Guides
Start Here: Komms in Plain Words
No cryptography knowledge needed. Five minutes.
What is this?
Komms is a messenger being built so that nobody between you and the person you're writing to can read, scan, or block your messages: not a company, not a government scanner, not the network itself. Not because a policy promises it, but because the messages protect themselves and no mandatory provider can open them.
Three things make it different from the messengers you know:
- There is no mandatory company in the middle. WhatsApp, Telegram, even Signal depend on servers operated by one organization. Komms messages travel directly between devices, through volunteers, or over radio. Optional convenience services can help wake a sleeping phone or find a paired friend, but they cannot read messages and communication still works without them.
- It works when the internet doesn't. Messages can travel over small, ~€30 Meshtastic radios (kilometres of range, no SIM card, no infrastructure), between phones nearby, or even on a USB stick carried in a pocket. If someone switches the internet off, communication continues.
- You are not a phone number. No number, no email, no account, no sign-up. Your identity is a cryptographic key created on your own device. Nobody can ban your account, because there is no account.
What do the crypto words mean?
You'll see five terms around the project. This is all you need:
| Term | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | Your message is locked on your device and only your contact's device can unlock it. Everyone in between sees scrambled bytes. |
| Post-quantum | The locks are designed to survive even the codebreaking computers expected in the future. Messages recorded today stay private tomorrow. |
kult address (kk1…) |
Your ID, like a phone number you invented yourself and nobody can take away. Share it as a QR code, sticker, or text. |
| Safety number | A 60-digit number you and a friend compare (in person or over a call) to be certain no one is impersonating either of you. |
| Courier file / bundle | Your encrypted messages packed into a .kkb file that can travel on a USB stick or another file channel: messaging with no network at all. Animated message-bundle QR is planned; current QR flows are for pairing and verification. |
What does it protect me from, honestly?
It protects: the content of your messages; who you talk to (as far as technically possible); your message history on a lost or stolen (locked) device; your ability to communicate during internet shutdowns.
It cannot protect: a phone that is already hacked or taken from you unlocked; the fact that a radio transmission physically happened (radio can be detected); you, if the person you message shares your messages; or all timing/network metadata when you enable an optional convenience service. No honest tool claims otherwise. Our full, frank list is in the threat model.
Can I use it today?
As an alpha built from source. There are no supported installers or app-store releases yet, but desktop, Android, and iOS shells all exist over the same Rust core. The repository's automated matrix exercises the core, desktop behavior, Android behavior and APK assembly, iOS behavior, and the gated iOS simulator build. Hands-on device qualification, distribution, the physical radio bench, and the external audit remain before a stable release.
If you're comfortable with a terminal, the desktop shell is the quickest start:
git clone https://github.com/AndriGitDev/Komms && cd Komms
cd apps/desktop/src-tauri && cargo run # the desktop app (Linux deps: see apps/desktop/README.md)Or watch two devices exchange encrypted messages through a file, no GUI at all:
cargo run --example sneakernet_demoPlatform build instructions:
Where should I read next?
| If you want to know… | Read… |
|---|---|
| what Komms promises and why | Why Komms |
| what it protects—and what it cannot | Threat Model |
| how the system is layered | Architecture |
| what is implemented versus remaining | Roadmap |
| which product features fit the model | Feature Scope |
| the exact delivery status of each feature | Feature Delivery Plan |
| why a technical decision was made | ADR Index |
How can I help?
- Not technical? Read this document and tell us what confused you: that's a real contribution—file it as an issue. Hands-on testing of the source-built apps and their setup instructions matters too.
- Organizer / activist? Read the threat model and tell us where it doesn't match your reality on the ground.
- Developer? Start with CONTRIBUTING and the implementation guide.
- Cryptographer? Attack the crypto spec. Please.
Why does this exist?
Because private conversation is a human right, and rights need infrastructure, not just arguments. The longer version (including our answer to the EU's ChatControl law) is in Why Komms.