Open Arsenal

Secure Infrastructure, Open Future.

Custos is an open-source, modular, AI-powered physical security intelligence platform built to serve as the foundation for next-generation security infrastructure. Designed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+), Custos provides a vendor-neutral alternative to proprietary security ecosystems by giving organizations complete control over their hardware, software, and data. The platform is designed to operate across homes, businesses, campuses, municipalities, industrial facilities, and critical infrastructure while eliminating dependence on closed, cloud-only solutions.

At its core, Custos combines edge AI, computer vision, and intelligent automation into a unified security operating system. The platform supports person, vehicle, and object detection, natural language investigations, automated incident timelines, digital evidence management, and AI-assisted threat analysis. Its modular architecture allows cameras, sensors, robots, and IoT devices from multiple manufacturers to operate together through an open hardware abstraction layer, ensuring long-term interoperability and freedom from vendor lock-in.

Security and privacy are fundamental principles of Custos. The platform incorporates a Zero Trust Security Architecture with continuous identity verification, device trust management, adaptive risk scoring, and fine-grained access control through its Open Identity Layer. Privacy-preserving surveillance features such as local video processing, automatic anonymization, privacy zones, encrypted storage, and user-controlled retention policies help organizations deploy intelligent security systems without sacrificing individual privacy or data ownership.

Custos is designed for resilience and future growth. Offline-first mesh networking allows the platform to continue operating during internet outages while synchronizing data when connectivity returns. The AI Policy Engine enables context-aware automation and natural language rule creation, while the Security Knowledge Graph correlates identities, events, locations, devices, and historical data to provide deeper situational awareness and investigative capabilities. Additional features such as compliance reporting, digital twin modeling, emergency response automation, robotics integration, and a comprehensive developer ecosystem make Custos a flexible platform capable of evolving alongside future security and infrastructure needs.

By combining open-source principles with intelligent security technologies, Custos aims to become the open operating system for physical security infrastructure—delivering secure infrastructure, an open future, and a platform that organizations can truly own and control.

This specification is released under the AGPL-3.0+ license and is free to use with required attribution under Section 7. Attribution-free deployments may obtain a Specification Branding License based on usage, scope, and deployment size.