# WolOS Manual

> How WolOS works and how to use it: install, Secure Boot, updates, sound, games, packages, plugins and what runs underneath.

Source: https://wolos.pages.dev/manual

- [Getting started](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/getting-started.md): What WolOS is, what you need, and the first ten minutes.
- [Installing WolOS](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/install.md): Erase a disk, install next to Windows or Linux, or lay out partitions by hand. Nothing is written before you confirm the summary.
- [Secure Boot](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/secure-boot.md): Every computer makes its own boot keys. At most one key screen, once, with the password boot.
- [Updates and going back](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/updates.md): Updates install next to the running system. If the new one fails to start, the old one starts on its own.
- [Sound](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/sound.md): PipeWire with rules that keep microphones from clipping, low latency where it matters, and Bluetooth codecs that just work.
- [Games](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/games.md): Native Steam with Proton, and Windows programs outside Steam on Wine.
- [Power and sleep](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/power.md): The power source picks the profile; Low Power and High Power Mode override it.
- [Hardware and drivers](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/hardware.md): One catalogue decides the driver, firmware and options for each device.
- [wopkg: one tool for every source](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/wopkg.md): pacman repositories, Flatpak, AppImages, recipes and the AUR behind one command.
- [Packages and pinned repositories](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/packages.md): pacman is the package manager; every repository is pinned to the release.
- [AUR laws](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/aur-laws.md): Each AUR package is read as a graph and checked against named laws before it installs.
- [Optional modules](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/modules.md): AI, developer, creative and console stacks, installed after the base and removable.
- [Plugin API reference](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/plugins.md): The complete manifest, permissions and Lua API for shell plugins.
- [Desktop widgets](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/widgets.md): Clock, calendar, weather, music, batteries and system cards on the desktop.
- [Themes in every app](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/app-theming.md): One theme switch restyles GTK 3, GTK 4, Qt, the browser, the terminal and the shell prompt.
- [Boot and install safety](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/boot.md): Two system slots, signed boot images, quiet boot, and an installer that only touches what it planned.
- [Security](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/security.md): Firewall, hardening, daily update checks, a first-use malware check and disk encryption.
- [Assistants and automation](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/automation.md): Scripts and AI helpers act through the same `wol` commands as people, behind an approval gate.
- [System API](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/system-api.md): What the shell and `wol sys` read about the machine, and the rules that keep reads cheap.
- [libwol: the app API](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/libwol.md): One stable C ABI for apps in any language: windows, menus, notifications, files, power and more.
- [The window server](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/hyprland-fork.md): Hyprland 0.56.2 with the WolOS patches for frame pacing, idle cost and window behaviour.
- [WolKernel](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/kernel.md): Linux 7.3 with a small series of foreground and gaming patches, each with an off switch.
- [Performance budgets](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/performance.md): Idle cost and response times of the desktop, with targets and measurements.
- [Interface guidelines](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/hig.md): The binding rules every WolOS app follows: one scaffold, tokens, behaviour.
- [0016: Arch Linux base, in snapshots](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0016.md): Why WolOS is built on Arch Linux packages pinned to a dated snapshot.
- [0017: One base system](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0017.md): WolKernel and the base userland are released together, as one version.
- [0021: wopkg](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0021.md): One package tool for every source, with a stable library behind it.
- [0022: AUR laws](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0022.md): AUR packages are judged by named laws over graphs, never called safe.
- [0023: Installer plans](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0023.md): The installer writes a plan, and the plan names everything it may touch.
- [0024: First-use malware check](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0024.md): Files are checked the first time they run, instead of a crawler that reads the whole disk.
- [0025: Signed boot with this computer's keys](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0025.md): Each computer makes its own boot keys at install; no shared vendor key.
- [0026: Memory Saver](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0026.md): Background apps give memory back and take it again as they run.
- [0027: One app cannot take the desktop](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0027.md): Per-app limits keep the session responsive when one app runs away.
- [0028: ClamAV in its own process](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0028.md): Full signatures are optional, fetched by you, and run apart from the guard.
- [0029: Repository split](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0029.md): Code, recipes and the image live apart, and there is one build path.
- [0031: Plugins, themes and layouts](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0031.md): Folder plugins in a sandbox, themes for every toolkit, and layouts as data.
- [0032: Optional modules](https://wolos.pages.dev/manual/adr-0032.md): AI, developer, creative and console stacks as removable modules and Kits.