NWC 2.0: Subscription Command Center & Spending Intelligence

[dakshhhhh16]

Hello maintainer @kaloudis ,

I’ve been following Zeus’s recent work around Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) especially the direction mentioned in v0.12+ about “flipping the script” and becoming a primary NWC provider. As users connect more and more Nostr apps to their wallets, it feels like the current connection model is starting to show its limits.

I’d love to propose an idea that builds directly on this momentum:
NWC 2.0 — a Subscription Command Center for the Nostr economy.

Think of it as an “Apple Subscriptions” view, but for Bitcoin.

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Right now, NWC permissions are mostly:

• Connect / Disconnect
• A fixed total allowance
• Sometimes a basic daily cap

This leads to two common problems:

1. Fear - users worry that a buggy or malicious app could drain their wallet.
2. Poor UX for recurring use - there’s no natural way to say “this app gets 5k sats every month, no more.”

This proposal focuses on giving users confidence, clarity, and control, without making NWC more complex than it needs to be.

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The Core Idea: “NWC Subscription Command Center”

A dedicated interface inside Zeus that helps users:

• Set recurring budgets per connected app
• Clearly see where their sats are going
• Safely try new or untrusted apps

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Feature Breakdown

1. Smart Auto-Resetting Budgets (Core Feature)

Move beyond absolute caps to true recurring allowances.

Example

“Allow Stacker.News exactly 5,000 sats per month.”

How it works

• Each NWC connection tracks:
  • a budget amount
  • a budget cycle (daily / weekly / monthly)
  • a reset date
• When a new cycle begins (e.g., the 1st of the month), the remaining budget automatically resets.

This matches how people already understand subscriptions and removes the need for constant manual re-approval.

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2. Per-App Spending Analytics (Visibility & Insight)

Help users understand their Nostr spending at a glance.

UI idea

• Pie or bar charts inside the NWC settings:
  • “40% Zaps (Damus)”
  • “30% AI tools”
  • “30% streaming / misc”

Implementation

• Parse existing payment history
• Group payments by connection_id
• Visualize the data using a React Native charting library (e.g., victory-native)

This keeps everything client-side while adding real, practical value.

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3. “Ghost” / Burner Connections (Privacy & Safety)

Short-lived, self-destructing NWC connections.

Use case

A user wants to try a new or untrusted Nostr app.

Behavior

• Connection automatically revokes after:
  • X minutes, or
  • a single successful payment

This makes experimentation safer and encourages users to explore without long-term risk.

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Technical Direction (High-Level)

UI

• Built with existing Zeus React Native components
• Fits naturally into the current cyberpunk design
• Lives within the NWC management flow

Storage & State

• Extend the current redux-persist / local storage schema with:
  • budget_cycle
  • reset_date
  • remaining_budget
• Designed to be backward-compatible with existing connections

Enforcement Logic

• Middleware check inside the NWC intent handler:
  • Validate the requested amount
  • Validate remaining budget within the current cycle
• Budget resets handled via timestamps (no cron-style jobs)

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Some important opinions I would like to have:

1. Charts

   • Any preference between victory-native, react-native-svg, or another approach?

2. Budget Enforcement

   • Should recurring budgets live entirely client-side in Zeus, or
   • should some state also be persisted at the node level (LND / CLN plugin data)?

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I’m comfortable working with React Native and TypeScript, and I have a background in Data Science, which aligns well with the analytics and visualization aspects of this project. I’m already running Zeus locally and have been actively digging into the nwc.ts logic and overall connection flow to understand the internals. Beyond this specific project, I’m an active open-source contributor, with 80k+ lines of code merged across repositories, and I’m used to collaborating in real-world codebases, reviewing feedback, and shipping production-ready features.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I’d really appreciate any feedback on feasibility, scope, or alignment with Zeus’s roadmap—and I’m happy to iterate based on maintainer input.
Regards,
Daksh

[dakshhhhh16]

What's your take on this @ajaysehwal ?

[ajaysehwal]

@dakshhhhh16 , Have you actually reviewed the NWC code in the Zeus codebase? Most of these features and enhancements have already been implemented. Regarding the Subscription Command Center and other improvements, thanks for sharing your ideas—we will definitely take action on them. If you’d like to contribute to this feature, please create a feature request in the Zeus issues. You can start working on it once the request is approved by @kaloudis