ABVx is a Pocket OS for M5Stack Cardputer ADV: a fast offline-first personal tool for capture, memory, reading/listening, routines, and transfer.

It is not just a launcher or a set of apps. The product goal is to minimize friction for common actions:

Capture -> Remember -> Read -> Listen -> Act -> Reflect

The existing apps are implementation modules behind those actions.

Product direction

Current firmware is the technical baseline for ABVx Pocket OS.

Core ideas:

• One Button Capture: start voice/text capture with one shortcut.
• Universal Inbox: notes, voice, habits, bookmarks, and actions flow into one log.
• Timeline: a simple life/activity journal built from captured events.
• Context Resume: resume last book, track, note, timer, or habit state.
• Fast Dashboard: boot into status + resume actions, not only an app list.
• Zero Cursor Philosophy: use physical keys directly where possible.
• Progressive Apps: simple first screen, advanced options later.
• Minimal / Art mode: productive default UI, optional battery-gated visual mode.

Architecture: docs/PRODUCT_ARCHITECTURE.md Decisions: docs/ARCHITECTURE_DECISIONS.md Roadmap: docs/ROADMAP.md

Current status

Current baseline: v0.2.2-test Pocket OS checkpoint.

Tested on real Cardputer ADV hardware.

Stable baseline:

• Boot: ABVx splash and large monochrome launcher.
• Listen/Music: SD MP3 player with waveform, volume, next/prev, shuffle, MAX volume, double-buffered playback, sorted library, selected-title marquee, track info, safe MP3 probe, and safer bad-track handling.
• Voice/Record: one RAM-first 20-second WAV voice-note mode, save/play/delete, continuous playback, waveform.
• Read/Reader: small and large TXT books, streaming reader, English/Russian display, 1W / 2W / LINE speed reading, persistent bookmarks.
• Write/Notes: LAT/plain text create/open/edit/delete. Cyrillic notes are view-only.
• Time: manual clock, stopwatch, timer presets, alarm.
• Files: SD browser, TRANSFER folder, file opening, unsupported-file info, delete confirmation.
• Routines/Habits: larger daily checklist, manual next day, manage screen, restore disabled habits, 7D/30D/365D stats.
• Decide/Randomizer: YES / NO / MB.
• Dashboard/Settings: Resume dashboard, current context, battery/low-voltage diagnostics, Transfer password, theme, sound, timeout, power preset, SD reprobe, About.
• Transfer/Connections: Wi-Fi AP list/download/small-file diagnostics; large media transfer still needs SD reader.

Postponed: browser, AI, Mac companion, long SD-streaming recorder, large Wi-Fi upload.

Detailed status: docs/PROJECT_STATUS.md Changes: CHANGELOG.md Smoke test: docs/SMOKE_TEST.md

Controls

Global:

• Up / Down: move selection.
• Left / Right: page or switch mode.
• OK / Enter: open, start, save, confirm.
• GO / Back: return or stop.
• Backspace: delete where supported.
• 1: app-specific shortcut.

App highlights:

• Listen: OK play/stop, Up/Down volume, Left/Right track, 1 shuffle, 2/I track info, 2/P probe inside track info.
• Read: Up/Down line, Left/Right page, 1 speed mode for any supported book, OK pause/resume in speed mode.
• Write: 1 new/edit, Backspace delete from list.
• Voice: OK starts NEW REC, OK/GO stops and saves, OK plays a saved recording. Auto-save at 20 seconds.
• Routines: OK toggles, 1 next day, Right/S stats, Left/M manage.
• Transfer: OK starts AP, GO stops it; list/download are stable, upload is small-file only.

One Button Capture from launcher:

• R: start voice recording.
• N: new text note.
• M: play selected music.
• 2 or S: resume last used context in the current session.
• D or 0: open session dashboard.

SD layout

Use 8.3-safe filenames for now.

/sdcard/music/A.MP3
/sdcard/books/EN1.TXT
/sdcard/books/RU1.TXT
/sdcard/notes/NOTE0001.TXT
/sdcard/rec/REC0001.WAV
/sdcard/RECS/REC0001.WAV
/sdcard/inbox/INBOX.TXT
/sdcard/habits/HABITS.TXT
/sdcard/habits/LOG.TXT
/sdcard/habits/STATE.TXT
/sdcard/CARDPTR/CONFIG.TXT
/sdcard/CARDPTR/READER.TXT

Connections MVP

Wi-Fi AP:

• SSID: ABVX-Cardputer
• Password: cardputer
• URL: http://192.168.4.1

Useful endpoints:

curl http://192.168.4.1/api/ping
curl http://192.168.4.1/api/status
curl "http://192.168.4.1/api/list?path=/music"
curl "http://192.168.4.1/api/download?path=/notes/NOTE0001.TXT"
curl http://192.168.4.1/api/write-test

Small upload only, max 64KB:

python3 tools/cardputer_upload.py ./NOTE.TXT /notes/NOTE.TXT

Upload is intentionally limited to 64KB. Large MP3/book upload over Wi-Fi is unstable on Cardputer ADV and is disabled. Use an SD reader/hub for large files. /cardputer appears as TRANSFER in Files and can hold generic carry files.

Build

cd /Volumes/Work/Work/cardputer-abvx-minimal
. ~/esp/esp-idf-v5.4.2/export.sh
idf.py build

Firmware:

build/cardputer-abvx-minimal.bin

Flash:

ls /dev/cu.usbmodem*
idf.py -p /dev/cu.usbmodem101 flash

Smoke test

1. Boot: ABVx splash and launcher.
2. Music: play A.MP3, check smooth sound/waveform, stop.
3. Record: create short note, confirm Record saved, play it back, delete test file.
4. Reader: open both a small TXT and a large English/Russian TXT, scroll by line/page, test 1W / 2W / LINE, then exit/reopen and confirm the bookmark.
5. Notes: create LAT note, edit it, delete it; Cyrillic note should be view-only.
6. Time: stopwatch, timer, alarm sound.
7. Files: browse SD, open TXT/MP3/WAV, open unsupported file info.
8. Habits: toggle habit, next day, stats.
9. Settings: SD reprobe, About, config/theme.
10. Connections: AP starts, /api/ping, list, download, write-test.
11. Dashboard: D or 0 opens Resume/status; Settings About shows the current ABVx Pocket OS build.