nexusb2l7fmqnefwphyy7m5zjhlkytlbo7qbb5lu5dlczr3azgii2gyd.onionnexusma2iqgauqqvjcgds4ckv5xbf272tkfagq4epojjhsgleqpwxiqd.onionnexusabcd6tyfhdwilyitaqiri6tisj2v2hueyjuj6qkvd6azvi5tuqd.onionRun the check before you sign in. Open these in Tor Browser only. When the login screen loads, compare the onion printed on the page against your address bar, reading from the end. If they differ, close the tab.
Plain definitions for the words used across this reference. Nothing here needs prior knowledge and none of it is specific to any one market.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Descriptor | A small signed record an onion service publishes saying which relays will accept an introduction for it. If your client cannot find it, you get the not found error before any connection is attempted. |
| Introduction point | A relay the service has asked to pass along connection requests. You never talk to the service directly through it, you only ask it to arrange a meeting. |
| Rendezvous point | A relay you choose where both you and the service build circuits so the two halves can be joined. Neither side learns where the other is. |
| Circuit | The path of relays your traffic takes. Onion connections use two of them joined in the middle, which is why they are slower than ordinary browsing. |
| Guard | The first relay in your path. It stays the same for weeks on purpose, because rotating it constantly would give more chances to be observed rather than fewer. |
| Cold load | The first page of a session, which pays for the descriptor lookup and both halves of the rendezvous. Expect tens of seconds. |
| Warm load | Any page after the first in the same session, reusing the existing circuit. Usually a few seconds. |
| Time to first byte | How long between pressing enter and the first data arriving. On an onion service this is mostly network setup rather than the site thinking. |
| Throughput | How much data the path can carry per second. Separate from latency, which is why text can be instant while images crawl. |
| Protection gate | A holding page that makes every visitor wait or do small work before entry, used to absorb floods. It hands out a token that gets you through on the next request. |
| Origin | How a browser decides what belongs to what. Each onion address is its own origin, so a session on one mirror does not carry to another. |
| New circuit for this site | A browser control that redraws the path for the current site only, keeping your session. Different from new identity, which clears everything. |
Why the vocabulary is worth having
Every error message you will meet names one of these things, and the name tells you which stage failed. Descriptor in the message means the failure happened before any connection existed, so reloading changes nothing. Introduction in the message means a connection was attempted and did not complete, which is the case where a new circuit genuinely helps. Knowing which word you are looking at replaces guesswork with a decision.
None of this is specific to one market. It describes how every onion service on the network works, so the same reading applies anywhere you use one.
The two that get confused most
New circuit for this site and new identity are not the same control. The first redraws the path for the page you are on and keeps your session. The second throws away everything and closes your tabs. People reach for the second when they meant the first and then wonder why they are signed out of everything.
The other pair is latency and throughput. A circuit can be quick to respond and terrible at carrying data, which is exactly what you are seeing when the text is instant and the pictures crawl. They are separate properties with separate fixes.