AETHER X GLOBAL
Code diff shows what changed. ExecSurface shows what started happening.
ExecSurface learns an accepted runtime execution surface, runs the same command later, and reports execution behavior that appeared, disappeared, or changed.
It is intended for CI pipelines, dependencies, developer tools and AI-assisted workflows where source review alone does not show every runtime effect.
Final Supported Alpha: v0.1.0-alpha.5 is the supported finished Alpha release for the documented Linux x86_64 + native
ptraceproduct boundary.Self-service: no signup, API key, meeting, or AETHER X approval is required.
Important Alpha.5 boundary: an ExecSurface PASS is a drift-verdict PASS, not proof that the wrapped target command itself exited successfully. See What a result means and Current Status.
A dependency update, build script, test command or AI-assisted tool can change runtime behavior without making that behavior obvious in the code diff you are reviewing.
ExecSurface gives you a deliberately narrow workflow:
learn accepted runtime behavior
↓
run the command again
↓
compare observed execution surfaces
↓
PASS / REVIEW / BLOCK / ERROR
Typical questions it helps answer:
- Did this command start launching a new executable?
- Did a dependency begin touching new paths?
- Did a workflow start connecting to a new destination?
- Did runtime behavior disappear or change after an update?
- Is the observation incomplete enough that a clean PASS would be unjustified?
If that problem is relevant to your work, try the Five-Minute Start, browse the good first issues, or join the Discussions.
If you find the project useful, a GitHub Star helps other developers discover it. External criticism, failed reproductions and counterexamples are equally useful to the project.
Choose the path that matches your environment.
Download the published release, verify its checksum, and install it in your user path:
VERSION=v0.1.0-alpha.5
TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
ASSET="execsurface-${VERSION}-${TARGET}.tar.gz"
curl -fLO "https://github.com/AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurface/releases/download/${VERSION}/${ASSET}"
curl -fLO "https://github.com/AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurface/releases/download/${VERSION}/${ASSET}.sha256"
sha256sum -c "${ASSET}.sha256"
tar -xzf "${ASSET}"
mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
install -m 0755 "execsurface-${VERSION}-${TARGET}/execsurface" "$HOME/.local/bin/execsurface"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
execsurface --version
execsurface doctorThen run the controlled PASS → REVIEW walkthrough in Five-Minute Start.
cargo install execsurface --version "=0.1.0-alpha.5" --locked
execsurface --version
execsurface doctorThe current supported Alpha release is still a SemVer prerelease, so request the exact prerelease version explicitly. The crates.io channel is published only after the immutable GitHub release and stable Action gates succeed. See crates.io Publishing.
First generate conservative starter files from your project directory:
execsurface init --command "cargo test --locked" --github-actionsinit creates a starter policy and workflow. It does not run your target command and does not create a baseline automatically.
The generated workflow uses the stable Final Supported Alpha Action channel:
AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurface@v0.1
Do not use @main as the normal consumer path. See the GitHub Action guide.
If the wrapped command's own success matters—for example cargo test, pytest or a build—keep that command as its own CI gate as well. In Alpha.5, target exit/signal is report metadata and does not by itself change the ExecSurface drift verdict.
Replace the example command with the command you actually want to monitor.
execsurface doctor
execsurface init --command "cargo test --locked" --github-actions
execsurface learn -- /bin/bash -lc 'cargo test --locked'
execsurface check --policy execsurface-policy.json -- /bin/bash -lc 'cargo test --locked'Review execsurface-policy.json, .github/workflows/execsurface.yml, and execsurface.lock.json before committing them.
If doctor fails, follow the action it prints and see Troubleshooting. doctor never elevates privileges, changes ptrace settings, or weakens host security settings.
| Result | Exit code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| PASS | 0 | comparison/evaluation completed with no review/block execution-surface finding |
| ERROR | 2 | evidence/comparison/policy could not be established |
| REVIEW | 10 | one or more findings require review |
| BLOCK | 20 | one or more findings matched blocking policy |
Alpha.5 target-outcome boundary: these exit codes are ExecSurface verdict codes. The wrapped target command's native exit code or terminating signal is retained in the structured report but is not verdict-bearing in Alpha.5. Therefore ExecSurface: PASS does not mean the wrapped target command succeeded. A nonzero or signalled target can still receive PASS when there is no policy-relevant execution-surface finding. Keep the target command's own success/failure gate when correctness of that command matters. This immutable Alpha.5 limitation is tracked in Issue #143.
ExecSurface does not infer that drift is malicious. It reports observed drift and evaluates the explicit policy you selected.
The current Linux x86_64 native ptrace reference backend can produce evidence for descendant process spawn/exec, pathname access attempts, successful-open file descriptor identity, covered fd-attributed read/write effects, rename/delete operations in the covered syscall set, network connect destinations, trace-time relative/openat/openat2 path semantics, causal executable chains, and explicit observer incompleteness.
Incomplete evidence cannot silently become PASS.
The portable ptrace guard may conservatively mark some clone/thread concurrency incomplete even when exact fd-table sharing is not proven. Raw observation v2 does not retain enough CLONE_FILES detail to certify exact sharing, so this guard intentionally trades possible false incompleteness for preventing the known false-completeness class. This is not an exact shared-FD attribution repair.
ExecSurface detects observed execution-surface drift under its recorded observer and policy.
It is not antivirus, EDR, malware detection, a sandbox, or a proof that a program is safe.
The governing boundaries are:
- NO EXECUTION-SURFACE DRIFT ≠ PROGRAM IS SAFE
- EXECSURFACE PASS ≠ TARGET COMMAND SUCCEEDED
- OBSERVED BEHAVIOR ≠ ALL POSSIBLE BEHAVIOR
- NO OBSERVED NETWORK ≠ NETWORK ACCESS IS IMPOSSIBLE
- TRACE COMPLETENESS DEPENDS ON THE OBSERVATION BACKEND
The default evidence boundary excludes file contents, environment values, stdin, network payloads and full child argv values.
The public correctness-reference backend is native ptrace. eBPF/BPF-LSM work remains research-only/non-default and is not the public PASS/learn/check backend.
See Security Policy, Current Status and Troubleshooting.
The baseline answers what canonical execution surface was accepted. The policy answers what drift should be allowed, reviewed or blocked. A new baseline is not automatically an approval decision.
Alpha.5 has completed the repository's bounded Final Supported Alpha qualification for Linux x86_64 + native ptrace. The qualification exercised the exact published artifact, Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 12/Fedora 42 userlands, repeated PASS/REVIEW stress, fail-closed corruption cases, immutable-source adversarial replay, crates.io and the stable Action. See Current Status for exact run IDs and limitations.
Independent external validation remains open as additional evidence rather than a blocker to this bounded supported-Alpha state. Use Self-Service Start, Five-Minute Start, Independent Evaluation, and Technical Evaluation Pack.
Public findings can be reported through Issue #118 — Alpha.5 Independent External Validation & Post-Release Review. Negative, partial, unsupported-environment, usability and performance-problem results are welcome. Internal qualification is not evidence of independent adoption or external validation.
ExecSurface is developed under an evidence-first rule: external technical discussion is useful signal, but it is not automatically product validation or adoption.
Selected public records:
- NVIDIA OpenShell — execution-generation lifecycle safety: AETHER X contributed execution-generation, idempotency and fail-closed conditional-action invariants to OpenShell #4009. The issue author subsequently published a live SDK reproduction of the stale-target class across stop/start and delete/recreate. Impact record #161.
- OpenAI Codex — thread identity / control-surface addressability: AETHER X contributed identity/placement and routing-contract analysis to Codex #49729. Independent Windows and macOS reports supplied positive controls showing target conversations could remain valid through native/helper routes while the parent route still failed. Impact record #162.
- OpenAI Codex — daemon execution continuity: AETHER X separated daemon reachability from restoration of the same in-flight execution in Codex #50299; the external reporter confirmed the distinction matched the observed failure and an OpenAI maintainer later reported a fix path. Impact record #160.
These records establish technical engagement and, where stated, external reproduction or acknowledgement of the underlying problem framing. They do not establish NVIDIA/OpenAI adoption, endorsement, integration or independent validation of ExecSurface.
For the company-level evidence summary, see the AETHER X GLOBAL organization profile.
The supported Alpha distribution surfaces are:
- checksum-verified GitHub Release binary for Linux x86_64;
- exact prerelease install
cargo install execsurface --version "=0.1.0-alpha.5" --lockedfor Rust users; - GitHub Action
AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurface@v0.1after stable-channel promotion.
For maximum Action pinning, use AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurface@v0.1.0-alpha.5.
Optional GitHub build provenance verification:
gh attestation verify "$ASSET" -R AETHERXGLOBAL/execsurfaceA valid attestation links the artifact to its build source/workflow. It does not prove the binary is safe.
Start with the Documentation Index. It separates current product documentation from historical engineering evidence.
Key documents:
- Current Status
- Five-Minute Start
- GitHub Action
- Troubleshooting
- Independent Evaluation
- Technical Evaluation Pack
- Alpha.5 release record
- Roadmap
- Contributing
- Governance
- Support
cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --locked --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test --locked --workspace --all-targets
cargo run -p execsurface -- --version
cargo run -p execsurface -- doctorArchitecture-affecting changes remain evidence-gated. See CONTRIBUTING.md and GOVERNANCE.md.