Overview
Capabilities and current status
What exists across the public site, shared runtime, Microsoft NT, Linux, Android, application catalog, and AI boundaries—and what remains incomplete.
Arcane OS is in active development. The table below separates what is present from what would still be required before a release, pilot, or production claim.
Status at a glance
| Surface | What exists now | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Public documentation | A generated, integrity-checked GitHub Pages site with a reviewed document and source catalog. | It is documentation for a development project, not a hosted Arcane OS environment. |
| Shared application runtime | Theme-aware browser interfaces, reusable components and modules, package allowlists, scoped storage contracts, and focused tests. | A browser package receives no native Arcane authority unless a compatible trusted host explicitly supplies it. |
| Microsoft NT host | Development-signed Provisioner, Shell, application hosts, Arcane Core, and a controlled first-user workflow. | Development signing is local to a contributor and does not establish a production publisher or release. |
| Linux and WSL host | GTK 4 and WebKitGTK 6.0 hosts, an unsigned-local build, direct Shell launch, root-authorized installation, and experimental account provisioning. | Publisher signing, automatic privilege brokerage, and complete clean-host acceptance remain incomplete. |
| Android foundation | A debug-local launcher and application-host foundation with bounded bridge and package rules. | This remains experimental and lacks production identity, update, recovery, accessibility, and real-device acceptance. |
| Application catalog | Seventeen applications are declared in the current machine-bundle catalog. | Catalog presence does not mean every journey is complete, supported, or independently accepted. |
| Artificial intelligence | Provider contracts, configured application profiles, local-model integration work, and an optional host-injected Docs assistant. | The public Pages site has no hidden AI credential, model authority, or native tools. Search remains the dependable public path. |
What “development-only” means
Development-only is a concrete operating boundary:
- there is no staging or production environment;
- there is no public installer or production-signed download;
- branches and generated packages are development artifacts;
- demonstrations use synthetic or disposable data;
- passing a development check does not approve security, privacy, accessibility, operations, or deployment;
- release-candidate gates remain future promotion work.
This status does not mean the repository is empty or purely conceptual. It means implemented behavior must be described at the level actually verified, without turning development evidence into a release claim.
Host support
Microsoft NT
Microsoft NT is the primary native development host. Current work includes native hosts, a packaged Arcane Core, controlled provisioning, application capability policy, and locally development-signed builds. The signing identity is not a production publisher identity.
Linux and WSL
Linux is an experimental developer host. Ubuntu under WSLg is the simplest current path for Microsoft NT contributors who want to exercise the Linux Shell. Installation and account changes require a separately authorized, already-root Provisioner; Arcane does not silently invoke sudo or PolicyKit.
Android
Android work is an experimental foundation for a launcher and separately installed application packages. Debug build and emulator evidence does not establish a supported mobile product.
How to read capability claims
Use these labels consistently:
- Implemented: source and focused development evidence exist for the stated boundary.
- Experimental: the path exists but has meaningful platform, recovery, verification, or support gaps.
- Development-signed: signed by a local contributor identity for development; not a production publisher claim.
- Unsigned-local: intentionally limited to a locally authorized development build.
- Candidate-unverified: implementation exists, but exact release-candidate evidence and accountable acceptance do not.