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What Glitr is

Glitr is a private messenger. You chat with people you already trust. There is no Glitr account, no phone-number directory, and no central server that holds your conversations for you.

Instead, you own a git repository. That repository is your mailbox, your backup, and the address other people use to reach you. Their repository is theirs. Glitr reads and writes those repositories from your device, with encryption in between.

The idea in one minute​

  1. You create (or reuse) a git repository you control — on GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, or any host that speaks HTTPS git.
  2. You open Glitr and connect that repository. You set a display name and an encryption password.
  3. You share your repository URL. Someone else shares theirs. You each add the other as a contact.
  4. You send a message. Glitr writes an encrypted payload into your repository (the outbound mail) and pushes it. Their app fetches your repository, decrypts what is addressed to them, and shows it.
  5. If you are both online, Glitr quietly opens a direct live link. New messages skip the mailbox and travel peer to peer. If that link drops, the next send falls back to git.

That is the whole product: a messenger whose “cloud” is a repo you already know how to own.

What you get​

  • Chats — a list, threads, unread badges, and delivery ticks (sent, delivered, read).
  • Contacts — people identified by the git URL they gave you, with a connection status (pending, active, live).
  • Profile — your name, handle, and the repository URL you copy to others.
  • A progressive web app — install it on a phone or desktop from the browser; it keeps working after the first visit.
  • Desktop and mobile builds — the same app, packaged, if you prefer a window instead of a tab.
  • Encryption — sealed data at rest, a Signal Protocol handshake (the handshake library is open source), and a post-quantum path.
  • Live when you can — git brokers a handshake; a direct link carries messages while both sides are present.

Glitr does not currently sell voice or video calling as a feature. The live path is for messages.

What Glitr is not​

  • Not a company inbox. We do not store your thread on our servers. If you lose the repository and the password, we cannot restore the conversation.
  • Not anonymous-by-magic. A git host can see that a repository exists and is being updated. Encryption hides message bodies; it does not hide the fact of traffic. See What is encrypted vs what a host can see.
  • Not guaranteed instant. Offline delivery waits on git fetch and push. Instant is the live path, when both of you are here. See Live vs offline.
  • Not a git host of our own. You bring the repository. Some hosts may dislike this use of their service. Read Using GitHub, GitLab, and Codeberg.

Who it is for​

People who want messaging that does not depend on a chat company remaining solvent, honest, or online. People who already understand (or are willing to learn) a repository URL and an access token. People who will trade a little setup for a mailbox they can clone, backup, and delete themselves.

If that is you, start with Install the app, then Your first conversation.