FAQ

Can I prove I knew something early?

Yes, with one extra step. The encrypted text can't show when it was made, so a public timestamp has to do that part:

1. Encrypt your message here, with an unlock time after the event.
2. Before the unlock time, post the encrypted text somewhere public that records the date, such as a social post, a git commit or a gist.
3. After the unlock time, anyone can paste it into this site and read it.

The public timestamp proves when you had it. The unlock proves what it said. Nobody, including you, can read or change the message in between.

Can you tell when a message was encrypted?

No. The encrypted text contains only the drand round it unlocks at and the drand chain hash. There is no "encrypted at" time, before or after decryption. Our activity list records when something was encrypted, but it can't be linked to any message. To prove when you wrote something, use a public timestamp as described above.

Does it prove who wrote it?

No. Anyone can encrypt anything to any round. Posting from your own account, or signing the post, is what ties it to you.

Can I see the unlock time without decrypting?

Yes. The round is in the header of the encrypted text, and anyone can read it. Paste it into Decrypt, and the site shows the unlock time right away. You can't hide it.

What are the lines above the encrypted block?

Optional plain notes. When you encrypt, two checkboxes add them, and both are on by default:

Unlock at https://timelock.dev
Unlocks: Sat, Nov 21, 2026 9:08 AM EST (2026-11-21 14:08:27 UTC)

-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
…

They tell a reader where to go and when. They are not encrypted or protected. Anyone can edit or delete them, so trust the round inside the block, not the note. When you paste, this site reads the round from the block and warns you if a note says a different time.

Will other tools open it?

The block, yes. dee, tle and other tlock tools open it, and this site opens theirs. But tools other than this site need just the BEGIN…END block. We tested dee, Go tle and age, Rust tlock_age and tlock-js, and all of them reject any text before or after the block. Use Copy block only, turn the notes off, or strip them:

sed -n '/^-----BEGIN AGE/,/^-----END AGE/p' message.txt | dee crypt --decrypt

This site and the API accept the text with or without notes.

Can anyone open it early?

No. Not you, not us. The key for a round doesn't exist until drand publishes it. The only way around that is for most League of Entropy members to cheat together.

What if I lose the encrypted text?

The message is gone. We don't keep a copy, and there is no recovery.

What if drand stops?

The message stays locked until drand quicknet publishes your round. If drand shut down for good, nobody could open it. Locks of up to 100 years are allowed, but be careful with long ones. A new round arrives every 3 seconds.

Can you see my message?

On the website, no: it encrypts in your browser. The API encrypts on our server, so it sees your message in memory. We don't store or log it. For anything sensitive, encrypt offline.