Documentation · v1.0

Learn CrownOS, one calm page at a time.

Concise, opinionated documentation for installing, configuring and extending CrownOS. Every page links straight to the source.

Start with the basics Ask the community

Getting started

Flash the ISO, run the installer and reach your first desktop.

Install on bare metal Install in a virtual machine Dual-booting with another OS First boot checklist

The shell

Pacman, AUR, Flatpak — and what CrownOS adds on top.

Package management The crownos CLI Service management Snapshots and rollback

AI runtime

How the local model works, where prompts go and how to swap models.

Local-first principles Model selection Bridging to remote providers Smart shell reference

Ecosystem features

Set up Clipboard Sync, Camera Share, Call Bridge and the rest.

Pair your phone Configure Notification Sync Second Screen tuning Troubleshooting pairings

Theming

Themes, layouts, fonts — and how to author your own.

Monochrome variants Layout profiles Custom themes Iconography reference

Privacy & security

Hardening notes, secure boot, signed builds and verification.

Verifying ISOs Secure boot setup Sandboxing applications Privacy defaults

Contributing

How patches land, the release cadence, and code style.

Contributor workflow Code style Reviewing patches Release process

Reference

API references for the SDK, plugins, and shell integrations.

CrownOS SDK Plugin API Shell extensions Configuration schema

Cheatsheet

The five commands you'll use most.

A pocket reference for everyday CrownOS work.

# Update everything
$ crownos sync

# Create a snapshot before a risky change
$ crownos snapshot "before-experiment"

# Roll back to the previous snapshot
$ crownos rollback

# Pair a new phone for ecosystem features
$ crownos pair

# Ask the local AI a quick question
$ crownos ask "free up disk on my dev partition"