The shadows are your ally

Trench Coat mark - ink watercolor coat silhouette

Trench Coat

v1.2.1 | Circuit Desk | Legal-first Tor-aware privacy

A legal-first, Tor-aware privacy cloak for journalists, researchers, activists, and careful professionals. Point apps at a local SOCKS entry; Trench Coat chains hops you already run (often Tor) and stays fail-closed when the chain dies. Command Nexus Circuit Desk lets you compose hops without YAML. Not a VPN. Not Tor Browser. Not a crime toolkit.

Quick start GitHub How the cloak works
Atmosphere

Quiet power in the rain

Watercolor film-noir rainy night street with a trench coat silhouette

Hand-crafted noir illustration language for Velvet Collar - protective, atmospheric, never neon spectacle.

Control surface

Command Nexus

Trench Coat Command Nexus in Velvet Collar theme: cloaked status, hop latency, city map

Local control surface: hop health, fail-closed status, one-click profiles, session dossiers. Run trench gui to http://127.0.0.1:8742

Observability

How the cloak works

Trench Coat is a local orchestrator, not a remote VPN brand and not Tor Browser. You run hops you trust (often Tor); apps point at one local entry.

  1. Apps send traffic to socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 (the cloak entry).
  2. Trench Coat nests that traffic through your hop chain (e.g. VPN SOCKS → Tor).
  3. Egress reaches the open net from the last hop's identity.
  4. Fail-closed: if all hops die, new CONNECTs are refused - no silent clearnet via the cloak.
  5. Verify: trench doctor → trench up --accept-legal → trench check-ip.
ObserverTypically sees
LAN / ISPTraffic to your first hop only (not full destination list)
Intermediate hopAdjacent links - diversify operators
WebsiteExit IP + your app/browser fingerprint
Endpoint malwareEverything - out of scope; OS hygiene required

Not a Tor Browser replacement for isolated browsing. Not anonymity against a nation-state with endpoint access. Not for crime.

How the cloak works: apps to local SOCKS entry to nested hops to egress, fail-closed
Threat fit

Profiles

Casual Shadow

Tor-only default. Everyday privacy with minimal setup.

Ghost

VPN then Tor. Harder first-hop observation.

Journalist

Self-hosted → VPN → Tor posture for field work.

Whistleblower / Paranoid

Longer chains, stricter policy - latency trades for separation.

Soft kill-switch = SOCKS refuse-direct. Hard kill-switch = opt-in OS firewall (undo script written first). Signed Windows WFP is not claimed yet. Doctor now warns on residual hard rules and guides Windows Tor egress allow-lists.

Ink and watercolor profile motifs for Casual Shadow, Ghost, Journalist, and Paranoid postures
Install

Quick start

Recommended: install with pipx for an isolated CLI, then run the first-run wizard.

# Primary path (pipx)
pipx install git+https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat.git
trench first-run --accept-legal
# start Tor (9050/9150), then:
trench up --accept-legal --wait-tor 60
trench check-ip
trench gui   # http://127.0.0.1:8742
# apps → socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

# Advanced: editable clone
git clone https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat.git
cd trench-coat
python -m venv .venv
# Windows: .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
trench first-run --accept-legal
Answers

FAQ

What is Trench Coat?

A legal-first, Tor-aware privacy cloak: local SOCKS5 entry, hop chains you already run, fail-closed defaults. Open source (AGPL). Not a VPN or Tor Browser.

Does it replace a VPN or Tor Browser?

No. You still run Tor/VPN listeners. Tor Browser remains best for isolated browsing; Trench Coat chains hops for many apps.

Is it legal?

Built for legitimate privacy and opsec only. Not for crime. You own legal compliance. Run trench legal.

How do I verify Tor?

trench check-ip or Tor Project's check API via the SOCKS entry. Expect IsTor: true.

What does fail-closed actually block?

When hops die, the cloak entry refuses CONNECT instead of dialing your real IP. Apps not using the SOCKS proxy are still direct.

Can my real IP still leak?

Yes - DNS/WebRTC outside the proxy, IPv6 surprises, non-proxied apps, and malware. See hardening docs. Soft ≠ full system VPN.

Does it phone home / telemetry?

The CLI does not upload telemetry. Optional opt-in writes aggregate chain-quality counters to a local file (no IPs or hosts). Identity checks use Tor Project's check API when you run trench check-ip.

Soft vs hard kill-switch?

Soft: refuse clearnet at the SOCKS layer. Hard: opt-in OS rules (netsh/nft/pf) with undo-first scripts. Never auto-applied without your confirm. On Windows, allow Tor.exe egress before the outbound block.

Ghost Continuum?

Optional companion plane (trench-cloak) can surface cloak health in Ghost Continuum. Separate product; see Continuum docs.

Network

Docs, GitHub, related projects

Repositorysource | issues | PRs Releasestags & notes Brand systemVelvet Collar tokens Development planphases 0 - 7 Threat modellimits & non-goals Hardeningoperator runbook Security policyprivate disclosure Ghost Continuumoptional trench-cloak plane NetForgehost DNS/TCP forge (Win | Linux | macOS)
Legal-first privacy tool only. Not a crime toolkit. Not affiliated with the Tor Project. You are responsible for complying with the laws of your jurisdiction.