Sovereign Engineering / Building block
MLS
Private conversations, shared securely.
Messaging Layer Security is an open standard for end-to-end encrypted group communication. It lets a group establish and update shared cryptographic keys as people join, leave, and exchange messages.
Keeping up with a changing group
Group conversations need more than encryption for a single pair of people. MLS coordinates changes in membership and keys, allowing members to send protected messages without separately encrypting every message for every other participant.
Keys that move forward
MLS is designed to protect earlier messages if a current key is exposed, and to restore protection for future messages after appropriate key updates. These properties are called forward secrecy and post-compromise security.
From standard to application
MLS supplies a cryptographic foundation. Applications still need identity, delivery, and a usable interface. Marmot brings MLS together with Nostr identities, while MDK provides implementation tools for building on Marmot.
Roots & further growth.
From the cohort archive