OTTO OS

An Operating System for Variable Attention

The first OS where neurodivergence is the native architecture.

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Most productivity tools assume human attention is linear and infinite.

OTTO OS assumes what neuroscience already knows: attention fluctuates, crashes, surges, and drifts—and that variation is feature, not failure.

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What Is This?

OTTO OS is a personal computing layer built on a proprietary cognitive substrate (USD-based). A conductor-like interface called OTTO detects your cognitive state—focused, scattered, exhausted, curious—and orchestrates specialist AI modes to match it.

When you're...	OTTO quietly...
Overwhelmed	Reduces options to three
Distressed	Validates before problem-solving
Lost	Preserves context across sessions
Depleted	Offers rest before burnout arrives
In flow	Disappears completely

The Stealth Accommodation

OTTO OS was designed from the inside by neurodivergent engineers, but it never labels the user.

There are no "ADHD modes." No "productivity timers." No diagnostic language.

Just a system that quietly:

• Limits choices when decision fatigue is detected
• Offers rest before burnout arrives
• Remembers where you left off without making you feel broken

Like curb cuts designed for wheelchairs but used by everyone with strollers and luggage, OTTO's neurodivergent-native architecture benefits all humans who have off-days, crash cycles, or non-linear work patterns.

Privacy-First, Dignity-First

Your cognitive profile lives locally—not in a medical database, not on a cloud server, not anywhere you haven't explicitly chosen.

OTTO speaks in human states:

• "You seem tired" — not "executive dysfunction detected"
• "Let's slow down" — not "burnout risk: HIGH"
• "Want to continue tomorrow?" — not "session limit exceeded"

OTTO is the first operating system that treats variable attention as a hardware feature to be orchestrated, not a pathology to be corrected.

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Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                              OTTO OS                                         │
│                    "Variable Attention as Native Architecture"               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                              │
│  COMMUNICATION LAYERS                                                        │
│  ────────────────────                                                        │
│  Layer 2: Human Render    │ Natural language, dignity-first                 │
│  Layer 1: OTTO Core       │ JSON-RPC, structured, inspectable               │
│  Layer 0: Agent Kernel    │ Binary protocol, machine-speed                  │
│                                                                              │
│  COGNITIVE SUBSTRATE (USD-Based)                                             │
│  ───────────────────────────────                                             │
│  • 5-phase deterministic pipeline                                            │
│    DETECT → CASCADE → LOCK → EXECUTE → UPDATE                               │
│  • 7 specialist modes (see below)                                           │
│  • USD personality profiles with LIVRPS composition                         │
│  • Adaptive protection that learns your patterns                            │
│                                                                              │
│  STATE PERSISTENCE                                                           │
│  ─────────────────                                                           │
│  ~/.otto/profile.usda     │ Your personality (from intake)                  │
│  ~/.otto/calibration/     │ Learned patterns over time                      │
│  ~/.otto/sessions/        │ Context continuity                              │
│                                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The Seven Modes

OTTO automatically routes to the mode that matches your state:

Mode	When Active	What It Does
Validator	You're upset	Empathy first. Always.
Scaffolder	You're stuck	Breaks things down. Reduces scope.
Restorer	You're depleted	Easy wins. Permission to stop.
Refocuser	You've drifted	Gentle redirect. No judgment.
Celebrator	You've finished	Acknowledges the win.
Socratic	You're curious	Follows your threads.
Direct	You're in flow	Stays out of the way.

No mode is better than another. They're all just different responses to different human states.

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Getting Started

# Install
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# First run: Personality intake (10 min)
otto-intake

# Daily use
otto

# Status check
otto status

# TUI Dashboard
otto tui

The intake is a brief experience that helps OTTO understand how you work—without diagnostic language, without clinical framing. Just scenarios and choices.

Documentation:

• Quickstart Guide - Get running in 5 minutes
• User Guide - Complete usage documentation
• Integration Guide - Connect calendar, tasks, and more
• Architecture - Technical deep-dive

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Technical Foundation

OTTO OS is built on the foundations of Orchestra, a cognitive orchestration system with 917 tests and production-hardened architecture. We've refactored it from a developer-focused tool into a general-purpose personal OS.

Key Properties

• Deterministic routing: Same signals → same behavior, every time
• Safety gating: Your state overrides your requests (depleted → minimal depth)
• Session continuity: Pick up where you left off, always
• USD composition: Personality layers compose via LIVRPS priority
• Adaptive protection: OTTO learns when you ignore nudges and adjusts

Communication Layers

Agent ↔ Agent:  Binary protocol (MessagePack/Protobuf) — fastest
Agent ↔ Core:   JSON-RPC — structured, debuggable
Core ↔ Human:   Natural language — rendered only when needed

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Philosophy

1. Safety first — Emotional safety before productivity
2. Ship over perfect — Working beats polished
3. Protect momentum — Don't break flow unnecessarily
4. External memory — Write it down, don't hold it in your head
5. Recover without guilt — Rest is productive
6. No labels — Human states, not clinical categories

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The Future of Computing

We're not building an app.

We're building the first OS where neurodivergence is the native architecture, and neurotypical users simply experience it as:

"Finally, a computer that gets me."

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License

MIT

Contributing

OTTO OS welcomes contributors who understand that variable attention is not a bug to be fixed.

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"The goal isn't to make you more productive. The goal is to make computing work with your brain, not against it."