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💀 REVENANT OS (Agentic Core Edition)

Sovereign, Local-First Agentic AI Linux Operating System for Panasonic Toughbooks & Field Laptops

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Target
Base
Local Engine
Voice I/O
Release Channels

[!IMPORTANT]
Revenant OS 1.1 (Build 18.3) Stable Release
Revenant OS 1.1 (Build 18.3) is our official, field-tested stable production release. It features full-duplex offline voice interaction (Whisper Speech-to-Text + Piper Text-to-Speech), complete Debian login screen de-branding with custom cybernetic visual assets, an obsidian black top panel dark theme, single-window voice coordination (Super+M), a comprehensive i3 Window Manager Manual, and system slimming (~350MB RAM reclaimed by purging legacy cloud proxies and unused services). Experimental builds and new hardware drivers remain isolated on the beta branch.


⚡ Overview

Revenant OS is an autonomous, mission-hardened Linux distribution engineered specifically for rugged field computing on the Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 (and compatible x86_64 field hardware). It transforms venerable, indestructible industrial laptops into local-first Agentic AI workstations.

Instead of relying on mandatory cloud subscriptions, external API keys, or accounts, Revenant OS embeds a native offline inference server (llama-server) paired with Qwen2.5-Coder-1.5B-Instruct, local Whisper Speech-to-Text, and the OpenViking automated memory context database. It operates 100% offline in remote environments, while offering seamless Over-The-Air (OTA) upgrades when connected to the internet with dedicated --stable and --beta channels.


🛠️ Key Capabilities & Features

1. 🧠 Built-In Offline Local Inference (Zero Account / Zero API Setup)

  • Embedded llama-server Daemon (:8080): Managed automatically by systemd (llama-server.service). Starts on boot and exposes standard OpenAI-compatible endpoints on http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1.
  • Pre-Bundled Model: Loaded with Qwen2.5-Coder-1.5B-Instruct (Q4_K_M GGUF). Tuned for CPU execution on Toughbooks (runs fast at 8–14 tokens/sec, requiring only ~1.6 GB RAM).
  • 4,096 Token Context Window: Fast, low-latency 4K context length with pristine f16 Key-Value attention cache, eliminating CPU cache thrashing and repetition loops.
  • Universal CLI (ai <prompt>): Simply type ai "your query" into any terminal to query the local model instantly, or run ai --mic to speak your query. Running ai with no arguments launches the interactive Revenant Custom Agent.
  • Full-Duplex Offline Voice (Whisper STT + Piper TTS): Spoken voice input transcribed locally via whisper.cpp (tiny.en), and agent responses spoken aloud through Toughbook speakers via neural Piper TTS.

2. 🧬 OpenViking Automated Context Memory

  • Runs as an active background service (openviking.service) that automatically indexes terminal sessions, commands, notes, and preferences.
  • Zero-token memory RAG: Subagents and CLI commands recall prior session contexts without massive token footprints.
  • Queryable anytime via ov ls viking://resources/ or ov find "query".

3. 🤖 Autonomous Field Agents Ready Out-of-the-Box

  • Revenant Custom Agent (revenant-agent): A native, ultra-lightweight autonomous agent written in Python, engineered specifically for Toughbook dual-core CPUs:
  • Tool Execution: Directly inspects the system, executes bash commands ([EXEC: ...]), reads files ([READ: ...]), and writes files ([WRITE: ...]) with user confirmation safeguards.
  • Live Hardware Telemetry: Automatically displays battery percentage, CPU thermal temperatures, and RAM metrics in the header.
  • Voice & Interactive Controls: /mic (speak into Toughbook mic with instant Whisper STT transcription), /voice (toggle speech synthesis on/off), /sys (hardware diagnostics), and /clear (reset conversation memory).
  • Global Hotkey (Super + M): Press Super + M (or Ctrl + Alt + M) anywhere on the desktop to immediately trigger the floating voice assistant.
  • Launch anytime via revenant-voice, revenant-agent, revenant-agent --mic, ai, or the desktop shortcuts.
  • OpenInterpreter: Pre-configured in /etc/environment pointing to http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1. Inspects code, executes terminal commands, and edits files autonomously.
  • 100% Sovereign Offline Footprint: Completely self-contained offline architecture with zero external telemetry or cloud proxy dependencies. All inference, memory indexing, and speech recognition run 100% locally on device, saving ~350MB RAM.

4. 🖥️ Dual Desktop Environments: XFCE & i3

  • De-Branded LightDM Login: Completely de-branded login screen featuring the custom revenant_bootsplash.png background, Adwaita-dark theme, and the cybernetic Revenant "R" logo badge replacing the Debian swirl.
  • Cyber Dark Theme & Obsidian Top Bar: Full system dark theme (Adwaita-dark, Papirus-Dark) featuring a solid obsidian black panel (#0b0f17) with crisp white/cyan text and icons across the top of the screen.
  • i3 Tiling Window Manager: Blazing-fast, purely keyboard-driven tiling window manager configured with instant terminal launching (Mod+Enter), application menus (Mod+d), workspace switching (Mod+1..9), and desktop status bars. Read the comprehensive i3 Beginner's Manual.
  • Flexible Session Switching:
  • At Boot / Login: The LightDM greeter provides an account selector and a session dropdown (top-right of screen) allowing you to choose between Xfce Session and i3.
  • On-the-Fly Switching: Run switch-to-i3 or switch-to-xfce in any terminal to switch environments instantly without rebooting.

5. 🚜 Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 Hardware Hardening & Security

  • Hardened System Firewall (UFW): Pre-installed and active by default (ufw status). Configured to deny all unsolicited incoming connections while permitting outbound connections and SSH (22/tcp).
  • Legacy Graphics Acceleration: Out-of-the-box configuration for Intel GMA 4500MHD / Intel HD graphics via xserver-xorg-video-intel and Mesa 3D DRI acceleration.
  • Toughbook Hotkey & Chassis Drivers: Automatic loading of panasonic-laptop kernel driver for hotkeys, brightness controls, battery sensors, and thermal management.
  • Wireless Drivers: Firmware for Intel PRO/Wireless & Centrino (firmware-iwlwifi), Atheros (firmware-atheros), Realtek, and Broadcom.
  • Audio Tuning: Low-latency ALSA + PulseAudio mixer presets for Toughbook internal front stereo speakers and headphone jacks.
  • Power Management: Pre-tuned tlp power saving profiles maximizing battery life in the field.

6. 🚀 Native Hard Drive Installer & Clean User Setup

  • Graphical one-click installer (/usr/local/bin/Install_Revenant_OS.sh) on the live desktop.
  • Automatically handles drive partitioning (MSDOS/MBR optimal alignment), ext4 formatting, file replication (rsync -aAX), user account creation, sudoers configuration, and native GRUB bootloader installation.
  • Clean post-install boot: displays the LightDM login screen prompting for your created username and password (no stuck live user autologin).

7. 🔄 Over-The-Air (OTA) Dual-Channel Updates

  • Keep installed Toughbooks updated over the internet without wiping or reinstalling using the built-in update utility:
    bash sudo revenant-update
  • Dual Release Channels:
  • Stable Channel (default): Tracks tested milestone releases (Build 17):
    bash sudo revenant-update --stable
  • Beta Channel: Opt-in channel to test cutting-edge features before general release:
    bash sudo revenant-update --beta
  • Your selected channel is saved in /etc/revenant/channel and persists across reboots and updates.
  • Check update status anytime without applying changes:
    bash sudo revenant-update --check

🚀 Installation & Quick Start

  1. Download the ISO:
  2. Direct Full ISO (Single-Click Download):
    👉 Download revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso from SourceForge (2.85 GB — high-speed global mirror network)
  3. Alternative (GitHub Releases Split Volumes):
    Download revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.001 and revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.002, then join them:
    • Windows (Command Prompt / PowerShell):
      cmd copy /b revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.001 + revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.002 revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso
    • Linux / macOS:
      bash cat revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.001 revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso.002 > revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso
  4. Flash to USB:
  5. Windows: Use Rufus in DD Mode or BalenaEtcher.
  6. Linux / macOS:
    bash sudo dd if=revenant_os_1.1_build18.3.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
  7. Boot on Panasonic Toughbook CF-52:
  8. Insert USB into Toughbook USB port.
  9. Power on the laptop and tap F2 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
  10. Navigate to the Boot menu, move your USB Drive / USB HDD to the top of the boot order, press F10 to save and exit.
  11. Install to Internal Storage:
  12. Once on the live desktop, double-click "Install Revenant OS".
  13. Enter your username, password, hostname, and select your target drive (e.g. /dev/sda).
  14. Click "Yes, Erase & Install". Once completed, reboot and remove the USB stick.
  15. Log In & Select Session:
  16. At the login screen, select your username, enter your password, and choose Xfce Session or i3 from the top session dropdown.

📚 Documentation & Wiki

Explore our dedicated documentation in the docs/ directory:


🛡️ License

Revenant OS configuration files, build scripts, and custom integrations are released under the MIT License. Third-party Linux kernel components and upstream packages are governed by their respective licenses (GPL, Apache, BSD).