Status: Phase 1 placeholder. Substantive content lands in Phase 5 per §8.1.

Statement

Messaging is a 1:1 NIP-17 gift-wrapped channel. Its UI prioritises immediacy of read/reply and clarity of identity. Every surface in the messaging product is downstream of the encrypted-event lifecycle: composing → sending → relayed → received → seen → read.

Why

Messaging is the canonical use of the EES-derived identity. It is also the surface where the security model is most visible — gift wraps, seals, rumors, the ephemeral-key envelope on every send, the self-copy publishing pattern. The UI must respect that the message exists in transit only as long as relays hold it (typically 48h NIP-59 backfill window) and that the local record is the one the user sees on reload.

Messaging's design discipline is therefore tied to the protocol it implements. A "look, an inbox" interpretation produces a messaging UI that lies about what the underlying system is doing — disappearing messages that aren't disappearing, "delivered" indicators that drift from reality, conversation lists that survive logout (they don't, by design).

How

This stub is intentionally thin. Substantive M-1 content matures in Phase 5 once Phase 1-4 PRs have established which messaging primitives carry which design rules. Expected coverage at maturity:

Conversation list as canonical surface; per-message detail as secondary
Seen / delivered / read indicator hierarchy and its honest semantics
Self-copy reconciliation visible in UI (the moment a sent message becomes delivered from the self-copy)
Composer as the privileged primary action surface (B-1 single CTA)
Empty state for first-time messaging (P-3)
Conversation export as a one-click-but-unobvious affordance

Phase 5 fills these in with audit citations and per-surface specifications.