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Local MVP: Telegram Fork-Secure

This repository builds Telegram Fork-Secure, a local Telegram Android fork for private beta testing. It includes an experimental Fork-Secure layer for ordinary 1:1 chats and a separate protected Saved Messages mode. Native Telegram Secret Chats are not modified; groups, channels, and ordinary chats use normal Telegram behavior.

The additional layer is not independently security-reviewed. The protocol-review gate remains CHANGES REQUIRED, so this MVP must not be presented as a high-assurance confidential messenger.

One-time local setup

  1. Create an Android application at https://my.telegram.org/apps for this fork. Keep the resulting API ID and API hash private.
  2. Copy local.properties.example to local.properties, set sdk.dir, TELEGRAM_API_ID, and TELEGRAM_API_HASH. That file is ignored by Git.
  3. Install Android SDK platform/build-tools 35, NDK 27.2.12479018, and CMake 3.22.1. If CMake is outside sdk.dir, set cmake.dir in local.properties.

Confirm the environment before compiling:

./scripts/check-local-mvp.sh

Build and install

./scripts/build-local-mvp.sh
./scripts/install-local-mvp.sh 636567fd

For the normal local cycle, one command rebuilds the ARM64 debug APK, installs it on the one connected device, and opens the app:

./scripts/run-local-mvp.sh

If more than one device is connected, pass the intended ADB serial explicitly:

./scripts/run-local-mvp.sh 636567fd

The debug APK package is ua.securechat.telegram; it is signed with the standard local Android debug keystore and can coexist with the official Telegram client. Do not distribute this debug APK.

Release signing

When you need an installable release APK, create a unique local signing key:

./scripts/create-release-keystore.sh

The script asks for a password and creates ignored keystore/ and signing.properties files. Back up keystore/ securely: losing it prevents you from updating an already installed release build. Release tasks fail until this key is configured, so they cannot use Telegram's upstream signing key.

Phone smoke test

  1. Start Telegram Fork-Secure and leave Use test server disabled.
  2. Log in to two separate production accounts on two devices.
  3. In a paired 1:1 chat, verify protected text, captions, photos, files and supported media in both directions; also verify an ordinary message after turning protection off.
  4. Verify protected Saved Messages text/media separately.
  5. Close and reopen both apps; confirm that accounts, chats and received media remain available. Test import/recovery on a spare installation before relying on a backup.

Verified local MVP (2026-07-22)

  • Two real Android devices using separate production accounts.
  • Two-way text, photo, document/file, and voice-message delivery.
  • Sessions, chat history, and media persist after closing and reopening both apps.
  • The locally signed release APK was installed on both devices and exchanged messages successfully.
  • Notifications were observed during the two-device release test. Behavior after force-stop or device reboot remains outside this smoke test.

SecureOverlay is part of the fork implementation. docs/protocol-review remains the independent-review boundary and must not be changed to imply approval.