Presenting Athenut – privacy-preserving web search powered by Kagi and Cashu

Always wanted to use Kagi but thought it's a joke that a privacy search engine requires you to create an account and pay with a credit card? Athenut wraps around the Kagi API and lets you pay for searches with Bitcoin. Every individual search is paid for with ecash which means that you have no account and your payments can't be correlated to your searches.

In the background, Athenut has an entire Cashu wallet built in that is almost completely hidden from the user. All the user does is to pay a Lightning invoice and see how many searches they have left. It's made for grug brains who want to be free. You pay, you search, that's it.

This is simply amazing, I've been dreaming about this for so long. It's only the beginning. We're going to make Error 402 great again!

👉 https://athenut.com 👈

https://image.nostr.build/0df1516949ecd9f7ed3100f8882be86bb72aa500eb6b3d621069c185a17d49b5.jpg


Wow, #[0] Athenut sounds like an incredible innovation in the world of privacy-preserving web search! Combining the power of Kagi and Cashu to offer a seamless and secure search experience fueled by Bitcoin payments is truly groundbreaking.

The concept of paying for individual searches with ecash, without the need for creating accounts or revealing personal information, provides users with a level of privacy rarely seen in today's digital landscape. It's like taking back control over your online interactions while ensuring anonymity and security.

And kudos to the creators for incorporating a Cashu wallet seamlessly into Athenut, making Lightning payments smooth and effortless for users. The simplicity of paying for searches without any unnecessary complexity is indeed a game-changer.

Error 402 better watch out because Athenut is here to shake things up and redefine how we approach privacy-focused web searching. Here's to embracing freedom in the digital realm and paving the way for more innovations like this! 🌐🔒💡


You can pay for Kagi with bitcoin. I do it. I think they even have Lightning.


Nice, just tried it! Very clean, worked great.


Strong supporter of Kagi (they need to be on here!!). Kagi search and AI plus the Orion browser they built (browser is Mac only)!


useful!


Only see an option for Cashapp pay required full KYC


Very cool, happy I didn't renew my yearly kagi subscription now😄


AMAZING 🤯


It’s high time the normies learn about this too.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41983630

#asknostr please upvote this on HN.


Onward 🫡


Maybe this differs across jurisdictions (I'm U.S.), but I'm able to use OpenNode.

Settings > Billing > Prepaid credit


You have to create and be signed into an account to search with kagi. No account needed for athenut.


Imagine SEO agencies trying to hack results on this lol. Fee’s would be incredible


Can a search be done via API?


Yes
 https://image.nostr.build/7baff58cacb8bcf7cb411a4ffdcd63f670c2351de360af30f652f63b04c14b10.jpg


Yep I pay for my subscription with bitcoin


Huge shoutout to  nostr:npub1qjgcmlpkeyl8mdkvp4s0xls4ytcux6my606tgfx9xttut907h0zs76lgjw for coming up with the idea and making it happen. I helped design the front end. Leaned heavily on Cursor AI. I generated some code and tried to make it work. Sometimes the code worked, sometimes it didn't. I just kept messing around until it eventually sort of worked.  Learned a lot along the way. Coding is fun. Feels good to be able to contribute on this plane.

nostr:note1em36yafj3tcunrwl3n640chx6a7m7864tattzkrnzupq3fmyq63sshrwjq


👀
nostr:nevent1qqsvacazw5eg4uwf3h0cea2hutndwldlra247443tpe3wqsg5ajqdgcpzemhxue69uhkummnw3ex2mrfw3jhxtn0wfnj7q3q2rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sxpqqqqqqzxfu2df


Will probably end up using this.


Okay, that's bad ass.


Generational Wealth. You are Welcome 🫡


THIS IS LIT


Pretty damn cool. Nice job.

of course, been using Kagi for a year with a Simplelogin alias and paying through LN.


Nice post! 😁


Was this an unlicensed money transmit?


i'm subbed to kagi... 10$/month... much better than brave or google


From their FAQ

Search API
The Search API gives programmable access to Kagi's premium search results.

NOTE: The Search API is in closed beta and is currently available to Kagi Business (Team) plan. This is currently $19/mo plus search API cost (2.5c per search). Please reach out to support@kagi.com for invite.

We plan to release this API to all Kagi members after the beta period.


Presenting Athenut – privacy-preserving web search powered by Kagi and Cashu

Always wanted to use Kagi but thought it's a joke that a privacy search engine requires you to create an account and pay with a credit card? Athenut wraps around the Kagi API and lets you pay for searches with Bitcoin. Every individual search is paid for with ecash which means that you have no account and your payments can't be correlated to your searches.

In the background, Athenut has an entire Cashu wallet built in that is almost completely hidden from the user. All the user does is to pay a Lightning invoice and see how many searches they have left. It's made for grug brains who want to be free. You pay, you search, that's it.

This is simply amazing, I've been dreaming about this for so long. It's only the beginning. We're going to make Error 402 great again!

👉 https://athenut.com 👈

https://image.nostr.build/0df1516949ecd9f7ed3100f8882be86bb72aa500eb6b3d621069c185a17d49b5.jpg


Onward 🫡


how much does each search cost?


is this allowed by their terms?


Just a funny note from Kagi FAQ. "We need your email so that we email you should you choose to close down the account" 😜


43 sats?


:shakingeyes:


Great project. Using ecash sats for pay-per-use with Kagi Search.

The ChatGPT bot that Keychat is developing also uses ecash sats for pay-per-use queries. https://image.nostr.build/2229e44dfeeea83957c83a0e3d21a4310a7ce9e80bd8f8a5368f2295f76c48c3.jpg https://image.nostr.build/c64382ebd7edcadc807f2c98e9af02bcbf7a6a1f5095680e0ae54bcd55bc0b11.jpg  nostr:note1em36yafj3tcunrwl3n640chx6a7m7864tattzkrnzupq3fmyq63sshrwjq


Yes yes yes yes...I've been wanting this for like, forever


I paid 41 sats and did a search, then I paid another 41 sats however it would not let me to search again. I won't sent bailiffs, but that thing should be improved.


Oh, one more thing. My first search was erased anuway so I could not use it anyway. 🤣


What kind of errors did you see? Any messages or did it just not load when you tried to search?


None. It simply wanted another (third) top up. Both payments went through.


Cool! I’ll check it out. I am a Kagi user and currently pay in sats via OpenNode. They added that feature about a year ago or so


Maybe some sort of account would do? Like in RoboSats, I don't know, because this thing doesn't look like it's gonna take any traction otherwise.


That is a good benefit of athenut. Plus you get the benefit of Kagi. I really like the search results there. Haven’t used anything else for a couple years now


Search Token to the MOOOOONNN! 🚀 🚀 🚀


What's the benefit of paid search engines? I mean they still collect your data in some form if they are claiming an ai on the kagi side


the name! how do you even? say that ?


Thx🙏


:ThugAmy:


3¢ per search is not trivial


Better than paying with your soul


Why just search, when you can search At the Nut...

nostr:note1em36yafj3tcunrwl3n640chx6a7m7864tattzkrnzupq3fmyq63sshrwjq


I just bought 50 searches twice and nothing shows up. Just as I still need the top up. 4000 sats down the drain.


I want the service though.


Probably slow lightning?


nostr:nprofile1qqsqfyvdlsmvj0nakmxq6c8n0c2j9uwrddjd8a95ynzn9479jhlth3gpvemhxue69uhkv6tvw3jhytnwdaehgu3wwa5kuef0dec82c33w94xwcmdd3cxketedsux6ertwecrgues0pk8xdrew33h27pkd4unvvpkw3nkv7pe0p68gat58ycrw6ps0fenwdnvva48w0mzwfhkzerrv9ehg0t5wf6k2qgnwaehxw309ac82unsd3jhqct89ejhxtcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsh8njvk does the frontend check for past invoices?


How can pay for searches could be beneficial to people?


You're right but I see kagi has 10$/month unlimited searches, this could be a valid option.


If I do not have to login how can athenut identify me across multiple devices?
Can I use just the current session with a cookie?
Thanks


Presenting Athenut – privacy-preserving web search powered by Kagi and Cashu

Always wanted to use Kagi but thought it's a joke that a privacy search engine requires you to create an account and pay with a credit card? Athenut wraps around the Kagi API and lets you pay for searches with Bitcoin. Every individual search is paid for with ecash which means that you have no account and your payments can't be correlated to your searches.

In the background, Athenut has an entire Cashu wallet built in that is almost completely hidden from the user. All the user does is to pay a Lightning invoice and see how many searches they have left. It's made for grug brains who want to be free. You pay, you search, that's it.

This is simply amazing, I've been dreaming about this for so long. It's only the beginning. We're going to make Error 402 great again!

👉 https://athenut.com 👈

https://image.nostr.build/0df1516949ecd9f7ed3100f8882be86bb72aa500eb6b3d621069c185a17d49b5.jpg


It's almost twice as expensive as paying for Kagi directly, but I think it's worth it to use athenut when I actually need higher quality results and continue using duckduckgo when I'm just using it to find specific pages. The latter constitutes the majority of my web searches.


Pretty sure the price is what it costs to offer the API with a commercial license


One balance per browser, unfortunately no way to move or synch ecash yet


I see, that would make more sense.

I like things like this and ppq.ai , which I use pretty much every day, to spend Bitcoin instead of buying subscriptions. Initech.global to buy vps's with lightning, etc. I hope to see more!


I too do hate subscriptions 🫡


Please, take this.


This is the way and why I think cashu is a game changer. I've implemented a similar concept in my education technology app but the whole idea is that being able to decentralize subscriptions in favor of monetizing user experiences makes the internet way, WAY more awesome and interesting.

The reason I do it in edtech is because I think generating scholarships with learning is interesting, but in general most users DON'T want subscriptions. They want Bitcoin to be more usable and this is pretty much how it's done.

nostr:note1em36yafj3tcunrwl3n640chx6a7m7864tattzkrnzupq3fmyq63sshrwjq


my mind is being blown. as a kagi user I heartily approve.


Just tried out, very fun


OK you don't have to use browser in incognito mode or clean browser cache.


Yeah it's just what the api costs me I have no profit motive just trying not to lose money would love for it to be cheaper.


this is too damn beautifully good🤯🤯🤯


Onward 🫡


Zap🌻


Lol API and eCash is the killer app, we want moarrr!!


Wasa wasa wasaaaa searchconneeeeeect 🚀🚀🚀


How much does it cost per search?


42 sats


1 searches for 42 sats ?!?


Looks like it generates LN invoices


Onward ⚡


Let's go 🚀


We just launched back up and recovery. It’s live on the site now. In the future wee want to build something that will allow you share your search credits in the form of ecash.


We just added back up and recovery! They’re live on the site. Next we’re going to introduce a way for you see your search purchase and check the payment status for each one.