arcboxlabs/arcbox

Run AI agents on real and isolated machines — own kernel, filesystem, and network — with <100ms boot. Local first, OCI compatible, pure Rust.

What it solves

ArcBox is an open-source, high-performance container and VM runtime for macOS, designed as an alternative to Docker Desktop and OrbStack. It provides a unified runtime for running Docker containers, Kubernetes clusters, Linux VMs, and macOS guests locally on a Mac with minimal overhead.

How it works

Built from scratch in Rust, ArcBox implements its own Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM), VirtIO devices, and a userspace network datapath to maximize performance. It uses Hypervisor.framework and Virtualization.framework for virtualization. For Apple Silicon, it integrates FEX to translate x86-64 Linux images to arm64, allowing linux/amd64 images to run natively alongside arm64 images.

Who it’s for

Developers who need a fast, open-source local development environment on macOS for containers, Kubernetes, and full Linux or macOS VMs, as well as AI agent developers who require secure, disposable microVM sandboxes.

Highlights

  • Unified Runtime: Supports Docker-compatible containers, native Kubernetes (k3s), full Linux VMs, and macOS guests in one daemon.
  • Agent Sandboxes: Provides disposable microVMs (via Firecracker) for AI agents like Claude Code, ensuring isolation from the host.
  • High Performance: Custom Rust-based VMM and network datapath achieving high throughput and low boot times.
  • Finder Integration: Docker data and Linux machine root filesystems are mounted read-only or read-write in Finder for easy access without docker cp.
  • Cross-Architecture: Runs x86-64 Linux images on Apple Silicon using FEX translation.
  • Migration Tools: Built-in commands to migrate images, volumes, and containers from Docker Desktop or OrbStack.

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