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Packages & Command Resolution

How immutable .aospkg files become commands inside an agentOS VM.

agentOS software is distributed as immutable version 2 .aospkg files. npm is not a runtime registry and the sidecar never scans node_modules to discover software.

Package container

Each artifact contains four sections:

  1. the fixed package header;
  2. one vbare runtime manifest;
  3. one vbare mount index;
  4. the mount tar payload.

agentos-package.json is toolchain input. The packer converts its runtime fields into the vbare manifest and does not ship or materialize the JSON file inside the VM.

Release tooling computes a SHA-256 digest for every artifact and uploads it at a digest-addressed object path. A release manifest maps the logical package name to its immutable relative URL, digest, and byte size.

Projection

The VFS memory-maps the package and projects it without unpacking a mutable host directory:

/opt/agentos/
├── pkgs/<name>/<version>/   # package payload
└── bin/<command>            # links to commands exported by manifests

/opt/agentos is the live source of truth. Listing installed software and resolving commands read the projection rather than a package list captured during VM creation.

Changing a filesystem mount does not uninstall software linked after VM creation. The sidecar retains those package identities and projections until an explicit unlink; clients do not need to mirror the live package list when they reconfigure mounts.

Source policy

The shared Core package-source model is closed:

  • Url { url, expected_digest? } downloads a remote artifact under strict size, time, and redirect limits;
  • Path { path, expected_digest? } reads a trusted local artifact from the host.

There is no custom resolver callback. A host that installs packages on behalf of untrusted users should accept only Url sources from them.

Both variants verify the bytes before publishing them into the same process-local content-addressed cache. Cache identity is the content digest, not the URL. Installed packages are pinned while a VM uses them and otherwise participate in bounded LRU eviction.

Command execution

The shell resolves a command with the normal $PATH walk. The kernel then dispatches the resolved file by its bytes: a shebang selects an interpreter and the WebAssembly magic header selects the WASM executor. Names and filename extensions do not select a runtime.

If multiple packages export the same command, configuration validation rejects the collision unless the package projection policy explicitly resolves it. Removing a package removes only its managed projection and command links.

See Software for the public installation API and Software Package Definition for building artifacts.

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