Your face or fingerprint unlocks Linux

Login, lock screen, sudo, and app prompts like Bitwarden. In the dark, with an IR camera. Stored as an embedding, never an image. Password always works.

Setup · Commands · Limits · FAQ · All docs

---

Important

A printed photograph of an enrolled face passes the algorithmic IR gate alone (accepted in 69 of 70 measured presentations). The shipped PAD pair (ViT RGB + FLIR IR) refuses it, runs default-on, and verifies against signed checksums at startup; kill switches: IRLUME_PAD_VIT=0, IRLUME_PAD_IR=0. Read Limits before wiring this into anything that matters.

🌑 Works in the dark	Infrared recognition, no ambient light needed
🔓 Unlocks everything	Login, lock screen, sudo, polkit prompts
🗝️ Opens your wallet	A face match TPM-unseals your keyring secret
🧬 No face images	512-D embeddings, AES-256-GCM under a TPM-sealed key
🙋 Consent before camera	yes for a face attempt; typing your password never starts a scan, and both work in the same prompt (the field accepts either, so you never wait for one path to time out)
🛡️ Refuses photos and screens	Two anti-spoofing models run by default: print attacks on RGB, screens/phones on IR (Howdy's own README warns a printed photo can defeat it)
🔁 Survives real life	Suspend/resume verified on hardware; a failed scan or a crashed component falls back to your password, never a lockout
📦 Installs boring	One Rust binary per package, no Python, no dlib, no pip. The class of install breakage that dominates other face-unlock trackers does not exist here
🩺 Repairs itself	A live TUI fixes faults; PAM wiring survives updates

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/archledger/irlume/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Or install by hand

sudo dnf copr enable archledger/irlume && sudo dnf install irlume   # Fedora
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:archledger/irlume && sudo apt install irlume   # Ubuntu
yay -S irlume                                                       # Arch
sudo apt install ./irlume_*.deb                                     # Debian 12+, from Releases

On NixOS use nixosModules.irlume from this flake (docs/NIXOS.md). Signed packages for every distro are attached to each release as a fallback. Which lane suits which distro version: docs/SETUP.md.

Then:

irlume doctor    # what your hardware supports
irlume tui       # guided enrollment and wiring

You need x86-64 Linux with systemd and PAM. A TPM 2.0 is strongly recommended. Most cameras work and set your tier (an IR node must offer an 8-bit grey format; see Platforms): IR → secure login · RGB → screen unlock · fingerprint → companion factor.

Documentation

Setup	Install and configure, guided or by hand
Turning it off	Per-surface disable, canceling a scan, uninstall
Commands	Every command and flag
Limits	What irlume does not do, and the measurements
FAQ	Common questions
Architecture	How it works inside
Security · Threat model	What is protected, and from whom
Verify	Reproduce every claim on your machine
Integration · Machine API	Drive irlume from your own software
Debugging	Trace a failing login
Contributing · Changelog · Credits

Status

v0.11.2, working on real hardware across Fedora, Ubuntu and Arch. Self-tested against ISO/IEC 30107-3, not lab-certified. Interfaces may shift before 1.0. Validated cameras are listed in Hardware compatibility (generated from measured evidence, never hand-edited).

Hardware reports from laptops with IR cameras, working or not, are the most useful contribution right now: Discussions · Issues · Security

If irlume is useful to you and you feel like it, there is a Ko-fi. No obligation; the project stays free and GPL either way.

---

GPL-3.0-or-later · no CLA, no commercial relicensing · credits

_{Built with Rust and AI assistance, human-directed (details) · Windows Hello is a Microsoft trademark; irlume is independent · your face stays yours}