How does a dead man's switch work?

A dead man's switch works by requiring regular proof that you're still around: you check in on a schedule, and if you stop checking in, the system assumes something has happened and automatically carries out an action you set up in advance. In Imok's case, that action is delivering an encrypted handover packet — your business continuity instructions — to a successor you designated.

The full sequence, step by step

Imok is a small state machine with four states. You always know which state your switch is in, and you can always reset it by checking in.

1. ACTIVE — normal operation. You pick a heartbeat interval in days (for example, every 7 days). Imok emails you a check-in link; one click confirms you're fine and resets the timer. This is where your switch spends its life.
2. REMINDING — 5 days of reminders. If a check-in deadline passes, the switch moves to REMINDING and emails you daily for 5 days. A single check-in at any point in this window returns you straight to ACTIVE. This stage exists so that a busy week or a lost email never causes a release.
3. CONTACTING_TRUSTED — one neutral nudge. If you stay silent through the reminders and your chosen grace period, your trusted contact receives exactly one message asking them to check whether you're okay. The message deliberately says nothing about a packet or handover — it's just a welfare nudge. Checking in here still returns you to ACTIVE.
4. RELEASED — the handover. Only if every earlier stage has passed does the switch enter RELEASED. Your successor receives an email with a one-time reveal link. The link expires after 30 days or the first successful reveal, whichever comes first. RELEASED is terminal — the packet cannot be released twice.

Manual override: "Release now"

You can trigger a release yourself at any time with the Release now override. It requires a typed confirmation so it can't happen by accident, and once confirmed, it moves the switch directly to RELEASED and sends the reveal link to your successor. Most people never use it — it's there for situations where you know the handover should happen immediately rather than waiting for the timer.

What the successor sees

When the switch releases, your successor gets an email containing a single reveal link. Opening it loads a page that fetches the encrypted packet from our servers and decrypts it in their browser, using the passphrase you arranged to share with them separately (for example, written down with your other important documents or shared in person).

The plaintext packet never travels over the network and never touches our servers. After the first successful reveal — or after 30 days — the link stops working, so the packet can't be casually re-opened or forwarded around later.

The security underneath

Every step above assumes our servers might one day be compromised. Your packet is encrypted in your browser with AES-256-GCM before upload, the reveal and check-in tokens are stored only as SHA-256 hashes, and the whole flow is rate-limited. We can never read your packet — and if you lose your passphrase, we cannot recover it for you. That's not a limitation we apologize for; it's the guarantee.

Read the full security model, including the honest threat model, or browse the FAQ for edge cases like vacations and lost passphrases.

Timing summary

Ready when you are — see pricing (free during early access) or start below.