# SynapseOS – Where the Kernel Thinks > Source: > Published: 2026-07-13 15:21:02+00:00 ``` ███████╗██╗ ██╗███╗ ██╗ █████╗ ██████╗ ███████╗███████╗ ██╔════╝╚██╗ ██╔╝████╗ ██║██╔══██╗██╔══██╗██╔════╝██╔════╝ ███████╗ ╚████╔╝ ██╔██╗ ██║███████║██████╔╝███████╗█████╗ ╚════██║ ╚██╔╝ ██║╚██╗██║██╔══██║██╔═══╝ ╚════██║██╔══╝ ███████║ ██║ ██║ ╚████║██║ ██║██║ ███████║███████╗ ╚══════╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═══╝╚═╝ ╚═╝╚═╝ ╚══════╝╚══════╝ ``` **Where the kernel thinks.** An Arch-based operating system with a local LLM wired into the system layer — not bolted on top. *synui, the wlroots compositor: waybar status bar, auto-hiding dock, CRT post-process filters.* SynapseOS runs a local LLM daemon as a system service and lets the rest of the system talk to it over a Unix socket: the shell, the compositor, the security monitor, the network filter, and a kernel module that exports syscall telemetry and AI scheduling hints through sysfs. No network calls, no API keys — the model lives on the machine. It boots to `synsh` , a shell where you can type a command or just say what you want, and into `synui` , a wlroots compositor that knows the AI daemon exists. Status: alpha.Version 0.1.x. This is a real, actively developed system — the author daily-drives it — but it is early, moves fast, and will break. Try it in a VM before you give it a disk. Grab the latest ISO from [Releases](https://github.com/velle999/SYNAPSE/releases/latest) and boot it. The default ISO embeds Mistral 7B Instruct (Q4_K_M, ~4.1 GB), so the AI is live on first boot with nothing to configure. To take it for a spin without touching hardware: ``` git clone https://github.com/velle999/SYNAPSE.git && cd SYNAPSE QEMU_RAM=8G ./archiso/build_scripts/qemu-test.sh # auto-detects the newest ISO ``` The script uses KVM when available, boots UEFI via OVMF (falling back to BIOS), and attaches a persistent 20 GB test disk. Give it 8 GB+ of RAM when the model is embedded. Kernel and boot output are mirrored to the serial console — `View → serial0` in the QEMU window. Each lives in its own directory with its own `PKGBUILD` . | Component | What it does | |---|---| `synapd` | Local LLM inference daemon (llama.cpp). Owns the model; serves every other component over a Unix socket. | `synsh` | AI-native shell. Type naturally, or use it as a normal shell. | `synui` | Wayland compositor on wlroots 0.19 — tiling and monocle layouts, per-output workspaces, XWayland, layer-shell. See `synui/ROADMAP.md` | `synguard` `synui` subscribes to.`synnet` `synapse_kmod` Supporting pieces: `syn-install` , `syn-firstboot` , `syn-model` , `waybar/` (status bar config), and `archiso/` (install media). ``` User │ ▼ synsh ─── natural language / commands ──┐ │ │ ▼ │ synapd (local LLM — Mistral 7B) │ │ inference over SYN socket protocol │ ├──► synguard security verdicts ─┤ ├──► synnet network policy │ └──► synapse_kmod kernel sysfs │ │ ▼ ▼ synui (Wayland) /sys/kernel/synapse/ syscall_log, ai_hints, stats, status, config, version ``` `synui` is a compositor written for this system rather than adapted to it. It draws its own display-settings panel, wallpaper picker, and dock; it renders an optional CRT-style post-process pass; and it holds a live subscription to `synguard` 's verdict feed and `synapd` 's activity. Defaults (override in `~/.config/synui/synuirc` or `/etc/synui/synuirc` ): | Key | Action | |---|---| `Super` (tapped alone) | Start menu (the bar's SYNAPSE badge) | `Super` +`C` | Control panel — every shortcut, plus the settings, in one place | `Super` +`Return` | Open a terminal | `Super` +`Space` | Command bar | `Super` +`Backspace` | Ask the AI | `Super` +`A` | Neural activity overlay | `Super` +`D` | Display settings | `Super` +`W` | Wallpaper picker | `Super` +`E` | Toggle visual effects | `Super` +`Escape` | Menu | `Super` +`Tab` | Cycle layout | `Super` +`Q` / `Super` +`Shift` +`Q` | Close window / quit compositor | `Super` +`J` / `Super` +`K` | Focus next / previous | `Super` +`H` / `Super` +`Shift` +`L` | Shrink / grow master area | `Super` +`F` / `Super` +`M` / `Super` +`N` | Float / maximize / minimize | `Super` +`Shift` +`F` | Fullscreen (forces it — for games that only do "borderless") | `Super` +`O` / `Super` +`Shift` +`O` | Move window to next / previous monitor | `Super` +`P` | Power saving panel | `Ctrl` +`Alt` +`Delete` / `Super` +`T` | Task manager (processes, CPU/RAM/GPU) | `Super` +`G` | Game mode | `Super` +`L` | Lock screen | `Print` | Screenshot the monitor you're on | `Shift` +`Print` / `Super` +`Shift` +`S` | Screenshot an area (drag it out with slurp) | `Ctrl` +`Print` | Screenshot every monitor at once | `Super` +`1` –`9` | Switch workspace | `Super` +`Shift` +`1` –`9` | Move window to workspace | Screenshots land in `~/Pictures/Screenshots` *and* on the clipboard, so you can paste one straight into a chat without opening the file. Everything starts on boot: ``` systemctl status synapd # AI inference daemon systemctl status synguard # security monitor systemctl status synnet # network policy lsmod | grep synapse_kmod # kernel module cat /sys/kernel/synapse/status ``` ISOs built with `--no-model` are ~4 GB smaller and fetch the model on first boot via `syn-firstboot` . You can also drop one in by hand: ``` cp your-model.gguf /var/lib/synapd/models/synapse.gguf systemctl restart synapd synsh # ⚡ AI online — type naturally or use shell commands ``` Any GGUF that llama.cpp can load will work; Mistral 7B Instruct is what the prompts are tuned against. **Prerequisites** — an Arch (or Arch-based) host with `archiso` , `base-devel` , `meson` , `ninja` , `wlroots0.19` , `qemu` , and `ovmf` . Budget ~22 GB of free disk with the embedded model, ~9 GB without. `archiso/build.sh` runs the whole pipeline: builds llama.cpp (pinned at tag `b8272` , matching CI), packages every component through its `PKGBUILD` into a local pacman repo, fetches the model, and invokes `mkarchiso` . ``` sudo archiso/build.sh # full build, GPU auto-detected sudo archiso/build.sh --no-gpu # CPU-only llama.cpp — use for QEMU-targeted ISOs sudo archiso/build.sh --no-model # slim ISO, model downloaded on first boot sudo archiso/build.sh --no-clean # reuse the previous llama.cpp build ``` Output lands in `archiso/out/SynapseOS--x86_64.iso` . Package builds run as the `synbuild` user under `/var/tmp` , because they must live outside `/home` (mode 0700). A failed package build aborts the run immediately rather than resurfacing later as a confusing pacstrap error. For the inner-loop, skip the ISO entirely: ``` bash build-all.sh # builds every component against llama-staging/usr/ ``` Bump ** iso_version** in `archiso/profiledef.sh` and nothing else — in particular, leave `SYNAPSEOS_VERSION` in `archiso/build.sh` alone, as it tracks the component series rather than the image. Then run `archiso/publish-release.sh` .`synsh` , `synui` , `synguard` , `synnet` , and the kernel module all speak to `synapd` over a Unix socket using a fixed 28-byte binary header ([ synapd/include/synapd.h](/velle999/SYNAPSE/blob/main/synapd/include/synapd.h)): ``` #pragma pack(push, 1) typedef struct { uint32_t magic; // 0x53594E41 "SYNA" uint8_t version; // SYNAPD_PROTOCOL_VER uint8_t msg_type; // QUERY, SYSCALL_EVENT, SCHED_HINT, CONTEXT_PUSH/GET, // STATUS, RELOAD, SHUTDOWN; responses OR SYN_MSG_RESPONSE uint16_t flags; uint32_t payload_len; // bytes following this header, max 1 MiB uint32_t request_id; // echoed in the response uint32_t client_pid; // sender PID, for privilege checks uint64_t timestamp_ns; // CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW } syn_msg_header_t; // 28 bytes #pragma pack(pop) ``` GPLv2 — the SynapseOS Project.