Chimera v0.1.0

What is Chimera

Chimera turns LAN or secure-mesh machines into a unified virtual compute cluster — no master server, no control plane. Peers gossip, steal work, execute Wasm in a sandbox, and stream content-addressed data.

Quick start (pick your platform)

1. Download the right binaries

Platform	CLI (chimeractl)	USB flasher (chimera-boot)
Windows (x64)	chimeractl-windows-amd64.exe	chimera-boot-windows-amd64.exe
macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel)	chimeractl-macos-universal2	chimera-boot-macos-universal2
Linux x86_64	chimeractl-linux-amd64	chimera-boot-linux-amd64
Linux aarch64	chimeractl-linux-arm64	chimera-boot-linux-arm64

Also download the matching .sha256 and/or .blake3 sidecar for each binary you use.

Note: This release does not include the mesh node binary (chimera). Install that via crates.io or build from source (see Running a local mesh node).

2. Verify checksums

SHA-256 (widely available):

# Linux / macOS
sha256sum -c chimeractl-linux-amd64.sha256
# or compare manually:
sha256sum chimeractl-linux-amd64
cat chimeractl-linux-amd64.sha256

# Windows (PowerShell)
Get-FileHash .\chimeractl-windows-amd64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Get-Content .\chimeractl-windows-amd64.exe.sha256

BLAKE3 (preferred integrity hash used inside Chimera):

# If you have the `b3sum` tool installed:
b3sum chimeractl-linux-amd64
cat chimeractl-linux-amd64.blake3

Each .sha256 / .blake3 file contains the expected digest for its sibling binary — they must match.

3. Install onto your PATH

Linux / macOS:

chmod +x chimeractl-linux-amd64 chimera-boot-linux-amd64
sudo mv chimeractl-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/chimeractl
sudo mv chimera-boot-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/chimera-boot
# (use *-arm64 or *-macos-universal2 names as appropriate)

Windows (PowerShell):

# Rename and place somewhere on PATH, e.g. a tools folder you own
Rename-Item .\chimeractl-windows-amd64.exe chimeractl.exe
Rename-Item .\chimera-boot-windows-amd64.exe chimera-boot.exe
# Move into a directory already on PATH, or add that directory to PATH

4. First commands

chimeractl --help
chimera-boot --help

# Read-only: list candidate USB / disk targets (safe)
chimeractl usb list

Alternatives: cargo install / binstall

If you prefer crates.io instead of these assets:

cargo install chimeractl
cargo install chimera-boot
cargo install chimera-mesh --bin chimera

# Or (once binstall metadata resolves to this release):
cargo binstall chimeractl
cargo binstall chimera-boot

Package names: chimera-mesh (umbrella / node), chimeractl, chimera-boot. The crate name chimera is taken on crates.io — depend on chimera-mesh and rename if needed:

chimera = { version = "0.1", package = "chimera-mesh" }

What's in this release (asset guide)

This release ships 24 files: 8 binaries × 3 (binary + .sha256 + .blake3).

Artifact pattern	What it is
chimeractl-*	Operator CLI — mesh ops, up / deploy / invoke, status, freight, USB list/flash helpers. Start here for day-to-day use.
chimera-boot-*	Boot-Sovereign USB flasher / recovery engine. Can wipe disks. Dry-run is ON by default. See Safety.
*.sha256	SHA-256 digest of the sibling binary (same basename without .sha256).
*.blake3	BLAKE3 digest of the sibling binary (same basename without .blake3).

Full asset list

chimeractl

File	Platform
chimeractl-linux-amd64 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Linux x86_64
chimeractl-linux-arm64 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Linux aarch64
chimeractl-windows-amd64.exe (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Windows x64
chimeractl-macos-universal2 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	macOS universal (arm64 + x86_64)

chimera-boot

File	Platform
chimera-boot-linux-amd64 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Linux x86_64
chimera-boot-linux-arm64 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Linux aarch64
chimera-boot-windows-amd64.exe (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	Windows x64
chimera-boot-macos-universal2 (+ .sha256 / .blake3)	macOS universal (arm64 + x86_64)

Not included: the mesh node binary chimera (see below).

Using chimeractl

Assume a mesh node is already listening on the default management API (http://127.0.0.1:7600). Auth demo: Authorization: Bearer admin:ops (handled by the CLI defaults where applicable).

# One-click local fabric (needs a chimera node binary on PATH or via --chimera-bin)
chimeractl up --nodes 1 --chimera-bin ./chimera

# Deploy the built-in add1 Wasm demo, then invoke (input 0x29 → 42)
chimeractl deploy demo --name add1
chimeractl invoke --function add1 --input-hex 29

# Cluster / mgmt status
chimeractl status

# USB — list only (read-only, safe)
chimeractl usb list

# USB flash against a FILE image (lab-safe). Physical disks are gated.
chimeractl usb flash --image --target ./data/lab-usb.img --payload ./payload.bin --no-dry-run

More: README Phase 9 quickstart · Boot-Sovereign.

Running a local mesh node

The chimera mesh node binary is not attached to this GitHub Release — only chimeractl and chimera-boot are.

Option A — crates.io

cargo install chimera-mesh --bin chimera
chimera --help
chimera --name alpha --demo-slices 4
# Headless:
chimera --name alpha --no-tui --mgmt-bind 127.0.0.1:7600

Option B — build from source

git clone https://github.com/theworker02/chimera.git
cd chimera
cargo run -- --name alpha --demo-slices 4
# or release build:
cargo build --release --bin chimera
./target/release/chimera --name alpha --no-tui --mgmt-bind 127.0.0.1:7600

Two-node LAN sketch (different ports): see docs/guides/local-mesh.md.

Default data dir: ./data (CAS blocks, checkpoints, pipeline chunks).

Safety

⚠ DATA LOSS WARNING — Boot-Sovereign / USB flash

• chimera-boot and chimeractl usb flash can wipe disks.
• Dry-run is ON by default.
• Physical writes require both --yes-i-understand-this-destroys-data and --no-dry-run.
• Non-removable / system disks are hard-refused.
• Automated tests use file-backed images only.
• Real-hardware flashing is UNTESTED. Prefer chimeractl usb list (read-only) and --image lab targets until you understand the gates.

ADR: ADR-0023 Boot-Sovereign safety.

Docs & links

Resource	Link
Project site (GitHub Pages)	https://theworker02.github.io/chimera/
mdBook	https://theworker02.github.io/chimera/book/
Source README	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera#readme
Local mesh guide	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/blob/v0.1.0/docs/guides/local-mesh.md
ADRs	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/tree/v0.1.0/docs/adr
Code of Conduct	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/blob/v0.1.0/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
Privacy Policy	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/blob/v0.1.0/PRIVACY.md
Releasing / artifact matrix	https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/blob/v0.1.0/RELEASING.md

Crates.io

Release automation publishes crates to crates.io (index propagation can take minutes; a partial publish may still be catching up). Search packages:

• https://crates.io/search?q=chimera-
• Key packages: chimera-mesh, chimeractl, chimera-boot

If cargo install fails with “not found” or version mismatch, wait for the crates.io index or use the GitHub Release binaries above.

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Full Changelog: https://github.com/theworker02/chimera/commits/v0.1.0