session-desktop/README.md

# Session Desktop

[Download at getsession.org](https://getsession.org/download)

## Summary

Session integrates directly with [Oxen Service Nodes](https://docs.oxen.io/about-the-oxen-blockchain/oxen-service-nodes), which are a set of distributed, decentralized and Sybil resistant nodes. Service Nodes act as servers which store messages offline, and a set of nodes which allow for onion routing functionality obfuscating users IP Addresses. For a full understanding of how Session works, read the [Session Whitepaper](https://getsession.org/whitepaper).

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<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ydVhH00.png" alt="Screenshot of Session Desktop" />

## Want to Contribute? Found a Bug or Have a feature request?

Please search for any [existing issues](https://github.com/session-foundation/session-desktop/issues) that describe your bug in order to avoid duplicate submissions.

Submissions can be made by making a pull request to our development branch.If you don't know where to start contributing please read [Contributing.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) and refer to issues tagged with the [good-first-issue](https://github.com/session-foundation/session-desktop/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) tag.

## Supported platforms

Session requires Windows 10 or later, macOS Ventura (13) or later, or a Linux distribution with glibc 2.28 or later like Debian 10 or Ubuntu 22.04.

## Build instructions

Build instructions can be found in [Contributing.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).

## Translations

Want to help us translate Session into your language? You can do so at https://getsession.org/translate!

## Verifying signatures

**Step 1:**

Add Jason's GPG key. Jason Rhinelander, a member of the [Session Technology Foundation](https://session.foundation/) and is the current signer for all Session Desktop releases. His GPG key can be found on his GitHub and other sources.

```sh
wget https://github.com/jagerman.gpg
gpg --import jagerman.gpg
```

**Step 2:**

Get the signed hashes for this release. `SESSION_VERSION` needs to be updated for the release you want to verify.

```sh
export SESSION_VERSION=1.15.0
wget https://github.com/session-foundation/session-desktop/releases/download/v$SESSION_VERSION/signature.asc
```

**Step 3:**

Verify the signature of the hashes of the files.

```sh
gpg --verify signature.asc 2>&1 |grep "Good signature from"
```

The command above should print "`Good signature from "Jason Rhinelander...`". If it does, the hashes are valid but we still have to make the sure the signed hashes match the downloaded files.

**Step 4:**

Make sure the two commands below return the same hash for the file you are checking. If they do, file is valid.

<details>
<summary>Linux</summary>

```sh
sha256sum session-desktop-linux-amd64-$SESSION_VERSION.deb
grep .deb signature.asc
```

</details>

<details>
<summary>macOS</summary>

**Apple Silicon**

```sh
sha256sum releases/session-desktop-mac-arm64-$SESSION_VERSION.dmg
grep .dmg signature.asc
```

**Intel**

```sh
sha256sum releases/session-desktop-mac-x64-$SESSION_VERSION.dmg
grep .dmg signature.asc
```

</details>

<details>
<summary>Windows</summary>

**Powershell**

```PowerShell
Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 session-desktop-win-x64-$SESSION_VERSION.exe  # checksum is uppercase but should otherwise match
Select-String -Pattern ".exe" signature.asc
```

**Bash**

```sh
sha256sum session-desktop-win-x64-$SESSION_VERSION.exe
grep .exe signature.asc
```

</details>

## Debian repository

Please visit https://deb.oxen.io/

## License

Copyright 2011 Whisper Systems

Copyright 2013-2017 Open Whisper Systems

Copyright 2019-2024 The Oxen Project

Copyright 2024-2025 Session Technology Foundation

Licensed under the GPLv3: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

## Attributions

The IP-to-country mapping data used in this project is provided by [MaxMind GeoLite2](https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite2-free-geolocation-data).

This project uses the [Lucide Icon Font](https://lucide.dev/), which is licensed under the [ISC License](./third_party_licenses/LucideLicense.txt).