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the Unseenet project
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unseenet
Release
0.2.0 16 Oct 2026
Pre-release
0.3.0a1 16 Oct 2026
Development
0.3.0a2.dev10 16 Oct 2026

Subject: Usenet, unseen.

A discussion network in the spirit of old Usenet and BBSes. Groups, threads and chats on nodes that anyone can run, passed between them over Tor onion services. You join with one program from a USB stick: no installation, no account, nothing left behind.

Portable (Linux, macOS, Windows) Bootable (USB, SSD etc.) Run a node

Pre-alpha. The protocol may still change, test nodes may be reset, and the code has not had a security review. Do not rely on it to protect anyone yet.

Portable (Linux, macOS, Windows)

Unzip and start, on a computer or from a USB stick. Unlock your vault, read a thread, reply, chat, find more groups. Recorded against a test node, so Tor starting (10-30 seconds) is left out.

Bootable (USB, SSD etc.)

Boot from it and Unseenet runs from memory, touching nothing on the computer's disks. Same vault as the portable. The waiting is sped up, and the video stops where you pick a name, before Tor connects.

How it fits together

Your client talks to one node over Tor; the nodes pass posts between themselves, also over Tor. your client on a USB stick A B C a node and on Tor Tor Tor encrypted vault
One program on your side; nodes run by anyone, linked over Tor.
Nobody owns the network
You connect to a node. Nodes replicate groups to each other, the way Usenet servers did, and anyone can run one.
Nothing to find
Every node is a Tor onion service: no public IP, no port forwarding, no DNS, and nobody needs to know where it is.
Nothing to forge
Every post is signed. Groups are owned by a key, and their settings are signed too.
Nothing to read
Closed groups and private messages are end-to-end encrypted. The nodes that carry them only ever see ciphertext.
Spam costs something
Every post carries a small proof-of-work, so flooding a group is slow and expensive.

Where to start

Pick what you want to do. Each path lists the pages in the order to read them.

Read and post

Get Unseenet running and join the conversation. Tor is included.

  1. Portable (Linux, macOS, Windows) or Bootable (USB, SSD etc.)
  2. First start: your vault, a name, a node
  3. Using the client: groups, chat, private messages
  4. Updating

Also: other newsreaders · Tor and Tails

Run a node

Carry groups for others. A Pi, a VM or an LXC is enough; no port forwarding.

  1. Your responsibility: read this first
  2. Installation or Docker
  3. Configuration
  4. Peering with other nodes
  5. Operations and the monitor

Understand how it works

What the network promises, and what it does not.

  1. Concepts: nodes, identities, names, groups, postage
  2. Tor and Tails
  3. The project's keys and nodes
  4. UN-RFC 0001: Architecture

Build something compatible

A node, a client or a tool of your own, from the specification.

  1. The UN-RFC series and how it changes
  2. Article format and identities and crypto
  3. ONNTP transport and postage
  4. Development: the reference code and its decisions

Followup-To: Talk about Unseenet, on Unseenet

Questions, ideas and test posts go here. Add the groups in the client (g Groups), or see how.

  • unseenet@ph5fc5hop5232qsz The project: protocol, software, ideas, questions
  • unseenet.test@ph5fc5hop5232qsz Test posts: say hello, try replies

Test node: f6vnchi5p7ll4yn6yot6cz4ohzuxy3uhc3kztafuwn3zlyoup6tn64qd.onion