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Add Onion Service path overview diagram
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jonaharagon committed Mar 12, 2023
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18 changes: 15 additions & 3 deletions docs/advanced/tor-overview.md
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Expand Up @@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ description: Tor is a free to use, decentralized network designed for using the

Tor is a free to use, decentralized network designed for using the internet with as much privacy as possible. If used properly, the network enables private and anonymous browsing and communications.

## Path Building
## Path Building to Clearnet Services

Tor works by routing your traffic through a network comprised of thousands of volunteer-run servers called nodes (or relays).
"Clearnet services" are websites which you can access with any browser, like [privacyguides.org](https://www.privacyguides.org). Tor lets you connect to these websites anonymously by routing your traffic through a network comprised of thousands of volunteer-run servers called nodes (or relays).

Every time you connect to Tor, it will choose three nodes to build a path to the internet—this path is called a "circuit." Each of these nodes has its own function:

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -37,7 +37,19 @@ The exit node will be chosen at random from all available Tor nodes ran with an
<figure markdown>
![Tor path](../assets/img/how-tor-works/tor-path.svg#only-light)
![Tor path](../assets/img/how-tor-works/tor-path-dark.svg#only-dark)
<figcaption>Tor circuit pathway</figcaption>
<figcaption>Tor circuit pathway with exit node</figcaption>
</figure>

## Path Building to Onion Services

"Onion Services" (also commonly referred to as "hidden services") are websites which can only be accessed by the Tor browser. These websites have a long randomly generated domain name ending with `.onion`.

Connecting to an Onion Service in Tor works very similarly to connecting to a clearnet service, but your traffic is routed through a total of **six** nodes before reaching the destination server. Just like before however, only three of these nodes are contributing to *your* anonymity, the other three nodes protect *the hidden service's* anonymity, hiding the website's true IP and location in the same manner that Tor Browser is hiding yours.

<figure style="width:100%" markdown>
![Tor path](../assets/img/how-tor-works/tor-path-hidden-service.svg#only-light)
![Tor path](../assets/img/how-tor-works/tor-path-hidden-service-dark.svg#only-dark)
<figcaption>Tor circuit pathway with hidden services. Nodes in the <span class="pg-blue">blue</span> fence belong to your browser, while nodes in the <span class="pg-red">red</span> fence belong to the server, so their identity is hidden from you.</figcaption>
</figure>

## Encryption
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