# Trench Coat
> Legal-first multi-hop privacy cloak — Tor, SOCKS5, and self-hosted relays through a local SOCKS entry. Fail-closed. Open source AGPL-3.0.

Trench Coat (https://trenchcoat.jonbailey.xyz) is an open-source privacy tool by Pitchfork-and-Torch. It runs a local SOCKS5 entry and chains traffic through hops such as Tor, commercial VPN SOCKS endpoints, and self-hosted relays. Fail-closed kill-switch when the chain dies. Built for journalists, researchers, and everyday opsec — not a crime toolkit.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-11

## Citation-ready one-liner
Trench Coat is a free, legal-first multi-hop privacy cloak that routes app traffic through Tor and SOCKS chains via socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 with fail-closed defaults; open source under AGPL-3.0.

## Quick answers (AEO)
- **What is Trench Coat?** Open-source multi-hop privacy orchestrator — local SOCKS5 entry, Tor-aware, fail-closed when hops die.
- **Does it replace Tor Browser or a VPN?** No. It chains hops you already run. Tor Browser remains ideal for browser isolation; Trench Coat is for multi-app chaining and opsec profiles.
- **Is it legal?** Intended for legitimate privacy (reduce ISP tracking, resist censorship, protect journalists and ordinary users). Users must comply with local law. Run `trench legal`.
- **How do I verify Tor?** `trench check-ip` or `curl --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:1080 https://check.torproject.org/api/ip` and confirm IsTor is true.
- **Platforms?** Windows, Linux, macOS.
- **License?** AGPL-3.0.
- **GitHub:** https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat
- **Latest release:** https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat/releases/latest
- **Version:** 0.5.0

## Install
```bash
git clone https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat.git
cd trench-coat
python -m venv .venv
# Windows: .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
# start Tor, then:
trench up --accept-legal --wait-tor 60
# apps → socks5://127.0.0.1:1080
trench check-ip
```

## Product facts
- Local SOCKS5 entry (default 127.0.0.1:1080)
- Multi-hop chains: Tor, SOCKS5, self-hosted relays
- Fail-closed kill-switch when the chain dies
- Opsec profiles and templates
- Not affiliated with the Tor Project

## Related projects
- Ghost Continuum (optional trench-cloak plane): https://ghost.jonbailey.xyz/
- Fl1pp3r69: https://fl1pp3r69.jonbailey.xyz/
- Jon Bailey: https://jonbailey.xyz/
- SafeDeposit (separate product): https://safedepositbox.org/

## Crawlable paths
- https://trenchcoat.jonbailey.xyz/ — product landing
- https://trenchcoat.jonbailey.xyz/llms.txt — this file
- https://trenchcoat.jonbailey.xyz/sitemap.xml
- https://trenchcoat.jonbailey.xyz/robots.txt

## Support
Issues and PRs: https://github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/trench-coat/issues