FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Is Tonnet Browser a replacement for Chrome / Firefox?

No. Tonnet is built for the TON Network: .ton, .t.me, .adnl, .eth, .sol domains. Clearnet browsing is intentionally not the goal. Use your regular browser for HTTPS.

Is this Tor?

No. Tor routes traffic through 3-hop onion circuits over volunteer relays. Tonnet uses garlic routing over TON's ADNL network with DHT-discovered relays (2-hop by default, 3-hop total path). Similar goals (censorship resistance, IP privacy), different network.

Do I need a TON wallet to use it?

No. You can browse .ton sites without a wallet. A wallet is only required for HTTP 402 paid content or sending TON.

Does it work offline?

No. The browser requires connectivity to bootstrap ADNL/DHT nodes at startup. Once connected, content is fetched from the TON P2P network.

Privacy

Does Tonnet collect any telemetry?

No. Zero analytics, zero crash reports sent externally, zero connections to any centralized endpoint. The only clearnet fetch is the update checker (tonnet.resistance.dog/updates.json), which runs once per session, gated by a manual user click.

What's the default privacy level?

Privacy-first defaults: history in memory only, clear on exit, first-party session isolation per domain, WebRTC blocked, DNS prefetch off, Client Hints stripped, generic User-Agent. See Privacy Guide.

Can sites fingerprint me?

The browser strips the most common fingerprinting vectors (Client Hints, canvas readback patterns, WebGL UUIDs, enum'd fonts). JavaScript-based fingerprinting via behavior timing is harder to defeat; anonymous mode helps.

Is my wallet key stored securely?

Yes. The 24-word mnemonic is encrypted via the OS keychain (libsecret on Linux, Keychain on macOS, DPAPI on Windows). The secret key is loaded only when signing and immediately zeroed. See Wallet.

Network

Can I browse regular HTTPS sites?

Not intended. Cleartext HTTP is blocked by the proxy. HTTPS requests go through the proxy which only routes ADNL traffic. Clearnet HTTPS would require a separate path and defeats the privacy model.

Does Tonnet support IPv6?

ADNL runs over UDP on IPv4. Anti-fingerprinting blocks IPv6 SSRF vectors.

Why does the first startup take ~15 seconds?

In anonymous mode the browser discovers TON DHT nodes and builds a 2-section encrypted circuit. In direct mode the bootstrap is near-instant.

Development

Can I build it myself?

Yes. See Building from Source. Go 1.22+, Node 22+, and about 10 minutes to compile all native binaries.

Is it compatible with Chrome extensions?

No. Tonnet is Electron-based, not Chrome. The Web Extensions API is partially available but the browser blocks extension APIs by default for privacy.

Where do I report a bug?

GitHub Issues. For security vulnerabilities, open a private security advisory.

Can I contribute?

Yes. See Contributing.