diff --git a/packages/app/src/Pages/LoginPage.tsx b/packages/app/src/Pages/LoginPage.tsx
index 4e81fbef..01474f4d 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/Pages/LoginPage.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/Pages/LoginPage.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
 import { useIntl, FormattedMessage } from "react-intl";
 import { HexKey, Nip46Signer, NotEncrypted, PinEncrypted, PrivateKeySigner } from "@snort/system";
 
-import { bech32ToHex, getPublicKey, isHex, unwrap } from "SnortUtils";
+import { bech32ToHex, getPublicKey, unwrap } from "SnortUtils";
 import ZapButton from "Element/Event/ZapButton";
 import useImgProxy from "Hooks/useImgProxy";
 import Icon from "Icons/Icon";
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import Copy from "Element/Copy";
 import { delay } from "SnortUtils";
 import { PinPrompt } from "Element/PinPrompt";
 import useEventPublisher from "Hooks/useEventPublisher";
+import { isHex } from "@snort/shared";
 
 declare global {
   interface Window {
diff --git a/packages/app/src/SnortUtils/index.ts b/packages/app/src/SnortUtils/index.ts
index c2e50114..d153bc2e 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/SnortUtils/index.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/SnortUtils/index.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import {
   NostrLink,
   UserMetadata,
 } from "@snort/system";
-import { isOffline } from "@snort/shared";
+import { isHex, isOffline } from "@snort/shared";
 import { Day } from "Const";
 import AnimalName from "Element/User/AnimalName";
 
@@ -152,14 +152,6 @@ export function deepClone<T>(obj: T) {
   }
 }
 
-export function isHex(s: string) {
-  // 48-57 = 0-9
-  // 65-90 = A-Z
-  // 97-122 = a-z
-  return [...s]
-    .map(v => v.charCodeAt(0))
-    .every(v => (v >= 48 && v <= 57) || (v >= 65 && v <= 90) || v >= 97 || v <= 122);
-}
 /**
  * Simple debounce
  */
diff --git a/packages/app/src/Zapper.ts b/packages/app/src/Zapper.ts
index c5113a67..0ec9e15e 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/Zapper.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/Zapper.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import { LNURL } from "@snort/shared";
+import { LNURL, isHex } from "@snort/shared";
 import { EventPublisher, NostrEvent, NostrLink, SystemInterface } from "@snort/system";
 import { generateRandomKey } from "Login";
-import { isHex } from "SnortUtils";
 import { LNWallet, WalletInvoiceState } from "Wallet";
 
 export interface ZapTarget {
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/utils.ts b/packages/shared/src/utils.ts
index 80d04af5..6976140d 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/utils.ts
@@ -227,3 +227,12 @@ export function throwIfOffline() {
 export function isOffline() {
   return !("navigator" in globalThis && globalThis.navigator.onLine);
 }
+
+export function isHex(s: string) {
+  // 48-57 = 0-9
+  // 65-90 = A-Z
+  // 97-122 = a-z
+  return [...s]
+    .map(v => v.charCodeAt(0))
+    .every(v => (v >= 48 && v <= 57) || (v >= 65 && v <= 90) || v >= 97 || v <= 122);
+}
diff --git a/packages/system/src/nostr-link.ts b/packages/system/src/nostr-link.ts
index 599aec43..697be955 100644
--- a/packages/system/src/nostr-link.ts
+++ b/packages/system/src/nostr-link.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { bech32ToHex, hexToBech32, unwrap } from "@snort/shared";
+import { bech32ToHex, hexToBech32, isHex, unwrap } from "@snort/shared";
 import {
   decodeTLV,
   encodeTLV,
@@ -19,15 +19,24 @@ export class NostrLink {
     readonly kind?: number,
     readonly author?: string,
     readonly relays?: Array<string>,
-  ) {}
+  ) {
+    if (type !== NostrPrefix.Address && !isHex(id)) {
+      throw new Error("ID must be hex");
+    }
+  }
 
   encode(type?: NostrPrefix): string {
-    // cant encode 'naddr' to 'note'/'nevent' because 'id' is not hex
-    let newType = this.type === NostrPrefix.Address ? this.type : type ?? this.type;
-    if (newType === NostrPrefix.Note || newType === NostrPrefix.PrivateKey || newType === NostrPrefix.PublicKey) {
-      return hexToBech32(newType, this.id);
-    } else {
-      return encodeTLV(newType, this.id, this.relays, this.kind, this.author);
+    try {
+      // cant encode 'naddr' to 'note'/'nevent' because 'id' is not hex
+      let newType = this.type === NostrPrefix.Address ? this.type : type ?? this.type;
+      if (newType === NostrPrefix.Note || newType === NostrPrefix.PrivateKey || newType === NostrPrefix.PublicKey) {
+        return hexToBech32(newType, this.id);
+      } else {
+        return encodeTLV(newType, this.id, this.relays, this.kind, this.author);
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.error("Invalid data", this, e);
+      throw e;
     }
   }
 
@@ -201,7 +210,10 @@ export function tryParseNostrLink(link: string, prefixHint?: NostrPrefix): Nostr
 }
 
 export function parseNostrLink(link: string, prefixHint?: NostrPrefix): NostrLink {
-  const entity = link.startsWith("web+nostr:") || link.startsWith("nostr:") ? link.split(":")[1] : link;
+  let entity = link.startsWith("web+nostr:") || link.startsWith("nostr:") ? link.split(":")[1] : link;
+
+  // trim any non-bech32 chars
+  entity = entity.match(/(n(?:pub|profile|event|ote|addr)1[acdefghjklmnpqrstuvwxyz023456789]+)/)?.[0] ?? entity;
 
   const isPrefix = (prefix: NostrPrefix) => {
     return entity.startsWith(prefix);