constellation@atheron:/how-it-works$
// How it works
Install once. Forget it.
It works only while you are away.
ATON Constellation is a free app and a network of members' machines. Each machine picks up small signed jobs while it is idle, other machines check the answers, and every checked answer earns its owner points.
01
Install the app
There is a desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux, and the same engine as a command-line node for servers and home labs. Downloads are in the members portal.
- Free, with no plan needed
- Windows 10 22H2 or newer, macOS 13 or newer, Ubuntu 22.04 or Fedora 39 and newer
- A first-run benchmark gives your machine its star class
02
Sign in with your Atheron account
The app makes its own key the first time it runs and keeps it in your system's keychain. Signing in ties that key to your account, so the work it does is credited to you.
- One account can link many machines
- Each machine belongs to one account
- Unlink a machine from the members portal at any time
03
It runs only while you are idle
By default it starts after 5 minutes with no keyboard or mouse, and pauses within a second when you come back. It also pauses for full-screen apps and games.
- Never on battery
- Temperature limits you set, 75 °C for the GPU and 85 °C for the CPU by default
- A power limit, 80% of the graphics card's rating by default
- Optional cheap hours, and a daily bandwidth limit
- One click pauses it for an hour, a day or until restart
04
Peers check each other
Every piece of work goes to more than one machine, chosen by a fair draw, never by the machines themselves. The answers must match before the work counts.
- Processor work: two machines, and the answers must match exactly
- Graphics work: three machines, and two must agree
- The machines that agree must belong to different people
- Some jobs have answers we already know, and some we run again ourselves
05
Every result is signed
Your machine signs each answer with its key. We sign each batch of work, and each checked result gets a receipt that links to the one before it, so the record cannot be rewritten without it showing.
- Results that disagree are rejected
- Cheating loses points and access
- Every receipt is public in the explorer
06
Checked work earns points
Each checked result earns points for the power it used, at your country's average household electricity price plus 50%. Points are worked out live, show on your node card, and pay for your plan.
- Points start once you are verified to Core
- Up to 8,500 points a month for each device
- Bonuses for uptime, streaks, Beta builds, reputation and AI-class cards, all inside the cap
// Peer to peer
A network of equals
Constellation works like a network of nodes, not a service you connect to. There is no token and nothing to buy.
No special servers
Machines find each other through a shared directory that every node helps run, and pass work along directly. The starting list of peers ships signed inside the app, and every entry is an ordinary member's node.
Little touches us
Only signed batches of work, the final reports and the points ledger reach our servers. If our report service is down, nodes keep the reports and send them later.
Updates the same way
Signed updates travel between nodes and install between jobs, in stages, with an automatic roll back if something goes wrong. Choose the Stable or Beta channel.
Ready when you are
Check your machine against the minimum specs, then join from the members portal.