fix(forum): preserve resolved authors across restarts

.env.example

@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ TYPESENSE_URL=http://localhost:8108
 SPROUT_BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0:3000
 # Public WebSocket URL — used in NIP-42 auth challenges
 RELAY_URL=ws://localhost:3000
+# Stable relay signing key. Set this in dev if you want REST-created forum posts
+# to keep resolving to the original author across relay restarts.
+# SPROUT_RELAY_PRIVATE_KEY=<32-byte hex private key>
 # Set to true in production to require bearer token authentication
 SPROUT_REQUIRE_AUTH_TOKEN=false
 

desktop/src/app/AppShell.tsx

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import { usePresenceSession } from "@/features/presence/hooks";
 import { PresenceBadge } from "@/features/presence/ui/PresenceBadge";
 import { useHomeFeedNotifications } from "@/features/notifications/hooks";
 import { useProfileQuery, useUsersBatchQuery } from "@/features/profile/hooks";
+import { mergeCurrentProfileIntoLookup } from "@/features/profile/lib/identity";
 import { ChannelBrowserDialog } from "@/features/channels/ui/ChannelBrowserDialog";
 import { SearchDialog } from "@/features/search/ui/SearchDialog";
 import {
@@ -165,6 +166,14 @@ export function AppShell() {
   const messageProfilesQuery = useUsersBatchQuery(messageProfilePubkeys, {
     enabled: messageProfilePubkeys.length > 0,
   });
+  const messageProfiles = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      mergeCurrentProfileIntoLookup(
+        messageProfilesQuery.data?.profiles,
+        profileQuery.data,
+      ),
+    [messageProfilesQuery.data?.profiles, profileQuery.data],
+  );
 
   const timelineMessages = React.useMemo(
     () =>
@@ -173,13 +182,13 @@ export function AppShell() {
         activeChannel,
         identityQuery.data?.pubkey,
         profileQuery.data?.avatarUrl ?? null,
-        messageProfilesQuery.data?.profiles,
+        messageProfiles,
       ),
     [
       activeChannel,
       identityQuery.data?.pubkey,
+      messageProfiles,
       profileQuery.data?.avatarUrl,
-      messageProfilesQuery.data?.profiles,
       resolvedMessages,
     ],
   );
@@ -679,7 +688,7 @@ export function AppShell() {
                         }
                       : undefined
                   }
-                  profiles={messageProfilesQuery.data?.profiles}
+                  profiles={messageProfiles}
                   replyTargetId={replyTargetId}
                   replyTargetMessage={replyTargetMessage}
                   targetMessageId={

desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumView.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { MessageSquareText } from "lucide-react";
 import * as React from "react";
 
-import { useUsersBatchQuery } from "@/features/profile/hooks";
+import { useProfileQuery, useUsersBatchQuery } from "@/features/profile/hooks";
+import { mergeCurrentProfileIntoLookup } from "@/features/profile/lib/identity";
 import type { Channel } from "@/shared/api/types";
 import { Skeleton } from "@/shared/ui/skeleton";
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
   );
   const [isComposerOpen, setIsComposerOpen] = React.useState(false);
 
+  const profileQuery = useProfileQuery();
   const postsQuery = useForumPostsQuery(channel);
   const threadQuery = useForumThreadQuery(
     expandedPostId ? channel.id : null,
@@ -73,6 +75,15 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
   const profilesQuery = useUsersBatchQuery(allPubkeys, {
     enabled: allPubkeys.length > 0,
   });
+  const effectiveCurrentPubkey = currentPubkey ?? profileQuery.data?.pubkey;
+  const profiles = React.useMemo(
+    () =>
+      mergeCurrentProfileIntoLookup(
+        profilesQuery.data?.profiles,
+        profileQuery.data,
+      ),
+    [profileQuery.data, profilesQuery.data?.profiles],
+  );
 
   // Reset expanded post when channel changes
   const previousChannelIdRef = React.useRef(channel.id);
@@ -85,13 +96,13 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
   if (expandedPostId) {
     const threadPost = threadQuery.data?.post;
     const canDeleteExpandedPost = threadPost
-      ? canDelete(threadPost.pubkey, currentPubkey)
+      ? canDelete(threadPost.pubkey, effectiveCurrentPubkey)
       : false;
 
     return (
       <ForumThreadPanel
         canDeletePost={canDeleteExpandedPost}
-        currentPubkey={currentPubkey}
+        currentPubkey={effectiveCurrentPubkey}
         isDeletingPost={deletePostMutation.isPending}
         isLoading={threadQuery.isLoading}
         isSendingReply={createReplyMutation.isPending}
@@ -113,7 +124,7 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
             mentionPubkeys,
           });
         }}
-        profiles={profilesQuery.data?.profiles}
+        profiles={profiles}
         thread={threadQuery.data}
       />
     );
@@ -181,8 +192,8 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
           <div className="space-y-3 p-4">
             {posts.map((post) => (
               <ForumPostCard
-                canDelete={canDelete(post.pubkey, currentPubkey)}
-                currentPubkey={currentPubkey}
+                canDelete={canDelete(post.pubkey, effectiveCurrentPubkey)}
+                currentPubkey={effectiveCurrentPubkey}
                 isActive={false}
                 isDeleting={
                   deletePostMutation.isPending &&
@@ -194,7 +205,7 @@ export function ForumView({ channel, currentPubkey }: ForumViewProps) {
                   deletePostMutation.mutate({ eventId });
                 }}
                 post={post}
-                profiles={profilesQuery.data?.profiles}
+                profiles={profiles}
               />
             ))}
           </div>

desktop/src/features/messages/lib/formatTimelineMessages.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   KIND_STREAM_MESSAGE_DIFF,
   KIND_SYSTEM_MESSAGE,
 } from "@/shared/constants/kinds";
+import { resolveEventAuthorPubkey } from "@/shared/lib/authors";
 
 const HEX_RE = /^[0-9a-f]+$/i;
 
@@ -60,31 +61,18 @@ function getReactionTargetId(tags: string[][]) {
   return null;
 }
 
-function getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event: RelayEvent) {
-  const actorTag = event.tags.find((tag) => tag[0] === "actor")?.[1];
-  if (actorTag) {
-    return actorTag;
-  }
-
-  const [firstTag] = event.tags;
-  if (
-    firstTag?.[0] === "p" &&
-    firstTag[1] &&
-    event.tags.some((tag) => tag[0] === "h")
-  ) {
-    return firstTag[1];
-  }
-
-  return event.pubkey;
-}
-
 function formatMessageAuthor(
   event: RelayEvent,
   channel: Channel | null,
   currentPubkey: string | undefined,
   profiles: UserProfileLookup | undefined,
 ) {
-  const authorPubkey = getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event);
+  const authorPubkey = resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+    pubkey: event.pubkey,
+    tags: event.tags,
+    preferActorTag: true,
+    requireChannelTagForPTags: true,
+  });
   const fallbackName =
     channel?.channelType === "dm"
       ? (() => {
@@ -164,7 +152,12 @@ export function formatTimelineMessages(
       continue;
     }
 
-    const actorPubkey = getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event).toLowerCase();
+    const actorPubkey = resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+      pubkey: event.pubkey,
+      tags: event.tags,
+      preferActorTag: true,
+      requireChannelTagForPTags: true,
+    }).toLowerCase();
     const emoji = event.content.trim() || "+";
     reactionPresence.set(`${targetId}:${actorPubkey}:${emoji}`, {
       targetId,
@@ -202,7 +195,12 @@ export function formatTimelineMessages(
       return cached;
     }
 
-    const authorPubkey = getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event);
+    const authorPubkey = resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+      pubkey: event.pubkey,
+      tags: event.tags,
+      preferActorTag: true,
+      requireChannelTagForPTags: true,
+    });
     const author = formatMessageAuthor(event, channel, currentPubkey, profiles);
 
     authorPubkeyByEventId.set(event.id, authorPubkey);
@@ -244,7 +242,13 @@ export function formatTimelineMessages(
   return visibleEvents.map((event) => {
     const author = getAuthorLabel(event);
     const authorPubkey =
-      authorPubkeyByEventId.get(event.id) ?? getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event);
+      authorPubkeyByEventId.get(event.id) ??
+      resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+        pubkey: event.pubkey,
+        tags: event.tags,
+        preferActorTag: true,
+        requireChannelTagForPTags: true,
+      });
     const thread = getThreadReference(event.tags);
     return {
       id: event.id,
@@ -307,7 +311,14 @@ export function collectMessageAuthorPubkeys(events: RelayEvent[]) {
         pubkeys.add(pk);
       }
     } else {
-      pubkeys.add(getEffectiveAuthorPubkey(event).toLowerCase());
+      pubkeys.add(
+        resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+          pubkey: event.pubkey,
+          tags: event.tags,
+          preferActorTag: true,
+          requireChannelTagForPTags: true,
+        }).toLowerCase(),
+      );
     }
   }
 

desktop/src/features/profile/lib/identity.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { UserProfileSummary } from "@/shared/api/types";
+import type { Profile, UserProfileSummary } from "@/shared/api/types";
 
 export type UserProfileLookup = Record<string, UserProfileSummary>;
 
@@ -21,6 +21,27 @@ function getResolvedProfile(
   return profiles[normalizePubkey(pubkey)] ?? null;
 }
 
+export function mergeCurrentProfileIntoLookup(
+  profiles: UserProfileLookup | undefined,
+  currentProfile:
+    | Pick<Profile, "pubkey" | "displayName" | "avatarUrl" | "nip05Handle">
+    | null
+    | undefined,
+) {
+  if (!currentProfile) {
+    return profiles;
+  }
+
+  return {
+    ...(profiles ?? {}),
+    [normalizePubkey(currentProfile.pubkey)]: {
+      displayName: currentProfile.displayName,
+      avatarUrl: currentProfile.avatarUrl,
+      nip05Handle: currentProfile.nip05Handle,
+    },
+  };
+}
+
 export function resolveUserLabel(input: {
   pubkey: string;
   currentPubkey?: string;

desktop/src/shared/api/forum.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type {
   ThreadReply,
 } from "@/shared/api/types";
 import { KIND_FORUM_POST } from "@/shared/constants/kinds";
+import { resolveEventAuthorPubkey } from "@/shared/lib/authors";
 
 import { invokeTauri } from "./tauri";
 
@@ -57,7 +58,10 @@ type RawForumThreadResponse = {
 function fromRawForumPost(post: RawForumPost): ForumPost {
   return {
     eventId: post.event_id,
-    pubkey: post.pubkey,
+    pubkey: resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+      pubkey: post.pubkey,
+      tags: post.tags,
+    }),
     content: post.content,
     kind: post.kind,
     createdAt: post.created_at,
@@ -77,7 +81,10 @@ function fromRawForumPost(post: RawForumPost): ForumPost {
 function fromRawThreadReply(reply: RawThreadReply): ThreadReply {
   return {
     eventId: reply.event_id,
-    pubkey: reply.pubkey,
+    pubkey: resolveEventAuthorPubkey({
+      pubkey: reply.pubkey,
+      tags: reply.tags,
+    }),
     content: reply.content,
     kind: reply.kind,
     createdAt: reply.created_at,

desktop/src/shared/lib/authors.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+const PUBKEY_HEX_RE = /^[0-9a-f]{64}$/i;
+
+function normalizePubkey(pubkey: string) {
+  return pubkey.toLowerCase();
+}
+
+function getTaggedPubkey(
+  tags: string[][],
+  tagName: string,
+  options?: {
+    firstTagOnly?: boolean;
+  },
+) {
+  const candidates = options?.firstTagOnly ? tags.slice(0, 1) : tags;
+
+  for (const tag of candidates) {
+    const taggedPubkey = tag[0] === tagName ? tag[1]?.toLowerCase() : null;
+    if (taggedPubkey && PUBKEY_HEX_RE.test(taggedPubkey)) {
+      return taggedPubkey;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+export function resolveEventAuthorPubkey(input: {
+  pubkey: string;
+  tags: string[][];
+  preferActorTag?: boolean;
+  requireChannelTagForPTags?: boolean;
+}) {
+  const {
+    preferActorTag = false,
+    pubkey,
+    requireChannelTagForPTags = false,
+    tags,
+  } = input;
+
+  if (preferActorTag) {
+    const actorPubkey = getTaggedPubkey(tags, "actor");
+    if (actorPubkey) {
+      return actorPubkey;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const canUseAttributedPTag =
+    !requireChannelTagForPTags || tags.some((tag) => tag[0] === "h");
+  if (canUseAttributedPTag) {
+    const attributedPubkey = getTaggedPubkey(tags, "p", { firstTagOnly: true });
+    if (attributedPubkey) {
+      return attributedPubkey;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return normalizePubkey(pubkey);
+}