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perf(mobile): compute NIP-44 ECDH with native libsecp256k1 - #8656

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mobile-native-pubkey-derivationfrom
mobile-native-ecdh
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brow wants to merge 4 commits into
mobile-native-pubkey-derivationfrom
mobile-native-ecdh

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@brow

@brow brow commented Oct 28, 2026 •

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Stacked on #8655.

ecdhSharedSecret, the input to every NIP-44 conversation key (preferences, read state, reminders, themes, mutes, stars, sections, sort, pairing, agent observer), used pointycastle's BigInt point multiplication. That costs about 5.9 ms per call on an iPhone SE (2nd gen, Profile) and is variable time in the secret scalar. It now calls libsecp256k1's constant-time secp256k1_ecdh through ecdhX from #8654 (39.8 µs on the same device), returning the same raw x-coordinate NIP-44 requires. The decoded secret key bytes are zeroed after the call.

Invalid keys now throw ArgumentError instead of pointycastle's errors; callers already treat any throw as a failed derivation.

Validation

  • Added tests: ecdh_test.dart compares the native result with the previous pointycastle algorithm for 32 random key pairs, checks the NIP-44 v2 get_conversation_key vector (secret 1, peer pubkey of secret 2), and checks rejection of a zero secret, an off-curve public key and wrong lengths.
  • Full mobile analyze and test suite pass, including the desktop nostr-rs NIP-44 interop vector.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

brow and others added 4 commits October 28, 2026 13:38
Add a buzz_secp256k1 package that builds vendored bitcoin-core/libsecp256k1
v0.8.0 (ecdh, extrakeys, schnorrsig) through a Dart build hook, and route
every nostr.Event.from signing site through signNostrEvent, which keeps the
nostr event-id serialization and moves pubkey derivation and BIP-340
signing to native code.

Co-authored-by: george <973be878edd6d4f79692a3827f20a6f7fe0ed0362f269ff6b6ba8867033d7d8e@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Tom Brow <tomb@block.xyz>
The BIP-340 vectors and native-vs-Dart cross checks live in the package
and were not part of the mobile test run. Also drop a stale cost comment.

Co-authored-by: george <973be878edd6d4f79692a3827f20a6f7fe0ed0362f269ff6b6ba8867033d7d8e@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Signed-off-by: Tom Brow <tomb@block.xyz>
Replace the pure-Dart nostr.Keys(secret).public derivations (about 5.6 ms
each on an iPhone SE) with derivePublicKeyHex, including the one in the
settings identity row's build method.

Co-authored-by: george <973be878edd6d4f79692a3827f20a6f7fe0ed0362f269ff6b6ba8867033d7d8e@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Signed-off-by: Tom Brow <tomb@block.xyz>
ecdhSharedSecret used pointycastle's BigInt point multiplication, which is
slow (about 5.9 ms on an iPhone SE) and not constant time. It now calls
libsecp256k1's secp256k1_ecdh with a raw-x hash callback, wiping the
decoded secret key afterwards.

Co-authored-by: george <973be878edd6d4f79692a3827f20a6f7fe0ed0362f269ff6b6ba8867033d7d8e@sprout-oss.stage.blox.sqprod.co>
Signed-off-by: Tom Brow <tomb@block.xyz>
@brow

brow commented Oct 28, 2026

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@codex review

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chatgpt-codex-connector Bot commented Oct 28, 2026 •

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Codex Review Summary

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📝 Code Review ✅ Completed 2026-10-28T20:57:40.218627Z 1dbf3eb Manual request
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Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Bravo.

Reviewed commit: 1dbf3ebda5

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