For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. This page is also available as Markdown.

Features

Complete feature overview of Zentalk — messaging, calls, groups, privacy, and security capabilities.

Core Features

Feature
Description

Signal Protocol

X3DH + Double Ratchet for all messages

Decentralized Network

No central server — data distributed across validator nodes

3-Hop Onion Routing

RSA-4096 per-hop routing for traffic analysis resistance

Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Anonymous authentication via Groth16 RLN

Post-Quantum Crypto

Hybrid Kyber-768 + X25519 for quantum-resistant key exchange

No Phone Number Required

Sign in with Web3 wallet — MetaMask, WalletConnect, etc.

Progressive Web App

Install on any device, works offline

GDPR/HIPAA/SOC3

Enterprise compliance frameworks


Messaging

All messages are encrypted end-to-end with Signal Protocol before leaving your device.

  • Text messages with editing (48-hour window with full history)

  • Voice messages with waveform visualization

  • Message reactions with any emoji

  • Reply & quote functionality

  • Message forwarding to multiple contacts

  • Message deletion (for yourself or everyone)

  • Disappearing messages — auto-delete timers from 5 seconds to 1 week

  • Pinned messages with navigation banner

  • Starred messages — encrypted mesh storage for favorites

  • Read receipts & delivery status (optional, encrypted)

  • Typing indicators (optional, encrypted)

  • Link previews — sender-generated, privacy-preserving

  • Contact sharing — vCard format with one-tap actions

  • Chat export — export full chat histories

  • Message search across all conversations


Voice & Video Calls

All signaling is encrypted with the Double Ratchet. Media streams are peer-to-peer via WebRTC.

  • 1-on-1 calls — voice and video, direct peer-to-peer

  • Group calls — up to 6 participants with full mesh P2P topology

  • Screen sharing in both 1-on-1 and group calls

  • Echo cancellation, noise suppression, automatic gain control

  • Picture-in-picture mode

  • Call history — encrypted on mesh, not on server


Groups & Channels

Groups

  • Encrypted group chats with role-based access (Owner, Admin, Member)

  • Public and private groups with invite links

  • Group membership hidden from relays

  • Automatic key rotation on member removal

  • Sealed Group Fanout — privacy-preserving delivery where relays never enumerate members

Channels

  • Broadcast channels for one-to-many communication

  • Public or private with subscriber management

  • Role & permission management


Media & Files

  • Images — JPEG, PNG, WebP with auto-compression

  • Videos — MP4 with thumbnails

  • Audio — MP3, WAV, OGG

  • Documents — any file type

  • GIFs — privacy-preserving mesh delivery (sender fetches and encrypts)

  • Stickers — encrypted pack management

  • Built-in image editor — canvas editor for photos before sending

  • Large files chunked via Reed-Solomon erasure coding across mesh nodes


Stories

  • Encrypted 24-hour ephemeral content

  • Per-viewer access control (ECDH per-viewer encryption)

  • Viewer tracking

  • Auto-cleanup after expiration


Polls & Location

  • Polls — encrypted in groups and channels, server cannot see questions or votes

  • Location sharing — static and live with auto-expiration

  • Maps — OpenStreetMap integration (privacy-first, no Google)


Privacy & Metadata Protection

Zentalk goes beyond message encryption to protect your communication patterns:

Protection
Implementation

Address Hashing

SHA-256 hashed addresses

Conversation ID Privacy

Hashed sorted address pairs

Encrypted Routing

Sender/recipient inside E2EE payload

Encrypted Presence

Online/offline status encrypted

Stealth Addresses

Ephemeral ECDH keypair per message

Cover Traffic

Dummy requests during idle periods

Message Padding

Uniform sizes (512, 1024, 4096, 8192 bytes)

Fuzzy Presence

Delayed/batched status updates


Identity & Authentication

Wallet-Based (Primary)

  • MetaMask, WalletConnect, or any Web3 wallet

  • No password required — authentication via wallet signature

  • Multi-chain: Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Sepolia

Phone-Based (Alternative)

  • Phone number + SMS verification code

  • Keys derived deterministically (PBKDF2-SHA512, 600K iterations)

  • Phone deleted after verification, only hash stored in mesh DHT

Usernames

  • Unique usernames stored in mesh DHT

  • Ed25519 signed entries prevent DHT poisoning

  • Privacy-preserving lookups (username hashed as DHT key)


Security Features

  • Multi-factor authentication — TOTP + WebAuthn (hardware keys)

  • Active sessions management — view and revoke sessions across devices

  • Safety number verification — verify contact identity

  • Encrypted blocked/muted lists

  • Multi-language support (i18n)

  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts

  • Dark/light themes with custom wallpapers

  • Network topology visualization


Node Infrastructure

Running a Validator Node

Requirement
Detail

Stake

5,000 CHAIN tokens

Hardware

4 cores, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD

Network

Public IP address required

Software

Single binary (./bin/relay)

Setup

Minutes with Docker or install script

Node Performance

Benchmarked on Apple M3 Pro:

Operation
Speed
Throughput

AES-256-GCM Encrypt

1.7 us/op

590K ops/s

RSA-4096 Encrypt

206 us/op

4.8K ops/s

3-Hop Relay Encrypt

603 us/op

1.6K ops/s

Message Relay

1,000+ msg/s/node

Storage Write

100+ MB/s

3-Hop Routing Latency (p95)

<100ms

Concurrent Connections

10,000+ per node

Monitoring

  • 40+ Prometheus metrics

  • Grafana dashboards for real-time monitoring

  • OpenTelemetry distributed tracing

  • Health endpoints (DHT, storage, peers, memory)

  • SIEM integration (Splunk, ELK, QRadar)


Technical Stack

Frontend

Technology
Purpose

Next.js 16

Framework

React 19

UI Library

TypeScript 5

Language

Zustand

State Management

TanStack React Query

Async Data

Tailwind CSS 4

Styling

Radix UI

Component Primitives

Zod 4

Schema Validation

Backend (Go 1.24)

Technology
Purpose

libp2p

P2P, DHT, GossipSub, NAT

PostgreSQL 16

Metadata & Profiles

Redis

Caching & Sessions

Gorilla WebSocket

Real-time Communication

Reed-Solomon

Erasure Coding

cloudflare/circl

PQC (Kyber, Dilithium)

consensys/gnark

Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Prometheus

Monitoring

Cryptography (Client)

Library
Purpose

Web Crypto API

Hardware-accelerated crypto

@noble/curves

Ed25519/X25519

@noble/hashes

SHA-256, HMAC, HKDF

mlkem

Kyber-768 (ML-KEM FIPS 203)

viem

Ethereum wallet interaction

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