Getting Started

This guide walks you through setting up ZapTracker for the first time.

In just a few minutes, you'll be tracking zaps and managing your Lightning presence.

What You Need

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A Nostr Identity

Your cryptographic identity on the Nostr network. This is your public/private key pair that identifies you across all Nostr apps.

A NIP-07 Browser Extension

To sign events securely from your browser without exposing your private key.

Recommended extensions:

• Alby - Popular choice with built-in wallet
• nos2x - Lightweight signer
• Flamingo - Feature-rich option

A NWC-Compatible Wallet

For Lightning payments (optional but recommended).

Compatible wallets:

• Alby
• Coinos
• LNBits
• Any wallet supporting Nostr Wallet Connect

Setup Process

Connect Your Nostr Identity

Link your browser extension to ZapTracker

Connect Your Wallet

Set up NWC for payments and balance

Explore the Dashboard

Start tracking your zaps

Step 1: Connect Your Nostr Identity

1. Open ZapTracker and click Settings in the sidebar
2. Click Connect Nostr
3. Your browser extension will show a popup asking for permission
4. Approve the connection

Once connected, ZapTracker will:

• Load your profile information
• Start syncing your zap history
• Show your public key

Step 2: Connect Your Wallet

To send/receive payments and see your balance:

1. Open your NWC-compatible wallet
2. Go to Settings → Connect Apps (or similar)
3. Create a new connection and copy the NWC URL
   • It looks like: nostr+walletconnect://...
4. In ZapTracker, go to Settings → Wallet
5. Paste your NWC URL
6. Click Connect

Your wallet balance will now appear on your dashboard.

Wallet Permissions

When creating the NWC connection in your wallet, you can set:

• Spending limits
• Expiration dates
• Allowed operations

Start with conservative limits and adjust as needed.

Step 3: Explore the Dashboard

With both connections set up, your dashboard shows:

Metric	What It Means
Total Zaps	Number of zaps you've received
Total Sats	Total satoshis from all zaps
Average Zap	Mean amount per zap
Unique Supporters	People who've zapped you
Wallet Balance	Your current Lightning balance

The activity chart shows your zap activity over the last 30 days.

What's Next?

Understand Your DashboardLearn what each metric means

Wallet OperationsSend and receive payments

Create ContentPublish to Nostr

See Use CasesLearn from real examples

Troubleshooting

Extension Not Detected

If ZapTracker doesn't see your browser extension:

1. Make sure only one NIP-07 extension is active
2. Refresh the page
3. Check that the extension has permission for this site

Wallet Won't Connect

If your NWC connection fails:

1. Verify the URL starts with nostr+walletconnect://
2. Check that your wallet app is running
3. Try creating a new NWC connection
4. Make sure NWC is enabled in your wallet settings

See Troubleshooting for more help.