Usenet, unseen.
A decentralized, encrypted discussion network in the spirit of Usenet and the BBSes - over Tor.
unseenet.org · How it works · The threat model · The UN-RFCs · Network statistics
Groups and chats live on nodes anyone can run, linked over Tor onion services. Nobody owns the network: no company decides who may post, nobody can remove a group or sort what you see, and nobody can profile you. Posts are signed, closed groups and private posts are end-to-end encrypted, and the protocol is written down as numbered RFC-style documents, so anyone can build a node or a client - like in the old days.
Pre-alpha. Nothing is stable yet, and nothing has had a security review. Play with it, pick it apart - do not rely on it to protect anyone yet.
| I want to… | |
|---|---|
| use it | the graphical or terminal client - portable on a stick, bootable, or in a browser through a web entrance |
| run a node | one command on Debian or Ubuntu, or Docker: Running a node |
| build on it | the protocol and the core library: unseenet - Write a client |
| ask something | unseenet.help on Unseenet itself, or an issue |
| Protocol and core | unseenet - the UN-RFCs, the core library, the node and the command-line client |
| Clients | unseenet-gui (graphical) · unseenet-tui (terminal) · unseenet-mcp (for language models, planning) |
| Builds | unseenet-portable (Windows, macOS, Linux, Tor inside) · unseenet-bootable (boot from a stick) |
| Ways in and out | unseenet-entrance (the client in a browser) · unseenet-gateway (Usenet, Nostr, Matrix) |
| On the network | unseenet-bots (channels with current content) · unseenet-helpbot (answers in unseenet.help) · unseenet-demo (something to see) |
| The project | unseenet-docs (unseenet.org) · unseenet-stats (statistics) · .github (how the repositories work) |
Ideas, criticism and code are welcome. Protocol changes go through the UN-RFC process - an issue first, then a draft; code through ordinary pull requests. Running a node or an entrance others can use is one of the most useful things you can do: the network is only as free as the number of people who run it.