partial 2 min verified 503cd17 (2026-09-13)
Take your identity with you
Your identity belongs to you, not to this network. You can walk away with it and use it on another device or another Lightning Mesh, without anyone's permission.
Status: partial. Taking your key with you is built. Deleting your entry from a mesh isn't built yet.
Step 1: Export
Do: on http://hello.mesh, open your identity and tap Show recovery
phrase. Write down the 24 words, or tap Copy raw hex for the 64-character
seed.
Expect: 24 words from the standard BIP39 word list. They encode your raw 32-byte Ed25519 key directly. They aren't tied to this mesh or this software, but they're not a crypto-wallet seed phrase. A wallet app that derives keys from BIP39 words produces a different key, so restore only into hello.mesh or another tool that uses the same raw-key encoding.
Step 2: Restore somewhere else
Do:
- Join any Lightning Mesh and open
http://hello.meshin a browser. - Tap Set up your identity, then Already have a recovery phrase? Restore it.
- Paste the 24 words, or the 64-character hex, and tap Restore identity.
Expect: "You're <name> here", with the same public key as before. People
and apps that know your public key recognize you.
If not: check the words are in order and spelled correctly. On a browser that already holds a different identity, use Restore a different identity. It replaces that key, so save its phrase first.
What leaves with you, and what stays
| Leaves with you | Stays behind |
|---|---|
| Your private key (the phrase) | Your entry in this mesh's People list (name, public key, last seen). It can't be deleted yet |
| Your public key, so apps still recognize you | The apps you approved, remembered in that browser only |
| Anything an app stored about you. Ask that app |
If a key has been exposed, there's no way to rotate it in place. Make a new identity. The old entry goes quiet, and anything that trusted the old public key needs to learn the new one.
Back to the overview, or troubleshooting.