> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redacted.money/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.redacted.money/protocol/relayer.md).

# Relayer and Sponsorship

The relayer is what makes Redacted tx-less. It carries your sealed actions to the chain and pays the gas, so your wallet never signs another transaction. You can think of it as a courier service for envelopes it cannot open.

## Authority stays with your proof

Every action your browser produces is bound, end to end, by a zero-knowledge proof, which covers the operation, the amounts, the destination or calls, the fee, the specific relayer allowed to submit it and an expiry. The relayer receives this sealed package and has exactly two options, which are to deliver it as it is or not to deliver it. That has several consequences.

* Funds go where you said, because the destination is inside the proof.
* The fee is the one you set, because the fee is inside the proof.
* An action runs once, because spent notes are retired on-chain forever.
* Your action stays with its relayer, because the submitter's identity is inside the proof.
* Nothing private is in view, since your keys, your notes and who owns which balance stay out of sight and the proofs reveal nothing.

## What it does

Before submitting, the relayer sanity-checks and simulates your transaction against the chain, so failures surface before anything is spent. Then it signs the outer transaction with its own operator account, pays the network fee and tracks the result until it is confirmed. Its costs come back through the transparent relayer reimbursement in your [fee quote](/using-redacted/fees.md), and it sponsors onboarding so new accounts start for free.

## From one relayer to a network

In upcoming updates, relaying moves to a network of independent relayer nodes, and every operator puts a bond at stake. The app picks a node at random for every action, the rules above stay the same, and the nodes also approve deposits and can check addresses through the Ozone instance they trust. See [How the node network works](/node-network/node-network.md).

## No database

The relayer reads notes, the Merkle tree and nullifiers straight from the chain and keeps in-memory caches for speed. It is a disposable convenience, because your ownership lives on-chain in encrypted notes and your browser can always rebuild your account without any server's help. If the relayer vanished tomorrow, your funds would stay where they are, since another relayer can carry your proofs and, with the node network, an emergency exit lets you submit your own withdrawal when no node is live.