account-state

Account & Local Cache State

The backbone of Amethyst's client state: one Account per signed-in user, plus the singleton LocalCache that holds every Note and User the client has seen.

When to Use This Skill

• Working on amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/model/Account.kt
• Working on amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/model/LocalCache.kt
• Adding a new account-scoped setting (mutes, bookmarks, custom relay lists, private lists)
• Reading/writing user metadata (User) or note state (Note)
• Deciding whether to query LocalCache vs subscribe to an Account StateFlow

Mental Model

Relay frame ──► LocalCache.insertOrUpdateNote() ──► LocalCacheFlow emits change
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                                Account state objects pin the relevant addressable notes
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                            State-object `.flow` updates (kind3FollowList, nip65RelayList, muteList, …)
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                                                    ViewModels collect
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                                                 Composables render

LocalCache is the event store. Account is the derived per-user view (follow list, relays, mutes, emojis, bookmarks, etc.). UI listens to the .flow of Account's state objects, not directly to LocalCache, except for note-level rendering.

Key Files

Account.kt (singleton-per-session)

• class Account(...) — holds 50+ state objects, one per feature, each wired to a specific Nostr kind:
  • kind3FollowList = Kind3FollowListState(...) ← NIP-02 ContactList (kind 3)
  • nip65RelayList = Nip65RelayListState(...) ← NIP-65 RelayList (kind 10002), plus siblings dmRelayList, searchRelayList, blockedRelayList, trustedRelayList, proxyRelayList, broadcastRelayList, indexerRelayList, …
  • muteList = MuteListState(...) ← NIP-51 MuteList (kind 10000)
  • bookmarkState = BookmarkListState(...) ← NIP-51 Bookmarks (kind 10003), plus labeledBookmarkLists, pinState, interestSets, peopleLists, followLists, hashtagList, geohashList, communityList, emoji, blossomServers, …
  • Derived/merged views: hiddenUsers, allFollows, homeRelays, outboxRelays, dmRelays, notificationRelays, trustedRelays, and the live*FollowListsPerRelay outbox loaders.
• The pattern: each XState class pins its addressable note via cache.getOrCreateAddressableNote(address) (a long-term reference so GC/eviction can't drop it), exposes val flow: StateFlow<…> derived from the note's metadata flow (decrypted through a per-feature DecryptionCache, with backup fallback from AccountSettings, stateIn(scope, Eagerly, …)), and offers suspend mutation helpers (e.g. MuteListState.hideUser(pubkey)) that build the updated signed event. Consumers read account.muteList.flow, never a raw MutableStateFlow on Account.
• Encrypted lists pair the state object with a DecryptionCache sibling (muteListDecryptionCache, peopleListDecryptionCache, …) so NIP-44 decryption results are cached per event.
• UI reads via collectAsStateWithLifecycle on Android and collectAsState on Desktop.
• Sibling files per feature live alongside: AccountSettings.kt, AccountSyncedSettings.kt, plus per-NIP state classes under model/nip02FollowLists/, model/nip51Lists/, model/nip65RelayList/, etc.

LocalCache.kt

• object LocalCache : ILocalCache, ICacheProvider — the singleton event store.
• Primary structures (all LargeCache — see nostr-expert/references/large-cache.md):
  • notes: LargeCache<HexKey, Note> — every seen event (regular + addressable + replaceable) keyed by id or d-address.
  • users: LargeCache<HexKey, User> — every seen pubkey, lazily populated.
  • addressables: LargeCache<Address, Note> — secondary index for kind:pubkey:d-tag lookups.
  • channels, deletionIndex, hashtagIndex, …
• LocalCacheFlow emits coarse-grained "something changed, recheck" signals. Fine-grained reactivity lives in Account's per-kind StateFlows.
• Eviction is driven by MemoryTrimmingService (android service) under pressure.

Model classes

• User.kt — mutable profile holder. Contains metadata, follow/follower counts, relay lists, liveset of notes authored.
• Note.kt — mutable note holder. Contains the underlying Event, replies, reactions, zaps. Mutation via addReply, addReaction, addZap, emitted on Note.flowSet flows.
• Constants.kt — DEFAULT_RELAYS, magic kinds/limits not covered by quartz.

Adding a New Account-Scoped Setting

Typical recipe:

1. If the setting is persisted as a Nostr event, pick the right kind (e.g. NIP-51 list, NIP-78 app-specific data, NIP-65 relay list).
2. Add a model folder under amethyst/.../model/nipXX…/ with an XState class modeled on an existing one (MuteListState for an encrypted list, BookmarkListState for a plain one):
   • Pin the addressable note: val xNote = cache.getOrCreateAddressableNote(XEvent.createAddress(signer.pubKey)).
   • Expose val flow: StateFlow<…> mapped from xNote.flow().metadata.stateFlow, decrypting through a per-feature DecryptionCache if the list is private, with backup fallback from AccountSettings, then stateIn(scope, Eagerly, default).
   • Add suspend mutation helpers that build the updated event via the quartz event class (XEvent.add/remove/create) and return it signed.
3. In Account.kt, instantiate the state object (and its DecryptionCache sibling if encrypted) as a val. Publishing the returned event goes through Account's send path; the relay subscription side is the relayClient pattern (see relay-client skill).
4. Add UI that collects account.x.flow. Settings screens live in amethyst/.../ui/screen/loggedIn/settings/.

LocalCache vs Account Flow — Which to Read?

• Are you rendering a specific note / user you hold an id for? → LocalCache.getOrCreateNote(id) + collect note.flowSet.metadata.
• Are you rendering "my follows", "my mutes", "my relays"? → account.<feature>.flow (e.g. account.kind3FollowList.flow, account.muteList.flow, account.nip65RelayList.flow).
• Are you rendering a feed? → Use a FeedFilter + FeedViewModel (see feed-patterns skill). Don't scan LocalCache in a composable.

Gotchas

• LocalCache is a singleton across accounts. Switching accounts doesn't wipe it — Account re-derives its flows from the same cache.
• Don't store Flows inside Note / User expecting them to survive eviction. Eviction drops the whole object.
• State-object mutation helpers return a signed event — publishing it is the caller's job. A locally updated list without a publish means other clients won't see it.
• Note is mutable — treat instances as identity-based (same id → same Note). Use .flowSet when you need reactive state.
• MemoryTrimmingService can evict aggressively on Android under pressure. Don't assume a previously-seen note is still resident.

References

• references/account-state-flow.md — catalog of major Account state objects and their source kinds.
• references/local-cache.md — LocalCache internals, insertion path, indexes.
• Complements: nostr-expert (event parsing), relay-client (subscription wiring), feed-patterns (how feeds consume this state), auth-signers (how mutation signs events).