Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
26c1117ccd
Two research passes confirmed the identity record itself (seed/pubkey/ cert) is already unreachable from any FORTH primitive -- only C-level read_devblock/write_devblock touch it. But a device's ordinary user block content CAN be copied between two attached devices today, using only stock, unpinned words: <src> BLOCK <dst> BUFFER 1024 MOVE UPDATE SAVE-BUFFERS, or the dedicated RELOCATE-BLOCK word (whose own doc comment already admits "performs no policy validation of its own"). Checked whether the existing per-block owner_fp/BLK-ACL-ALLOW@ metadata already solves this -- it doesn't: owner_fp encodes who (a VM identity pubkey), never where (physical device), and blk_get_buffer()/blk_update() never consult acl_allow/acl_ttl at all -- those fields are completely inert. Small, targeted fix, no rearchitecture: - blk_subsys_relocate_block() (block_subsystem.c): same-device check. Its own documented purpose is wear-leveling (relocate on the SAME device) -- never stated as cross-device, and nothing enforced that until now. - New public blk_lbn_device_handle() (block_subsystem.c/.h): the missing LBN-to-device direction (blk_get_device_range() already goes the other way). Opaque, stable, == comparable. - MOVE (memory_words.c) and CMOVE/CMOVE> (string_words.c): refuse when both addresses are block-window addresses backed by two different devices -- the exact shape of the composed attack. A copy where either end is ordinary VM memory (the overwhelming common case: staging text from PAD, editing a block in place) is untouched. - blk_vm_check_epoch()/blk_vm_slot_for_addr() exposed (block_words.h) so the two new call sites share the same window-slot invalidation contract rather than a second, divergent copy of it. Verified live on all three architectures, not just boot-clean: same- device MOVE/RELOCATE-BLOCK still succeed exactly as before; cross-device MOVE/CMOVE/RELOCATE-BLOCK all refused. Zero UNKNOWN WORD, identical dict_hash across all three (this change adds no FORTH-visible word, only internal refusal conditions, as predicted). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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