Nikephoros 71 was deacon and chartophylax; he was the addressee of twenty nine of the surviving letters of Ignatius the Deacon (Ignatios 9); in some he is addressed simply as deacon, in others as chartophylax and in others as deacon and chartophylax (on the identification of the addressees as one and the same person, see the remarks of Mango, Ignatios, pp. 21-22): Ignatius Diac., Epp. 4, 14, 15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 (all addressed Νικηφόρῳ διακόνῳ καὶ χαρτοφύλακι or τῷ αὐτῷ), Epp. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 51, 60, 61, 62, 63 (all addressed Νικηφόρῳ διακόνῳ or τῷ αὐτῷ), Epp. 40, 41, 59 (all addressed Νικηφόρῳ χαρτοφύλακι or τῷ αὐτῷ). One letter from Nikephoros 71 to Ignatios 9 also survives: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 64 (Νικηφόρου Ἰγνατίῳ).

He is to be identified with the unnamed chartophylax at Constantinople whom Ignatios 9 called his spiritual brother and the most learned eye of the church (τοῦ σὺν ἡμῖν λογιωτάτου καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὀφθαλμοῦ καὶ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ ἡμῶν ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ χαρτοφύλακος); he and Ignatios 9 together tried to persuade Nikephoros 70 not to act against the terms of the marriage contract of Anonymus 765 and give the property of Anonyma 105 to Anonymus 766: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 19. This letter was written at Constantinople.

He was a man of learning who in his extant letter to Ignatios 9 defends a piece of his own writing against criticisms of its style from Ignatios 9: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 64. Other letters to him from Ignatios 9 contain allusions which indicate that he was learned in secular literature as well as in the scriptures and the Fathers; cf. Epp. 4, 14, 15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 47, 51, 59, 60, 62.

He was a supporter of the veneration of icons (cf. Ep. 30, lines 24ff.) and planned to write a work refuting a defence of iconoclasm by one of its leaders; he is addressed as ὦ τῆς ὀρθῆς καὶ εἰλικρινοῦς ἐπίκουρε πίστεως): Ignatius Diac., Ep. 30. He and Ignatios 9 together wrote a defence of orthodoxy (presumably a defence of icons): Ignatius Diac., Ep. 27. However he is said in one letter to have recanted (σε ... παλινῳδίαν ᾄσαντα) after first holding orthodox views (τὰ καλῶς συνομολογηθέντα) and then denying them (εἶτ' ἀθετηθέντα) in conversation with Ignatios 9 (suggesting that he had at first supported icons, then spoken against them, but then confirmed his support for them): Ignatius Diac., Ep. 40.

At one point he withdrew to a tiny island called Oxeia, apparently to find peace from the troubles that were besetting him; the island was small and bleak but he wrote a letter to Ignatios 9 extolling the island's splendours, to which Ignatios 9 replied expressing his hopes that he would soon move to some better place: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 37. Ignatios 9 complained that the sharpness of Nikephoros 71's pen and the smallness of his writing made the reading of his letters very difficult: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 38. He received gifts of oil, fish and vegetables from Ignatios 9: Ignatius Diac., Ep. 4 (oil), 14 (fish), 46 (leeks).

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