What is sphinx-relay?

Sphinx Relay is a Node.js service that wraps LND to provide connectivity and data storage for the Sphinx chat app. It lets anyone operate their own relay node so messages travel over the Lightning Network in a decentralized, encrypted fashion. The relay persists aliases, messages, recurring payment setups, contact invites, and media decryption keys. Deployment options include Docker, Docker Compose, plain Linux, myNode, and Raspiblitz. An LND instance (v0.10.0+) with funded channels is required. Clients connect by scanning a QR code the relay prints at startup, which opens a WebSocket link on port 3001 (or 3300 in Docker).

Should you self-host sphinx-relay?

sphinx-relay scores 44/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #71 of 110 in Chat. It has 247 GitHub stars.

There was no stable release in the past 12 months, so check the repository's recent activity before you rely on it.

Setup is advanced: plan for several services and some ongoing maintenance. An official Docker image is available. It is MIT-licensed and written mostly in Typescript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is Zulip (82/100, 26 131 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See sphinx-relay vs Zulip side by side.