Free. Open source. No account. No phone number. No email. Install the Windows app, pick a username, save your 12-word phrase, and start messaging privately. Total setup time: about 3 minutes.
OpenDescent.Setup.0.5.5.exe file lands in your Downloads folder. No email confirmation, no account creation step — nothing to do while it downloads.
.exe. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning — that's expected and explained below. Pick an install location, click through, and it's done in under a minute.
The installer is not currently signed with an Extended Validation code-signing certificate. EV certs cost several hundred pounds a year; we're working up to it, and it's one of the things a subscription helps fund. Until then, Windows SmartScreen flags any unsigned installer from a new publisher. It's a reputation thing, not a malware detection.
To install anyway:
If you're uncomfortable with that, you can verify the installer's SHA-256 against the hash published on the GitHub Releases page. If the hash matches, the binary is exactly what we published — and the source that produced it is also on GitHub.
Every release on GitHub ships with a SHA-256 hash. Check the downloaded installer matches before running it — takes about 10 seconds in PowerShell.
Full reproducible-build parity is in progress. That means you can currently verify that the binary matches what we published, but not yet that the binary matches a build from source you ran yourself. Reproducible builds are on the roadmap — when they ship, we'll publish build instructions here.
Privacy: Stripe payments decoupled from peer ID — new redemption-code flow with optional anonymous mode. Cosmetic Pro perks (avatar frames, vibe themes, username color). Self-claimed Supporter Pin. Founder badge dropped (lifetime Pro unchanged). Full changelog and older versions on GitHub.
%APPDATA%\open-descent\. Messages, your identity key, hub memberships, and file cache all live there, encrypted at rest. The data never leaves your machine except through the peer-to-peer mesh when you send something.%APPDATA%\open-descent\ after uninstalling.git clone, npm install, npm run build, npm run dist produces a local installer. Reproducible-build parity with the shipped binary is in progress.No account, no phone number, no email. Free forever. Open source.