From one sentence to a finished job.
LIOS reads an instruction, works out what would count as done, and then does the work under your authority - on your computer, with your files, under rules you can see.
Six steps
Every job moves through the same six steps. They are always in this order, and a step that cannot be completed stops the job rather than being skipped quietly.
| Step | What it does | What it will not do |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Understand | Reads the instruction as a request for an outcome: what is being asked for, what the result looks like, and what would count as finished. | Invent an instruction you did not give, or treat an unclear request as a clear one. |
| 2. Find | Locates what the job needs - your files, your folders, your records - on your own computer first. | Reach outside the places it has been authorized to look. |
| 3. Plan | Turns the outcome into named steps, each one stating the capability and the tool it will use, before anything is changed. | Run a step whose capability you do not hold. |
| 4. Execute | Performs the plan as authorized work, using deterministic tools wherever a tool exists, and a model only where reasoning is genuinely required. | Act beyond the scope and the limits of the entitlements you hold. |
| 5. Verify | Checks the result against the instruction and against the expectation recorded for each step: does the output exist, and is it the output that was asked for. | Report success for a step whose expectation was not met. |
| 6. Deliver | Hands you the finished item where you asked for it, with a record of what was done, in what order, and under which authority. | Leave you guessing about what changed on your machine. |
This is a description of the LIOS execution model. It is not a claim about any particular shipped build: the capabilities available today, and the real status of each one, are on the capabilities page.
The words we use
Seven words carry the whole product. They mean these things and nothing vaguer.
- BRAIN
- Intelligence and orchestration. The part that understands an instruction, decides what to do, and keeps the job on track. It is not the thing that touches your files.
- LIOS
- The local environment on your computer. This is what actually runs on your machine, holds your local memory, and performs the work where you can see it happening.
- MODEL
- An intelligence provider, native or external. A model supplies reasoning; it is one input to the Brain, not the product, and it is never the thing that authorizes an action.
- TOOL
- A deterministic capability. Given the same input it produces the same output, and it does exactly one thing. Where a tool exists, LIOS uses the tool instead of asking a model to guess.
- SKILL
- Packaged expertise. A skill bundles the knowledge, the tools and the checks for one kind of professional work, so the job is done the way that work is normally done.
- WORKFLOW
- A repeatable procedure. The same sequence of steps, run again on demand, so that a job you do every month is defined once rather than explained again each time.
- ENTITLEMENT
- Permission to use a purchased capability. It records what you own, it is held against your GrowLeafy ID, and it is what a capability checks before it will run.
The distinction that matters most: identity proves who you are, trust proves what is authorized, entitlement proves what you own, and policy determines what may happen. A model is never any of those four.
What works without the network, and what does not
LIOS is built to do as much as possible on your own computer, but some parts genuinely need the network. This table says which is which, without dressing it up.
| Part of the product | Without a network connection | With a network connection |
|---|---|---|
| Deterministic work | Works. Tools that do exactly one thing, given the same input, run on your machine and do not need to call out. | Works, and does not start depending on the network just because one is present. |
| Local search | Works. Searching and reading your own files and folders happens on your own computer. | Works. The result is the same; your files are not uploaded in order to be searched. |
| Local memory | Works. Memory held on your computer stays available and stays yours. | Works. Where the network is used, it is for the shared experience layer, not for reading your local memory at rest. |
| The free layer | Works. The free layer is granted by the definition on your installation, not by a server call made each time you use it. | Works, and stays free either way. |
| Remote reasoning | Not available. A remote model cannot be reached, so reasoning that depends on it does not run. | Available. This is where remote reasoning and the shared experience layer live. |
| Updates | Not available. There is nothing to check against, and LIOS does not invent a version. | Available. Updates are checked against the release catalogue, and only offered builds are shown. |
| Download | Not available. A build cannot be fetched without a connection. | Available. The file is served through a short-lived signed link, minted when the download is authorized. |
| Activation | Not available for a new activation. Offline activation is a separate, deliberately short-lived package rather than a silent fallback. | Available. Activation is authorized server-side against your GrowLeafy ID and your device policy. |
No part of this page claims that the whole product runs without a network. The parts that need one are listed above, and LIOS should tell you plainly when a step cannot proceed for want of a connection, rather than failing silently or pretending the step completed.
See the detail for your own computer
What exists today, what each capability's real status is, and whether your platform is supported.
Also worth reading: compatibility for the platform matrix and security for how authority is enforced.