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Apple Containerization Backend

#412#418

Apple Containerization Backend

Sub-second sandbox VMs on macOS Apple Silicon via Virtualization.framework for local development.

What This Enables

  • Sub-second VM start times - Sandboxes start in under 200ms on Apple Silicon
  • OCI image support - Run any container image without Docker Desktop
  • gRPC over vsock communication - Fast, reliable communication between host and VM
  • macOS 26 + Apple Silicon required - Leverages the latest Virtualization.framework APIs

Why It Matters

Currently, sandbox creation on macOS requires Docker Desktop which adds overhead and licensing complexity. The Apple Containerization backend uses the native Virtualization.framework to create lightweight VMs directly, eliminating the Docker dependency for local development.

Technical Details

The backend communicates with the VM over vsock (virtual socket) for gRPC connections, providing near-native performance for sandbox operations. OCI images are pulled and cached locally, with support for both ARM64 and x86_64 emulation via Rosetta 2.