Lightcone OS

When Northstar operates a computer, it runs inside Lightcone OS — a minimal Linux desktop runtime tuned for AI operation. Consistent rendering, fast boot, pre-installed tools, and a display pipeline optimized for Northstar’s vision model.

You don’t need to think about Lightcone OS to use Northstar — it’s the default environment for every computer. This page covers what’s inside it for cases where you need to install software, customize the environment, or understand what Northstar is looking at.

What’s included

Every Lightcone OS instance comes with:

• Web browser — Chromium with stealth mode and anti-detection
• Terminal — full shell with bash, python3, node, curl, git, and standard Unix tools
• Package manager — apt-get for installing additional software
• File system — isolated per computer, writable, with standard Linux paths
• Display server — X11 with consistent viewport configuration
• Network stack — full internet access, optional residential proxy routing

Why a custom runtime

Computer-use models work by looking at screenshots. The quality of Northstar’s decisions depends on the visual environment being legible and predictable. Stock Linux desktops introduce variability — different themes, fonts, icon sets, display scaling — that degrades model performance.

Lightcone OS removes that variability: deterministic fonts, DPI, and color profiles across every instance. Northstar produces more reliable actions when the environment is consistent.

Installing software

Since it’s a full Linux environment, install anything:

with client.computer.create(kind="desktop") as computer:
    client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id, command="apt-get install -y libreoffice")
    client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id, command="libreoffice --calc &")
    computer.wait(3)
    result = computer.screenshot()

await client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id!, {
  command: "apt-get install -y libreoffice",
});
await client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id!, {
  command: "libreoffice --calc &",
});

Use persistent state to save installed software across sessions so you don’t reinstall every time.

Display configuration

Configure the viewport when creating a computer:

with client.computer.create(
    kind="desktop",
    display={"width": 1920, "height": 1080, "scale": 1.0},
) as computer:
    pass

const computer = await client.computers.create({
  kind: "desktop",
  display: { width: 1920, height: 1080, scale: 1.0 },
});

The default is 1280x720, which works well for most tasks and keeps screenshot sizes manageable for Northstar’s inference.

See also

• Computers — create, interact with, and manage environments
• Shell commands — run terminal commands
• How Lightcone works — architecture overview