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wtf is sing-box?

zzzgydi/sing-box — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-08-08 · repo last pushed 2023-12-10

2GoAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 3/5DormantLicenseSetup · moderate

TL;DR

A flexible proxy platform written in Go that routes your internet traffic through different servers or protocols, letting you control how your network connection flows.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Routes internet traffic
      Supports multiple protocols
      Chains connections
    Tech stack
      Go language
      Single binary
    Use cases
      Privacy and routing
      Access restricted services
      Multi-region networking
    Audience
      Founders across regions
      Developers needing access
    License
      GPLv3 open source
      Name use restricted

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Route your internet traffic through different servers for privacy or to bypass geographic restrictions.

REASON 2

Chain multiple proxy connections together to control how you reach websites and online services.

REASON 3

Build a network setup where traffic passes through specific intermediate servers for consistent access across regions.

What's in the stack?

Go

How it stacks up

zzzgydi/sing-boxanomalroil/1keyanshuman852/dasan-router-cli
Stars222
LanguageGoGoGo
Last pushed2023-12-102019-05-17
MaintenanceDormantDormant
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatemoderate
Complexity3/53/53/5
Audienceops devopsops devopsops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Sparse README requires reading external documentation site for actual setup and configuration guidance.

Free and open-source under GPLv3, but no derivative project may use the project name or imply association without prior consent.

Wtf does this do

sing-box is a tool that helps route your internet traffic through different servers or protocols, acting as a flexible proxy platform. In practical terms, this means it lets you control how your network connection flows, for example, sending some traffic through one server and other traffic through another, or chaining multiple connections together to manage how you reach websites and online services. The README itself is very sparse. It describes the project simply as "the universal proxy platform" and points to external documentation and community resources for details. Based on the project name and its packaging across multiple distributions, it appears to be a tool that supports multiple proxy protocols in one place, but the README doesn't go into detail about specific features, supported protocols, or how to configure it. Who would use this? Someone who needs to manage how their internet traffic is routed, whether that's for privacy, accessing services restricted by geography, or building a network setup where traffic needs to pass through specific intermediate servers. A founder working across regions with different internet restrictions, or a developer who needs consistent access to services from different network environments, would be typical users. The project is written in Go, which generally means it's a single, self-contained program that runs efficiently on a variety of systems. One notable thing the license does spell out is that while the software is free and open-source under GPLv3, no derivative project may use the name or imply association with it without prior consent. That's a step beyond what standard GPL requires, it's a deliberate choice to protect the project's identity if someone forks or repackages it. For anyone interested, the project points to its documentation site and community forum for actual setup and usage guidance.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Help me write a sing-box configuration file that routes traffic through a SOCKS5 proxy for specific domains while sending the rest directly.
Prompt 2
Show me how to set up sing-box to chain two proxy servers so my traffic passes through both before reaching its destination.
Prompt 3
Walk me through installing sing-box on Linux and creating a basic config that routes traffic through a custom proxy server.
Prompt 4
Help me configure sing-box to route certain website traffic through a proxy in another region while keeping local traffic direct.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is sing-box?

A flexible proxy platform written in Go that routes your internet traffic through different servers or protocols, letting you control how your network connection flows.

What language is sing-box written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go.

Is sing-box actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2023-12-10).

What license does sing-box use?

Free and open-source under GPLv3, but no derivative project may use the project name or imply association without prior consent.

How hard is sing-box to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is sing-box for?

Mainly ops devops.

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