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%styx — A Dead Man's Switch for Urbit

"The ferryman waits for no one, but he is patient."

What It Is

Your ship is meant to last forever. You won't. %styx ensures that when you cross the river, your digital legacy crosses with you—delivered to the hands you choose.

Unlike Web2 dead man's switches that rely on centralized servers, %styx is peer-to-peer. Your cargo stays on your ship, encrypted, until the moment of release. Delivery happens over Ames, ship to ship.

How It Works

  YOU                                              CROSSING
   │                                                   │
   │  ←── River Width (default 60 days) ──→           │
   │                                                   │
   ▼                                                   ▼
┌──────┐   no activity  ┌─────────┐  no activity ┌──────────┐
│ PEACE │ ──────────→   │ WARNING │ ─────────→   │ CROSSING │ → Deliver Cargo
└──────┘  (60 days)     └─────────┘  (3 days)    └──────────┘
   ▲                         │
   │                         │
   └───── any activity ──────┘

Passive Obols: Your Urbit activity automatically resets the timer:

  • Using Groups (chat, posts, reactions)
  • Visiting the styx web UI
  • Or click "I Yet Live" as a manual backup

No need to remember to ping if you're actively using your ship.

  1. Peaceful — Timer counting down. Any ping resets it.
  2. Warning — Grace period. Ping to abort.
  3. Crossing — Timer expired. All cargo delivered to recipients.

Core Concepts

Term Meaning
Obol Proof of life. A ping that resets the timer.
Cargo Message or file to deliver when you cross.
Crossing The trigger point—when your switch fires.
River Width How long before warning phase (default: 60 days)
Grace Period Warning phase duration (default: 3 days)

Cargo Types

Message

[%message subject='For my sister' body='The password is...']

File

[%file name='keys.zip' mime='application/zip' data=0x...]

Cargo encryption with recipient's public key is planned for a future release.

Usage

Web UI

http://localhost:8080/styx

Dojo

::  Ping (proof of life)
:styx &styx-action [%ping ~]

::  Enable/disable
:styx &styx-action [%enable ~]
:styx &styx-action [%disable ~]

::  Add message cargo
:styx &styx-action [%add-cargo ~recipient 'Subject' 'Body']

::  Check status
:styx +dbug

Configuration

Setting Default Description
River Width 60 days Time before warning phase
Grace Period 3 days Warning phase before crossing

Architecture

One agent. Simple state.

styx-desk/
├── app/styx.hoon    # The agent
├── sur/styx.hoon    # Types
├── lib/styx.hoon    # Helpers
└── mar/styx/        # Marks

Future Ideas

  • Witness network — Trusted ships can vouch for you
  • Multiple conditions — Combine triggers (silence + witness confirmation)
  • Scheduled release — Deliver on a specific date
  • Cargo encryption — Encrypt with recipient's public key

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come..."