AetherOS is a Linux distribution built on Ubuntu 26.04 with Aether — a Claude-powered agent — woven into every layer, from PID 1 to the desktop. It chats, writes and runs code, fixes problems, and acts autonomously to keep your machine healthy and fast.
It boots as PID 1, runs as an always-on root daemon, watches the kernel through eBPF, and gives you the same agent from your terminal, a native chat window, the GNOME system menu, Activities search, and a phone-friendly web UI.
A tiny static init (aether-init) is the first process the kernel runs — an AI boot-health pass, then a clean hand-off to systemd.
An eBPF kernel sensor and a deterministic Sentinel act on their own through reversible means only — game/performance mode, threat isolation, safe cleanup.
Ask a question, write code, or hand Aether a multi-step goal — it executes end-to-end with full system tools.
Golden / last-known-good state, a boot-failure counter with automatic rollback, and a hardware watchdog.
A Rescue boot entry (aether.disable=1) boots plain systemd with all AI disabled, no exceptions.
Catppuccin Mocha, Papirus icons, a generated nebula wallpaper, a Plymouth boot splash, and a floating dock.
Fetched live from GitHub Releases — the ISO ships split into parts (GitHub caps assets at 2 GB); reassemble and verify with the commands under each architecture, then write it to a ≥16 GB USB drive.
Loading the latest release…
# write to USB (replace /dev/sdX with your drive — check with `lsblk`/`diskutil list`)
sudo dd if=AetherOS-1.0-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=syncBoot the USB (UEFI or legacy BIOS) → Try or Install AetherOS → install → reboot. AetherOS boots under Secure Boot out of the box. On first login, the Aether Setup wizard asks for a Claude API key or lets you sign in with your Claude account — the system is fully usable either way; Aether just stays dormant until you connect one.
Cheap, local, deterministic code does the watching. The Claude API is invoked only when something actually needs reasoning — keeping it fast and inexpensive.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
boot │ kernel ──exec──▶ /sbin/aether-init (PID 1, static C) │
│ │ ① run boot agent (health, LKG, │
│ │ credential check) — no AI │
│ │ ② exec systemd ───────────────┐ │
└──────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┼──┘
▼ ▼
deterministic "dumb monitor" full GNOME desktop
(eBPF + Sentinel, local rules) │
│ escalates only on anomaly │
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ claused — the Aether daemon (root, port 7474) │
│ • Claude agent w/ full system tools │
│ • Sentinel: game-mode, threat quarantine │
│ • kernel_sensor: eBPF execve tracing │
│ • HTTP/WS API + web UI + Unix socket │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
▲ ▲ ▲ ▲
ask CLI chat GUI Quick Settings web UIA v1.3+ roadmap researched against Omarchy Linux and adapted to AetherOS's GNOME + always-on agent architecture — reliability, theming, dev environment, and more.