Robert Allan JamesandClaude Sonnet 5
bbfd9103f4
The reply leg (Artemis -> Hera ack) that used to flow through common:messaging.4th's MSG-SEND/MSG-TICK now goes through kernel-Hermes's sk_hermes_send_one()/sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint() instead -- FORTH Hermes never sees a BLK-ATTACH-EVENT message again (SXXXIV.2's partition rule). The request leg was never real FORTH messaging traffic to begin with (a direct VM-EXEC, no type tag, forced by Hera's own inability to load common:messaging.4th), so it is untouched. New KH-BLK-ATTACH-SEND (repl.c) wraps sk_hermes_send_one(), reached from capsules/artemis/init.4th's HERA-BLK-ATTACH-REQ. Delivery reuses task 3.4's already-wired sk_hermes_drain_checkpoint(); BLK-ATTACH-ACK itself is unchanged, just reached by a different layer. SK_HERMES_MSG_TYPE_BLK_ATTACH deliberately reuses BLK-ATTACH-EVENT's own value (9) to document this as a cutover of the same message, not a new one. Two real bugs found on the way, both recorded in FABRIC-3.6.md's findings log: - A popped FORTH CREATE-buffer address was raw-cast to a host pointer instead of going through vm_ptr() -- silently read all-zero memory, no crash, no error, just a message that arrived and did nothing. Fixed; the rule and its exception (repl.c's own dev-addr is legitimately a raw pointer, formatted that way by its own pushing code) are written up for the next FORTH-facing C word. - A separate, genuine hang on the very first live exercise of this path, never reproduced across ten subsequent boots. Reported, not chased -- not blocking, per the task's own check being otherwise fully satisfied. Also found live: log_message() is invisible in this build's actual serial-log capture at every level -- settled on a single console_println in the real drain target instead, one line per real USB attach, not a hot-path. Final acceptance (logs/20260922-105501, -105758, -110304, disk images reset before each): dict_hash identical across all three architectures for every VM, zero UNKNOWN WORD, mkcapsule --lint clean, real ledger+stadium_conserved(Artemis)=true evidence on every boot. 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