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@rcq-messenger

RCQ

End-to-end encrypted messenger with a number for an identity, censorship circumvention built in, and servers anyone can run

RCQ

An end-to-end encrypted messenger whose identity is a number the network issues you. No phone number, no email, no name, no ads. Censorship circumvention is built into the apps rather than left to the user, and anyone can run their own server.

rcq.app · download · protocol spec · privacy · terms

Status: open beta. iOS via TestFlight, Android by sideload with in-app updates or from our own F-Droid repository, desktop for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus a browser client.

Where to start

I want to Go to
Use it rcq.app
Read how the protocol works rcq-spec
Read the client code rcq-ios, rcq-android, rcq-desktop — the desktop app and the browser client, one source
Chat from a terminal or script rcq-cli
Run my own server rcq-server-ref
Run a relay for people behind a censor rcq-relay
See the public servers rcq-servers
Take money on my own island rcq-till — watches your own wallets, signs what was paid for
Report a vulnerability security@rcq.app, before filing a public issue

What the design actually commits to

  • Identity is a number, not a phone. Signing up gets you a UIN. The server holds that and nothing that ties it to a person.
  • Sealed sender. The server sees ciphertext and a recipient. Not the sender, not the content.
  • Circumvention is in-process. The apps carry their own transports (VLESS + Reality, Hysteria2) and switch to them when the network blocks us. No separate VPN to install.
  • No single owner. Every server is an independent island. Accounts live on the island their owner picked, and moving between them keeps the number.
  • No ads, no analytics SDKs, no data sold. The money is donations plus what people choose to buy: a short number, entry to a paid island, a private relay pool. Nothing about a person is for sale, and nothing here is funded by watching one.

Clients are AGPL-3.0. Where a document and the code disagree, that is a bug in one of them and worth an issue.

Pinned Loading

  1. rcq-ios rcq-ios Public

    Privacy-first messenger. 9-digit IDs, no phone, no email. End-to-end encrypted via libsignal. SwiftUI + iOS 16+.

    Swift 28 1

  2. rcq-android rcq-android Public

    Android client for RCQ — privacy-first messenger. 9-digit IDs, no phone, no email. End-to-end encrypted via libsignal, with censorship circumvention built in. Open beta.

    Kotlin 27 2

  3. rcq-server-ref rcq-server-ref Public

    FastAPI + Postgres + Redis backend reference for the RCQ messenger. AGPL-3.0.

    Python 10

  4. rcq-relay rcq-relay Public

    Run an RCQ relay: one-command sing-box VLESS+Reality bootstrap that self-registers with the broker (the hydra).

    Shell 4

  5. rcq-spec rcq-spec Public

    RCQ messenger protocol specification: HTTP API + WebSocket events + envelope formats + crypto + relay config schema.

    7

  6. rcq-desktop rcq-desktop Public

    RCQ desktop and browser client — one React source, a Tauri shell for Windows/macOS/Linux. End-to-end encrypted messaging, groups, media, voice and video calls. Self-hostable against rcq-server-ref.…

    TypeScript 3

Repositories

Showing 10 of 11 repositories
  • rcq-desktop Public

    RCQ desktop and browser client — one React source, a Tauri shell for Windows/macOS/Linux. End-to-end encrypted messaging, groups, media, voice and video calls. Self-hostable against rcq-server-ref. AGPL-3.0.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-desktop's past year of commit activity
    TypeScript 3 AGPL-3.0 0 0 0 Updated Sep 22, 2026
  • rcq-android Public

    Android client for RCQ — privacy-first messenger. 9-digit IDs, no phone, no email. End-to-end encrypted via libsignal, with censorship circumvention built in. Open beta.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-android's past year of commit activity
    Kotlin 27 AGPL-3.0 2 4 0 Updated Sep 21, 2026
  • rcq-ios Public

    Privacy-first messenger. 9-digit IDs, no phone, no email. End-to-end encrypted via libsignal. SwiftUI + iOS 16+.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-ios's past year of commit activity
    Swift 28 AGPL-3.0 1 1 0 Updated Sep 21, 2026
  • rcq-server-ref Public

    FastAPI + Postgres + Redis backend reference for the RCQ messenger. AGPL-3.0.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-server-ref's past year of commit activity
    Python 10 AGPL-3.0 0 0 0 Updated Sep 21, 2026
  • rcq-spec Public

    RCQ messenger protocol specification: HTTP API + WebSocket events + envelope formats + crypto + relay config schema.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-spec's past year of commit activity
    7 0 0 0 Updated Sep 19, 2026
  • .github Public

    Organisation profile

    rcq-messenger/.github's past year of commit activity
    0 0 0 0 Updated Sep 19, 2026
  • rcq-servers Public

    Community-maintained directory of public RCQ messenger servers. JSON catalogue consumed by clients to populate the 'choose your server' picker.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-servers's past year of commit activity
    Standard ML 3 CC0-1.0 2 0 0 Updated Sep 19, 2026
  • rcq-relay Public

    Run an RCQ relay: one-command sing-box VLESS+Reality bootstrap that self-registers with the broker (the hydra).

    rcq-messenger/rcq-relay's past year of commit activity
    Shell 4 MIT 0 0 0 Updated Sep 14, 2026
  • rcq-till Public

    The RCQ till: the money half of an island. Watches the operator's own wallets, signs what was paid for. Cloudflare Worker + D1. Run your own.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-till's past year of commit activity
    JavaScript 0 AGPL-3.0 0 0 0 Updated Sep 13, 2026
  • rcq-cli Public

    Terminal client for RCQ — the same end-to-end encryption as the phone and desktop clients (libsignal, sealed sender), driven from a shell or script. One Node bundle, no GUI, registers as a secondary device of your account. AGPL-3.0.

    rcq-messenger/rcq-cli's past year of commit activity
    1 AGPL-3.0 0 0 0 Updated Sep 2, 2026

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