5 files changed, 159 insertions, 14 deletions

diff --git a/internal/auth/README.md b/internal/auth/README.md
index c41b6cb..df0de6a 100644
--- a/internal/auth/README.md
+++ b/internal/auth/README.md
@@ -209,7 +209,9 @@ authOpts := &auth.InterceptorOptions{
 - **`TimestampWindow`**: Maximum age of events in seconds (default: 60)
 - **`Required`**: Whether to reject unauthenticated requests (default: false)
 - **`ValidatePayload`**: Whether to verify payload hash when present (default: false)
-- **`AllowedPubkeys`**: Optional whitelist of allowed pubkeys (nil = allow all)
+- **`AllowedNpubs`**: Optional whitelist of allowed pubkeys (nil = allow all)
+  - Config accepts npub format only (human-readable bech32)
+  - Automatically normalized to hex format (computer-readable) at config load time
 
 ### NostrCredentials Options
 
diff --git a/internal/auth/interceptor.go b/internal/auth/interceptor.go
index c055a15..7d785bf 100644
--- a/internal/auth/interceptor.go
+++ b/internal/auth/interceptor.go
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ type InterceptorOptions struct {
         // Default: false
         ValidatePayload bool
 
-        // AllowedPubkeys is an optional whitelist of allowed pubkeys.
+        // AllowedNpubs is an optional whitelist of allowed pubkeys (hex format).
+        // Config accepts npub format only, normalized to hex at load time.
         // If nil or empty, all valid signatures are accepted.
         // Default: nil (allow all)
-        AllowedPubkeys []string
+        AllowedNpubs []string
 
         // SkipMethods is a list of gRPC methods that bypass authentication.
         // Useful for public endpoints like health checks or relay info.
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ func DefaultInterceptorOptions() *InterceptorOptions {
                 TimestampWindow: 60,
                 Required:        false,
                 ValidatePayload: false,
-                AllowedPubkeys:  nil,
+                AllowedNpubs:    nil,
                 SkipMethods:     nil,
         }
 }
@@ -168,9 +169,9 @@ func validateAuthFromContext(ctx context.Context, method string, opts *Intercept
         // Extract pubkey
         pubkey := ExtractPubkey(event)
 
-        // Check whitelist if configured
-        if len(opts.AllowedPubkeys) > 0 {
-                if !contains(opts.AllowedPubkeys, pubkey) {
+        // Check whitelist if configured (all values are already normalized to hex)
+        if len(opts.AllowedNpubs) > 0 {
+                if !contains(opts.AllowedNpubs, pubkey) {
                         return "", fmt.Errorf("pubkey not in whitelist")
                 }
         }
diff --git a/internal/config/README.md b/internal/config/README.md
index 79e1b89..dbb8760 100644
--- a/internal/config/README.md
+++ b/internal/config/README.md
@@ -90,9 +90,13 @@ auth:
   # Timestamp window in seconds for replay protection
   timestamp_window: 60
 
-  # Allowed pubkeys (optional, whitelist)
+  # Allowed npubs (optional, whitelist)
   # If empty, all valid signatures are accepted
-  allowed_pubkeys: []
+  # Use npub format only (e.g., npub1...)
+  allowed_npubs: []
+  # Example:
+  # allowed_npubs:
+  #   - npub1a2b3c4d5e6f...
 
   # Skip authentication for these methods
   skip_methods:
@@ -217,8 +221,8 @@ Examples:
 Complex types:
 
 ```bash
-# Lists (comma-separated)
-export MUXSTR_AUTH_ALLOWED_PUBKEYS="pubkey1,pubkey2,pubkey3"
+# Lists (comma-separated, npub format)
+export MUXSTR_AUTH_ALLOWED_NPUBS="npub1...,npub1...,npub1..."
 
 # Durations
 export MUXSTR_SERVER_READ_TIMEOUT="30s"
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 91e79f7..0566537 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
         "strings"
         "time"
 
+        "northwest.io/muxstr/internal/nostr"
         "gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ type AuthConfig struct {
         Enabled         bool     `yaml:"enabled"`
         Required        bool     `yaml:"required"`
         TimestampWindow int64    `yaml:"timestamp_window"`
-        AllowedPubkeys  []string `yaml:"allowed_pubkeys"`
+        AllowedNpubs    []string `yaml:"allowed_npubs"`  // npub format only (bech32) - normalized to hex internally
         SkipMethods     []string `yaml:"skip_methods"`
 }
 
@@ -162,6 +163,11 @@ func Load(filename string) (*Config, error) {
         // Apply environment variable overrides
         applyEnvOverrides(cfg)
 
+        // Normalize npubs to hex pubkeys
+        if err := normalizeNpubs(cfg); err != nil {
+                return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to normalize npubs: %w", err)
+        }
+
         // Validate
         if err := cfg.Validate(); err != nil {
                 return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: %w", err)
@@ -170,6 +176,41 @@ func Load(filename string) (*Config, error) {
         return cfg, nil
 }
 
+// normalizeNpubs converts all npub (bech32) pubkeys to hex format.
+// Config only accepts npub format (human-readable), which is converted
+// to hex format (computer-readable) for internal use.
+func normalizeNpubs(cfg *Config) error {
+        if len(cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs) == 0 {
+                return nil
+        }
+
+        normalized := make([]string, 0, len(cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs))
+        for _, npub := range cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs {
+                // Skip empty strings
+                npub = strings.TrimSpace(npub)
+                if npub == "" {
+                        continue
+                }
+
+                // Validate npub format
+                if !strings.HasPrefix(npub, "npub1") {
+                        return fmt.Errorf("invalid npub format %q: must start with 'npub1'", npub)
+                }
+
+                // Parse npub to get hex pubkey
+                key, err := nostr.ParsePublicKey(npub)
+                if err != nil {
+                        return fmt.Errorf("invalid npub %q: %w", npub, err)
+                }
+
+                // Get the hex representation for internal use
+                normalized = append(normalized, key.Public())
+        }
+
+        cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs = normalized
+        return nil
+}
+
 // Validate validates the configuration.
 func (c *Config) Validate() error {
         // Validate server addresses
@@ -251,8 +292,8 @@ func applyEnvOverrides(cfg *Config) {
                         cfg.Auth.TimestampWindow = n
                 }
         }
-        if val := os.Getenv("MUXSTR_AUTH_ALLOWED_PUBKEYS"); val != "" {
-                cfg.Auth.AllowedPubkeys = strings.Split(val, ",")
+        if val := os.Getenv("MUXSTR_AUTH_ALLOWED_NPUBS"); val != "" {
+                cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs = strings.Split(val, ",")
         }
 
         // Rate limit
diff --git a/internal/config/config_test.go b/internal/config/config_test.go
index e1df1aa..5fa159e 100644
--- a/internal/config/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/config_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package config
 
 import (
         "os"
+        "strings"
         "testing"
         "time"
 )
@@ -240,6 +241,102 @@ func TestSaveAndLoad(t *testing.T) {
         }
 }
 
+func TestNpubNormalization(t *testing.T) {
+        // Create a test key to get a valid npub
+        tmpfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "config-*.yaml")
+        if err != nil {
+                t.Fatal(err)
+        }
+        defer os.Remove(tmpfile.Name())
+
+        // Use a real npub for testing
+        configData := `
+server:
+  grpc_addr: ":50051"
+  http_addr: ":8080"
+
+database:
+  path: "test.db"
+
+auth:
+  enabled: true
+  allowed_npubs:
+    - npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6
+    - npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft
+`
+
+        if _, err := tmpfile.Write([]byte(configData)); err != nil {
+                t.Fatal(err)
+        }
+        tmpfile.Close()
+
+        cfg, err := Load(tmpfile.Name())
+        if err != nil {
+                t.Fatalf("failed to load config: %v", err)
+        }
+
+        // Verify npubs were normalized to hex
+        if len(cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs) != 2 {
+                t.Errorf("expected 2 allowed npubs, got %d", len(cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs))
+        }
+
+        // Check that they're hex format (64 chars, not npub1...)
+        for i, pubkey := range cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs {
+                if len(pubkey) != 64 {
+                        t.Errorf("npub %d: expected 64 hex chars, got %d", i, len(pubkey))
+                }
+                if pubkey[:5] == "npub1" {
+                        t.Errorf("npub %d: should be normalized to hex, still in npub format", i)
+                }
+        }
+
+        // Verify the actual hex values
+        expectedHex1 := "3bf0c63fcb93463407af97a5e5ee64fa883d107ef9e558472c4eb9aaaefa459d"
+        expectedHex2 := "fa984bd7dbb282f07e16e7ae87b26a2a7b9b90b7246a44771f0cf5ae58018f52"
+
+        if cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs[0] != expectedHex1 {
+                t.Errorf("npub 0: expected %s, got %s", expectedHex1, cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs[0])
+        }
+        if cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs[1] != expectedHex2 {
+                t.Errorf("npub 1: expected %s, got %s", expectedHex2, cfg.Auth.AllowedNpubs[1])
+        }
+}
+
+func TestNpubValidation(t *testing.T) {
+        tmpfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "config-*.yaml")
+        if err != nil {
+                t.Fatal(err)
+        }
+        defer os.Remove(tmpfile.Name())
+
+        // Invalid: hex format instead of npub
+        configData := `
+server:
+  grpc_addr: ":50051"
+  http_addr: ":8080"
+
+database:
+  path: "test.db"
+
+auth:
+  allowed_npubs:
+    - 3bf0c63fcb93463407af97a5e5ee64fa883d107ef9e558472c4eb9aaaefa459d
+`
+
+        if _, err := tmpfile.Write([]byte(configData)); err != nil {
+                t.Fatal(err)
+        }
+        tmpfile.Close()
+
+        _, err = Load(tmpfile.Name())
+        if err == nil {
+                t.Error("expected error for hex format in allowed_npubs, got nil")
+        }
+        if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "must start with 'npub1'") {
+                t.Errorf("expected 'must start with npub1' error, got: %v", err)
+        }
+}
+
 func TestDurationParsing(t *testing.T) {
         // Create config with durations
         tmpfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "config-*.yaml")