FounderOS

# Founder OS

> A local-first operating layer for the person running the business. Six markdown files hold the live state of your company, and Claude Code works from them every session: it routes by role, tracks commitments, surfaces what has stalled, and pushes back before you ship something half-baked. Free and MIT-licensed. You bring one AI subscription. Your files are owned by you, with no server and no lock-in.

Project home: https://arcassystems.com/founder-os - built by ARCAS Systems. The source repository is https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS.

Founder OS is plain markdown that any capable agent can read and drive. Claude Code is the reference runtime, where slash commands and hooks run and where scripts execute; desktop folder-attached surfaces like Cowork and Antigravity read and write the files; web-only surfaces read and reason over them and help you act on the produced artifacts. It is built for owners, operators, agency leads, consultancy heads, and heads of department - anyone where the buck stops with them. It is a personal system, not a team tool, and not always-on.

The system has four layers, the same four the Founder OS Playbook draws on a napkin. The Brain is the memory: plain markdown you own, holding the six operating files (identity, priorities, clients, decisions, today, the week), a brain layer (log, flags, patterns, parked decisions, distilled knowledge), and a wiki layer of `[[cross-references]]` plus a source archive for articles and transcripts. The Skills are the abilities the brain has, and they read and write across it. The Hands are the tools the skills reach for - calendar, inbox, notes, transcriber - kept optional. The Heartbeat is the rhythm that keeps it current: a daily anchor, a weekly retro, and a SessionStart brief that surfaces what has stalled. Six role modes: four (COO, BD, CMO, Chief of Staff) switch automatically based on what you are actually doing, and two more (CSO for portfolio strategy, CTO for your tool stack and automations) are invoked explicitly when you need them.

## Start here

- [Founder OS Playbook](https://arcassystems.com/playbook): a visual walkthrough with screenshots - the problem it solves, the three parts, how to start, and what not to do. Opens in any browser, about 15 minutes. It lives on the web, not in the repo, so it never drifts.
- [README](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/README.md): the full product picture - who it is for, what it costs, what ships in the repo, and the setup ladder.
- [Install guide](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/install.md): the ZIP download (no Git or terminal), the Claude Code plugin marketplace, one-line curl, or a manual git clone.
- [First day](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/first-day.md): what to do in your first session.

## How it works

- [CLAUDE.md](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/CLAUDE.md): the bootloader that tells Claude how the OS behaves every session.
- [Skills catalog (95)](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/skills.md): every skill, what it does, and how to trigger it in natural language.
- [Slash commands (45)](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/commands.md): every command and what it returns.
- [Tools and MCPs](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/tools-and-mcps.md): which integrations activate which skills, and how the OS degrades gracefully to zero MCPs.
- [Calibrating your OS](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/calibrating-your-os.md): how to tune the system to how you actually work after install.
- [Voice extension](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/voice-extension.md): optional and do-it-yourself - give the OS a mouth (text to speech) and ears (speech to text) with free local tools. The OS is complete as text without it.

## For other AI agents

- [AGENTS.md](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/AGENTS.md): the cross-agent guide for Codex, Gemini CLI, and other non-Claude agents - repo map, roles, commands, and what not to do.
- [GEMINI.md](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/GEMINI.md): the Gemini CLI context bridge.

## About

- [Forking](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/docs/forking.md): how to make the OS your own.
- [Contributing](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md): how to propose changes.
- [Security baseline](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/rules/security-baseline.md): one page - what leaves the machine per surface, where secrets live, the guard chain, and the five questions to ask before any yes.
- [Security policy](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/SECURITY.md): how to report a vulnerability.
- [License](https://github.com/ARCASSystems/FounderOS/blob/main/LICENSE): MIT.