OpenStick Homelab Setup for $10 Device

OpenStick Hardware Overview

The OpenStick is a compact device acquired for $10, featuring a 4x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU at 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM (approximately 450 MB usable), and 4 GB of eMMC flash storage. It also includes 150 Mbit/s Wi-Fi, a 4G modem, GPS, and is passively cooled for silent operation. The device runs Debian, providing access to standard Linux tools like systemd and Podman.

CastSponsorSkip Implementation

One of the services running on the OpenStick is CastSponsorSkip. This service connects to Google Cast devices to automatically skip sponsorships and advertisements. It uses minimal resources, typically 5-10 MB of RAM, and operates in the background to improve the user's YouTube viewing experience.

AdGuard Home for DNS Filtering

The OpenStick also hosts a custom fork of AdGuard Home, which blocks unwanted domains at the DNS level. This includes spyware, malware, and other undesirable content. The custom fork is designed to handle large blocklists efficiently. The official version of AdGuard Home is also available for users with smaller blocklist requirements. After implementing several blocklists, the user reported blocking 60% of their DNS queries.

Zeroclaw AI Agent Harness

The user previously ran Zeroclaw, an AI agent harness, on the OpenStick. Zeroclaw supports 30 communication channels, offers security defaults, a web UI, and integrates with major LLM providers. It uses approximately 64 MB of RAM.