Release Notes

Release history. CHANGELOG.md at the repository root is the authoritative, commit-level record; this page summarises each release.

v1.6.5 — Unreleased

Status: development series on the v1.6.x branch. VERSION tracks 1.6.5, but no 1.6.x git tag exists yet — the newest tag is v1.5.8.

The 1.6 series is a connectivity build-out plus a production-readiness pass that deliberately removed overclaims: entry points that were advertised but incomplete now return -ENOSYS/-ENOTSUP instead of reporting fake success.

Implemented (previously stubbed)

  • HTTP: RFC 6455 WebSocket server (handshake, frame encode/decode, ping/pong/close) and static file serving with path-traversal protection (CONFIG_AKIRA_HTTP_STATIC_FILES).
  • CoAP: DNS resolution, Content-Format parsing, and RFC 7959 Block2 GET / Block1 PUT.
  • OTA: real HTTP(S) manifest fetch and firmware download with SHA-256 verification and anti-rollback.
  • Radio: 802.15.4 raw receive via promiscuous mode with real per-frame LQI/RSSI.
  • Display: LVGL input driven by real Zephyr input events (gpio-keys / D-pad / gamepad / touch) via CONFIG_AKIRA_LVGL_INPUT_ZEPHYR.
  • Sensors: BME280 register writes over I2C (was -ENOTSUP).
  • Cloud: real battery, CPU and memory telemetry replacing hardcoded values.

Added

  • AkiraMesh: AODV routing, end-to-end crypto, generic BLE transport, and a mesh_* WASM native API (AKIRA_CAP_MESH, bit 38).
  • MQTT / Home Assistant: mqtt_* and ha_light_* natives with HA discovery (AKIRA_CAP_MQTT, bit 35). Requires CONFIG_AKIRA_WASM_MQTT=y or app imports fail to link.
  • BLE companion service (CONFIG_AKIRA_BT_COMPANION) and an app command bridge.
  • BLE observer: passive scan plus spam/spoof modes (AKIRA_CAP_BLE_SCAN bit 36, AKIRA_CAP_BLE_SPAM bit 37).
  • NXP SE050 secure element driver (CONFIG_AKIRA_SE050, T=1’oI2C + SE05x APDU).
  • HID: gamepad mode with an Xbox-model-1708-compatible wire format.
  • SD hotplug via the akira,sd-detect devicetree node.
  • RF: CC1121 OOK + raw capture/replay, LR2021 LoRa/FSK runtime selection.

Security & hardening

  • Fail-closed app verification (CONFIG_AKIRA_REQUIRE_SIGNED_APPS) and Dilithium-2 PQC verification path.
  • Capability mask clamping for unsigned apps (CONFIG_AKIRA_UNSIGNED_APP_CAP_MASK); fixed wildcard grants silently dropping bits above 35.
  • Per-device AES-256 settings key derived from the hardware unique ID (CONFIG_AKIRA_SETTINGS_PER_DEVICE_KEY).
  • OTA images verified by SHA-256 against authenticated metadata before being marked bootable.
  • Relicensed from GPL-3.0 to Apache-2.0, with a CI SPDX/copyleft gate and a NOTICE file.

Still stubbed

USB-host mass-storage mount, the Matter non-accessory path (needs the CHIP SDK), Thread (needs OpenThread), and mesh WASM app distribution return -ENOSYS. AkiraSync has Kconfig options and a reserved capability bit (39) but is not compiled into the firmware.

v1.5.8

Released: 2026-05-29 · tag v1.5.8"C1ph3r"

  • USB CDC serial interface and a BLE companion service for host pairing.
  • BQ28Z610 fuel gauge driver with a ti,bq28z610 DTS binding.
  • WASM thread stacks pre-allocated via SYS_INIT to avoid runtime heap fragmentation.
  • nucleo_l476rg board support.
  • Watchdog hardening, HTTP upload auth, signing enforcement; legacy local web UI dropped.
  • Fixed missing NETWORK/SETTINGS capability lookup entries, SD hot-plug reinit, and the deprecated wdt_enable() call (Zephyr 4.3 uses wdt_setup()).

See the full v1.5.8 release notes.

v1.5.6 — “C1PH3R”

Released: 2026-05-14

  • WASM native APIs for Filesystem, Crypto and RTC, capability-gated in the sandbox.
  • OTA delta update engine, boot guard with automatic rollback, and the OTA WASM native API.
  • akira shell command tree, structured telemetry sink, and a panic handler with NVS crash storage.
  • New capability bits 26–31: FS_READ/FS_WRITE, CRYPTO, RTC_READ/RTC_WRITE, OTA_TRIGGER.
  • SD card hot-plug now works when the card was absent at boot.

v1.5.4

Released: 2026-04-29

  • API stability annotations (@stability, @since) on every public header, plus a formal 2-release deprecation policy.
  • Cooperative scheduling model and watchdog contract documented.
  • Full ztest suite (54 tests) covering security, OTA, app lifecycle and the manifest parser, with GitHub Actions CI and Codecov coverage.

v1.4.9 — “Gl1tch”

Released: March 2026 Branch: v1.4.x → main | PR: #52

This release completes the v1.4.x generation of AkiraOS. It replaces the legacy OCRE runtime with WAMR, introduces the Capability Guard security model, ships the AkiraConsole custom board, adds a comprehensive suite of WASM peripheral APIs, and delivers the AkiraSDK as an independently versioned git submodule alongside a full documentation site.

Runtime Engine

The core execution engine has been completely rewritten around WebAssembly Micro Runtime (WAMR).

What changed:

  • Full OCRE → WAMR migration with Zephyr 4.3.0 compatibility
  • Thread-per-app model — each WASM app runs in its own Zephyr thread managed by SYS_INIT
  • AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation enabled by default for native-speed execution and ~60 KB RAM savings per app slot compared to the interpreter
  • Chunked WASM loading with PSRAM fallback on ESP32-S3
  • Instance pool and SHA-256-keyed module cache eliminate redundant reloads
  • Per-app execution watchdog with configurable timeout
  • WASM apps now compile to bare wasm32 — no WASI dependency

Bug fixes:

  • WASM out-of-bounds memory trap on ESP32-S3
  • App lifecycle freezes on repeated start/stop cycles
  • Boot crash when SD card is absent but storage is enabled
  • DRAM overflow on non-PSRAM boards

Security Model

AkiraOS v1.4.9 introduces a formal Capability Guard security architecture.

Every native API export is guarded by akira_security_check_exec(). Apps declare required capabilities (AKIRA_CAP_* bitmasks) in their manifest JSON; the runtime enforces these at dispatch time.

Additional hardening:

  • SHA-256 binary integrity — WASM binary hash verified before loading (mbedTLS)
  • Ed25519/RSA signature verification — publisher signatures checked via mbedTLS (app_signing_v2.c)
  • Runtime sandbox — syscall filtering and per-app call rate limiting (sandbox.c)
  • Security audit log — ring-buffer log of capability violations for post-mortem analysis

For capability definitions see Manifest Format and Native API Reference.

Connectivity

BLE

The low-level bt_shell interface is replaced by a full Arduino-style BLE App API callable from WASM. Apps can create GATT services, register characteristics, advertise, read/write values, and receive connection events through a simple event queue.

Key functions: ble_init, ble_service_create, ble_char_create, ble_advertise, ble_char_write, ble_event_pop.

Bluetooth HID

Full BT HID WASM API for keyboard/media hotkey scripting from WASM apps. iOS compatibility fixed for BLE HID.

USB HID

Ported to the new Zephyr USB stack. Mouse device added alongside keyboard.

Network (TCP/UDP)

New zero-copy network API using shared-memory ring buffers. Functions: net_tcp_connect, net_tcp_send, net_udp_send, net_recv.

HTTP Web Server

  • Crash on first request fixed
  • Shared buffer pool added for upload operations
  • Callback-based transport layer refactor

OTA

Partition layout corrected — NVS/LFS now reside above the OTA region, preventing partition overlap. Stale boot counter healed automatically on upgrade.

Hardware & Board Support

New Boards

Board SoC Notes
akiraconsole_esp32s3_procpu ESP32-S3 Custom AkiraConsole hardware — full HWMv2 out-of-tree definition
esp32s3_super_mini_esp32s3_procpu ESP32-S3 Compact form-factor; HWMv2-compatible

New Drivers

Driver Binding Description
ILI9341 akira,ili9341 Out-of-tree display driver for AkiraConsole
LR1121 akira,lr1121 Sub-GHz/2.4 GHz RF transceiver
LSM6DS3 Out-of-tree 6-axis IMU with generic sensor WASM API facade

Other Hardware Changes

  • SD card support added; apps can be installed directly from SD
  • ST7789V integrated with Zephyr native driver and capability registration
  • STM32 B-U585I: boot sequence fixed; app image signed for MCUBoot
  • All board .conf / .overlay files refactored for strict modularity

WASM API Surface

v1.4.9 adds 13 new API domains exposed to sandboxed WASM apps:

Domain Representative Functions
GPIO / Input gpio_set, gpio_get, button_event_pop
Timer timer_create, timer_start, timer_stop
UART / I2C / PWM uart_write, i2c_read, i2c_write, pwm_set
Display display_fill, display_draw_rect, display_blit
Sensor sensor_read, sensor_start
BLE 12-function BLE App API
BT HID bt_hid_send_key, bt_hid_send_media
Network net_tcp_connect, net_tcp_send, net_udp_send, net_recv
Storage / FS fs_open, fs_read, fs_write, fs_close, fs_list
Power power_sleep, power_get_battery_level, power_get_charge_state
RF rf_send, rf_recv, rf_set_channel
App Lifecycle app_start, app_stop, app_get_state
IPC ipc_send, ipc_recv

Full signatures and capability requirements are in the Native API Reference.

AkiraSDK

wasm_sample/ has been replaced by the AkiraSDK git submodule (AkiraSDK/). The SDK is now versioned and distributed independently.

Bundled WASM apps (17):

App Description
hello_world Minimal “Hello, World” WASM app
gpio GPIO toggle and read demo
ble_led BLE-controlled LED via GATT characteristic
compass IMU-based compass visualization
cube3d 3D rotating cube (display + IMU)
display_test Display fill, text, and pattern test
imu_3d Real-time 3D IMU orientation viewer
imu_timer_test Timer-driven IMU sampling benchmark
inclinometer Tilt/incline display from IMU
logic_analyzer 4-channel logic analyzer v2.0
macro_pad BT HID macro pad / hotkey launcher
net_echo TCP echo client/server
net_server Simple HTTP server from WASM
retro Retro-style game demo
storage_test LittleFS read/write benchmark
supervisor App lifecycle controller
tetris Full playable Tetris for AkiraConsole

Build System & CI/CD

  • Dockerfile.ci — hermetic Docker build environment with Espressif toolchain
  • New ci.yml pipeline — parallel matrix across all supported boards; replaces old build.yml
  • Zephyr SDK bumped to 0.17.4
  • build.sh rewritten — board auto-discovery, color help output, cleaner error messages
  • GitHub issue templates and PR template added

Documentation

This release ships the first production version of the AkiraOS documentation site at docs.akiraos.dev.

The site is built with Jekyll + Just the Docs (dark theme) and covers:

  • Getting Started — hardware setup, first build, first WASM app
  • Architecture — runtime internals, AOT compilation, security model, connectivity
  • API Reference — native API, manifest format, error codes
  • Development — build options, SDK usage, contributing
  • Hardware — supported boards, schematics
  • Resources — FAQ, glossary, performance benchmarks

Resolved Issues

Issue Title
#55 Integrate WAMR Core with AOT support
#54 Implement AkiraRuntime Loader and App Manager
#44 Security Enforcement Missing (Capabilities, Signing, Isolation)
#19 Add Logic Analyzer app
#13 Implement Meshtastic support on Akira

Contributors

  • @ArturR0k3r — architecture, WAMR runtime, security, board support, WASM APIs, AkiraSDK, CI/CD, docs
  • @drxgoshh — settings manager, filesystem, web server, connectivity, BT/USB HID

v1.3.8 — “AkiraOS-v1.3.8-GL1TCH”

Legacy OCRE-based release. Superseded by v1.4.9.

v1.2.3

Initial public release with OCRE runtime, basic BLE, WiFi OTA, and LittleFS storage.

Last updated: 2026-09-14 (AkiraOS v1.6.5)

Copyright © 2026 PenEngineering S.R.L and the AkiraOS Contributors. Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.