Run a Midnight Select cell

A cell is a small program that carries end-to-end encrypted Midnight Select messages, so the network doesn't depend on one company's servers. Link it to your account to earn the Cell operator certification and DUST sponsorship from the Midnight Select Treasury.

Windows 10 and 11

One file. Double-click it and you're done: no zip, no command window, nothing else to install.

Download for Windows

Signed by Jaison Norton through Microsoft Artifact Signing.

MidnightSelectCell-Setup.exe · version 2026.10.11.1 · 64-bit · 41 MB · SHA-256 511cfb9116a0ac61424ca6b18ef7ac26fda6b82145146aa2115eac0cd6426458

Open MidnightSelectCell-Setup.exe. The Midnight Select shield lights up while it loads.
No name to pick: people see every cell by its cell code, 4 characters made from its ID (like 7KQ2). Its region is picked from your computer's time zone (nothing is looked up online); change it if you like.
Choose whether it runs quietly in the background. Setup explains how your cell helps the network.
Optional: show the QR code and scan it with the app to link the cell to your account. Then the dashboard opens, and the shield sits by the clock.

Updates itself: from version 2026.10.11.1 your cell installs new signed releases automatically and goes back to the previous version if one doesn't start properly. Already running an older cell? Run this installer over it once (your cell's key, messages and settings are kept).

Installed for you only, in your own folder (no administrator rights). Remove it from Settings › Apps. Setup, its uninstaller and the shield program are code-signed by Jaison Norton (certificate issued through Microsoft); Windows shows that name as the publisher. A newly signed program can still get a "Windows protected your PC" notice for a while until it builds reputation: choose More info to check the publisher, then Run anyway.

Windows (advanced: .zip)

Use this if Windows blocks the installer.

Download and unzip.
Double-click Install Midnight Select cell.cmd. If Windows says "Windows protected your PC", choose More info, then Run anyway (the zip's install script isn't code-signed).
Answer two questions: a coarse region, and whether to start it when you sign in. Your cell is shown by its 4-character cell code, made from its ID.
The Midnight Select shield appears in the notification area by the clock. It pulses while your cell passes messages along. Click it for the dashboard; right-click to activate, log off, start or stop.

Download for Windows (.zip) 113 MB · SHA-256 d778f70bf55a60cd15ef65b96a84a757a39ffc90b63088bb36da9a1cc27ce21d

macOS and Linux

Download and unpack: tar xzf midnight-select-cell.tar.gz
Run sh desktop-cell/install-cell.sh
Answer the same three questions. The dashboard opens when it finishes (there's no tray shield on macOS and Linux).

Download for macOS / Linux (.tar.gz) 110 MB · SHA-256 bee23de371988cd5d47ff8d12562924a4a7c3fb354f6901ea665e0cb0058dec8

Activate it with a QR code

Open the cell's dashboard: click the shield on Windows, or go to http://127.0.0.1:8787/dashboard (the installer opens it and tells you the port).
In the app: You › Network › Run a cell › Activate a cell, then scan the code on the Activate this cell card.
Confirm in the app. Within seconds the dashboard says Live as @you. Log off or change user from the dashboard or the shield's menu.

The code is a one-time secret that lasts 10 minutes; only its fingerprint leaves your computer. A typed link code from the app (You › Network › Run a cell › Get a link code) still works too. After the cell's first week, 72 online hours in 30 days makes you a certified Cell operator: the badge appears on your profile. Online time also counts toward DUST sponsorship, which starts once the Midnight Select Treasury is set up on Midnight's test network. You can activate up to 5 cells.

What the dashboard shows

A globe with your cell and its neighbours, a shield that beats faster when your cell is busier, and sealed envelopes flowing through your computer, replayed from real counts (delayed 15 minutes and rounded, never who or what).
Your help this month: a ring filling toward certification, your hours online and the badge with a thank-you once you've earned it.
How your cell helps: sealed messages it carried, cells it helped reach the network, backup copies it keeps, and how close the network is to running on people's cells alone.
AI hosts: whether an AI community host runs on your cell. It is off unless you turn it on, and it only runs on a certified Cell operator cell.
Midnight explained: NIGHT, the token, charges DUST, a private battery that pays transaction fees and can't be sent. A NIGHT holder can point that charging at someone else: that's sponsorship.
How your DUST grows with your help: your counted hours feeding the sponsorship meter, with its honest status, and a worked example labelled as one.

What your cell does, and doesn't

It passes along messages that are locked on people's phones with the Signal Protocol. It can't read them and deletes each one once it is collected.
It sees random account numbers, never names, contacts or phone numbers, and keeps no IP-address logs.
It listens only on your computer and opens no router ports; it reaches the network through its bootstrap cell.
It doesn't make anyone anonymous: like any mail server it can see which account a waiting envelope is for, when it arrived and how big it is. Running one tells the cells it talks to that your internet connection runs a cell.
The Windows installer includes the official Node.js. The .zip and .tar.gz need Node.js 22.13 or newer; if you don't have it, their installer offers the official download from nodejs.org and checks its SHA-256 before using it.

Alpha software for testing. Free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence (the licence travels with the download). Check a download: Windows Get-FileHash MidnightSelectCell-Setup.exe (or the .zip), macOS/Linux shasum -a 256 midnight-select-cell.tar.gz, and compare with the SHA-256 above. SHA256SUMS.txt