The Hybrid Data Architecture

pleb.school keeps operational state in PostgreSQL while publishing content to Nostr. This gives you reliability and portability at the same time.

What lives where

PostgreSQL

• Users and sessions
• Pricing and purchases
• Drafts and lesson ordering
• Admin roles and permissions

Nostr

• Courses (NIP-51)
• Resources (NIP-23 / NIP-99)
• Profiles (kind 0)
• Zap receipts (NIP-57)

Why hybrid

• Databases are fast and consistent for access checks
• Nostr makes content portable and verifiable
• Each published item is linked by noteId for fast hydration

Core flows

Publishing

Draft -> build event -> sign -> publish to relays -> store noteId

Display

DB metadata + Nostr content -> unified display object

Purchase

Zap receipts -> claim purchase -> access granted by DB entitlement

The hybrid approach is the core reason pleb.school can be both reliable and censorship-resistant.