**Your Decentralized Social Blog Site** **[Website](https://onionpress.org)** · **[Download](https://github.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress/releases/latest)**

# OnionPress **Run your own website from your computer. Just Works. Free, forever.** OnionPress turns your Mac or Linux computer into a web server running WordPress, accessible via the Tor network. Your site gets its own permanent .onion address that no one can take away from you. It's backed up automatically by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. **WordPress + Tor + Wayback Machine.** You write. Tor delivers. Wayback remembers. ## Features - 📝 **Full WordPress**: Any theme, any plugin, a dashboard you already know - 🧅 **Permanent .onion Address**: Your own address on the Tor network — no domain registrar, no DNS, uncensorable - 🏛️ **Wayback Machine Integration**: Automatically archived and served when you're offline - 🏠 **Works Behind Firewalls**: Home, school, work — Tor punches through NAT and firewalls - 🔐 **Private by Default**: No analytics, no tracking, no ads. End-to-end encrypted without certificates - 🐳 **Sandboxed**: Docker containers inside a VM for isolation and security - 📱 **Mac Menu Bar App**: Purple onion icon with one-click controls - 🐧 **Linux Support**: CLI + systemd for servers and Raspberry Pi ## Requirements - **Mac**: macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later - **Linux**: Docker Engine 20.10 or later and Docker Compose 2.22 or later (`onionpress check-docker` says what you have; the Python `docker-compose` 1.x package of Ubuntu and Debian 12 is not Compose 2) - Internet connection ## Installation ### Mac 1. Download [`onionpress.dmg`](https://github.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress/releases/latest/download/onionpress.dmg) 2. Drag `OnionPress.app` to Applications and launch 3. First launch takes 3-5 minutes (one-time setup) ### Linux One command installs everything: ```bash curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress/main/linux/install.sh | bash ``` Or download the [`.deb` package](https://github.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress/releases/latest/download/onionpress.deb): ```bash wget https://github.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress/releases/latest/download/onionpress.deb sudo apt-get install ./onionpress.deb systemctl --user start onionpress ``` After install: `onionpress status`, `onionpress address`, `onionpress logs`. Everything the menu and the Settings page offer is a command too (on a Mac the command is `/Applications/OnionPress.app/Contents/MacOS/onionpress`): `onionpress version`; `onionpress address --url` (the site's shareable URL, `--copy` puts it on the clipboard); `onionpress open site|admin|settings|onion` (a browser, logged in; `onion` opens Tor Browser where it is installed); `onionpress logs --app|--launcher|--web` (`-n N` lines, `-f` to follow); `onionpress check-reachability` (the Settings page's test, through the independent onionheaven Tor client); `onionpress import-key --file hs_ed25519_secret_key`; `onionpress onionname show|set NAME`. Settings: `onionpress config list` shows every setting, `onionpress config set KEY VALUE` changes one (`config list --help` describes the keys; on a Mac the command is `/Applications/OnionPress.app/Contents/MacOS/onionpress`). To update: `onionpress update` installs the latest release's `.deb` once it matches the sha256 the release publishes in `SHA256SUMS` (`onionpress update --check` only says whether there is one). To check that a site is reachable over Tor: `onionpress get http://

.onion/` (fetches through the tor container and prints the page). On Linux, WordPress (`http://:8080`) is open to other devices on your local network, so a headless machine such as a Raspberry Pi can be set up from a phone or laptop. To keep it on this machine only, add `ONIONPRESS_BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1` to `~/.onionpress/config` and run `systemctl --user restart onionpress`. Tor's SOCKS port is only ever reachable from the machine itself. On a Mac, both stay on the Mac. ### macOS Security Warning On first launch, macOS will show a security warning (normal for open-source software). Go to **System Settings → Privacy & Security**, scroll down, and click **"Open Anyway"**. ## Usage ### Menu Bar Controls On Mac, OnionPress appears in your menu bar: - 🟣 **Purple** = running and available - 🟡 **Yellow** = starting or reconnecting - ⚪ **Gray** = stopped ### OnionHeaven (recommended) OnionHeaven keeps your `.onion` address reachable when your computer is off, asleep, or disconnected. While OnionPress runs it sends a heartbeat to the OnionHeaven hub. If the heartbeats stop, the hub takes over your address and redirects visitors to the Wayback Machine's archived copy of your site. When you come back online, your live site takes over again. It is **on by default**. It sends a copy of your onion service private key to the hub (run by the Internet Archive) so it can publish your address while you are away. Without it, visitors get a connection error whenever your computer is off. Disabling it, uninstalling, resetting, importing another key, restoring another site's backup or changing the hub asks the hub to delete its copy of the key (OnionPress has to be running for that; it tells you if a copy may remain). **What the hub can do with your key.** The key *is* your address: whoever holds it can publish anything at your `.onion`, not only the archived copy, and nobody on the Tor network can tell the difference. So: - **You are trusting the hub's operator and the hub's security** with your site's identity for as long as the hub holds the key. OnionPress stores the key on the hub unencrypted; there is no split, escrow or hardware key that would stop the hub itself from using it. - **A compromised hub is every registered site's identity at once.** The hub holds every registrant's key under one root. - **You can notice, but not win.** While your site is up, OnionPress checks what the Tor network serves for your address; another publisher of your address shows up in its log as `desc-other`, and a takeover page carries an `X-OnionHeaven-Takeover` header. But two publishers of one address alternate on the Tor directories, so your live site cannot push a hub that misbehaves out of the way. - **Deleting the copy is a request.** `/unregister` asks the hub to delete its copy; OnionPress cannot verify that it did. - **The hub's own protections** are the ones in this repository: the heartbeat is signed with your key, the hub checks the key belongs to the address before storing it, registry writes are checked, the hub's own containers drop every capability, and the hub's data volume is mounted by no web-facing container. They protect the hub from outsiders, not you from the hub. If that trade is not right for your site, turn OnionHeaven off before the first start (below), or run your own hub (`ONIONHEAVEN_ACCEPT_REGISTRATIONS=yes` on a node you control) and point your sites at it. Either way your site is unreachable while your computer is off. - **Mac:** menu bar → Settings… → *Keep site reachable via OnionHeaven*, or `/Applications/OnionPress.app/Contents/MacOS/onionpress onionheaven enable` (or `disable`, `status`) - **Linux:** `onionpress onionheaven enable` (or `disable`, `status`) - **Config file:** `REGISTER_WITH_ONIONHEAVEN=yes|no` in `~/.onionpress/config` (unset means yes) #### Preconfiguring OnionHeaven before first run The first heartbeat, which carries your key, goes out as soon as your site has an address, before you can open Settings. Turning OnionHeaven off later asks the hub to delete its copy, but by then the hub has had one. To make sure your key never reaches the default hub, write `~/.onionpress/config` **before you start OnionPress for the first time** (before first launch on a Mac, before `install.sh` or `apt install` on Linux). OnionPress only creates that file when it is missing, so it keeps yours. To turn OnionHeaven off entirely: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.onionpress && echo "REGISTER_WITH_ONIONHEAVEN=no" >> ~/.onionpress/config ``` With `no`, nothing is sent to any hub: no heartbeats, and no key. To use another hub instead, such as one you run yourself (`ONIONHEAVEN_ACCEPT_REGISTRATIONS=yes` on that node), name its address: ```bash mkdir -p ~/.onionpress && echo "ONIONHEAVEN_ADDRESS=.onion" >> ~/.onionpress/config ``` Your key then goes to that hub instead of the default one. The value must be one whole v3 onion address. **An address OnionPress cannot read (a typo, a missing `.onion`, extra text) falls back to the default hub**. OnionPress then logs a WARNING naming the default hub, at start and again before it registers, in `~/.onionpress/onionpress.log`. Check the address before the first start, or add `REGISTER_WITH_ONIONHEAVEN=no` too and change it to `yes` once the log shows the right hub. Changing the hub later asks the old hub to delete its copy of the key. Both settings go in the config of the user who runs OnionPress (on Linux, the user who runs `install.sh` or `sudo apt install`). Settings the file leaves out keep their defaults. ## Viewing Your Site Your site is viewable on any Tor-enabled browser: - **[Tor Browser](https://www.torproject.org/download/)** — Windows, Mac, Linux (the gold standard) - **[Brave Browser](https://brave.com/)** — Windows, Mac, Linux, Android (built-in Tor window) - **[Onion Browser](https://apps.apple.com/app/onion-browser/id519296448)** — iPhone & iPad - **[Tor Browser for Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.torproject.torbrowser)** — Android ## Architecture OnionPress is built on [WordPress](https://wordpress.org/), [Tor](https://www.torproject.org/), and the Internet Archive's [Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/). All data is stored in: - `~/.onionpress/` — Application state, logs, config - `~/OnionPress/` — Backups and My Creations - Docker volumes for WordPress content, database, and Tor keys ## Disk usage OnionPress runs Docker inside a Colima VM on macOS. The VM's disk image lives at `~/.onionpress/colima/_lima/colima/diffdisk` and is a **sparse file** — the operating system only allocates real disk for blocks that have been written to. To see real vs. apparent size: ``` $ du -sh ~/.onionpress/colima/_lima/colima/diffdisk # real allocation 3.2G diffdisk $ ls -lh ~/.onionpress/colima/_lima/colima/diffdisk # apparent (= cap) -rw------- 1 you staff 20G May 19 13:50 diffdisk ``` Finder shows the **apparent** size, which is the configured cap. New installs are capped at **20 GiB**; existing installs created before that change keep their original 100 GiB cap (the cap is set when the VM is first created and is not changed by upgrades). To override before first launch, set `VM_DISK=N` (in GiB) in `~/.onionpress/config`. OnionHeaven hub installs auto-bump to 100 GiB to accommodate takeover containers at scale. Real disk usage stays small: after months of typical use, expect 3–7 GB for the full `~/.onionpress/` tree. The menubar's "Check for Updates" flow automatically prunes dangling Docker image versions after each successful image pull, so old releases don't accumulate on disk. If you want to apply the smaller 20 GiB cap to an existing install: ``` onionpress backup # IMPORTANT: back up first — data loss otherwise /Applications/OnionPress.app/Contents/MacOS/onionpress quit colima delete onionpress # destroys the VM and its diffdisk open /Applications/OnionPress.app # next launch creates a fresh 20 GiB VM onionpress restore ``` This is a manual procedure because shrinking the diffdisk on a running install requires recreating the VM. Most users will never need to do this — sparse files mean the existing 100 GiB cap is a Finder display quirk, not actual disk consumption. ## Building from Source Everything OnionPress ships — including the container images — can be rebuilt on your own machine. Nothing requires access to the project's CI, its registry credentials, or its self-hosted build runner. ```bash make doctor # which build tools you have, and what each missing one costs make images # the tor + wordpress container images (any OS) make dev-up # run the stack on the images you just built make dmg # the macOS installer (macOS only) make deb # the Linux package (any OS) make extension # the Chrome + Firefox extensions (any OS) ``` **[docs/HOW-TO-BUILD.md](docs/HOW-TO-BUILD.md)** has the system and software requirements, install commands and step-by-step instructions for every artifact. **[docs/BUILDING.md](docs/BUILDING.md)** is the reference behind it: which inputs are pinned and how to bump them, why some images stay floating, and how to point an installed OnionPress at images you built yourself. ## Uninstalling - **Mac**: Click **Uninstall** from the menu bar app. It will remove all data and quit. - **Linux**: Run `onionpress uninstall` ## License Copyright (C) 2026 Internet Archive and OnionPress contributors. OnionPress is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version (SPDX: `AGPL-3.0-or-later`). The full text is in the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file. The WordPress plugins and theme OnionPress installs carry the same license in their headers. The macOS app bundles Colima (MIT), Lima (Apache-2.0), the Docker CLI (Apache-2.0), Docker Compose (Apache-2.0), mkp224o (CC0-1.0) and libsodium (ISC), and its menubar app carries the Python interpreter (PSF-2.0) and the Python packages it runs on (PyNaCl, pyobjc, rumps and what they need: Apache-2.0, MIT, BSD-3-Clause and ISC); the build writes all their license texts and notices into the app as `Contents/Resources/THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt`. The Linux package bundles nothing from other projects; its copyright file is `/usr/share/doc/onionpress/copyright`. ## Credits A [Decentralized Web](http://brewster.kahle.org/2015/08/11/locking-the-web-open-a-call-for-a-distributed-web-2/) project. Free and Open Source (AGPL-3.0-or-later). [Donate to the Tor Project](https://donate.torproject.org/) · [Donate to the Internet Archive](https://archive.org/donate/) ## Support For issues, questions, or contributions, visit the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/brewsterkahle/onionpress) or the [product page](https://onionpress.org).