How do you get ZipZap running?

The repository does not offer a download; its README documents building the app from source inside a nix shell, then 'npm run package' to produce 'zipzap.webhapp' in the workdir folder, which the README says is what to distribute for installation with the Holochain Launcher. It also documents a developer route ('npm start' for two connected nodes, 'npm run dev' for a solo browser setup).

Is ZipZap actively developed or compatible with current Holochain releases?

This page's activity panel records the project as stalled, with the most recent release a release candidate, v0.3.0-rc.0, and no catch-up since; the repository's contributor list names a single developer, and nothing on the pages read for this profile describes ongoing development. We found no maintainer statement about compatibility with newer Holochain releases, so the Holochain version shown here is simply the value recorded in the project's own manifest files and is not a claim that it runs against today's Holochain.

Project · messaging

ZipZap

Name: ZipZap
Author: lightningrodlabs

an app for ephemeral chatephemeral chat

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How you run it: not recorded
Holochain version: 0.4
Activity: stalled
Checked: 27 October 2026

What is ZipZap and what is it for?

ZipZap is a small messaging app for Holochain, built so that a conversation is not kept once it has happened. Messages travel directly between the people taking part while they are connected, and the project's own description says nothing is stored.

ZipZap appears among the Holochain projects of Lightningrod Labs, the studio that also builds Moss and Acorn. The organisation's own project list carries it as ephemeral chat for Holochain, and the repository introduces itself as a Holochain app for ephemeral messaging. The work is attributed to a single developer in the repository's contributor list.

Its point is the opposite of an ordinary chat app's. Rather than building a history you can scroll back through, ZipZap is meant for conversations that exist while the participants are present: Lightningrod Labs describes the messaging as peer-to-peer and built on Holochain's signalling system, and says that no data is stored. The signalling system is the part of Holochain that lets peers find and open direct connections to one another.

The repository's README is the main place to learn how the project is put together, and shows one concrete pattern: with 'npm start' it brings up two connected nodes, each with its own interface, while 'AGENTS=3 npm run network' bootstraps a bigger set of local peers. The same README documents packaging the app as a '.webhapp' for installation with the Holochain Launcher.

How to get it

Desktop app

This is what the project's repository documents, not a tested guide: the README describes packaging the app yourself rather than pointing at a download.
Set up the Holochain development environment, then run 'nix develop' and 'npm install' in the repository root; the README says every other command must be run inside that nix shell.
Run 'npm run package'. The README says this leaves 'zipzap.webhapp' — and its 'zipzap.happ' subcomponent — in the workdir folder.
The README states the .webhapp is what to distribute so that the Holochain Launcher can install it.
The same README documents a developer route instead of a packaged app: 'npm start' brings up two connected nodes with their own interfaces, and 'npm run dev' serves a solo setup that you open in a browser.

Source: https://github.com/lightningrodlabs/zipzap

Questions people ask

How do you get ZipZap running?: The repository does not offer a download; its README documents building the app from source inside a nix shell, then 'npm run package' to produce 'zipzap.webhapp' in the workdir folder, which the README says is what to distribute for installation with the Holochain Launcher. It also documents a developer route ('npm start' for two connected nodes, 'npm run dev' for a solo browser setup). source
Is ZipZap actively developed or compatible with current Holochain releases?: This page's activity panel records the project as stalled, with the most recent release a release candidate, v0.3.0-rc.0, and no catch-up since; the repository's contributor list names a single developer, and nothing on the pages read for this profile describes ongoing development. We found no maintainer statement about compatibility with newer Holochain releases, so the Holochain version shown here is simply the value recorded in the project's own manifest files and is not a claim that it runs against today's Holochain. source

From 2 public sources, checked 23 September 2026.

Try ZipZap

Code on GitHubOpen on GitHub ↗Last change 8 July 2025.
Releasev0.3.0-rc.0Published 7 January 2025.
Earlier Moss work in the repository (last changed 7 January 2025)package.json @ 1d1f42e ↗
Earlier desktop app work in the repository (last changed 7 January 2025)package.json @ 1d1f42e ↗

Details & sources

Source: lightningrodlabs/zipzap

Evidence

Release: github.com/lightningrodlabs/zipzap/releases/tag/v0.3.0-rc.0shipped in a release · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.release@1
Last change: api.github.com/repos/lightningrodlabs/zipzaplisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.repository@1
Activity: api.github.com/repos/lightningrodlabs/zipzaplisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · liveness@1
Moss: package.json @ 1d1f42ein the code · seen since 20 October 2026 · moss.in-code@1
Desktop app: package.json @ 1d1f42ein the code · seen since 20 October 2026 · desktop.in-code@1

Compatibility

hdk: 0.4 · Cargo.toml @ 1d1f42e
hdi: 0.5 · Cargo.toml @ 1d1f42e
holochain-client: 0.18.0 · ui/package.json @ 1d1f42e
happ.yaml: present · workdir/happ.yaml @ 1d1f42e
web-happ.yaml: present · workdir/web-happ.yaml @ 1d1f42e

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