Amethystora is a Linux desktop you set up once and then simply use. Hardened at every layer, with signed, atomic updates. Windows that tile themselves, ten themes a keystroke away, and an AI agent that knows how your system works.
From any Fedora Atomic or Universal Blue system, then restart.
Signed updates
Firewall on
Kernel lockdown
Keyboard isolation
Standing on the shoulders of
FedoraAtomic base
Universal Bluebase images
Bluefinthe inspiration
GNOMEthe desktop
bootcimage-based updates
Flathubapps
The desktop
Driven from the keyboard. Beautiful by default.
Windows tile themselves with PaperWM, each workspace a strip that scrolls to keep the focused one in view. Six workspaces that never move. And one shortcut repaints GNOME, the terminal, the prompt, the dock and the wallpaper at once.
arsslen@amethystora: ~
arsslen in ~ ❯ fastfetch
arsslen@amethystora
───────────────────
OS · Amethystora 44 (Silverblue)
Base · Fedora Atomic · bootc
DE · GNOME · PaperWM
Theme · Amethystora
Icons · candy-icons
Terminal · Ptyxis
Updates · automatic · signed
arsslen in ~ ❯
Amethystora Manual
Search /
Start here
The desktop
Software
The system
Help
Start here
Welcome to Amethystora
A desktop you set up once and then simply use. It updates itself in the background, and an update that goes wrong is one restart away from being undone.
What is yours and what is the image's
/usrThe imageRead-only, replaced whole
/etcBothYour changes merged
/homeYoursNever touched
colors.toml — Code
EXPLORER
themes
mine
colors.toml
icons.theme
backgrounds
1# My theme, layered over amethystora
2accent = "#9148f0"
3cursor = "#dcbcff"
4foreground = "#e8e0f2"
5background = "#110c18"
6
7color1 = "#ef6b7d"
8color2 = "#8ddba4"
9color3 = "#e8c06a"
10color4 = "#9148f0"
11color5 = "#b37df9"
12color6 = "#6fd3e0"
Home
Home
Documents
Downloads
Music
Pictures
Projects
Public
Templates
Videos
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mon 28 Sep 09:41
mem 38%↓ 2.4M ↑ 140k
Super+← →Move between windows
Super+1–6Jump to a workspace
Super+ReturnOpen a terminal
Super+SpaceSearch everything
Super+Ctrl+Shift+SpacePick a theme
Super+F1Open the manual
Security
Secure by default. Hardened at every layer.
Fedora Workstation leaves a lot open to be convenient. Amethystora closes it, layer by layer, and keeps the stronger options one ujustcommand away. It all works out of the box, and nothing asks you to become a security expert.
5layersof defence, from the firewall to the kernel to your own accounts
100%signedEvery update is verified against Amethystora's key before it installs
15minHow often the security watcher checks, and tells you what's new
1
Network
1 / 5
Nothing gets in that you didn't let in.
The firewall rejects incoming connections. Only device discovery, file sharing, IPv6 setup and GSConnect are allowed.
fail2ban bans an address after five failed logins, for longer each time it comes back.
The SSH server stays off, and refuses root logins when you turn it on.
ujust blocked-addresses
2
Apps & browser
2 / 5
No app can watch what you type into another.
Every Flatpak is refused X11, /dev/input and the Flatpak service, whatever its manifest asks for.
Brave only installs allow-listed extensions, and pages can't reach USB, serial or HID devices.
Key remapping and USB device blocking are one command away, off until you ask.
ujust setup-usb-protection
3
Signed image
3 / 5
Only Amethystora's own builds ever install.
Every update is checked against Amethystora's signature. A tampered or substituted image is refused.
The system in /usr is read-only and replaced whole, so nothing can quietly modify it.
Built in public on GitHub, and a service re-checks at every boot that signature checking is on.
ujust security-status
4
Boot & kernel
4 / 5
A compromise ends at the next reboot.
Kernel lockdown refuses untrusted modules and writes to kernel memory, with Secure Boot on.
Memory is wiped as it's handed out, kernel addresses are hidden, and programs can't read each other's memory.
Unlock the encrypted disk with the TPM, bound to Secure Boot, with your passphrase as a fallback.
ujust setup-disk-unlock
5
You
5 / 5
Your accounts and your files, watched over.
A FIDO2 security key can sign you in, unlock the screen and approve sudo.
Ten wrong passwords lock an account for ten minutes. A watcher reports anything new every 15 minutes.
Append-only backups that ransomware on this machine can't delete.
ujust setup-security-key
Network
Apps & browser
Signed image
Boot & kernel
You
Check it yourself
Lynis goes through a few hundred checks and tells you what to do about each one. It reads the system and changes nothing.
$ujust security-audit
Features
Everything you'd set up yourself. Already done.
Amethystora takes Fedora's rock-solid atomic base and finishes the desktop: tiling, themes, hardening and tooling, tested together and shipped as one image.
Amethystorathemes, tiling, hardening, the agent
Universal Bluehardware support and codecs
Fedora Atomicthe base system and kernel
One image. Updated whole.
The operating system is built, tested and signed in CI, then replaced as a whole. Updates arrive in the background and take over at your next restart, all at once. Nothing is ever half-updated.
stable weekly, kernel held backlatest newest Fedorabeta what comes next
An agent that knows your system
Claude Code and opencode come set up with a skill that explains Amethystora to them. Super+Ctrl+Shift+A opens one, and it asks before it acts.
❯ amethystora-agent ask "make the dock icons smaller"
Ten themes, one keystroke
Each theme is a single palette file that everything is rendered from. Add your own in ~/.config.
Amethystora
Amethystora Light
Tokyo Night
Catppuccin Mocha
Catppuccin Latte
Gruvbox
Nord
Rosé Pine Dawn
Everforest
Matte Black
Hardened by default
Only signed updates are accepted. The firewall rejects incoming connections, and apps can't read your keyboard.
amethystora-dx adds Docker, Incus, libvirt and VS Code. Toolchains live in containers and never touch the image.
DockerIncuslibvirtVS CodeDistrobox
Software that can't break it
Apps from Flathub through Bazaar, command-line tools from Homebrew, anything else in a container.
A manual that ships offline
Super+F1 opens a searchable guide to everything, from the hotkeys to rollbacks.
Beautiful from power-on
The boot menu, splash and login share the same crystal field, and the gem glints in fastfetch.
Atomic updates
Updates you'll never babysit.
No half-finished upgrades to recover from, nothing to clean up, no reinstall every couple of years. The new system is staged next to the running one and swapped in whole.
ghcr.io/iarsslen/amethystora:stable
Fedora Atomic
the base system and kernel
Universal Blue
hardware support and codecs
Amethystora
themes, tiling, hardening, the agent
Built by GitHub Actions · signed with cosign
Your machine
Restart
Runningstable-44.20260915
running now
/home · /etc · /var
Yours. Never part of the swap.
Something off? Pick the previous entry at boot, or run rpm-ostree rollback
Built in the open and signed in CI
Automatic and quiet
The system, your Flatpaks and your Homebrew tools update in the background. Or all at once, right now:
ujust update
Rollback in one boot
The previous system is always kept. Pick it at the boot menu, or make it the default:
sudo rpm-ostree rollback
Your things stay put
/usr is the image and read-only. /home, /etc and /var are yours, and no update ever touches them.
AI agent
An agent that knows how your system works.
Every image is set up for Claude Code and opencode, with a skill that explains Amethystora to them: which paths belong to the image and which are yours, how themes and keybindings work, how to install software on an atomic system, and what to ask you first.
Asks before it actsIt opens in its normal mode, so every change is yours to approve.
Diagnoses without touchingReads logs and core dumps, changes nothing, and reports the cause.
Yours to switch offujust toggle-agentic removes the menu entry, the hotkey and the skill.
arsslen@amethystora: ~
❯ amethystora-agent diagnose "wifi drops after suspend"Reading the journal since the last resume…Checking NetworkManager, the wifi driver and power settings…● Found it: the card drops its link on resume, three times this week.● Cause: wifi power saving is on for this adapter.Proposed fix (nothing has been changed)Turn power saving off for wifi in a file of your own under/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/, then restart NetworkManager.Apply it? [y/N]
An illustration: asked why wifi drops after suspend, the agent reads the journal, finds that wifi power saving is on, and proposes turning it off, without changing anything until you say yes.
Get Amethystora
Switch in one command.
Amethystora installs by switching an existing Fedora Atomic system to its image. Your files in /home, /etc and /var come along. Flatpaks, Homebrew and containers do too.
1
Start from Fedora Atomic
Install Fedora Silverblue, or use any Fedora Atomic or Universal Blue system you already run. Choose disk encryption in the installer.
2
Switch the image
Pick an image and a stream below, run the command, and restart.
3
Enroll the Secure Boot key
If Secure Boot is on, enroll the key when asked on the next boot. The password is amethystora.
Everything else is in the manual that ships with the image. Press Super+F1 once you're in.
Is this Fedora?
Underneath, yes. Amethystora is built on Fedora's atomic desktop and GNOME, starting from Universal Blue's Fedora images, and follows Fedora's releases. What it adds is the desktop around it, the hardening, the tools, and an image that is tested and signed before it reaches you.
How is it different from Bluefin?
Bluefin is the inspiration, not the base. Amethystora is built directly on Universal Blue's Fedora Silverblue image, and its desktop layer began as Bluefin's before it was brought in and maintained here. On top it adds PaperWM tiling with six fixed workspaces, a theme switcher that repaints the whole desktop, a hardened security baseline, the built-in AI agent, an offline manual and its own artwork from boot menu to login.
Why can't I use dnf install?
Because the system is an image, and the image is the same on every machine. That is what makes updates safe and rollbacks instant. Apps come from Flathub, tools from Homebrew, and anything else from a container, where dnf install works exactly as you know it.
Can I go back if an update breaks something?
Yes. The previous system is always kept. Pick the second entry at the boot menu, or run sudo rpm-ostree rollback and restart. Your files and settings are the same in both.
Can I play games?
Yes. Install Steam, Heroic or Lutris from Bazaar. Many Windows games run through Proton in Steam. Some launchers still need X11, which you can grant to that one app in Flatseal.
Does it work with NVIDIA graphics?
There are NVIDIA images with NVIDIA's open kernel driver, for the standard and developer desktops. They are paused at the moment, so check that the tag you want exists before switching to one.
Can I trust the image?
It is built in public on GitHub from the source in iarsslen/amethystora, signed with a key whose public half ships in every image, and only accepted by your machine if that signature checks out.