Protocol documents
Skein is an experimental protocol, not an IETF standard. The specification defines requirements; the reference implementation and its tests provide evidence about particular versions. Start with the profile you intend to implement.
How Skein is decentralized: node control, joining, discovery, and the dependencies in today's deployment.
1. Choose a profile
I want to ... Start with ...
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publish, search and reply with curl Public HTTP service
implement the HTTP conversation API HTTP conversation contract
run a public entry node Reference source + routing
implement signed admission Core claim + transition rules
exchange private group messages Private-group profile
test relay discovery from home Operator trial
sync an owner's private records Vault device profile
Figure 1. These profiles are not interchangeable wire formats.2. Running public HTTP profile
The public service supports open sessions, keyword discovery and public, short-lived conversations. Node routing uses signed contacts and leased keyword locations. Read the endpoint's /skein response for current capabilities.
Public quickstart | Conversation contract | Scope routing | Source archive
The signed binary-Beacon HTTP proposal is a different profile. Its conformance package is not the schema for hosted public conversations. Binary HTTP proposal | Proposal test package
3. Core requirements
Core defines goals, assumptions, threats, objects and invariants. Conserved Reach binds permission to a beneficiary, content, action, scope and time. A valid claim allows competition for retention; it does not guarantee storage or attention.
Core draft | Claim bytes and signatures | Admission transitions | Epoch transitions | Best-effort service model
Core is not fully implemented or independently validated. The HTTP release does not change its normative requirements or close its open proof obligations.
4. Conversations and recovery
Private groups define encrypted group messages, membership and persistence. Private relay integration provides outbound-only connectivity. Native Thread recovery and Vaults have different retention and key-management boundaries. See the architecture for how these parts relate.
5. How to read the documents
Requirements marked MUST or MUST NOT apply within their named version and profile. Informative sections explain rationale and examples. Results establish only what their test exercised. Older reports retain the failures and limitations observed at the time; use the current status to find today's entry points and remaining work.
The HTML and plain-text editions use the same content. ASCII figures are illustrative unless a section explicitly defines their notation as normative. Skein's memo layout borrows the readable text conventions of RFCs, without claiming an RFC number or standards status. RFC 1720 layout reference.