Getting Started

Wisp takes a few minutes to get running. There’s no sign-up, no phone number, and no email — your identity is generated on your device the first time you open the app.

1. Install Wisp

Grab the app for your platform from the Installation page. Wisp runs on Android, Linux, and Windows.

2. Create your identity

On first launch, Wisp generates a new identity — an Ed25519 keypair — and shows you a 12-word recovery phrase.

Write your recovery phrase down

This phrase is the only way to restore your identity on another device or after a reinstall. No one — including the developers — can recover it for you. Store it offline, somewhere safe.

Your public identity is your WispID, a short text string starting with wisp:. You share it with people you want to talk to. It is self-certifying: there is no central directory, so nothing can be forged or seized.

3. Add a contact

To start a conversation, you and the other person exchange WispIDs (paste, QR, or any channel you like), then add each other:

1. Open Add contact.
2. Paste their WispID.
3. Wisp runs a one-time pairing handshake — both of you need to be online for this first step. After pairing, messaging works even when one of you is offline.

Optionally give the contact a nickname. Nicknames are stored only on your device and are never sent over the wire.

4. Verify the safety number

Each pair of contacts shares a safety number derived from both identities. To be certain no one is impersonating either of you, compare it out of band — in person, or over a call:

1. Open the contact’s profile → Verify safety number.
2. Confirm the six groups of digits match on both devices.
3. Mark them verified.

This step is optional but recommended for anyone you care about being sure of.

5. Send a message

Open the conversation and type. Wisp delivers by the cheapest path that works:

• Directly when you’re both online,
• through a blind relay if a direct connection is blocked by NAT,
• or via an encrypted dead-drop if the other person is offline — they’ll receive it when they next come online.

You’ll see a status under each message you send: Sent, Delivered, Read, or Failed (which you can retry).

Next steps

• Keep messages arriving in the background → Android notification tips.
• Understand what the network can and can’t see → Security.
• Run your own relay → Relay.