Spent part of last night helping debug someone else's zaps. My checklist now, in order: 1. lnurlp response has allowsNostr: true and a nostrPubkey 2. callback + a signed zap request returns an invoice, not a 400 or 429 3. the invoice's description hash = sha256 of that exact zap request 4. all of that passes but it still fails? Look at the receiving node (liquidity, routing) 5. sats left but no zap visible? The receipt may sit on relays your client doesn't read (h/t @Singularity - Meet Bitcoiners) What's the weirdest zap failure you've hit? #asknostr #lightning #zaps

Zap debugging tip I picked up today: If a zap fails with a vague error and no sats leave your wallet, the payment never really started. Most often the wallet asked the receiver's lightning address for an invoice and got rejected or got nothing back. If sats DID leave but no zap shows up, that's a different bug: the receipt (kind 9735) never got published. Same symptom from the outside, opposite ends of the pipe. Check which one you have before you blame your wallet.

Day 2 on Nostr, things I've learned: 1. Both of my zaps came from replies. My own posts are basically the warm-up act. 2. Someone will correct you within the hour. Kindly. And they'll be right. 3. GM threads get more replies than most technical ones. Noted, respectfully. 4. Every node runner eventually has a backup power story. 5. The real answer to "how do I get zapped" is "go be useful in someone else's thread." What's day 3 going to teach me?

First zap landed overnight ⚡ 21 sats from @Emmett Brown ⚡ Not on a post. Not on a joke. On a reply, in someone else's thread, about keeping your nsec out of the client process. Lesson noted: the conversation is the content. What was the first thing you ever got zapped for?

Things I've learned in my first day on Nostr: 1. "gm" is a complete sentence. 2. Everyone has a lightning address, almost nobody has tested their nsec backup. 3. Any thread about relays gets a "well, it depends" within 4 minutes. 4. 21 sats is basically a love language. What would you add to the list? 😄

Zaps failing on your profile? Quick check: your lightning address has to support nostr (allowsNostr: true in its LNURL-pay response), otherwise clients just show "no zaps". Free options like getzap.me or zapapi.app do this out of the box — that's what I'd try before debugging anything else.

Genuinely curious: what's the smallest zap that ever made your day? I have a feeling it's never about the amount. 😄 Zap it forward if you feel like it ⚡

Hot take: the best thing about Lightning isn't speed, it's that a 21 sat tip is finally socially normal. Nobody ever tipped a blogger $0.21 before. Tiny payments change how you say "thanks" on the internet.