NeXuS Master Architecture Map¶
Status: Living Document Created: 2026-03-21 Principles: Sane • Simple • Secure • Stealthy • Beautiful
The One Line¶
Boot. Browse. Power off. It never happened.
Two Tracks¶
Same NeXuS underneath. Different armour.
The Four Camps¶
Camp 1 — Node Runner
motivation → Nexium, passive income from dormant resources
entry → browser + USB → WebVM → NeXuS node running
asks → how do I earn, how do I start
needs → zero friction, zero Linux knowledge
Camp 2 — Pri/Sec Community
motivation → tried Tails/Whonix/Qubes, close but not quite
entry → IMG flash or WebVM + USB permission
asks → show me the code, prove no blobs
needs → auditable stack, I2P/Tor baked in
Camp 3 — Minimalist
motivation → true Unix + KISS + principles that should always have existed
entry → NXS-CORE + NXS-TERM, nothing else
asks → what does it NOT include
needs → bare metal, no overhead, pure
Camp 4 — Shadows / Ghosts
motivation → survival, not preference
entry → USB IRON only, no cloud, no WebVM, no phone home
asks → prove it leaves nothing
needs → power off = forensically unrecoverable
The Three Files¶
vmlinuz ← the kernel
initrd ← bootstrap: finds NXS.sfs, loads to RAM, sets up overlay
NXS.sfs ← the NeXuS squashfs system, read-only, immutable
Everything NeXuS needs to boot. Nothing more.
The Bootloader¶
Limine
→ modern, BIOS + UEFI from one config
→ clean, auditable
→ same config for IMG and ISO
→ no blobs
Delivery Formats¶
NXS.img ← preferred
Limine + 3 files + claims ALL remaining USB space as ext4
full persistence, full NeXuS
NXS.iso ← on-ramp
VirtualBox, Windows, Ubuntu users
test drive, no persistence beyond session
natural nudge toward IMG when they want more
The Installer¶
Uninstall:
USB Behaviour¶
dd NXS.img to USB
↓
first boot:
initrd detects remaining unallocated space
creates ext4 partition using ALL of it
/NXS/ dir created
3 files copied across
overlay lives here
lbu commit
unmount what isn't needed
↓
64GB USB = ~63.5GB persistence storage
ISO on USB wastes all that space. IMG owns it.
The Filesystem Stack¶
NXS.sfs ← read-only, compressed, immutable (never changes)
+
overlay/ ← all user changes, deltas only
=
merged/ ← FUSE mount, what the system sees
Reset:
Persistence Modes (Automatic)¶
ext4 found → overlay writes to /NXS/overlay/ (persistent)
no ext4 → overlay lives in RAM only (stealthy, no trace)
User configures nothing. Hardware decides.
Delta Snapshots¶
NXS.sfs ← never snapshot (never changes)
overlay/
snap-001/ ← first changes
snap-002/ ← delta from 001 only
snap-003/ ← delta from 002 only
current → snap-003
Rollback = move pointer. Core untouched. Always.
Meta Packs¶
/NXS/
NXS-CORE.sfs ← mandatory, always
NXS-HYPR.sfs ← desktop choice
NXS-BROWSER.sfs ← browser OS layer
NXS-DEV.sfs ← development tools
NXS-PRIVACY.sfs ← Tor + I2P + Medusa
NXS-GAMING.sfs ← Cataclysm DDA etc.
NXS-NODE.sfs ← DIVA + XMR + mesh
overlay/
initrd stacks all present SFS files at boot. Merged seamlessly.
Atomic: pack present = fully available. Pack absent = completely gone. Instant: squashfs mounts, no extraction, no install steps. Upgrade: replace .sfs file. Overlay untouched. Rollback: swap .sfs.prev back in. One file.
After Setup¶
lbu commit ← snapshot current overlay state
unmount unused drives ← reduce attack surface
running surface:
NXS.sfs in RAM ← read-only, untouchable
overlay in /NXS/ ← writes go here only
everything else ← unmounted, invisible, unreachable
The Browser OS Layer (NXS-BROWSER.sfs)¶
Three layers of isolation:
Layer 1 → bare metal host (NeXuS never touches it)
Layer 2 → NeXuS in RAM (browser never touches it)
Layer 3 → browser VM (internet never touches anything real)
Powered by WebVM + CheerpX for NXS-WEB. Powered by QEMU/KVM for NXS-IRON.
Browser VM is destroyed on close. Not cleaned. Destroyed. Reopened = factory fresh from NXS-BROWSER.sfs. No state. No history.
NXS-WEB Entry Point (Camp 1 + 2)¶
Windows/any user
↓
opens browser
↓
grants USB permission (one click)
↓
WebVM sees /NXS/ on USB drive
↓
NXS.sfs loads via CheerpX (client-side, no server)
↓
full NeXuS node running in browser
↓
persistence writes back to USB only
↓
close browser → no trace on host machine
unplug USB → it never happened
No VirtualBox. No ISO. No install. No Linux knowledge required.
The Authenticator Layer¶
Factor 1 → USB drive (something you have)
NXS.sfs present = physical possession
Factor 2 → authenticator (something you know/prove)
TOTP (Aegis, offline, open source)
OR hardware key (YubiKey, WebAuthn)
OR Cerberus Protocol (NeXuS-native KDF)
Even if USB is stolen — useless without Factor 2.
Per camp:
Camp 1 → TOTP via authenticator app, simple
Camp 2 → YubiKey passthrough to WebVM/VM
Camp 3 → Cerberus Protocol, hardware key
Camp 4 → hardware key minimum, Cerberus preferred
key never stored anywhere, derived from memory
The USB IS the first factor. Authenticator is the second. Two things required. One stolen = nothing gained.
The AI Layer¶
NXS-WEB → Claude API (online, full capability)
guides non-technical users in plain language
maps human intent to NeXuS choices
Camp 1 primary interface
NXS-IRON → local distilled NXS model (offline, auditable)
trained on entire NeXuS project
1MB boot translator for initrd stage
Camp 3+4 — never phones home
Training pipeline:
all session logs + docs + scripts + philosophy
↓
NXS-MIND (7B fine-tuned, full knowledge)
↓ distillation
NXS-BOOT (0.5B-1B, setup/onboarding only)
↓ GGUF quantize
fits in bootstrap RAM stage
The Fallback Chain¶
1. LAN server (fast, private, trusted)
2. USB (always available)
3. Another NeXuS node (peer mesh, any node serves any node)
4. Internet (last resort, hash verified)
No central server required. Network grows stronger as nodes join. Round Table applied to infrastructure.
No Blobs — Ever¶
trust model:
I trust what I can read
I read the build script
the build script produces NXS.sfs
therefore I trust the core
No certificate authority. No signed blob from a stranger. Build scripts are NeXuS-native. Auditable end to end.
The Community Trust Layer¶
developer publishes NXS-*.sfs build script
↓
technical community reads and reviews it
↓
rated comment: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "clean, no blobs, does exactly what it says"
↓
non-technical user sees rating + plain english summary
↓
confidence earned, not blind faith
Reviewers earn Nexium for quality reviews. The technical/non-technical gap closes over time.
The Onboarding Ladder¶
1. Browser + NXS-WEB URL ← zero commitment, test drive
2. Browser + USB permission ← "I like it", full node, no install
3. Windows dir dual boot ← C:\NXS\ + bcdedit, no repartition
4. USB IMG flash ← daily driver, portable, full persistence
5. Internal drive install ← all in, NeXuS native
Every rung reachable from the previous. Nobody jumps from zero to repartitioning.
The Upgrade Story¶
upgrade → replace NXS.sfs (or meta pack .sfs)
overlay untouched, settings survive
one file swap
rollback → swap NXS.sfs.prev back
one file swap
uninstall → rm -rf /NXS/
done
vs:
apt upgrade → dependency hell
Windows Update → 45 minutes, 3 reboots, something broke
NeXuS upgrade → cp NXS.sfs /NXS/
Converging Projects¶
These projects arrived independently through NeXuS design decisions:
WebVM / CheerpX ← arrived from Browser OS isolation requirement
OpenClaw ← arrived from 1MB boot AI concept
Tailscale ← arrived from mesh node networking
DIVA Chain ← arrived from Nexium economy
I2P / Tor ← arrived from Shadows/Ghosts camp
Limine ← arrived from no-blobs bootloader requirement
LBU ← arrived from snapshot + minimal surface requirement
When you keep arriving at the same project from different directions — it belongs.
Core Principles Mapped¶
| Principle | Where It Lives |
|---|---|
| Sane | defined defaults, lbu commit, known-good state always restorable |
| Simple | 3 files, cp to install, rm to uninstall, one script builds all |
| Secure | no blobs, read-only core, authenticator, community audit |
| Stealthy | RAM-only mode, no ext4 = no trace, browser VM destroyed not cleaned |
| Beautiful | composable layers, clean naming, AI translator, every camp served |
Pending¶
- Hash verification protocol for NXS.sfs across mesh nodes
- Nexium reward formula for community reviewers
- Minimum review count before script is trusted
- NXS-* script versioning scheme
- How nodes advertise as fallback peers
- Cerberus Protocol integration with authenticator layer
- NXS-MIND training dataset curation (session logs + docs + scripts)
- Browser choice for NXS-BROWSER.sfs (Firefox ESR vs hardened Chromium)
- WSL path for Camp 1 Windows users
- Air-gapped / offline-first node spec
"Together Everyone Achieves More" Sane • Simple • Secure • Stealthy • Beautiful