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What you can do with NIGHTRUN

NightRun is a Rust runtime that boots a PC or Raspberry Pi 5 straight into a local LLM chat from a USB stick or SD card, with no conventional operating system underneath.

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hardrave/NIGHTRUN on GitHub

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What do you want to do?

3 use cases

  • Boot an offline LLM chat from a USB stick

    Turn a spare x86_64 PC into a chat box that runs a local model with no operating system.

    View prompt
    Use the repo hardrave/NIGHTRUN to prepare an x86_64 USB boot stick for target device <target> (a whole-disk device such as /dev/sdX). Run the installer, confirm the device name it shows matches <target>, and report the verified media result. Verify that the installer reports the written image as verified by SHA-256 read-back before you finish.

  • Test a NightRun image in QEMU before flashing

    Build a NightRun image with a Llama model and boot it in QEMU to check it without touching hardware.

    View prompt
    Use the repo hardrave/NIGHTRUN to convert the model at <target> (a GGUF file path) into models/model.nrm and boot it in QEMU with cargo xtask run --img --mem 4G --window. Expected output: a QEMU window showing the NightRun chat prompt. Verify the nrconvert step reports that it re-validated its own output before you boot.

  • Boot a local LLM on a Raspberry Pi 5 from SD

    Build a Pi 5 NightRun image with a Llama or Granite model and boot it from a microSD card.

    View prompt
    Use the repo hardrave/NIGHTRUN to build a Raspberry Pi 5 image at models/model.nrm for the target <target> (a whole-disk microSD device). Expected output: nightrun-pi5.img built with cargo xtask pi-image and written to the card. Verify that the device name matches <target> before any write step runs.

How to use NIGHTRUN

  1. Check you have what it needs: A Linux machine with Rust stable and nightly installed; About 6 GB of free disk for a model plus the image; A USB stick (x86_64 target) or microSD card (Raspberry Pi 5 target), or QEMU for testing without hardware.
  2. Open hardrave/NIGHTRUN on GitHub and read the README and license.
  3. Run git clone https://github.com/hardrave/NIGHTRUN.git and then cd NIGHTRUN.
  4. Run less install.sh and read what the script does before you run it.
  5. Run ./install.sh, choose the x86_64 USB target and a model, then type FLASH /dev/sdX exactly with the device name the installer shows you.
  6. Boot the target PC from the USB stick with Secure Boot off and wait for the NightRun chat prompt.

These steps come from our top use case, Boot an offline LLM chat from a USB stick, which also has a copy-paste agent prompt.

NIGHTRUN alternatives · Best AI repos for Software and DevOps

About this repo

  • Who it is forHobbyists and systems engineers who want an offline chat model on spare hardware, and developers who want to test or convert models for a UEFI-resident runtime.
  • Why it is hot
  • LanguageRust
  • Sourcegithub.com/hardrave/NIGHTRUN · Back to Hot repos

Requirements

  • A Linux machine with Rust stable and nightly installed
  • About 6 GB of free disk for a model plus the image
  • A USB stick (x86_64 target) or microSD card (Raspberry Pi 5 target), or QEMU for testing without hardware
  • For real hardware: a 64-bit UEFI x86_64 PC with Secure Boot off, or a Raspberry Pi 5
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Questions about NIGHTRUN

What is NIGHTRUN?

NightRun is a Rust runtime that boots a PC or Raspberry Pi 5 straight into a local LLM chat from a USB stick or SD card, with no conventional operating system underneath. It is an open-source project on GitHub: https://github.com/hardrave/NIGHTRUN.

Who is NIGHTRUN for?

Hobbyists and systems engineers who want an offline chat model on spare hardware, and developers who want to test or convert models for a UEFI-resident runtime.

What can I do with NIGHTRUN?

3 use cases so far, for example: Boot an offline LLM chat from a USB stick; Test a NightRun image in QEMU before flashing; Boot a local LLM on a Raspberry Pi 5 from SD. Each has steps and a copy-paste agent prompt.

What do I need to run NIGHTRUN?

A Linux machine with Rust stable and nightly installed; About 6 GB of free disk for a model plus the image; A USB stick (x86_64 target) or microSD card (Raspberry Pi 5 target), or QEMU for testing without hardware; For real hardware: a 64-bit UEFI x86_64 PC with Secure Boot off, or a Raspberry Pi 5.

What are alternatives to NIGHTRUN?

Other hot AI repos in Software and DevOps: Harness2, iFixAi, Orca, Diagram Design, AI Memory.

Is NIGHTRUN safe to run?

Deduped does not own, audit or vouch for it. Read the README and license, run it on your own systems first and review every command before you run it.