operations) as a data structure, and the package compiles it into optimized relay requests and handles pagination, deduplication, and exhaustion. It sits on top of @welshman/net for relay communication and @welshman/util for types.

Installation

npm install @welshman/feeds
# pnpm add @welshman/feeds
# yarn add @welshman/feeds

Key Exports

Feed Types (enum + tuple types)

Export	Description
FeedType	Enum of all feed type discriminants (Author, Kind, Tag, Union, Intersection, Difference, DVM, List, Label, WOT, Scope, Relay, Search, ID, Address, CreatedAt, Global)
Scope	Enum: Followers, Follows, Network, Self
Feed	Union type of all feed tuple types
RequestItem	{ relays?: string[], filters?: Filter[] } — output of compilation

Factory Functions

All feed definitions are typed tuples. Always use factories rather than raw arrays.

// Leaf feeds
makeAuthorFeed(...pubkeys: string[]): AuthorFeed
makeKindFeed(...kinds: number[]): KindFeed
makeTagFeed(key: string, ...values: string[]): TagFeed
makeIDFeed(...ids: string[]): IDFeed
makeAddressFeed(...addresses: string[]): AddressFeed
makeRelayFeed(...urls: string[]): RelayFeed
makeSearchFeed(...terms: string[]): SearchFeed
makeGlobalFeed(): GlobalFeed
makeScopeFeed(...scopes: Scope[]): ScopeFeed
makeWOTFeed(...items: WOTItem[]): WOTFeed
makeCreatedAtFeed(...items: CreatedAtItem[]): CreatedAtFeed

// Dynamic / remote feeds
makeDVMFeed(...items: DVMItem[]): DVMFeed
makeListFeed(...items: ListItem[]): ListFeed
makeLabelFeed(...items: LabelItem[]): LabelFeed

// Set operations
makeUnionFeed(...feeds: Feed[]): UnionFeed
makeIntersectionFeed(...feeds: Feed[]): IntersectionFeed
makeDifferenceFeed(...feeds: Feed[]): DifferenceFeed

Type Guards

isAuthorFeed(feed)      isKindFeed(feed)     isTagFeed(feed)
isIDFeed(feed)          isAddressFeed(feed)  isRelayFeed(feed)
isSearchFeed(feed)      isGlobalFeed(feed)   isScopeFeed(feed)
isWOTFeed(feed)         isCreatedAtFeed(feed)
isDVMFeed(feed)         isListFeed(feed)     isLabelFeed(feed)
isUnionFeed(feed)       isIntersectionFeed(feed)  isDifferenceFeed(feed)
hasSubFeeds(feed)       // true for Union | Intersection | Difference

Argument Extraction

getFeedArgs(feed: AuthorFeed): string[]
getFeedArgs(feed: KindFeed): number[]
getFeedArgs(feed: CreatedAtFeed): CreatedAtItem[]
getFeedArgs(feed: WOTFeed): WOTItem[]
getFeedArgs(feed: UnionFeed): Feed[]
// overloaded for every feed type

Conversion Utilities

// Tags → feeds
feedsFromTags(tags: string[][], mappings?: TagFeedMapping[]): Feed[]
feedFromTags(tags: string[][], mappings?: TagFeedMapping[]): IntersectionFeed

// Filter(s) → feeds
feedsFromFilter(filter: Filter): Feed[]
feedFromFilter(filter: Filter): Feed
feedFromFilters(filters: Filter[]): Feed

// Default tag-to-feed mappings (override via DVMItem/ListItem mappings)
defaultTagFeedMappings: TagFeedMapping[]
// [["a", Address], ["e", ID], ["p", Author], ["r", Relay], ["t", Tag "#t"]]

Traversal & Simplification

walkFeed(feed: Feed, visit: (feed: Feed) => void): void
findFeed(feed: Feed, match: (feed: Feed) => boolean): Feed | undefined
simplifyFeed(feed: Feed): Feed  // flattens nested same-type set ops

FeedCompiler

Transforms a Feed into RequestItem[] for direct relay querying.

class FeedCompiler {
  constructor(options: FeedCompilerOptions)
  canCompile(feed: Feed): boolean
  async compile(feed: Feed): Promise<RequestItem[]>
}

type FeedCompilerOptions = {
  getPubkeysForScope: (scope: Scope) => string[]
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: (min: number, max: number) => string[]
  signer?: ISigner
  signal?: AbortSignal
  context?: AdapterContext
}

FeedController

Orchestrates loading/listening with pagination, deduplication, and set-operation handling.

class FeedController {
  compiler: FeedCompiler
  constructor(options: FeedControllerOptions)
  async load(limit: number): Promise<void>
  listen(): () => Promise<void>
  async getLoader(): Promise<(limit: number) => Promise<void>>
  async getListener(): Promise<() => Promise<void>>
  async getRequestItems(): Promise<RequestItem[] | undefined>
}

type FeedControllerOptions = FeedCompilerOptions & {
  feed: Feed
  tracker?: Tracker
  onEvent?: (event: TrustedEvent) => void
  onExhausted?: () => void
  useWindowing?: boolean
}

Common Patterns

1. Simple author + kind feed

import { FeedController, makeIntersectionFeed, makeAuthorFeed, makeKindFeed } from '@welshman/feeds'
import { Scope } from '@welshman/feeds'

const controller = new FeedController({
  feed: makeIntersectionFeed(
    makeAuthorFeed("pubkey1", "pubkey2"),
    makeKindFeed(1),
  ),
  getPubkeysForScope: (scope) => [],
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: (min, max) => [],
  onEvent: (event) => console.log(event.id),
  onExhausted: () => console.log('done'),
})

await controller.load(50)

2. Follows feed with WOT filtering

import {
  FeedController, makeIntersectionFeed, makeScopeFeed,
  makeWOTFeed, makeKindFeed, Scope
} from '@welshman/feeds'

const controller = new FeedController({
  feed: makeIntersectionFeed(
    makeScopeFeed(Scope.Follows),
    makeWOTFeed({ min: 0.1 }),
    makeKindFeed(1, 6, 7),
  ),
  getPubkeysForScope: (scope) => {
    if (scope === Scope.Follows) return myFollowList
    return []
  },
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: (min, max) => wotIndex.getPubkeys(min, max),
  onEvent: handleEvent,
  onExhausted: markExhausted,
  useWindowing: true,
})

await controller.load(20)

3. DVM-powered algorithmic feed

import {
  FeedController, makeIntersectionFeed, makeDVMFeed,
  makeWOTFeed, FeedType
} from '@welshman/feeds'

// DVMItem.mappings controls how DVM result tags become sub-feeds
const controller = new FeedController({
  feed: makeIntersectionFeed(
    makeDVMFeed({
      kind: 5300,
      tags: [['p', 'dvm-pubkey-hex']],
      mappings: [['p', [FeedType.Author]]],
    }),
    makeWOTFeed({ min: 0.05 }),
  ),
  getPubkeysForScope: () => [],
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: (min, max) => wotPubkeys,
  onEvent: handleEvent,
})
await controller.load(30)

4. List-based feed (NIP-51 list)

import { FeedController, makeListFeed, makeKindFeed, makeUnionFeed, FeedType } from '@welshman/feeds'

const controller = new FeedController({
  feed: makeUnionFeed(
    makeListFeed({
      addresses: ["10003:pubkey:identifier"],
      // default tag mappings applied unless overridden
    }),
    makeKindFeed(1),
  ),
  getPubkeysForScope: () => [],
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: () => [],
  onEvent: handleEvent,
})
await controller.load(25)

5. Converting existing filters to a feed

import { ago, HOUR } from '@welshman/lib'
import { feedFromFilters, FeedCompiler } from '@welshman/feeds'

const filters = [
  { kinds: [1], authors: ["pubkey1"], since: ago(HOUR) },
  { kinds: [6], "#e": ["event-id"] },
]

const feed = feedFromFilters(filters)

const compiler = new FeedCompiler({
  getPubkeysForScope: () => [],
  getPubkeysForWOTRange: () => [],
})

const requestItems = await compiler.compile(feed)
// => [{filters: [{kinds:[1], authors:["pubkey1"], since:...}]}, ...]

6. Traversing a feed tree to inspect contents

import { walkFeed, isKindFeed, isAuthorFeed, getFeedArgs } from '@welshman/feeds'

const kinds = new Set<number>()
const authors = new Set<string>()

walkFeed(myFeed, (node) => {
  if (isKindFeed(node)) getFeedArgs(node).forEach(k => kinds.add(k))
  if (isAuthorFeed(node)) getFeedArgs(node).forEach(p => authors.add(p))
})

console.log('Kinds in feed:', [...kinds])
console.log('Authors in feed:', [...authors])

Integration Notes

• @welshman/util — Filter, TrustedEvent, and nostr primitives used throughout. getIdFilters() is used internally by the compiler for address feeds.
• @welshman/signer — ISigner interface, passed optionally through FeedCompilerOptions for DVM requests that require signing.
• @welshman/net — The FeedController delegates to requestPage for relay communication. The FeedCompiler delegates to requestDVM for DVM-based feeds. Neither accepts request or requestDVM as constructor options. AdapterContext from net is passed through FeedCompilerOptions.
• @welshman/app — Higher-level app packages typically wire up getPubkeysForScope and getPubkeysForWOTRange using their own follow/WOT stores, then construct FeedController instances from user-facing feed definitions.
• Tracker — Optional deduplication helper (from @welshman/net or app layer). Pass a shared Tracker instance to avoid re-emitting events seen in other controllers.

Gotchas & Tips

• Always use factory functions (makeAuthorFeed, etc.) rather than constructing raw tuples — the tuple structure is internal and type safety depends on using factories.
• useWindowing: true is for relays that may return events out of chronological order. Do not use it for DVM/algorithmic feeds where order is part of the result.
• FeedController.load() is stateful — each call continues from where the last left off (pagination). Create a new controller to reset.
• canCompile returns false only for FeedType.Difference (and recursively for Union/Intersection whose sub-feeds include a Difference). DVM and List feeds return true from canCompile and are compiled asynchronously by _compileDvms and _compileLists inside the compiler's compile method. The feeds handled specially by FeedController (outside the compiled request flow) are Difference, Union, and Intersection — but only when canCompile returns false for them.
• simplifyFeed flattens nested same-type set operations (e.g. union(union(a,b), c) → union(a,b,c)). Run it before storing or serializing feed definitions.
• makeDifferenceFeed(included, ...excluded) — the first argument is the base feed to include; all subsequent feeds define events to exclude.
• Tag key convention — tag feeds use #t, #e, etc. (hash-prefixed) to match Nostr filter syntax. makeTagFeed("#t", "bitcoin") produces filter {"#t": ["bitcoin"]}.
• CreatedAtItem.relative — when set to ["since"] or ["until"], the compiler treats those timestamps as relative offsets from the current time rather than absolute unix timestamps.
• Intersection of feeds is AND logic across relay results — an event must appear in responses from ALL sub-feeds to be emitted. This can significantly reduce result counts vs. a union.