BlackRoad Operating System (Legacy Monorepo)

Archive notice: This repository is preserved for historical reference only. Active development and deployments have moved to the multi-repo architecture under the BlackRoad-OS organization.

Where to go now

Use the repositories below for current code, issues, and deployments:

• BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-core — core APIs and backend services
• BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-web — public/marketing web experience
• BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-docs — documentation site and specs
• BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-prism-console — operations and status console
• BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-operator — agent runtime and operator tooling
• BlackRoad-OS/demo-repository — sample workloads and reference integrations

Migration map (legacy → multi-repo)

Overview

This repository is the canonical, meta-level source of truth for BlackRoad OS. It holds shared specs, governance docs, CI standards, and lightweight tooling that orchestrate the deployable satellite services. A small placeholder Express server lives at the root to provide a standardized /health endpoint for ops automation; it is not a production application.

The table below helps translate common paths in this archive to their new canonical homes. See docs/migration.md for additional notes.

Legacy path/module	Destination repo/service	Notes
services/core-api, backend/ (FastAPI backend)	blackroad-os-core	Core APIs and backend runtime. Static assets that previously shipped with the backend now live alongside the frontend.
services/public-api	blackroad-os-core	Public/edge API surface consolidated with the core service.
services/operator, operator_engine/, blackroad-os-operator/	blackroad-os-operator	Agent runtime, execution graph, and worker orchestration.
apps/prism-console/, prism-console/	blackroad-os-prism-console	Internal console and monitoring UI.
apps/web/, web-client/, public/	blackroad-os-web	Marketing site and public-facing web assets.
apps/docs/, docs/ (site content)	blackroad-os-docs	Documentation source, specs, and publishing pipeline.
sdk/, templates/, examples/	demo-repository	Reference workloads, SDK usage samples, and scaffolding.

Related Repositories

The deployable services live in dedicated repositories. This repo orchestrates and documents them:

• blackroad-os-core — Core API and business logic for the OS.
• blackroad-os-api — Public API surface area for external integrations.
• blackroad-os-operator — Agent runtime and orchestration layer.
• blackroad-os-prism-console — Operational console and status visualization.
• blackroad-os-docs — Documentation site and publishing pipeline.
• blackroad-os-web — Public marketing and experience layer.

Deployment / Usage

This repo is documentation- and tooling-first. Do not deploy it directly to production. To run the local placeholder server and health check:

npm install
npm start
# Health endpoint: http://localhost:8080/health

Operator utilities such as npm run check:health, npm run deploy:all, and related scripts help coordinate the satellite services but should be run from a trusted workstation or CI environment.

Why this repo exists

This monorepo served as the original coordination point for BlackRoad OS (“v1”). It now functions solely as an archive to preserve history, decision records, and experiments. No new features, fixes, or deployments should originate here.

• ✅ Use the BlackRoad-OS/* repositories for any production or test deployments.
• ✅ File issues and discussions against the new repositories.
• ⚠️ Do not rely on CI/CD pipelines or environment templates from this archive—they are unmaintained.

Need something from the archive?

• Browse tags and commit history here if you need to reference legacy implementations or documents.
• If you must mirror old assets, copy them into the appropriate BlackRoad-OS/* repository and modernize there.

For more background on the split and guidance on specific components, start with the migration guide.

Overview

BlackRoad OS is a fully functional web-based operating system interface that brings together AI orchestration, blockchain technology, social media, video streaming, and gaming - all wrapped in a nostalgic Windows 95 aesthetic.

Monorepo as the Source of Truth

All BlackRoad services, apps, and docs now live in this monorepo and sync out automatically to their mirror repositories under the BlackRoad-OS GitHub organization. Edit here; automation mirrors to the satellites.

⚠️ CRITICAL DEPLOYMENT WARNING ⚠️

This repository is NOT deployed to production.

• ❌ DO NOT add BlackRoad-Operating-System to Railway as a service
• ❌ DO NOT deploy this monorepo to any production environment
• ❌ DO NOT reference this repo in service configurations or env vars
• ❌ DO NOT publish the legacy blackroad-os static bundle; only ship the canonical UI that lives under backend/static/

Deploy ONLY the satellite repositories:

• blackroad-os-core (Core API)
• blackroad-os-api (Public API)
• blackroad-os-operator (Agent Runtime)
• blackroad-os-prism-console (Status Console)
• blackroad-os-docs (Documentation)
• blackroad-os-web (Public Website)
• Never deploy BlackRoad-Operating-System itself — Railway, GoDaddy, and Pages should point at the satellites above, not this repo

This repo is the source of truth for code, but satellites are the deployable services.

See: DEPLOYMENT_ARCHITECTURE.md for complete deployment model.

Canonical layout

• services/core-api → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-core
• services/public-api → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-api
• services/operator → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-operator
• apps/prism-console → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-prism-console
• apps/web → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-web
• docs/site → BlackRoad-OS/blackroad-os-docs

The mapping is machine-readable at infra/github/sync-config.yml, and the sync process is documented in docs/os/monorepo-sync.md.

Health dashboard (local)

Run the lightweight status CLI against all satellite services defined in the OS spec:

npm install
npm run check:health

The script reads os-spec/os-spec.json and prints a status table. It is intended for operator use; production monitoring should still live in deployed observability stacks.

OS Control Commands

• npm run deploy:all
• npm run deploy:service -- <id>
• npm run health:all
• npm run health:matrix
• npm run env:check
• npm run repair

Features

🤖 AI & Communication

• RoadMail - Email client for managing communications
• BlackRoad Social - Social network for the BlackRoad community
• AI Assistant - Interactive AI chat interface

⛓️ Blockchain Infrastructure

• RoadChain Explorer - View blocks, transactions, and network stats
• RoadCoin Miner - Mine RoadCoin cryptocurrency
• Wallet - Manage your RoadCoin assets

🎮 Gaming Ecosystem

• Road City - City-building simulation game
• RoadCraft - Voxel world building game
• Road Life - Life simulation game

🌐 Web & Tools

• RoadView Browser - Web browser for the information superhighway
• BlackStream - Decentralized video platform
• Terminal - Command-line interface
• File Explorer - File management system
• GitHub Integration - Repository management
• Raspberry Pi Manager - Connected device management

Getting Started

Quick Start

🔑 Canonical UI entry point: backend/static/index.html

The desktop interface is bundled with the FastAPI backend so it can load data from the API without breaking features. Use the backend server (locally or in Railway/GoDaddy) to serve the UI instead of opening the HTML file directly.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/blackboxprogramming/BlackRoad-Operating-System.git
cd BlackRoad-Operating-System

# Start the FastAPI backend (serves backend/static/index.html)
cd backend
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate  # optional but recommended
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn app.main:app --reload

# Visit the desktop UI
# -> http://localhost:8000/ serves backend/static/index.html

GitHub Pages / GoDaddy Deployment

Only the static UI should be served from GitHub Pages or GoDaddy. The backend API and services continue to run on Railway so they remain isolated from the static hosting tier.

The default Deploy to GitHub Pages workflow now bundles the canonical front-end (everything under backend/static plus root-level assets such as index.html) into a temporary dist/ directory before uploading it. This ensures that Pages/GoDaddy only receives the static bundle, while the backend code stays out of the artifact and continues to deploy independently to Railway.

To publish manually without the workflow:

1. Copy the contents of backend/static/ and any required root assets into a temporary folder (e.g., dist/).
2. Upload that folder to your Pages or GoDaddy hosting destination.
3. Keep the backend running on Railway so the static UI can communicate with the live services. For cloud deployments (Railway, GoDaddy, etc.), make sure that backend/static/index.html is the file exposed at / so the UI can talk to the API routes that live under /api/*.

GitHub Pages Deployment

The GitHub Pages workflow publishes the canonical frontend from backend/static/. If you customize the UI, edit backend/static/index.html (and any supporting assets in that directory) so the validation and deploy jobs keep pointing at the same file.

Railway Secrets & Automation

• Vercel-free deploys – the backend ships with a Railway-native workflow (Deploy to Railway) so you can ignore Vercel entirely.
• Single source of truth – backend/.env.example enumerates every runtime variable and uses obvious placeholders so you can paste the file into the Railway variables dashboard without leaking credentials.
• CI enforcement – the GitHub Action Railway Secrets & Automation Audit runs scripts/railway/validate_env_template.py on every PR + nightly to make sure the template, railway.toml, and railway.json never drift from the FastAPI settings.
• Manual check – run python scripts/railway/validate_env_template.py locally to get the same assurance before pushing.

Testing

Backend tests run against an isolated SQLite database by default. A helper script bootstraps a virtual environment, installs dependencies, and executes pytest with sensible defaults for local development.

# From the repo root
bash scripts/run_backend_tests.sh

The script exports ENVIRONMENT=testing, points TEST_DATABASE_URL to a local test.db SQLite file (override it to point at Postgres if needed), and sets ALLOWED_ORIGINS so CORS validation passes during the suite. To rerun tests inside the prepared environment manually:

cd backend
source .venv-tests/bin/activate
pytest -v --maxfail=1

Architecture

Single-Page Application

BlackRoad OS is built as a single-page HTML application with embedded CSS and JavaScript:

• No build process required
• No external dependencies
• Pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript
• Works offline

Window Management

• Draggable windows
• Minimize/Maximize/Close functionality
• Z-index management for window layering
• Taskbar integration with active window tracking

Design Philosophy

• Nostalgic: Windows 95-inspired UI with authentic styling
• Complete: Full ecosystem of interconnected applications
• Immersive: Desktop icons, start menu, taskbar, and system tray
• Interactive: Functional window management and application switching

Technology Stack

• HTML5 - Structure and content
• CSS3 - Styling with Grid and Flexbox
• Vanilla JavaScript - Window management and interactivity
• No frameworks - Pure, dependency-free code

Components

Desktop Environment

• Grid-based icon layout
• Double-click to launch applications
• Teal background (classic Windows 95)

Window System

• Title bars with app icons and names
• Window controls (minimize, maximize, close)
• Menu bars and toolbars
• Content areas with custom layouts

Taskbar

• Start button with menu
• Application switcher
• System tray icons
• Live clock

Applications

Each application has its own custom interface:

• Email client with folders and preview pane
• Social media feed with posts and interactions
• Video platform with player and recommendations
• Blockchain explorer with live network stats
• Mining dashboard with real-time metrics
• Games with pixel art graphics

Customization

Adding New Applications

1. Create the window HTML structure:

<div id="my-app" class="window" style="left: 100px; top: 100px; width: 600px; height: 400px;">
    <div class="title-bar" onmousedown="dragStart(event, 'my-app')">
        <div class="title-text">
            <span>🎨</span>
            <span>My App</span>
        </div>
        <div class="title-buttons">
            <div class="title-button" onclick="minimizeWindow('my-app')">_</div>
            <div class="title-button" onclick="maximizeWindow('my-app')">□</div>
            <div class="title-button" onclick="closeWindow('my-app')">×</div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="window-content">
        <!-- Your app content here -->
    </div>
</div>

2. Add desktop icon:

<div class="icon" ondblclick="openWindow('my-app')">
    <div class="icon-image">🎨</div>
    <div class="icon-label">My App</div>
</div>

3. Add to start menu:

<div class="start-menu-item" onclick="openWindow('my-app'); toggleStartMenu();">
    <span style="font-size: 18px;">🎨</span>
    <span>My App</span>
</div>

4. Add to taskbar titles (in JavaScript):

const titles = {
    // ... existing titles
    'my-app': '🎨 MyApp'
};

Browser Compatibility

BlackRoad OS works in all modern browsers:

• Chrome/Edge (recommended)
• Firefox
• Safari
• Opera

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by Windows 95 and the nostalgic computing era
• Built with love for the BlackRoad ecosystem
• Special thanks to the AI development community

Project Vision

BlackRoad OS represents a complete AI-powered ecosystem:

• 1000+ AI agents working in harmony
• Blockchain infrastructure with RoadChain
• Decentralized applications for social media and video
• Gaming experiences that blend creativity and strategy
• Developer tools for building the future

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please visit:

• GitHub Issues: Report a bug
• Discussions: Share ideas and ask questions

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Built with 💻 by the BlackRoad community

Where AI meets the open road 🛣️