fix: accept any d-tag identifier; percent-encode in URLs

NIP-01 places no restriction on d tag characters and NIP-34 only
recommends kebab-case without mandating it. Rejecting identifiers with
whitespace or other URL-unsafe characters was therefore overly strict.

The correct approach (per NIP-34 PR #2312 and GRASP-01) is to store
identifiers verbatim on disk and percent-encode them when constructing
URLs. The previous commit already handled the incoming direction
(percent-decoding URL paths before filesystem lookup); this commit
handles the outgoing direction and removes the validation restriction.

Changes:
- validate_identifier: drop whitespace rejection; only reject chars
  that are unsafe as filesystem directory names (/, \, null, . / ..)
- git/mod.rs: add percent_encode() alongside percent_decode()
- landing.rs: percent-encode identifier in nostr:// clone URL and
  gitworkshop link (also fixes a pre-existing bug where the clone URL
  displayed literal '{npub}' / '{identifier}' instead of the values)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Repository identifiers containing characters that require percent-encoding in URLs (e.g. spaces, emoji) are now accepted and served correctly. NIP-01 places no restriction on `d` tag values and NIP-34 only recommends kebab-case without mandating it, so rejecting non-kebab identifiers was overly strict. Identifiers are stored verbatim on disk and percent-encoded when used in URLs, per the `nostr://` clone URL spec formalised in [NIP-34 PR #2312](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/2312) and the GRASP-01 HTTP path spec. The landing page clone URL now also correctly percent-encodes the identifier.
+
 ### Changed
 
 - Remove arbitrary default max connections limit; when `NGIT_MAX_CONNECTIONS` is unset the relay imposes no connection cap, deferring to OS fd limits and infrastructure controls

src/git/mod.rs

@@ -451,6 +451,29 @@ pub fn get_repository_head(repo_path: &Path) -> Option<String> {
     }
 }
 
+/// Percent-encode a string for use as a URL path segment (RFC 3986 §2.1).
+///
+/// Encodes all bytes that are not unreserved characters (`A-Z a-z 0-9 - _ . ~`).
+/// This is suitable for encoding a repository identifier in a `nostr://` URL or
+/// an HTTP path component such as `/<npub>/<encoded-identifier>.git`.
+pub fn percent_encode(s: &str) -> String {
+    let mut out = String::with_capacity(s.len());
+    for byte in s.bytes() {
+        match byte {
+            // RFC 3986 unreserved characters — never encoded
+            b'A'..=b'Z' | b'a'..=b'z' | b'0'..=b'9' | b'-' | b'_' | b'.' | b'~' => {
+                out.push(byte as char);
+            }
+            _ => {
+                out.push('%');
+                out.push(char::from_digit((byte >> 4) as u32, 16).unwrap().to_ascii_uppercase());
+                out.push(char::from_digit((byte & 0xf) as u32, 16).unwrap().to_ascii_uppercase());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
 /// Decode percent-encoded characters in a URL path component.
 ///
 /// Handles `%XX` sequences (e.g. `%20` → space). Invalid sequences are left as-is.
@@ -481,8 +504,8 @@ pub fn percent_decode(s: &str) -> String {
 ///
 /// The identifier component is percent-decoded so that URLs like
 /// `/npub1.../my%20repo.git/info/refs` resolve to the filesystem path
-/// `my repo.git` (though such identifiers should be rejected at announcement
-/// validation time — see `validate_announcement`).
+/// `my repo.git`. Per NIP-34 and GRASP-01, identifiers MUST be percent-encoded
+/// in URLs; they are stored verbatim on disk.
 ///
 /// Returns (npub, identifier, subpath) where subpath is the part after .git/
 /// and identifier has been percent-decoded.
@@ -671,6 +694,30 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(percent_decode("foo%zz"), "foo%zz");
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_percent_encode_basic() {
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("my-repo"), "my-repo");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("my_repo"), "my_repo");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("repo123"), "repo123");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("hello world"), "hello%20world");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("kuboslopp by Shakespeare"), "kuboslopp%20by%20Shakespeare");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_percent_encode_special_chars() {
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("a/b"), "a%2Fb");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("a\\b"), "a%5Cb");
+        assert_eq!(percent_encode("a b\tc"), "a%20b%09c");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_percent_encode_decode_roundtrip() {
+        let identifiers = ["my-repo", "my repo", "kuboslopp by Shakespeare", "a/b", "foo\0bar"];
+        for id in &identifiers {
+            assert_eq!(percent_decode(&percent_encode(id)), *id);
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_commit_exists_nonexistent() {
         let (_temp_dir, repo_path) = create_test_repo();

src/http/landing.rs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 ///
 /// Generates HTML landing page for the Nostr relay.
 use crate::config::Config;
+use crate::git::percent_encode;
 use crate::http::nip11::RelayInformationDocument;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
@@ -847,7 +848,7 @@ pub fn get_repo_html(config: &Config, npub: &str, identifier: &str) -> String {
             <div class="card">
                 <div class="clone-box">
                     <div class="clone-line"><span class="cmd">curl -Ls https://ngit.dev/install.sh | bash</span></div>
-                    <div class="clone-line"><span class="cmd">git clone</span> <span class="url" id="nostr-clone-url">nostr://{{npub}}/<span id="relayref"></span>/{{identifier}}</span></div>
+                     <div class="clone-line"><span class="cmd">git clone</span> <span class="url" id="nostr-clone-url">nostr://{npub}/<span id="relayref"></span>/{encoded_identifier}</span></div>
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
@@ -867,7 +868,7 @@ pub fn get_repo_html(config: &Config, npub: &str, identifier: &str) -> String {
         
         // Construct gitworkshop link: gitworkshop.dev/npub/relayref/identifier
         const gitworkshopLink = document.getElementById('gitworkshop-link');
-        gitworkshopLink.setAttribute('href', 'https://gitworkshop.dev/{npub}/' + relayref + '/{identifier}');
+        gitworkshopLink.setAttribute('href', 'https://gitworkshop.dev/{npub}/' + relayref + '/{encoded_identifier}');
         
         // Set footer domain
         var footerDomain = document.getElementById('footer-domain');
@@ -882,6 +883,7 @@ pub fn get_repo_html(config: &Config, npub: &str, identifier: &str) -> String {
         relay_name = config.relay_name(),
         npub = npub,
         identifier = identifier,
+        encoded_identifier = percent_encode(identifier),
         version = get_version(),
         theme_toggle = get_theme_toggle_html(),
         theme_script = get_theme_script(),

src/nostr/events.rs

@@ -361,19 +361,20 @@ impl RepositoryState {
     }
 }
 
-/// Validate that a repository identifier is safe for use as a filesystem path component
-/// and as a URL path segment without percent-encoding.
+/// Validate that a repository identifier is safe for use as a filesystem path component.
 ///
-/// Rejects identifiers that:
-/// - Are empty
-/// - Contain path separators (`/`, `\`)
-/// - Contain null bytes
-/// - Contain whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines, etc.) — these require percent-encoding
-///   in URLs and cause a mismatch between the stored path and the URL-decoded request
-/// - Are `.` or `..` (directory traversal)
+/// NIP-34 places no restriction on `d` tag characters beyond NIP-01 (any string).
+/// Identifiers are stored on disk verbatim and percent-encoded when used in URLs
+/// (per NIP-34 `nostr://` spec and GRASP-01 HTTP path spec). This function only
+/// rejects identifiers that cannot safely be stored as a filesystem directory name:
 ///
-/// NIP-34 recommends kebab-case identifiers; this function enforces the minimum
-/// safety constraints needed for correct filesystem and HTTP serving behaviour.
+/// - Empty string
+/// - Path separators (`/`, `\`) — would escape the repository directory
+/// - Null bytes — rejected by most filesystems
+/// - `.` or `..` — reserved path components (directory traversal)
+///
+/// Whitespace and other characters that require percent-encoding in URLs are
+/// explicitly allowed here; callers are responsible for encoding them in URLs.
 pub fn validate_identifier(identifier: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
     if identifier.is_empty() {
         return Err("identifier must not be empty".to_string());
@@ -397,12 +398,6 @@ pub fn validate_identifier(identifier: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
                 identifier
             ));
         }
-        if ch.is_whitespace() {
-            return Err(format!(
-                "identifier '{}' contains whitespace — use hyphens instead (e.g. 'my-repo')",
-                identifier
-            ));
-        }
     }
     Ok(())
 }
@@ -1573,6 +1568,11 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(validate_identifier("my_repo").is_ok());
         assert!(validate_identifier("repo123").is_ok());
         assert!(validate_identifier("kuboslopp").is_ok());
+        // Whitespace is valid — identifiers are stored verbatim on disk and
+        // percent-encoded when used in URLs (NIP-34 / GRASP-01)
+        assert!(validate_identifier("kuboslopp by Shakespeare").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_identifier("my\trepo").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_identifier("my repo").is_ok());
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -1593,19 +1593,12 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn test_validate_identifier_rejects_whitespace() {
-        assert!(validate_identifier("kuboslopp by Shakespeare").is_err());
-        assert!(validate_identifier("my\trepo").is_err());
-        assert!(validate_identifier("my\nrepo").is_err());
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn test_validate_announcement_rejects_identifier_with_spaces() {
+    fn test_validate_announcement_accepts_identifier_with_spaces() {
         use crate::config::Config;
         use crate::nostr::policy::AnnouncementResult;
 
         let keys = create_test_keys();
-        // Identifier contains spaces — should be rejected regardless of clone/relay tags
+        // Identifier contains spaces — valid per NIP-34; must be percent-encoded in URLs
         let event = create_announcement_event(
             &keys,
             "kuboslopp by Shakespeare",
@@ -1618,14 +1611,10 @@ mod tests {
             ..Config::for_testing()
         };
         let result = validate_announcement(&event, &config);
-        if let AnnouncementResult::Reject(reason) = result {
-            assert!(
-                reason.contains("whitespace") || reason.contains("identifier"),
-                "unexpected rejection reason: {}",
-                reason
-            );
-        } else {
-            panic!("Expected Reject for identifier with spaces, got {:?}", result);
-        }
+        assert!(
+            matches!(result, AnnouncementResult::Accept),
+            "Expected Accept for identifier with spaces, got {:?}",
+            result
+        );
     }
 }