tinfoil-proxy

README

Tinfoil Proxy

A verified local HTTP proxy to a Tinfoil secure enclave. It exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint at http://127.0.0.1:3301/v1, verifies the upstream enclave against the public attestation transparency log, pins the attested public key, and forwards your traffic. Point any OpenAI-compatible tool at the local URL and every request runs over a verified connection.

Two separate things live in this repo

The proxy and the desktop app are independent. Most people only need the proxy.

• The proxy (repo root) — a tiny, self-contained Go program. Two source files (main.go, proxy.go), three direct dependencies, compiled to a single static binary with no runtime requirements. This is the whole proxy. It's all you need for scripts, CI, servers, and any OpenAI-compatible client.
• The menu-bar app (app/) — an optional Electron desktop wrapper that runs the exact same proxy binary with start/stop buttons and live verification status. Everything Electron, Node.js, and the build tooling lives under app/. If you don't want a desktop app, you can ignore that whole folder.

The Electron/Node.js footprint lives entirely in app/, not at the root. The proxy itself is lightweight: a single Go binary that does verification and forwarding, nothing more.

Both serve the same endpoint with the same attestation, because the app just launches the binary.

Repository layout

.                      The proxy (lightweight Go binary) — the core
  main.go              CLI entrypoint, flags, bind handling
  proxy.go             attestation, reverse proxy, local-only guard
  go.mod / go.sum      3 direct deps, builds with CGO disabled
  Dockerfile           container image for the binary
  install.sh           downloads the released binary

app/                   The desktop app (optional Electron wrapper)
  src/                 Electron main / preload / renderer
  package.json         Node/Electron deps and build scripts
  electron-builder.yml installer config (.pkg / .deb / .exe)
  scripts/build-cli.sh compiles the root Go binary into app/resources/bin
  assets/, build/, resources/

Install the proxy

This is the lightweight path: a single binary, no desktop app.

Install script (macOS / Linux):

curl -fsSL https://github.com/tinfoilsh/tinfoil-proxy/raw/main/install.sh | sh

From source:

go install github.com/tinfoilsh/tinfoil-proxy@latest

Docker (binds 0.0.0.0 inside the container; publish to 127.0.0.1 to stay loopback-only):

docker run --rm -p 127.0.0.1:3301:3301 ghcr.io/tinfoilsh/tinfoil-proxy

Or grab a pre-built binary from the releases page. If you'd rather have a desktop app instead, see Menu-bar app below.

Usage

tinfoil-proxy

It listens on http://127.0.0.1:3301, auto-selects a Tinfoil router enclave, verifies its attestation, and pins the attested key for the rest of the session (re-verifying if the enclave rotates its certificate). Point any OpenAI-compatible client at:

Base URL: http://127.0.0.1:3301/v1

To pin a specific enclave, set --host and --repo together — they're all-or-nothing, so leave both unset for auto-discovery:

tinfoil-proxy -e inference.tinfoil.sh -r tinfoilsh/confidential-model-router -p 3301

Options

Flag	Default	Description
-p, --port	3301	Port to listen on
-b, --bind	127.0.0.1	Address to bind to (use 0.0.0.0 in Docker)
-e, --host	auto	Pin a specific enclave hostname (set with -r)
-r, --repo	auto	Pin a specific config repo (set with -e)
--log-format	text	text or json
-v, --verbose	off	Verbose output
-t, --trace	off	Trace output

Once it's running, the endpoint is just a regular OpenAI-compatible base URL — see the coding agents guide for plug-and-play setups, or the CLI docs for the full reference.

Menu-bar app

This is the optional desktop wrapper. It is not required to use the proxy. Tinfoil Proxy wraps the same binary in a menu-bar app with start/stop, port, and live verification status. Install the .pkg (macOS), .deb (Linux), or .exe (Windows) from the releases page, then open it once to put it in your menu bar. macOS and Windows builds auto-update.

On Linux it lives entirely in the system tray, so a StatusNotifierItem host must be present — on GNOME (Ubuntu's default) install the AppIndicator extension; KDE, Cinnamon, and XFCE work out of the box.

See the app guide for the full walkthrough.

Development

Proxy only (Go)

Requires Go 1.25+. No Node.js needed.

go run .            # run the proxy locally
go build -o tinfoil-proxy .

Desktop app (Electron)

Requires Node.js 20+ and Go 1.25+ (the app embeds the Go binary). All app commands run from the app/ directory.

cd app
npm install
npm run dev    # builds the proxy into app/resources/bin/, then starts Electron with hot-reload

app/scripts/build-cli.sh cross-compiles the root Go proxy into app/resources/bin/, and electron-builder bundles it into the installer. To cut a release, bump "version" in app/package.json, merge to main, then git tag v0.X.Y && git push origin v0.X.Y — the release.yml workflow publishes the installers, the standalone binaries, and the ghcr.io/tinfoilsh/tinfoil-proxy image.

This is the canonical home for the proxy; the legacy tinfoil proxy subcommand in tinfoilsh/tinfoil-cli is deprecated.