The helper approach at one desk with two readers

A friend asked me to sit next to them and show them, on their machine, how I would reach nexus market. This is what that session looked like.

The rule I set with the friend

Before opening anything, I told the friend that I would do this once, slowly, on their machine, and that I would narrate every step. I told them I would not sign into any account of mine on their machine. I told them the visit would end at the front page.

They agreed to the frame. That agreement is what makes the helper session work. Without it, the visit tends to drift into things I did not sign up to demonstrate.

What we did first

We installed Tor Browser on their machine, from its own site. I did not use my own machine at any point. The whole session happened on their laptop, and I sat next to them.

They watched me install. I named the site as I typed it. I told them not to use bundled versions and I told them why.

The install took a few minutes and I did not touch anything else on their machine during it.

This site, on their machine

We opened this site in the fresh Tor Browser. I read out the three onion addresses at the top of an article and I explained why the site publishes three of them.

I did not save the addresses to their machine. I did not bookmark this site. Their next visit will look like a fresh one, because I did not want to leave state behind on their laptop.

This is the shape of a helper visit. Nothing sticks.

The paste, out loud

I copied one of the three addresses using the copy button. I named the button. I switched tabs, pasted into the address bar, pressed enter. I named each step.

The captcha appeared and I let it finish. I did not touch it beyond letting it complete on its own.

The front page loaded. I said, this is the market. This is where an account would be created and a login would happen, and I am not doing either right now.

What I did not demonstrate

I did not sign in. Signing in on somebody else's machine means my credentials live on their machine, and my credentials do not belong on any machine that is not mine.

I did not create an account for them. Creating an account is a choice they should make, alone, without me watching.

I did not compare mirrors, do a full verify, or open any second tab. The helper visit was a demonstration of the shortest correct visit, not of everything possible.

What I told them to do afterwards

I told them to close the browser. I told them that the next time they open Tor Browser it will start fresh, and that they will need to open this site again to copy the address again. That is the design. That is not a bug.

I told them not to use a mirror somebody in a chat sends them, and to always come through this site or an equivalent for the address.

I told them to sign up when they are alone in the house, not while I am there or while anyone else is.

Small things I refused, on purpose

• I did not write the address on a piece of paper for them.
• I did not save their password ahead of time.
• I did not install anything else on their machine while I had it open.
• I did not answer questions about what to buy or from whom. That is not what the helper visit is about.

What the helper session left with the friend

A working Tor Browser. Knowledge of this site as the source of the addresses. Muscle memory for opening the market once, alone, from a fresh state. A clear line about what I did not demonstrate, so they know they need to learn it themselves before doing it.

The session took about half an hour. It did more good than an hour of me answering questions in a chat, and it left almost nothing behind on their machine to inherit.

What this article is not. This is not a claim that the friend now knows how. It is a claim about what I demonstrated and what I refused to demonstrate.