diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index adbacfcb..c16685ca 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 {
   "editor.formatOnSave": true,
   "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
-  "prettier.trailingComma": "all"
+  "prettier.trailingComma": "all",
+  "[typescript]": {
+    "editor.defaultFormatter": "vscode.typescript-language-features"
+  }
 }
diff --git a/examples/nwc/client/hold-invoice.ts b/examples/nwc/client/hold-invoice.ts
index 9eb0a939..001f05eb 100644
--- a/examples/nwc/client/hold-invoice.ts
+++ b/examples/nwc/client/hold-invoice.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import "websocket-polyfill"; // required in node.js
+import { generatePreimageAndPaymentHash } from "../../../src/utils";
+
 
 import * as readline from "node:readline/promises";
 import { stdin as input, stdout as output } from "node:process";
@@ -21,15 +23,12 @@ const client = new NWCClient({
   nostrWalletConnectUrl: nwcUrl,
 });
 
-const toHexString = (bytes) =>
-  bytes.reduce((str, byte) => str + byte.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"), "");
 
-const preimageBytes = crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(32));
-const preimage = toHexString(preimageBytes);
+// Use shared utility instead of duplicating crypto logic
+
+const { preimage, paymentHash } =
+  await generatePreimageAndPaymentHash();
 
-const hashBuffer = await crypto.subtle.digest("SHA-256", preimageBytes);
-const paymentHashBytes = new Uint8Array(hashBuffer);
-const paymentHash = toHexString(paymentHashBytes);
 
 const response = await client.makeHoldInvoice({
   amount, // in millisats
diff --git a/src/nwc/NWCClient.test.ts b/src/nwc/NWCClient.test.ts
index fa430cbe..c237d53c 100644
--- a/src/nwc/NWCClient.test.ts
+++ b/src/nwc/NWCClient.test.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,25 @@ describe("parseWalletConnectUrl", () => {
     ]);
   });
 });
+describe("parseWalletConnectUrl validation", () => {
+  test("throws when no relay is provided", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      NWCClient.parseWalletConnectUrl(
+        "nostr+walletconnect://abc123",
+      ),
+    ).toThrow();
+  });
+
+  test("throws when secret is required but missing", () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      new NWCClient({
+        nostrWalletConnectUrl:
+          "nostr+walletconnect://abc123?relay=wss://relay.example.com",
+      }),
+    ).toThrow();
+  });
+});
+
 
 describe("NWCClient", () => {
   test("standard protocol", () => {
diff --git a/src/nwc/NWCClient.ts b/src/nwc/NWCClient.ts
index cc171ffa..a18668b8 100644
--- a/src/nwc/NWCClient.ts
+++ b/src/nwc/NWCClient.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,37 @@ export class NWCClient {
   options: NWCOptions;
   private _encryptionType: Nip47EncryptionType | undefined;
 
+
+
+
+  static validateWalletConnectUrl(
+    options: NWCOptions,
+    requireSecret = false,
+  ) {
+    if (!options.walletPubkey) {
+      throw new Error("Invalid WalletConnect URL: missing wallet pubkey");
+    }
+
+    if (!options.relayUrls || options.relayUrls.length === 0) {
+      throw new Error("Invalid WalletConnect URL: no relay URLs provided");
+    }
+
+    for (const relay of options.relayUrls) {
+      try {
+        new URL(relay);
+      } catch {
+        throw new Error(`Invalid relay URL: ${relay}`);
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (requireSecret && !options.secret) {
+      throw new Error(
+        "Invalid WalletConnect URL: missing secret parameter",
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+
   static parseWalletConnectUrl(walletConnectUrl: string): NWCOptions {
     // makes it possible to parse with URL in the different environments (browser/node/...)
     // parses both new and legacy protocols, with or without "//"
@@ -107,13 +138,18 @@ export class NWCClient {
     if (lud16) {
       options.lud16 = lud16;
     }
+    NWCClient.validateWalletConnectUrl(options);
     return options;
   }
 
   constructor(options?: NewNWCClientOptions) {
     if (options && options.nostrWalletConnectUrl) {
+      const parsed = NWCClient.parseWalletConnectUrl(
+        options.nostrWalletConnectUrl,
+      );
+      NWCClient.validateWalletConnectUrl(parsed, true);
       options = {
-        ...NWCClient.parseWalletConnectUrl(options.nostrWalletConnectUrl),
+        ...parsed,
         ...options,
       };
     }
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index da46af09..45e1f574 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,23 @@
+import crypto from "crypto";
 // from https://stackoverflow.com/a/50868276
-export const toHexString = (bytes: Uint8Array) =>
+const toHexString = (bytes: Uint8Array) =>
   bytes.reduce((str, byte) => str + byte.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"), "");
+
+async function generatePreimageAndPaymentHash(): Promise<{
+  preimage: string;
+  paymentHash: string;
+}> {
+  const preimageBytes = crypto.randomBytes(32);
+  const preimage = toHexString(preimageBytes);
+
+  const hashBuffer = crypto.createHash("sha256").update(preimageBytes).digest();
+  const paymentHash = toHexString(hashBuffer);
+
+  return { preimage, paymentHash };
+}
+
+
+export {
+  toHexString,
+  generatePreimageAndPaymentHash,
+};