Archaeus is an Arch-based Linux distribution with Hyprland pre-configured and a full GUI control center — install apps, switch desktop environments, manage keybinds and appearance without ever editing a config file.
Archaeus doesn't hide Arch Linux — it wraps the common tasks in a GUI while leaving the full power of pacman, yay, and the terminal untouched.
Five panels: install packages from a curated list of 42 apps, switch DEs, change accent colors, manage autostart, view keybinds. All running real shell commands under the hood.
12px rounding, 2-pass blur, amber borders, smooth animations, waybar with clock/audio/network/battery, and all keybinds wired up. Ready on first boot.
Every component — ACC, Hyprland, Kitty, Waybar, SDDM — shares the same warm dark palette: #1C1610 background, #E8D5B0 cream text, #C8A96E amber accent.
yay is pre-installed and used by the ACC internally. Open a terminal and use it directly — yay -Syu, yay -Ss, yay -Rns — all exactly as expected.
On first login the ACC auto-launches in setup mode. Pick your apps, set your accent color and wallpaper before you touch anything else. The firstboot flag is deleted after.
The Desktop panel installs KDE Plasma or GNOME and updates SDDM without touching your files. Switch back any time from the login screen session picker.
The ACC is an Electron app that ships inside the ISO at /opt/archaeus/acc. Every action it takes is a real shell command — you can watch it in the log output.
42 apps across 6 categories (Browsers, Chat, Media, Dev, Gaming, Tools). Click to install/remove via yay with live progress streaming.
Switch between Hyprland, KDE Plasma, and GNOME. Reads current DE from ~/.config/archaeus/default-de.
7 accent color presets (Amber, Rose, Sage, Steel, Lavender, Teal, Peach), wallpaper picker, and font selector.
Toggle ~/.config/autostart/*.desktop entries. Flips Hidden=true under the hood.
Parses your live hyprland.conf and displays all binds as a readable table.
Every click in the ACC runs a real shell command. Install Spotify and you'll see
yay -S spotify stream in the log. Set a keybind and it writes to
hyprland.conf. Nothing is hidden. Power users lose nothing —
everyone else gains a working system in minutes.
archaeus@machine ~
❯ yay -S discord
# ↑ same command ACC ran when you clicked "Install"
resolving dependencies...
:: (1/1) installing discord ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 100%
✓ Done.Download the ISO, flash it to a USB, boot — and the ACC opens automatically.