Docs · Quickstart
Start in four moves.
From install to a verified post-quantum session. Nothing here takes longer than a minute.
Install the app
Install QERYX from the download page. It lists every distribution channel that is live today — and for each artifact, the hash you can check before you trust it.
Check the artifact before first launch
Every release ships a signed manifest listing the exact hash of every artifact, per channel. The full byte-identical path is documented in Verify your build.
Create your Serpent ID
Pick a Serpent ID and a password. The Serpent ID is a secret — you
never share it. Peers reach you by your Profile ID, a public
PROFILE-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX value derived on your device.
The rules the server enforces
Serpent ID: 3–64 characters, letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores. Password: 8–128 characters. That is the entire registration payload — no phone number, no email, nothing to enumerate.
What the server stores about you
An Argon2id password hash (m=512 MiB, t=2, p=4 — RFC 9106), your public key bundle, and an opaque routing identifier. Your private keys are generated on your device and never leave it.
Entangle with a peer
Paste your peer's Profile ID — or pair in person — and open the conversation. The first message you send performs the handshake; there is no separate setup step to get wrong.
What just happened underneath
Your device ran an X25519 + ML-KEM-1024 hybrid key exchange, signed with ML-DSA-87 identity keys, against your peer's published key bundle. The session keys were born on the two devices. The relay carried ciphertext and opaque routing identifiers — it cannot read messages.
Breaking the session requires breaking both X25519 and ML-KEM-1024.
Verify the session
Open your peer's info screen and compare the safety number — six groups of four characters — in person or over a channel you already trust. A match is a proof, not a promise.
The full ritual, and what a mismatch means, lives in Key verification.
05The four questions — settle them before you start
Settle these before you start.
Do I need a phone number or an email?
No. Registration is a Serpent ID and a password. There is no contact list upload and no directory to enumerate.
What if I lose my device?
We cannot recover your messages or your account if you lose your device and your Secret Phrase. There is no key-escrow and no master reset. Write the passphrase down when the app shows it to you.
What does this version cost?
Nothing. This version sells nothing — there is no in-app purchase and no card processor in the build. An invited account carries every functional feature.
Every tier carries the same maximum cryptography — higher tiers unlock new tools, they never upgrade the crypto you already have. The tier ladder on the tiers page is the roadmap for that, and it is not a checkout.