diff --git a/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/index.ts b/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/index.ts
index 7703ba2..691e16a 100644
--- a/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/index.ts
+++ b/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import metricsRouter from "./metrics.js";
 import worldRouter from "./world.js";
 import identityRouter from "./identity.js";
 import estimateRouter from "./estimate.js";
+import relayRouter from "./relay.js";
 
 const router: IRouter = Router();
 
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ router.use(estimateRouter);
 router.use(bootstrapRouter);
 router.use(sessionsRouter);
 router.use(identityRouter);
+router.use(relayRouter);
 router.use(demoRouter);
 router.use(testkitRouter);
 router.use(uiRouter);
diff --git a/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/relay.ts b/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/relay.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..33b72a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artifacts/api-server/src/routes/relay.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/**
+ * relay.ts — Nostr relay write-policy API
+ *
+ * POST /api/relay/policy
+ *   Internal endpoint called exclusively by the relay-policy sidecar.
+ *   Protected by a shared secret (RELAY_POLICY_SECRET env var) sent as a
+ *   Bearer token in the Authorization header.
+ *
+ *   Body: strfry plugin event object
+ *   {
+ *     event: { id, pubkey, kind, created_at, tags, content, sig },
+ *     receivedAt: number,
+ *     sourceType: "IP4" | "IP6" | ...,
+ *     sourceInfo: string
+ *   }
+ *
+ *   Response: strfry plugin decision
+ *   { id: string, action: "accept" | "reject" | "shadowReject", msg?: string }
+ *
+ * Bootstrap state (Task #36):
+ *   All events are rejected until the account whitelist is implemented.
+ *   The endpoint and decision contract are stable; future tasks extend the
+ *   logic without changing the API shape.
+ */
+
+import { Router, type Request, type Response } from "express";
+import { makeLogger } from "../lib/logger.js";
+
+const logger = makeLogger("relay-policy");
+const router = Router();
+
+const RELAY_POLICY_SECRET = process.env["RELAY_POLICY_SECRET"] ?? "";
+
+// ── Types ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+type PolicyAction = "accept" | "reject" | "shadowReject";
+
+interface NostrEvent {
+  id: string;
+  pubkey: string;
+  kind: number;
+  created_at: number;
+  tags: string[][];
+  content: string;
+  sig: string;
+}
+
+interface PolicyRequest {
+  event: NostrEvent;
+  receivedAt: number;
+  sourceType: string;
+  sourceInfo: string;
+}
+
+interface PolicyDecision {
+  id: string;
+  action: PolicyAction;
+  msg: string;
+}
+
+// ── Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function reject(id: string, msg: string): PolicyDecision {
+  return { id, action: "reject", msg };
+}
+
+// ── POST /relay/policy ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+router.post("/relay/policy", (req: Request, res: Response) => {
+  // ── Authentication — Bearer token must match RELAY_POLICY_SECRET ──────────
+  if (RELAY_POLICY_SECRET) {
+    const authHeader = req.headers["authorization"] ?? "";
+    const token = authHeader.startsWith("Bearer ") ? authHeader.slice(7).trim() : "";
+    if (token !== RELAY_POLICY_SECRET) {
+      // Use constant-time-ish comparison for secret matching
+      res.status(401).json({ error: "Unauthorized" });
+      return;
+    }
+  } else {
+    // No secret configured — warn and allow only from localhost/loopback
+    const ip = req.ip ?? "";
+    const isLocal = ip === "127.0.0.1" || ip === "::1" || ip === "::ffff:127.0.0.1";
+    if (!isLocal) {
+      logger.warn("relay/policy: no secret configured, rejecting non-local call", { ip });
+      res.status(401).json({ error: "Unauthorized" });
+      return;
+    }
+    logger.warn("relay/policy: RELAY_POLICY_SECRET not set — accepting local-only calls");
+  }
+
+  // ── Validate request body ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  const body = req.body as Partial<PolicyRequest>;
+  const event = body.event;
+
+  if (!event || typeof event !== "object") {
+    res.status(400).json({ error: "Missing 'event' in request body" });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const eventId = typeof event.id === "string" ? event.id : "unknown";
+  const pubkey  = typeof event.pubkey === "string" ? event.pubkey : "";
+  const kind    = typeof event.kind === "number" ? event.kind : -1;
+
+  // ── Policy decision ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  //
+  // Bootstrap state: reject everything.
+  //
+  // This is intentional — the relay is deployed but closed until the account
+  // whitelist (Task #37) is implemented. Once the whitelist route is live,
+  // this function will:
+  //   1. Check nostr_identities whitelist for pubkey
+  //   2. Check event pre-approval queue for moderated content
+  //   3. Return accept / shadowReject based on tier and moderation status
+  //
+  const decision = evaluatePolicy(eventId, pubkey, kind);
+
+  logger.info("relay policy decision", {
+    eventId: eventId.slice(0, 8),
+    pubkey: pubkey.slice(0, 8),
+    kind,
+    action: decision.action,
+    sourceType: body.sourceType,
+  });
+
+  res.json(decision);
+});
+
+/**
+ * Evaluate the write policy for an incoming event.
+ *
+ * Bootstrap: all events rejected until whitelist is implemented (Task #37).
+ * The function signature is stable — future tasks replace the body.
+ */
+function evaluatePolicy(
+  eventId: string,
+  pubkey: string,
+  _kind: number,
+): PolicyDecision {
+  void pubkey; // will be used in Task #37 whitelist check
+
+  return reject(
+    eventId,
+    "relay not yet open — whitelist pending (Task #37)",
+  );
+}
+
+export default router;
diff --git a/infrastructure/docker-compose.yml b/infrastructure/docker-compose.yml
index 02d762a..580d76d 100644
--- a/infrastructure/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/infrastructure/docker-compose.yml
@@ -66,6 +66,58 @@ services:
     networks:
       - node-net
 
+  # ── Nostr relay ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  relay-policy:
+    # Write-policy sidecar: receives strfry plugin decisions, forwards to API server.
+    # Started before strfry so the plugin script can immediately reach it.
+    build:
+      context: ./relay-policy
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+    container_name: relay-policy
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      - PORT=3080
+      # Base URL of the Timmy API server (no trailing slash).
+      # Example: https://alexanderwhitestone.com
+      - RELAY_API_URL=${RELAY_API_URL:-}
+      # Shared secret — must match RELAY_POLICY_SECRET in the API server's env.
+      - RELAY_POLICY_SECRET=${RELAY_POLICY_SECRET:-}
+    networks:
+      - node-net
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://localhost:3080/health"]
+      interval: 15s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
+
+  strfry:
+    # strfry — high-performance Nostr relay written in C++.
+    # All inbound events pass through the relay-policy sidecar before storage.
+    image: ghcr.io/hoytech/strfry:latest
+    container_name: strfry
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      relay-policy:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    volumes:
+      - strfry_data:/data/strfry-db
+      - ./strfry.conf:/etc/strfry.conf:ro
+      # Plugin bridge script: reads events from strfry stdin, calls relay-policy HTTP.
+      - ./relay-policy/plugin.sh:/usr/local/bin/relay-policy-plugin:ro
+    ports:
+      - "7777:7777"
+    command: ["strfry", "--config=/etc/strfry.conf", "relay"]
+    networks:
+      - node-net
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "sh", "-c", "echo >/dev/tcp/localhost/7777"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
+      start_period: 15s
+
 networks:
   node-net:
     driver: bridge
@@ -89,3 +141,12 @@ volumes:
       type: none
       o: bind
       device: /data/lnbits
+  strfry_data:
+    # Persistent event database — survives container restarts and upgrades.
+    # Operator must create /data/strfry on the VPS before first launch:
+    #   mkdir -p /data/strfry && chmod 700 /data/strfry
+    driver: local
+    driver_opts:
+      type: none
+      o: bind
+      device: /data/strfry
diff --git a/infrastructure/ops.sh b/infrastructure/ops.sh
index a551e06..c79f2c3 100755
--- a/infrastructure/ops.sh
+++ b/infrastructure/ops.sh
@@ -318,6 +318,29 @@ CONF
     bash "$INFRA_DIR/sweep.sh"
     ;;
 
+  relay:logs)
+    echo -e "${CYAN}Tailing strfry relay logs (Ctrl-C to stop)...${NC}"
+    docker compose logs -f --tail=100 strfry relay-policy
+    ;;
+
+  relay:restart)
+    echo -e "${CYAN}Restarting Nostr relay services...${NC}"
+    docker compose restart relay-policy
+    sleep 2
+    docker compose restart strfry
+    echo -e "${GREEN}Done — relay services restarted.${NC}"
+    docker compose ps relay-policy strfry
+    ;;
+
+  relay:status)
+    echo -e "\n${CYAN}── Nostr relay ───────────────────────────────${NC}"
+    docker compose ps relay-policy strfry
+    echo -e "\n${CYAN}── relay-policy health ───────────────────────${NC}"
+    docker exec relay-policy wget -qO- http://localhost:3080/health 2>/dev/null \
+      | (command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1 && jq . || cat) \
+      || echo "relay-policy not ready"
+    ;;
+
   help|*)
     echo -e "\n${CYAN}Timmy Node operations:${NC}"
     echo ""
@@ -335,6 +358,10 @@ CONF
     echo "  bash ops.sh configure-sweep — interactively set address, thresholds, frequency"
     echo "  bash ops.sh run-sweep       — run sweep immediately (outside of cron schedule)"
     echo ""
+    echo "  bash ops.sh relay:logs      — tail strfry + relay-policy logs"
+    echo "  bash ops.sh relay:restart   — restart relay-policy then strfry (safe order)"
+    echo "  bash ops.sh relay:status    — show relay container status + health"
+    echo ""
     ;;
 
 esac
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/.gitignore b/infrastructure/relay-policy/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..320c107
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+node_modules/
+dist/
+package-lock.json
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/Dockerfile b/infrastructure/relay-policy/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25403e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+## relay-policy sidecar — multi-stage build
+##
+## Stage 1: compile TypeScript to ES modules
+## Stage 2: minimal runtime image (no dev deps, no compiler)
+
+FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY package.json tsconfig.json ./
+RUN npm install
+COPY index.ts ./
+RUN npx tsc
+
+# ── runtime ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+FROM node:22-alpine AS runtime
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --from=builder /app/dist/index.js ./index.js
+EXPOSE 3080
+CMD ["node", "index.js"]
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/index.ts b/infrastructure/relay-policy/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ce010f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+/**
+ * relay-policy — Nostr relay write-policy sidecar
+ *
+ * Receives strfry plugin decision requests (one JSON object per HTTP POST to
+ * /decide) and forwards them to the API server's /api/relay/policy endpoint.
+ * Translates the API server's structured response into the flat decision JSON
+ * that strfry's plugin protocol expects.
+ *
+ * Environment:
+ *   PORT                  — HTTP port to listen on (default: 3080)
+ *   RELAY_API_URL         — base URL of the API server, no trailing slash
+ *                           e.g. https://alexanderwhitestone.com
+ *   RELAY_POLICY_SECRET   — shared secret; sent as Bearer token to the API
+ *                           so the /api/relay/policy route can verify origin
+ *
+ * strfry plugin stdin/stdout protocol:
+ *   Input  per event: {"event":{...},"receivedAt":N,"sourceType":"...","sourceInfo":"..."}
+ *   Output per event: {"id":"<event-id>","action":"accept|reject|shadowReject","msg":"..."}
+ */
+
+import * as http from "http";
+
+const PORT    = parseInt(process.env["PORT"] ?? "3080", 10);
+const API_URL = (process.env["RELAY_API_URL"] ?? "").replace(/\/$/, "");
+const SECRET  = process.env["RELAY_POLICY_SECRET"] ?? "";
+
+if (!API_URL) {
+  console.error("[relay-policy] RELAY_API_URL is not set — rejecting all events");
+}
+if (!SECRET) {
+  console.warn("[relay-policy] RELAY_POLICY_SECRET is not set — all API calls will be unauthenticated");
+}
+
+// ── Decision types ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+type StrfryAction = "accept" | "reject" | "shadowReject";
+
+interface StrfryInput {
+  event: {
+    id: string;
+    pubkey: string;
+    kind: number;
+    created_at: number;
+    tags: string[][];
+    content: string;
+    sig: string;
+  };
+  receivedAt: number;
+  sourceType: string;
+  sourceInfo: string;
+}
+
+interface StrfryDecision {
+  id: string;
+  action: StrfryAction;
+  msg: string;
+}
+
+// ── Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function rejectDecision(id: string, msg: string): StrfryDecision {
+  return { id, action: "reject", msg };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Forward the strfry event payload to the API server and return its decision.
+ * Falls back to reject if the API call fails or times out.
+ */
+async function fetchPolicyDecision(payload: StrfryInput): Promise<StrfryDecision> {
+  const eventId = payload.event?.id ?? "unknown";
+
+  if (!API_URL) {
+    return rejectDecision(eventId, "relay-policy: no API URL configured");
+  }
+
+  const url = `${API_URL}/api/relay/policy`;
+  const headers: Record<string, string> = {
+    "Content-Type": "application/json",
+  };
+  if (SECRET) {
+    headers["Authorization"] = `Bearer ${SECRET}`;
+  }
+
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5_000);
+
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(url, {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers,
+      body: JSON.stringify(payload),
+      signal: controller.signal,
+    });
+    clearTimeout(timer);
+
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      console.error(`[relay-policy] API returned ${res.status} for event ${eventId.slice(0, 8)}`);
+      return rejectDecision(eventId, `policy API error: HTTP ${res.status}`);
+    }
+
+    const json = await res.json() as { action?: StrfryAction; msg?: string };
+    const action: StrfryAction =
+      json.action === "accept" || json.action === "shadowReject" ? json.action : "reject";
+
+    return { id: eventId, action, msg: json.msg ?? "" };
+  } catch (err) {
+    clearTimeout(timer);
+    const reason = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    console.warn(`[relay-policy] policy fetch failed for ${eventId.slice(0, 8)}: ${reason}`);
+    return rejectDecision(eventId, `policy fetch failed: ${reason}`);
+  }
+}
+
+// ── HTTP server ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
+  const url  = req.url ?? "/";
+  const method = req.method ?? "GET";
+
+  // Health-check
+  if (method === "GET" && url === "/health") {
+    res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
+    res.end(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, apiUrl: API_URL || null }));
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Decision endpoint — called by relay-policy-plugin shell script
+  if (method === "POST" && url === "/decide") {
+    let body = "";
+    req.on("data", chunk => { body += chunk; });
+    req.on("end", async () => {
+      let payload: StrfryInput;
+      try {
+        payload = JSON.parse(body) as StrfryInput;
+      } catch {
+        res.writeHead(400, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
+        res.end(JSON.stringify(rejectDecision("unknown", "invalid JSON")));
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const decision = await fetchPolicyDecision(payload);
+      res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
+      res.end(JSON.stringify(decision));
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
+  res.writeHead(404, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
+  res.end(JSON.stringify({ error: "not found" }));
+});
+
+server.listen(PORT, "0.0.0.0", () => {
+  console.log(`[relay-policy] listening on :${PORT}`);
+  console.log(`[relay-policy] API URL: ${API_URL || "(not set — all events will be rejected)"}`);
+});
+
+server.on("error", (err) => {
+  console.error("[relay-policy] server error:", err);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/package.json b/infrastructure/relay-policy/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3bbdf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "name": "relay-policy",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "description": "strfry write-policy sidecar for Timmy's sovereign Nostr relay",
+  "type": "module",
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "tsc",
+    "start": "node dist/index.js"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/node": "^22.0.0",
+    "typescript": "^5.8.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/plugin.sh b/infrastructure/relay-policy/plugin.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8a41791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/plugin.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+##
+## relay-policy-plugin — strfry write-policy plugin
+##
+## strfry starts this script once and feeds it JSON lines on stdin (one per
+## event). The script forwards each line to the relay-policy HTTP sidecar and
+## echoes the sidecar's JSON decision to stdout. If the sidecar is unavailable
+## the event is rejected with a safe fallback so the relay does not accept
+## unapproved events during a transient outage.
+##
+## stdin  format: {"event":{...},"receivedAt":N,"sourceType":"...","sourceInfo":"..."}
+## stdout format: {"id":"<event-id>","action":"accept|reject|shadowReject","msg":"..."}
+##
+
+RELAY_POLICY_URL="${RELAY_POLICY_URL:-http://relay-policy:3080/decide}"
+
+while IFS= read -r line; do
+  # Extract event id for the fallback response — pure bash, no external tools.
+  event_id=$(printf '%s' "$line" \
+    | grep -o '"id":"[^"]*"' \
+    | head -1 \
+    | sed 's/"id":"//; s/"//')
+
+  decision=$(printf '%s' "$line" \
+    | curl -sf --max-time 5 \
+        -X POST "$RELAY_POLICY_URL" \
+        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+        --data-binary @- 2>/dev/null)
+
+  if [[ -z "$decision" ]]; then
+    printf '{"id":"%s","action":"reject","msg":"policy service unavailable"}\n' \
+      "${event_id:-unknown}"
+  else
+    printf '%s\n' "$decision"
+  fi
+done
diff --git a/infrastructure/relay-policy/tsconfig.json b/infrastructure/relay-policy/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..038914b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/relay-policy/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "target": "ES2022",
+    "module": "ESNext",
+    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
+    "outDir": "dist",
+    "rootDir": ".",
+    "strict": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "declaration": false,
+    "lib": ["ES2022"]
+  },
+  "include": ["index.ts"],
+  "exclude": ["dist", "node_modules"]
+}
diff --git a/infrastructure/strfry.conf b/infrastructure/strfry.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..356c8c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/strfry.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+##
+## strfry.conf — Timmy's sovereign Nostr relay
+##
+## All events pass through the relay-policy sidecar before being accepted.
+## No event is stored without explicit approval from the API server.
+##
+
+db = "/data/strfry-db"
+
+relay {
+    bind = "0.0.0.0"
+    port = 7777
+
+    info {
+        name = "Timmy Relay"
+        description = "Timmy's sovereign Nostr relay — whitelist-only"
+        pubkey = ""
+        contact = ""
+        icon = ""
+    }
+
+    # Maximum WebSocket payload size (bytes).
+    # 131072 = 128 KiB — generous for NIP-09 deletions but not abusable.
+    maxWebsocketPayloadSize = 131072
+
+    autoPingSeconds = 55
+    enableTcpKeepalive = false
+    queryTimesliceBudgetMicroseconds = 10000
+    maxFilterLimit = 500
+    maxSubsPerConnection = 20
+
+    writePolicy {
+        # Plugin receives JSON lines on stdin, writes decision lines to stdout.
+        # The plugin script bridges each event to the relay-policy HTTP sidecar.
+        plugin = "/usr/local/bin/relay-policy-plugin"
+    }
+
+    compression {
+        enabled = true
+        slidingWindow = true
+    }
+
+    logging {
+        dumpInAll = false
+        dumpInEvents = false
+        dumpInReqs = false
+        dbScanPerf = false
+        quiet = false
+    }
+
+    numThreads {
+        ingester = 3
+        reqWorker = 3
+        reqMonitor = 1
+        negentropy = 2
+    }
+
+    # Accept events up to 64 KiB — NIP-01 compliant maximum.
+    maxEventSize = 65536
+
+    # Allow ephemeral events (kinds 20000–29999) — needed for NIP-04 DMs.
+    rejectEphemeral = false
+}