Shipyard
Dev tools

deadman-10

A durable dead-man switch in one Go binary — stop checking in and your encrypted vault releases to your beneficiary, with no server or operator alive.

Screenshot of deadman-10

Reactions from the wild

1 reaction.

  • Shipyard member7 Oct
    The pitch is clear, but the listing does not say how beneficiaries are notified or how the release mechanism is verified without a live server. Can you clarify what triggers the actual release event and whether there is a way to test the check-in interval locally before relying on it for real data.

About deadman-10

## What it is

A small, durable **dead-man switch** in one static Go binary. If you stop checking in, your age-encrypted file or folder is released to a beneficiary who can open it — and in **durable mode** it can release itself with no server and no operator alive.

The switch only ever holds **ciphertext it cannot read**. Compromise the host and you get encrypted bytes and public keys — nothing readable, and nothing that lets anyone forge a vault in your name.

## How it separates the concerns

- **Confidentiality** — the vault is encrypted to the beneficiary's key; the host keeps only public keys. Private keys are printed once at setup and stored offline. - **Integrity** — sealed with an offline owner signing key, so the beneficiary can reject a forged substitute. - **Liveness** — a check-in timer decides *when* to release.

## Durable mode (the interesting part)

The vault key is split **K-of-N** with Shamir's Secret Sharing, and exactly one share is **timelock-encrypted to a future [drand](https://drand.love) round**. The beneficiary holds the other K−1 offline. When the round arrives, that one share becomes world-readable — and reveals **nothing** on its own. Only someone who also holds the beneficiary's shares can reconstruct the key.

So the release survives your death, the host's death, and the bill lapsing — while never broadcasting your secrets to the world. Verified end-to-end against the live drand beacon, with optional permanent delivery via Arweave.

``` while you check in ............ nothing happens you go quiet ................... WARN, escalating reminders you stay quiet ................ FIRE: the encrypted vault is released beneficiary (and only them) ... decrypts it ```

MIT licensed. One binary, no runtime deps.