Nyx

Private terminal messenger on Nostr over Tor.

Optimized for heavy censorship (Iran, Russia, …).

Install

pip install .

Run

nyx

First run auto-installs:

• a private Tor binary
• lyrebird (Snowflake + WebTunnel + obfs4)
• Python dependencies
• fresh bridges from multiple sources

No manual download required.

Censorship resistance (Iran)

Transport order (automatic fallback):

1. Snowflake – WebRTC volunteer proxies, no bridge list needed
2. WebTunnel – looks like normal HTTPS (currently strongest against Iranian DPI)
3. obfs4 – classic obfuscation with freshly fetched bridges

If one transport is blocked or stuck, Nyx automatically switches to the next.

Bridges are pulled live from:

• OnionHop tested lists (hourly)
• official BridgeDB
• community mirrors

Keys

Up/Down switch chat Enter send message Ctrl+N add contact (@username / npub / name@domain) Ctrl+E display name Ctrl+U @username (Telegram-style) Ctrl+G new group Ctrl+Y new channel Ctrl+K add member to current group/channel Ctrl+F send a file Ctrl+D download last file F2 change theme PgUp/PgDn scroll Esc/Ctrl+C quit

Groups & channels

• Group (Ctrl+G): everyone can message; encrypted to all members
• Channel (Ctrl+Y): only the owner can post; members receive
• Add people with @username, npub, or name@domain

Message formatting

bold italic code strike multi-line code

Config

~/.nyx/key your nsec (chmod 600) ~/.nyx/profile.json display name, username ~/.nyx/contacts.json contact list ~/.nyx/tor/ private Tor datadir + torrc ~/.nyx/bin/ private Tor + lyrebird binaries

Override with env NYX_HOME=/some/path.

Note on total national blackouts

When international connectivity is completely cut (true nationwide shutdown), no software-only solution can reach the outside world. In those rare cases Starlink (or similar satellite) is currently the only practical option. As long as any path to the global internet remains, Nyx will keep trying every available transport automatically.