Overview

any-sync is an open-source protocol designed for the post-cloud era, enabling high-speed, peer-to-peer synchronization of encrypted communication channels (spaces). It provides a communication layer for building private, decentralized applications that offer unparalleled control, privacy, and performance.

Each any-sync space (communication channel) is:

• End-to-end encrypted: Ensuring complete privacy of all messages and data.

• User-owned: Users maintain full control over their data and connections.

• Permissionless: Free from centralized lock-in, allowing true decentralization.

Thanks to its local-first design, any-sync achieves better-than-cloud performance when peers are physically close, while still maintaining global accessibility. At its core, data in any-sync is stored as encrypted Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), which can represent various formats, including chats, pages, or databases. It's an end-to-end encrypted structure ensures that no external entity can view channel’s content.

With any-sync, developers have affordances to create next-generation alternatives to apps like Telegram, Discord, or Slack, as well as decentralized social and media-sharing platforms. Imagine applications similar to Strava, Oura, and other health-focused services—reimagined with privacy and decentralization at their core.

Key Features

• Encrypted, user-owned channels: Maintain control over communication and data.

• Permissionless operation: No strict reliance on centralized services.

• Local-first sync: Works offline and over peer-to-peer connections.

• Seamless provider switching: Retain access to channels while changing sync providers.

• Speed and security: Combines fast performance with robust security.

• Scalable infrastructure: Efficiently handles large-scale collaboration, including large groups

The motivation

Traditional cloud infrastructures give corporations control over servers. If those servers fail, get hacked, or block users, entire communities lose their connections and data. Our aim with any-sync is to bring the same degree of freedom to communication that blockchains brought to finance.

While blockchains excel at global consensus for actions like identity management, access control, or payments, they aren’t built for real-time, end-to-end encrypted communication. Storing every encrypted message or document change on every node would be impractical. any-sync fills this gap by adding a fast, flexible communication layer that, when paired with a decentrlised strictly ordered list, enables permissionless and zero-knowledge communication at scale.

With any-sync:

• Users can choose and switch providers anytime, without losing access or data.

• Providers can’t read user information, block users, and alter accounts; they only deliver sync and storage.

any-sync’s channels can scale without practical limits, thanks to a CRDT-based, gas-less mechanism that cryptographically signs every change in its DAGs. Each device independently applies and cryptographically verifies CRDT updates, ensuring everyone arrives at the same final state without needing a traditional consensus protocol.

By supporting multiple data formats (chats, pages, or databases) and storing files externally (e.g., via IPFS), any-sync becomes a flexible foundation for secure, decentralized communication.