Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
2c1b3cd695
All found by actually running the identity workflow §VII/§VIII made possible, not by code review: 1. Zuse/WIREBIND cross-contamination on detach: capsule_zuse_boot_logout() and capsule_wirebind_unclean_detach() both had no device parameter, so an unrelated device detaching (while the real owner's own stayed attached) incorrectly tore down the wrong session. Both now compare the departing device against their own tracked one, mirroring capsule_wirebind.c's pre-existing g_wirebind_attached_dev precedent. 2. Dictionary-entry memory leak: vm_create_word()'s sf_malloc()'d DictEntry (plus a second per-entry allocation for transition_metrics) was never freed by vm_cleanup(), in both the hosted and kernel implementations. Caused a real kernel PANIC after 8-9 repeated VM birth/kill cycles in one boot. Fixed by walking vm->latest in both. 3. sf_malloc/sf_free (alloc_kernel.c) was a 4MB bump arena with a deliberate no-op free, sized on "VM born once, never killed" -- fix #2 alone didn't stop the panic because free() itself discarded the pointer regardless. Given a real free list (first-fit reuse). 4. Headless-console gate didn't re-engage after a mid-boot logout: the original fix (sk_console_mark_login(), one-way sticky) only gated the first login of the boot. Replaced with a live check (sk_console_identity_present()) re-evaluated continuously, including inside sk_console_readline()'s own blocking idle loop -- the console is normally sitting blocked there when a hot-unplug logout happens, so checking only at the top of the REPL loop wasn't enough. Also: MINT now verifies its own write (verify_mint(), capsule_mint.c) by reading back through the same check a real attach performs, rather than trusting blkio_write()'s BLK_OK alone -- logged via log_message(), not console_println(), per direct instruction. Verified live, amd64: the full 8-identity repeated attach/detach cycle that previously panicked at the same point every time now completes clean, and a full serial-log sweep found zero bare unauthenticated prompts anywhere in the run. Three-arch clean-qemu acceptance passed. Still open, not fixed here: a 3+-simultaneous-device USB enumeration failure found in a separate live test, not yet root-caused. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018EjXFo7mPXjUMjfJeuUUz4
LithosAnanke v2.0.1
UEFI-bootable FORTH microkernel. Boots from firmware, initialises memory and interrupts, then runs the StarForth VM as its sole userspace runtime. No libc. No OS. Just stone and necessity.
Lithos (foundation) + Ananke (necessity) — the kernel under StarshipOS.
Status — M7.1 (Capsule System · Multi-VM Fleet)
| Milestone | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| M0–M6 | UEFI boot · PMM · VMM · IDT · APIC · heap · framebuffer VT100 console (v1.5.1-FINAL) | ✅ Complete |
| M7 | StarForth VM integration + parity validation | ✅ Complete |
| M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol · Mama FORTH vocabulary · Tripod multi-VM fleet (Hermes/Artemis) · Word-level ACL (Phases 1–7) | 🔄 In Progress |
| M8 | REPL — keyboard input, interactive Forth | Planned |
| M9 | Block storage — AHCI driver | Planned |
POST at boot: parity hash verified across amd64/aarch64/riscv64 · Mama capsule dictionary: 453 words
What's live in M7.1
- Tripod — a named multi-VM fleet (Hera the Mama VM, Artemis, two Hermes instances) births, runs, and re-births independently, verified booting live pre-REPL on all three architectures.
- Hermes — a 17-block inter-VM messaging/channel layer between fleet members, with async delivery and channel negotiation.
- Artemis — a Block Allocation Map (BAM) storage subsystem with Q48.16
block-heat tracking and cooldown/reclamation (
ART-COOL/ART-REAP). - Word-level ACL — every dictionary entry carries a TTL/allow/mode/pin
access-control record. Strict, TTL, and pinned modes; two console layers
(emergency
ok>and superuserzuse)ok>). Phases 1–7 complete (C infrastructure, FORTH policy layer,zusebootstrap superuser, Isabelle proof stubs, kernel parity); Phase 8 (Ed25519 PKI / thumbdrive challenge-response) is the only item remaining. Measured overhead once active on every check: +0.0054%–+0.0088%, CV = 0.000%, across a 3×3 Latin-square DoE campaign (architecture × seed × 30 replicates) — three orders of magnitude below the measurement floor. - VM Fleet Attractor physics — the L8 Jacquard mode selector now has a real per-VM heat channel into fleet-wide tuning, replacing hardcoded compudynamics constants with a dynamically-inferred rate.
- Kconfig build configuration — every physics/heartbeat/pipelining/ kernel-only tuning knob (~40 total) is now a discoverable, optional Kconfig symbol shared with the hosted VM build. See Quick Start below.
Quick Start
# Build kernel (requires cross-compilation toolchain, or native gcc)
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64
# Run in QEMU with OVMF
make -f Makefile.starkernel qemu
# Other architectures
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=aarch64 qemu
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=riscv64 qemu
Artifacts: build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_loader.efi · build/amd64/kernel/starkernel_kernel.elf
For the hosted VM by itself (Linux, no cross-compiler needed, no bare-metal tooling): see
the separate StarForth repository — LithosAnanke used to be a branch inside that repo,
now it's its own project with its own master.
Build configuration (optional)
Every kernel-only knob (STARFORTH_ENABLE_VM, PARITY_MODE, the shared
physics/heartbeat family, etc.) is an optional Kconfig symbol — a plain
make -f Makefile.starkernel uses the same defaults it always has unless
you opt in:
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 menuconfig
make -f Makefile.starkernel ARCH=amd64 kernel_amd64_defconfig
Documentation
| System Architecture | Full kernel + VM design |
| HAL Reference | Hardware abstraction layer interfaces |
| Capsule System — M7.1 | Capsule birth protocol design |
| VM Fleet Attractor design log | Tripod/Hermes/Artemis physics + build-system history |
| Getting Started / Kconfig reference | Full symbol reference for both build targets |
| Changelog | Milestone-level history |
| Roadmap | Milestone plan through self-hosting |
License
Starship License 1.0 (SL-1.0) — free for personal, research, and educational use. Commercial use requires a separate agreement. Attribution to R.A. James (Captain Bob) must be preserved in all distributions.
Patent pending. USPTO provisional filed December 2025 — physics-grounded self-adaptive runtime system. This license does not grant patent rights. Licensing inquiries: rajames440@gmail.com
Robert A. James (Captain Bob) · Systems Engineer · Hacking since 1973