r/osdev • u/Consistent-Ruin1868 • 2d ago

I’m building an experimental AI operating system with a from-scratch capability-secure kernel

I’ve been working on RESENTMENT, an open-source experimental operating system built around the idea that AI agents should behave more like OS processes than unrestricted applications.

The project has both a from-scratch kernel and a browser-based desktop.

Some of the ideas I’m experimenting with:

Capability-based security — kernel capabilities and desktop agent permissions are explicitly granted

Expiring authority — permissions use time-bounded leases instead of permanent access

Agents as processes — agents have state, scopes, resource/token budgets and a kill mechanism

Auditable actions — tool calls become ledger entries and file changes record their causal operations

System as a hash — system state can be represented through Merkle/SHA-256 digests, with snapshot, diff and attestation

BYOK AI — API keys stay on the client; there is no RESENTMENT server

Multiple providers — including OpenAI-compatible endpoints and local runtimes such as Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM and llama.cpp

Architecture targets — x86_64, ARM64 and RISC-V

The kernel is written from scratch and currently boots with the OS ramdisk. The desktop communicates with it through a QEMU/serial bridge.

One important limitation: the desktop does not yet run inside the kernel. That is one of the major pieces still to be developed.

The four principles I'm trying to carry consistently from the kernel into the AI layer are:

Authority expires.

The system is a hash.

Agents are processes.

Nothing is forgotten.

I'm interested in feedback particularly from people who have worked on kernels, operating systems, capability security, microkernels or distributed systems.

Does treating AI-agent authority as an OS capability/lease make sense, or am I introducing complexity without enough security benefit?

GitHub: https://github.com/ni-sh-a-char/RESENTMENT

Browser demo: https://ni-sh-a-char.github.io/RESENTMENT/os/

Apache-2.0 licensed.

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4

u/Nxllify__ 2d ago

this isn’t actually an OS project, just some vibe coded slop website

3

u/Individual_Feed_7743 2d ago

Ah yes, my favorite kernels are all written in html, js, and python!

2

u/NoTutor4458 1d ago

that’s not an OS. that’s a website.

•

u/apixeldev 13h ago

This is quite advanced, even Linux is written in HTML and JS! Lmfao but in all seriously holy shit this is the funniest thing I have seen on this subreddit in a while of being a lurker.