Features

Core (required for a demo)

Declarative NixOS system: the entire OS is defined in the flake. nixos-rebuild switch applies changes atomically.
Ollama service: runs on boot, serves models on localhost:11434.
Agent runtime: Python and Node.js environments available, agent working directories under /var/lib/hearth/agents.
Sandboxed execution: agents run as ephemeral DynamicUser processes with ProtectSystem=strict and NoNewPrivileges.
Run-level observability: every agent run records tokens, cost, latency, and errors to a local SQLite database.
Boot dashboard: a TUI that shows system state, model status, and recent runs on login.
Tool-using agent loop: hearth-loop gives a model a goal and tools (run commands, read and write files, HTTP, web search and fetch), runs it in a per-run workspace, and audits it. See Agent engine.
Permission modes with per-tool approval (plan, auto, bypass), a pending-approval queue, and a one-button kill switch. See Permission modes.
Autonomy modes: a swarm that decomposes and parallelizes, a marathon that loops until done, self-evolution gated on nix flake check, and an always-on growth daemon that compounds validated improvements. See Autonomy.
Self-learning memory: agents record and recall lessons so the system gets smarter over time.
Web command center and an animated world view: chat, launch agents, and watch them work in the browser.
Optional KDE Plasma desktop and a fully-local content toolchain (ffmpeg, yt-dlp, TTS) for on-box media agents.

Least-privilege agent sandboxing with a written threat model (see Sandboxing & threat model). Agents cannot read host secrets or write outside their allowed paths by default.
Per-run audit log: hearth-runs queries the SQLite store and prints the last 20 runs with cost and latency.
MCP audit gate: no MCP server is allowed to start until it has an approval file at /var/lib/hearth/mcp-audit/{name}.approved. Stub is in place; real binary is a roadmap item.
Declarative model manifest: models are listed in the NixOS config and pulled automatically on activation.
Full reproducibility: nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#workstation brings any NixOS host to the exact defined state.

OS-level token and cost budget enforcement that kills runaway agents when they exceed a configured limit.
ntfy and Telegram alerting baked in for agent completion and errors.
Tailscale auto-join to a homelab mesh with pre-shared keys declared in the flake.
A “replay” view of a past agent run, showing each tool call and its output.
Signed and attested images using cosign or nix-sigstore.
Multi-agent scheduling with priority queues and resource limits.
Snapshot and rollback of the entire agent environment (models, secrets, working state) as a Nix closure.