Platform support
OnionGate supports its core Tor routing, hosting, verification, recovery, and tray workflows on macOS, Linux x86_64, and Windows x86_64. Some operating-system utilities are naturally platform-specific; the table shows feature availability without treating an entire supported OS as incomplete.
| Capability | macOS | Linux | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managed Tor and control port | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temporary/permanent Onion Host | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| System SOCKS proxy | Yes | GNOME desktops | WinINet-aware apps |
| sing-box TUN | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UDP/QUIC kill switch | pf | nftables | Defender Firewall |
| Selected-app TUN rules | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Session Guard process suspension | Yes | Yes | — |
| App detection and bypass helpers | Yes | Yes | — |
| Workstation Checkup / Startup Items | Yes | — | — |
| OS hardening (incl. MAC randomization, Wi-Fi at boot) | Yes | — | — |
| Clearnet leak detection + in-app alert | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reopen-through-Tor after a close/kill | Yes | — | — |
In-bundle uninstaller (.pkg) | Yes | — | — |
| Helper-backed TUN / Wi-Fi / MAC via helper | Yes | — | — |
| Privileged-helper service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CI compile/test | macOS 15 ARM/Intel | Ubuntu 22.04 | Windows 2022 |
The hardening, reopen-through-Tor, and uninstaller features are macOS-first. The clearnet leak detection and in-app alert are cross-platform, but the reopen, in-bundle uninstaller, and host-hardening items are macOS-only and are inert no-ops elsewhere. Linux and Windows parity for these is on the roadmap, not shipped.
macOS
On macOS:
- System proxy changes use
networksetupand capture up to three active network services for restoration. - TUN uses elevated sing-box and may appear as a
utuninterface even though the generated interface name istorsocks0. - The kill switch uses a dedicated
pfanchor and blocks outbound UDP except loopback. - Session Guard uses process stop/continue signals.
- Checkup, persistence baselines, Background/Login Items scanning, and all current hardening controls are macOS-specific.
- Background/Login Items scanning is explicit and requires Full Disk Access; it is never run automatically.
Normal downloadable builds also need Developer ID signing, hardened runtime, notarization, and stapling. Until those artifacts are published, source builds should be treated as development software.
Linux
On Linux:
- System proxy integration supports GNOME
gsettings; other desktop environments report it unavailable. - TUN needs the host's TUN support and an elevation path.
- The kill switch requires
nft. Without the helper, elevation usespkexecor non-interactive/passwordlesssudo. - App detection searches common binaries and
.desktoplocations. - Session Guard needs
pgrepandkill. - Workstation Checkup, persistence baselines, login-item scanning, and OS hardening are not implemented.
The CI target is Ubuntu, not every distribution. Package names, PolicyKit, systemd, firewall tooling, and WebKit availability vary by distribution.
The Tor Project's 15.0.x expert bundle does not publish a Linux AArch64 archive. make deps therefore fails closed on aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu unless a developer explicitly sets ALLOW_MISSING_TOR=1; that override produces no usable bundled Tor and is not a release path.
Windows
On Windows:
- The system proxy changes WinINet registry values. Software that uses WinHTTP, custom DNS, or its own network stack may ignore them.
- TUN and selected-app policy use sing-box, but Session Guard process suspension is not implemented.
- The kill switch creates a named outbound UDP rule in Windows Defender Firewall.
- Workstation Checkup, app bypass helpers, and OS hardening are not implemented.
- Stable release artifacts require Authenticode. Unsigned Windows artifacts are limited to clearly labeled prereleases.
Privileged helper packaging status
The repository contains install/service code for oniongate-helper. The typed protocol covers ping, kill switch, transition lock, macOS deny harvest, pid terminate, and .app stop. The helper must be built, placed beside the app, and signed with the same identity as the app. A signed helper refuses unsigned peers; unsigned debug builds authenticate by UID only.
Release CI now builds the helper per target and applies a release-only Tauri sidecar overlay so development builds do not depend on a staged helper. The draft must still be inspected to confirm the helper is present and shares the application's platform signature. If absent, installation fails explicitly and OnionGate uses interactive elevation instead.
Before stable release, the helper must also move to a minimal crate, verify the macOS client code signature/audit token rather than UID alone, and enforce a reviewed Windows pipe ACL and client identity.
Support policy
Only the latest tagged release is eligible for security fixes. There is currently no stable tagged release. Until the stable release gates pass, builds on every platform are prerelease software and should not be the sole control for high-risk activity.
See the security policy and threat model.