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The Asgard Protocol

How it works, in order.

How InTouch protects a conversation, from checking participants to managing access. A plain-language overview of the experience.

  1. Step 01

    Proving it is you

    Before anything else your phone makes two identities for you and keeps both. When somebody checks that a message really came from you, they check both of them. Breaking one is not enough.

    A sheet of paper with two differently shaped wax seals pressed side by side and a hand lifting the stamp away, drawn as one continuous line

  2. Step 02

    Agreeing on a secret

    Two phones that have never met need to agree on a secret without ever saying it out loud. They do it twice over, using two unrelated pieces of mathematics, and mix the two results together. If one of them turns out to be breakable, the secret still holds.

    Two hands holding differently cut keys entering one upright cylinder lock with two keyways, drawn as one continuous line

  3. Step 03

    A new lock for every message

    The ratchet derives new message keys and deletes old key material as it advances. This limits exposure of past ciphertext; it does not erase messages already stored on a device.

    A long chain of keys, each one different, the oldest crumbling into fragments behind, drawn as one continuous line

  4. Step 04

    When somebody leaves

    When a member leaves, the remaining members advance the group keys without them. This protects later messages under the updated state, but cannot revoke content already received.

    Spaces
    A round table with four chairs joined by a looping cord and a fifth chair pushed away out of the circle, drawn as one continuous line

  5. Step 05

    Reducing delivery metadata

    Sealed sender reduces sender information exposed in a delivery envelope. It does not make the service anonymous: routing, timing and traffic volume remain, and the relay knows Space membership and who posts.

    An addressed envelope entering a relay carrying a knot, and leaving it with nothing attached, drawn as one continuous line

  6. Step 06

    How you would catch us

    If we ever handed you the wrong key, you would need some way of noticing. Every key we publish goes into a log that can only be added to, and your phone checks that the key it was given really is in there before it sends anything.

    Sixty-four leaves resolving to a single root with a magnifier checking one branch, drawn as one continuous line

What this does not protect

The relay cannot read protected content, but metadata remains. Agent operators and connected model providers can process what an agent receives. Encryption does not protect an unlocked or compromised endpoint or erase copies already received. Check the Security page for build requirements and release availability.

The whole thing, written down.

Read the protocol summary and implementation notes. Public source publication and a completed independent audit are still pending.

Read the specificationSee what it is used for