Overview

OBIAN is the browser uniting the World Wide Web, Decentralized Web, and Agentic Web.

OBIAN is a full browser for the World Wide Web: type example.com and it loads, just like any other browser. It is equally at home on the Decentralized Web, resolving names that live on other systems (any Handshake or Freename name, the Unstoppable Domains TLDs, .eth on Ethereum, and more) and rendering content from IPFS and Arweave. And it opens the Agentic Web: a .agt name such as demoagent.agt resolves to a verified agent card, and once you install the agent you can call its tools from the agents drawer while you browse. You type a name, OBIAN figures out which system it belongs to, resolves it, and renders whatever it points to.

How OBIAN routes a name

When you type a name, OBIAN works through its naming systems in a set order (its resolver cascade) and the first one that can answer wins:

1. DNS (ICANN): the traditional web
2. AGT Registry: .agt names only
3. Handshake
4. Freename
5. Unstoppable Domains
6. ENS

Most names route straight to the system that owns their TLD: ICANN names like .com go to DNS, the Unstoppable TLDs go to Unstoppable Domains, .eth goes to ENS, .agt goes to the AGT Registry, the known Freename TLDs go to Freename, and so on. Only when a name isn't tied to a single system does OBIAN try them in the order above, DNS first and ENS last, and use the first that resolves. Once a name resolves, OBIAN remembers which system answered for that TLD, so the next lookup goes straight there. You can always force a specific system with a scheme prefix.

What OBIAN resolves

Listed in resolution-priority order:

DNS comes first because most of the web still lives on ICANN names, and OBIAN treats them as first-class. It resolves them over DNS-over-HTTPS and fails closed for privacy (see Known Limitations).

When two systems claim the same name, you can force one with a scheme prefix: dns://, fn://, hns://, ud://, ens://, or agt://.

What OBIAN renders

Once a name resolves, OBIAN loads its content from wherever it lives:

• HTTP / HTTPS: the traditional web
• IPFS / IPNS: content-addressed and decentralized
• Arweave: permanent storage

Why it works this way

Resolution and content fetching happen on your machine, not through a middleman service that logs where you go. ICANN DNS lookups use DNS-over-HTTPS and fail closed rather than quietly falling back to your ISP's resolver, so your browsing isn't leaked to the network you're on.

Getting Started

This guide gets you from download to browsing the World Wide Web, Decentralized Web, and Agentic Web in a few minutes.

1. Install

Download an installer from the download section. Windows and Linux are available now; macOS builds will be available in a future release once notarization has been set up.

2. Type a name

The name bar accepts any name OBIAN can resolve: an everyday website, a decentralized web name, or an agent. Try a few:

• example.com: an ordinary ICANN site, resolved over DNS just like any browser
• a Handshake or Freename name shared with you
• vitalik.eth: an ENS name on Ethereum
• demoagent.agt: a demo agent on the AGT Registry. Install it from its card, then call its tools from the agents drawer

OBIAN detects which naming system the name belongs to, resolves it, and loads the content. It checks systems in priority order (DNS first, then the AGT Registry, Handshake, Freename, Unstoppable Domains, and ENS), and the resolution-source badge in the name bar shows which one answered: DNS, AGT, HNS, FN, UD, or ENS.

3. Force a specific system (optional)

Sometimes the same name exists on more than one system. Prefix the name to force a resolver (listed in priority order):

For example, hns://obian sends the lookup straight to Handshake.

Likewise, agt://demoagent.agt goes straight to the AGT Registry for demoagent.agt, without trying any other naming system.

4. Everyday browsing

• Tabs: open, close, reopen recently closed tabs, and drag a tab to reorder it
• Bookmarks: click the star in the name bar; revisit from the new-tab page or the bookmarks panel
• History: automatically recorded and searchable
• New-tab page: your bookmarks, frequently visited names, and recent pages
• Find in page: search within the current page
• Bring to front / Reset window: from the OBIAN tray icon, or on Windows by right-clicking OBIAN in the taskbar. Reset window moves OBIAN to your main screen at its default size, handy after unplugging a monitor
• Agents drawer: the Agents button (or Ctrl+Shift+A) opens a side drawer of your installed agents. Add one by its .agt name (try demoagent), or choose Install agent on its card. Pick an agent to run its tools, message its skills, or see its details; remove one with its trash button. Pin the drawer to keep it open while you browse, and drag its edge to resize it. Tool fields that take a domain fill in from the page you're on. Nothing is sent to an agent until you click Run (v0.1.19 and later; v0.1.18 has the installed-agents panel without Add and Remove)

5. Publish your own

Have a Web3 name? Point it at a website and browse to it in OBIAN. The Domain Setup Guide walks through both IPFS (fully decentralized) and HTTP hosting (simplest, supports multi-page sites). Once your site is live, consider submitting it to be featured.

Reading Markdown

Markdown has become the shared language between people and AI. Open a local .md file in OBIAN and read it as a clean document, with one switch back to the raw source.

When you work with an assistant, what comes back is almost always Markdown: the headings, lists, tables, checklists, and code blocks you see in a chat are Markdown underneath. The notes and specs you hand back to an agent live in .md files too. Plain text is perfect for an agent, but raw Markdown full of ##, *, and backticks is something a person has to decode rather than read. OBIAN closes that gap, so the loop between you and your agents is faster and clearer.

Open a file

• Open with OBIAN: right-click a Markdown file and choose Open with OBIAN. If OBIAN is already open, the file lands in a new tab in your current window.
• Drag and drop: drop a .md file onto an open window. Drop several at once and each opens in its own tab.
• Double-click: set OBIAN as your default Markdown app and a double-click opens it straight away.

Preview and Raw

Each Markdown tab has a header row with the file name and a Preview / Raw switch. Preview is the rendered, readable view (the default). Raw shows the exact source in a monospaced font, for copying the original or checking precise syntax. The switch is keyboard accessible, and OBIAN remembers your choice for the next file.

What it renders

The preview supports GitHub-Flavored Markdown, the same flavor most AI tools produce: headings, bold and italic and strikethrough, bulleted and numbered lists, task-list checkboxes, tables, blockquotes, inline and fenced code, links, and images. It is styled for comfortable long-form reading on OBIAN's dark theme.

Work alongside your agents

Keep a working document open while your assistant revises it. Edit on one side, press reload in OBIAN, and you are looking at the latest version instantly. Markdown files open read-only, and every document is sanitized before display, so reading a file is always safe.

Get Involved

OBIAN is growing, and the decentralized web grows with the people building on it. Here's how to be part of it.

Try it and share it

The fastest way to help is to use OBIAN, find a name or site you love, and show someone. Resolving a .eth or Handshake name in a real browser is a moment worth passing along.

Submit your site to be featured

We're assembling a showcase of the best sites across every naming system OBIAN supports, for use in onboarding, demos, the landing page, and marketing materials. If you've built something on a Web3 name, submit it.

How to submit: open a showcase submission on our public issue tracker. The form asks for:

• Name: the full name to type (e.g. yoursite.eth)
• Naming system: ENS / Unstoppable / Handshake / Freename
• Content network: IPFS, IPNS, Arweave, or HTTP
• One line: what it is and why it's worth a look
• Screenshot: how it looks rendered in OBIAN

Submit: open a showcase issue · Track progress on the public roadmap.

By submitting, you're offering the site for inclusion in OBIAN's showcase and promotional materials. We curate for sites that render well in OBIAN, look great, and are safe for a general audience, so the showcase stays something we can confidently point newcomers at.

Build and publish

Don't have a site yet? Point a Web3 name at one. The Domain Setup Guide covers both decentralized (IPFS) and traditional (HTTP) hosting. Then come back and submit it.

Report bugs and request features

Found something broken, or have an idea? Open an issue on our public tracker. Helpful bug reports include the name you typed, what you expected, what happened, your OS, and the OBIAN version. See Known Limitations first, since the thing you hit may already be tracked.

Spread the word

Tell people what OBIAN is for: one browser uniting the World Wide Web, Decentralized Web, and Agentic Web, with resolution and content fetching that run on your own machine.

Release Notes

What changed in each OBIAN release, newest first. Get the current release from the download page.

v0.1.22

September 25, 2026

New

• .hns names open, and other Handshake names delegated to Ethereum. A Handshake TLD can hand the names beneath it to an Ethereum registry (HIP-5), as .hns does for HNS.ID. OBIAN reads a name's records from that registry (a TXT dnslink= or URL, a content hash, or an A, AAAA, or CNAME record) and opens the site. When the registry has nothing for a name, the TLD's own nameservers answer instead (for .hns, Namebase's). The name-bar badge says HNS. Try obian.hns.
• Fast from the first visit. .hns is known up front, the registry and the nameservers are asked at once, and each TLD's answer is kept for 6 hours, so obian.hns opens in about half a second. Other Handshake names don't wait on the check.

v0.1.20

September 25, 2026

Fixes

• Remove agents from the list again. The trash button on each row of the Agents drawer was pushed off the edge when an agent had a long description. The description now cuts off and the button stays in view.
• "Couldn't load the content" instead of "Resolution Failed". When a name resolves but its content can't be loaded, the page now says which system answered and where the content lives (for example ipns://…), explains that an IPNS record may have expired or the gateway may be down, and shows the underlying error. The name-bar badge shows the system that answered.

v0.1.19 (Preview)

September 24, 2026

New

• Agents drawer. An Agents button in the toolbar opens a side drawer of your installed agents. Pick one to use its Tools, Skills and About. Ctrl+Shift+A toggles it.
• Keep panel open pins the drawer beside the page across tabs and navigation. Drag its edge to resize it; the width and pin are remembered.
• Add agent. Type a .agt name (try demoagent), see its trust and description, and install it without leaving the drawer.
• Remove an agent from the list with its trash button, or press Delete on the row.
• Domain prefill. Tool fields that take a domain fill in from the page you're on (vitalik.eth on a web3 page, never OBIAN's local gateway address).

Changes

• New tagline: "OBIAN is the browser uniting the World Wide Web, Decentralized Web, and Agentic Web."
• Agent cards and the drawer share one look. The card's action now reads Open in Agents panel, and each trust state gets one plain sentence.
• Tool results show once, clip long output with Show all, and say which page the tool ran on.

Fixes

• A background tab that fails to load no longer covers the tab you're on with its error. The error stays with its own tab and shows when you switch to it.
• demoagent.agt's Skills tab loads.
• An open drawer is never covered by the page after a tab switch or navigation.
• The agent card centres and scrolls when it's taller than the window, and its Website link opens in a new tab.
• Install shows progress, can't run twice, and keeps a failure message with Install as the retry.

v0.1.18 (Stable)

September 23, 2026

New

• .agt names on the AGT Registry. .agt names now resolve from their new on-chain registry. Sites load like any other Web3 site, and agent names show their agent card, marked Verified by owner when the owner signed it. Type agt://demoagent.agt to try it.
• Install agents. On an agent card that offers tools, choose Install agent to keep it in the toolbar. Click an installed agent to open a panel of its tools and run them. Nothing is sent until you click Run.
• Drag a tab to reorder it.
• Bring to front and Reset window. A new tray icon has both, and on Windows so does OBIAN's taskbar right-click menu. Reset window moves OBIAN back to your main screen at its default size.

Fixes

• Handshake names load again. When the public Handshake resolver drops lookups, OBIAN now reads the name's records from the blockchain and asks its nameservers directly.
• IPFS pages load when a gateway rate-limits you. OBIAN now falls back to an independent IPFS gateway instead of three gateways that shared one rate limit.
• OBIAN no longer opens off-screen after a monitor is unplugged or when it was closed while minimized.
• Open with OBIAN now brings the window forward even after a page has loaded.

v0.1.17

August 27, 2026

• Faster resolution. .eth names go straight to the ENS resolver, and the backup resolution method checks multiple blockchain networks in parallel instead of one at a time.
• Handshake lookups retry once when the public resolver drops a query, and fail fast instead of hanging when it is unavailable.
• Local IPFS node support. If you run IPFS Desktop or Kubo, OBIAN detects its ports from your IPFS configuration and serves content from it. When no node is running, the check costs almost nothing.

v0.1.16

August 27, 2026

• .eth names resolve immediately. A first visit to a name like vitalik.eth no longer waits on other naming systems first.
• Handshake lookups are faster. A failed lookup now gives up in about 8 seconds instead of about 28.
• A local IPFS node on a non-default port is used, and costs almost nothing when no node is running.

v0.1.15

August 3, 2026

• Open with OBIAN brings the window to the front. Opening a Markdown file while OBIAN is already running raises the existing window instead of leaving it behind other windows.

Known Limitations

OBIAN is under active development. This page lists the current constraints, why they exist, and any workarounds, so you know what to expect and can report issues that aren't listed here.

Rendering

IPNS and Arweave sites render best with inline CSS. Content loaded over IPNS or Arweave runs in a sandboxed frame, so styles and scripts referenced as separate external files may not load, and such a page can appear unstyled or partially rendered. Sites with inline (embedded) CSS render reliably. IPFS content is not affected — it renders through the same native engine as regular websites, so external resources and cross-origin API calls (CORS) load normally.

• For builders: inline your CSS, or publish over IPFS or HTTP, where pages render full CSS and JS natively.

Linux: some video may not play. On Linux, H.264 (.mp4) video can appear blank when the system's GStreamer codecs are missing. Installing gstreamer1.0-libav enables playback; sites can also provide a royalty-free WebM/VP9 source, which plays without extra codecs. Windows and macOS are not affected.

Platforms

macOS builds are coming in a future release. They will be available once notarization has been set up. Windows and Linux are available now from the download page.

No mobile release yet. OBIAN is currently a desktop browser (Windows, macOS, Linux). Mobile is on the longer-term roadmap.

Resolution

ICANN DNS lookups fail closed. To avoid leaking your browsing to the network you're on, OBIAN resolves ICANN names over DNS-over-HTTPS and does not fall back to your operating system's resolver. If the secure lookup can't complete, the name won't resolve rather than quietly routing through your ISP.

Not every Web3 name points at a website. Many names are registered but parked, redirect elsewhere, or have no content record set. When a name has no content to render, OBIAN reports that rather than inventing a destination.

Handshake lookups prefer a public Handshake resolver. OBIAN resolves Handshake names through a community-run DNS-over-HTTPS resolver. When it is unavailable, OBIAN reads the name's records from the Handshake blockchain via a public explorer and asks the name's own nameservers directly, so most names still resolve. That fallback is slower, is not DNSSEC-validated, and its queries to nameservers are not encrypted. A name whose own nameservers are down cannot resolve through any resolver.

Changes to a Handshake name's records take a few hours to appear. Handshake commits record updates to its blockchain on a fixed schedule (roughly every six hours), so after you change a name's records, any resolver, OBIAN included, may keep returning the previous value until the next commitment.

Reporting something not listed here

If you hit a limitation that isn't on this page, we'd like to know. See Get Involved for how to file a useful report.