Find your people.Talk peer to peer.

Ghostly connects you straight to the people you invite. Chat one to one or as a group, send files and sats, call, and share what runs on your computer.

Open in your browser Download the app

Peer to peer · No account to createNothing to install · Free and open source

Follow Boo Skip the story

01 · The invitation

Create an invitation.
Boo makes an invitation for one person. It holds the keys, not an account.
Share it your way.
A link, a QR code or a text code. Send it only to the person you want to meet.
Connect.
Casper opens it, both apps find each other and confirm. You're talking.

02 · The meeting place

A public network with no owner.
The apps meet on the Mainline DHT, which millions of BitTorrent users already share. There is no Ghostly server in the middle.
The desktop app reads it directly. Browsers use public Pkarr relays.
Small, signed, sealed notes.
Boo leaves a few tiny signed records in the network. What matters inside is encrypted.
Only the invitation opens them.
Casper knows where to look and how to read them. Anyone else sees sealed records.
Then they fade.
They are refreshed only while you're online. Stop, and they age out. Copies someone already made are not erased.

03 · The agreement

Each side says what it can do.
Boo's desktop app and Casper's browser each list what they support.
They keep what they share.
Only what is on both lists is used. The rest stays off.
A plan both agreed to.
Here: chat, files and Cashu over WebRTC. Other apps, another plan.
Chats with Ghostly 0.4 contacts keep a fixed set.

04 · The connection comes alive

The DHT only introduced them.
Once they know how to reach each other, the conversation moves off the DHT.
A direct line.
Messages, files and payments travel over a live connection between the two devices: WebRTC, Iroh or HyperDHT.
Honest about the route.
Public STUN servers help find a way through home routers. If the direct path drops, short texts keep going over the DHT.
You can add your own TURN relay in settings.

05 · What happens next

Now that you're connected.

Here is what the app does.

Say it your way.
Private one-to-one conversations. Reply to a message, edit what you sent, react with an emoji, see when they are typing or recording. No phone number, no public profile.
Voice messages you can lock, pause and play at 2x. Delivery marks beside the time, local history, and messages held for a contact who is away.
Ghostly 1.9
Paste it. See it.
Rich text with lists, quotes and links, and a card for what you paste: an invite, a payment request, a Nostr profile, a link with its preview.
Your app makes the preview, so your contact's app never opens the link. A seed or a private key asks before it goes.
Ghostly 1.9
Send the actual thing.
Paste a screenshot or drop a file into the chat. It goes straight from your device to theirs, checked on arrival.
Any size, with both of you online. Videos play right in the chat. A big file picks up where it stopped, and a stuck one can be sent again.
Ghostly 1.9
Be a little closer.
Voice, video and screen sharing, one to one. Turn the camera on or share your screen without calling again.
In the browser, the extension and the desktop app, Linux included. Screen sharing needs a computer, not Linux yet. A call rings while the chat is live, not over the DHT. No group calls yet.
Ghostly 1.9
A little thank-you.
Send or request sats right in the conversation: ecash, a Lightning invoice, or from the wallet you already use.
Real and test wallets side by side, one tab per network, test coins a tap away. Several Lightning cards (NWC, LND, Core Lightning, WebLN, Breez), Lightning addresses, Ark, Spark, Fedimint, USDT and on-chain bitcoin. The BDK on-chain wallet runs on test networks only.
Ghostly 1.9
Bring the whole group.
A private group of up to 32, or a community of up to 256 that anyone with its link can join. Invite people from your chats or share the link.
Text, @mentions, replies, edits, reactions, a group picture and payments between members. Files, photos and voice messages too, up to 100 MB each, fetched from whoever in the group has them. Typing shows in private groups. No calls yet.
Ghostly 1.9
Prove who you are. Only to whom you choose.
Attach an outside identity to your profile once (a Nostr or Pubky key, a domain, an OpenPGP or SSH key, a Bitcoin address, a DID) and share it with one contact at a time. Their app verifies it on the device.
A shared card lands in the chat with its public profile: picture, name, posts. Never required to talk. Withdraw it from one chat, or revoke it everywhere.
Ghostly 1.9
Made here. Open there.
While you're online, let a contact open a web app running on your computer: a photo gallery, a dashboard, a prototype.
Desktop app or browser extension at both ends; plain HTTP, no WebSockets. You choose which contacts see each app.
Ghostly 1.9

Give your code a voice.

The app's own engine without a screen, for scripts, bots and agents: chats, groups, files, payments and voice calls, with every event as a JSON line.

Needs Node: npm install -g @ghostlytools/cli.

CLI guide →

$ ghostly daemon --detach
$ ghostly invite create --label casper
{"invite":"ghostly1…","link":"https://ghostly.tools/#ghostly1…"}
$ ghostly send casper "Boo! 👻"
$ ghostly listen --type message.received
{"type":"message.received","message":{"text":"deploy?"}}

Illustration

06 · Your space

Everything stays yours, on your devices.

Chats, keys, wallets and services live in the app. No server of ours.

Ghostly 1.9

Separate lives, one device.

Contacts never learn the others exist · web, desktop and extension

One profile, more than one device.

Desktop

active
sends, receives, pays

Phone

standby
Use here takes over

One device active at a time · up to 4 · both online to move · web, desktop and extension

Backup is what. Storage is where.

Backup

chats & keys
wallets
services
settings

Storage

a file you keep
S3 · R2 · B2 · MinIO

Sealed with your passphrase · restoring creates a new profile, nothing is overwritten

Make it look like you.

Four themes · light or dark · eight languages · sounds · app lock

One wallet, many ways to pay.

Each payment method is its own card, with its own rules. Pick one to see what it does and how ready it is.

Private ecash tokens you can pass along in a chat. A mint you choose holds the funds.

Trust the mint you pick: it can see its own operations and holds the backing sats.

Pay and receive Lightning invoices from the chat, and pay Lightning addresses. Keep several cards; one is the default for receiving.

The source is your Cashu mint, or your own node or wallet: NWC, LND, Core Lightning, a browser wallet (WebLN, web app only), Breez (Mainnet with your own Breez API key) or a Fedimint federation. Any other wallet can pay your invoice from its QR code.

Review and approve an exact Ark payment through a pinned operator.

Experimental. One click from New: Bitcoin mainnet, or Mutinynet on Testnet. Payments were tested only on a local test network, and there is no unilateral exit yet.

A second Ark provider beside Arkade: same idea, another server, its own way of paying.

Experimental. Mainnet on Second's Bitcoin server, checked against a stand-in server so far; Testnet on its signet. No unilateral exit yet. A Bark wallet cannot pay an Arkade address.

Bitcoin on Spark, from one Spark wallet to another in a chat. Each request carries a Spark invoice made for it.

Experimental. Mainnet needs your own Breez API key (free); a Testnet wallet runs on regtest with none. The same wallet can be your Lightning source too.

Plain on-chain bitcoin in a chat, through a BDK wallet or your own Bitcoin Core node.

Experimental. BDK on signet, Mutinynet or regtest only; Bitcoin Core needs the desktop app. On-chain payments are offered only inside an open paired session.

Join a federation by its invite code, after seeing its name and guardians. Ecash in the chat, and Lightning through its gateway.

Experimental. Tested on a local test federation, not yet with real funds. The federation's guardians, together, hold the funds.

Receive and send USDT on Ethereum, signed on your device.

Experimental. Payment flows were validated on a local test chain, not with real funds. Ethereum only; a Sepolia test mode exists.

Private ecash tokens you can pass along in a chat. A mint you choose holds the funds.

Trust the mint you pick: it can see its own operations and holds the backing sats.

Cashu (Mainnet): Private ecash tokens you can pass along in a chat. A mint you choose holds the funds. Trust the mint you pick: it can see its own operations and holds the backing sats.

Lightning (Mainnet): Pay and receive Lightning invoices from the chat, and pay Lightning addresses. Keep several cards; one is the default for receiving. The source is your Cashu mint, or your own node or wallet: NWC, LND, Core Lightning, a browser wallet (WebLN, web app only), Breez (Mainnet with your own Breez API key) or a Fedimint federation. Any other wallet can pay your invoice from its QR code.

Ark (Mainnet · experimental): Review and approve an exact Ark payment through a pinned operator. Experimental. One click from New: Bitcoin mainnet, or Mutinynet on Testnet. Payments were tested only on a local test network, and there is no unilateral exit yet.

Bark (Mainnet · experimental): A second Ark provider beside Arkade: same idea, another server, its own way of paying. Experimental. Mainnet on Second's Bitcoin server, checked against a stand-in server so far; Testnet on its signet. No unilateral exit yet. A Bark wallet cannot pay an Arkade address.

Spark (Mainnet with your own key): Bitcoin on Spark, from one Spark wallet to another in a chat. Each request carries a Spark invoice made for it. Experimental. Mainnet needs your own Breez API key (free); a Testnet wallet runs on regtest with none. The same wallet can be your Lightning source too.

Bitcoin (BDK on test networks): Plain on-chain bitcoin in a chat, through a BDK wallet or your own Bitcoin Core node. Experimental. BDK on signet, Mutinynet or regtest only; Bitcoin Core needs the desktop app. On-chain payments are offered only inside an open paired session.

Fedimint (Mainnet · experimental): Join a federation by its invite code, after seeing its name and guardians. Ecash in the chat, and Lightning through its gateway. Experimental. Tested on a local test federation, not yet with real funds. The federation's guardians, together, hold the funds.

USDT (Mainnet · experimental): Receive and send USDT on Ethereum, signed on your device. Experimental. Payment flows were validated on a local test chain, not with real funds. Ethereum only; a Sepolia test mode exists.

Real and test wallets live side by side, one tab per network. On Testnet, a button brings free test coins.

One you, many ways to prove it.

Show a contact that a key or an account elsewhere is yours. Each kind of proof is its own card: pick one to see what it proves and how ready it is.

Proves you hold a Nostr key: your signer signs once, and the key never leaves it.

A browser extension (NIP-07) or a remote signer (NIP-46) signs. The proof is never published to a relay, and it is not permission to post.

Proves you hold a Pubky key: approve one request in Pubky Ring or Pubky Passport, and a small proof file goes on your homeserver.

Contacts read the file back through your key's own records. Whoever runs your homeserver could write there too.

Proves you control a domain, with a DNS record or a small file on its website.

Experimental. It shows that whoever added the proof could publish under the domain, not who runs it. Contacts check again after a day, so removing the record withdraws it.

Proves you hold an OpenPGP key: sign once with your own gpg, and a YubiKey works too.

Contacts verify it on their device. Holding a key proves nothing about the names or emails in its user IDs, and the app says so.

Proves you can sign with the key behind a Bitcoin address, with one message signature from your wallet.

Experimental. Checked on the device with no blockchain lookup. It proves no balance, past payment or willingness to pay.

Proves you hold an SSH key, security keys included: sign once with ssh-keygen.

Experimental. The signature is checked on the device, and the key is never used to log in anywhere.

Proves an SSH key your GitHub account lists is yours, with no GitHub login.

Experimental. It holds while the account lists the key, and GitHub learns the account was looked up.

Proves an SSH key your GitLab account lists is yours, with no GitLab login.

Experimental. It holds while the account lists the key, and GitLab learns the account was looked up.

Proves you control a decentralized identifier: did:key, did:jwk, did:dht or did:web.

Experimental, under Advanced. Each contact resolves the DID again. Separately, every profile has a did:dht of its own.

Proves you control a Bluesky (AT Protocol) account, with one record in its own repository.

Approved once on your server, asking only for Ghostly's records. The record is public, and contacts check it without logging in.

Proves you hold a Nostr key: your signer signs once, and the key never leaves it.

A browser extension (NIP-07) or a remote signer (NIP-46) signs. The proof is never published to a relay, and it is not permission to post.

Nostr (Available): Proves you hold a Nostr key: your signer signs once, and the key never leaves it. A browser extension (NIP-07) or a remote signer (NIP-46) signs. The proof is never published to a relay, and it is not permission to post.

Pubky (Available): Proves you hold a Pubky key: approve one request in Pubky Ring or Pubky Passport, and a small proof file goes on your homeserver. Contacts read the file back through your key's own records. Whoever runs your homeserver could write there too.

Domain (Available · experimental): Proves you control a domain, with a DNS record or a small file on its website. Experimental. It shows that whoever added the proof could publish under the domain, not who runs it. Contacts check again after a day, so removing the record withdraws it.

OpenPGP (Available): Proves you hold an OpenPGP key: sign once with your own gpg, and a YubiKey works too. Contacts verify it on their device. Holding a key proves nothing about the names or emails in its user IDs, and the app says so.

Bitcoin (Available · experimental): Proves you can sign with the key behind a Bitcoin address, with one message signature from your wallet. Experimental. Checked on the device with no blockchain lookup. It proves no balance, past payment or willingness to pay.

SSH (Available · experimental): Proves you hold an SSH key, security keys included: sign once with ssh-keygen. Experimental. The signature is checked on the device, and the key is never used to log in anywhere.

GitHub (Available · experimental): Proves an SSH key your GitHub account lists is yours, with no GitHub login. Experimental. It holds while the account lists the key, and GitHub learns the account was looked up.

GitLab (Available · experimental): Proves an SSH key your GitLab account lists is yours, with no GitLab login. Experimental. It holds while the account lists the key, and GitLab learns the account was looked up.

DID (Available · experimental): Proves you control a decentralized identifier: did:key, did:jwk, did:dht or did:web. Experimental, under Advanced. Each contact resolves the DID again. Separately, every profile has a did:dht of its own.

Bluesky (Available): Proves you control a Bluesky (AT Protocol) account, with one record in its own repository. Approved once on your server, asking only for Ghostly's records. The record is public, and contacts check it without logging in.

Never required. Each proof is made once and shared only with the contacts you pick, who check it themselves. You can withdraw it at any time.

07 · Under the ghosts

Everything you just saw…
…is one app composing independent pieces: a small rendezvous core, transports, and abilities like chat, files and payments.
…is built from open pieces.
Each piece is described in a WISP, a public draft contract. Another app can implement only the pieces it needs and still meet Ghostly halfway.

Build with Ghostly →Browse the WISPs

08 · Your turn

One little step. You're a ghost.

Open Ghostly in your browser and invite someone you know. Or take it with you on your desktop.

Open app.ghostly.tools

Browser extension

Chrome, Brave, Edge

Add to Chrome Web Store

Command line

For bots and agents. Needs Node; on npm as @ghostlytools/cli.

CLI guide

Free and open source (MIT). Using Ghostly means you accept the Terms of Service and have read the Privacy Policy.

Find your people.Talk peer to peer.

01 · The invitation

Create an invitation.

Share it your way.

Connect.

02 · The meeting place

A public network with no owner.

Small, signed, sealed notes.

Only the invitation opens them.

Then they fade.

03 · The agreement

Each side says what it can do.

They keep what they share.

A plan both agreed to.

04 · The connection comes alive

The DHT only introduced them.

A direct line.

Honest about the route.

Now that you're connected.

Say it your way.

Paste it. See it.

Send the actual thing.

Be a little closer.

A little thank-you.

Bring the whole group.

Prove who you are. Only to whom you choose.

Made here. Open there.

Give your code a voice.

Everything stays yours, on your devices.

Separate lives, one device.

One profile, more than one device.

Backup is what. Storage is where.

Make it look like you.

One wallet, many ways to pay.

One you, many ways to prove it.

07 · Under the ghosts

Everything you just saw…

…is built from open pieces.

One little step. You're a ghost.One little step. You're a ghost.

For your computer v1.9.0

macOS

Windows

Linux

Browser extension

Command line

One little step. You're a ghost.