Alpha software. ArcBox is under active development. Expect rough edges, missing features, and breaking changes. We publish early so you can try it, break it, and help shape it.

# 1. Install ArcBox
curl -sSL https://install.arcbox.dev | sh

# 2. Start the daemon
arcbox start

# 3. Point Docker CLI at ArcBox
arcbox docker enable

# 4. Run a container
docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx

# 5. Verify
curl http://localhost:8080

To switch back to Docker Desktop at any time:

arcbox docker disable

• macOS 13 (Ventura) or later
• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) -- Intel support is in progress
• Docker CLI installed (ArcBox replaces the Docker engine, not the CLI)
• ~500 MB disk space (runtime + boot assets)

ArcBox can already serve as a drop-in Docker engine for common workflows:

• Container lifecycle -- docker run, stop, rm, logs, exec, inspect
• Image management -- pull from Docker Hub and OCI registries (ARM64)
• Port forwarding -- -p 8080:80 maps host ports into containers
• Volume mounts -- -v /host/path:/container/path and named volumes
• Container networking -- containers can reach the internet and resolve DNS
• Inter-container DNS -- containers on the same network resolve each other by name
• Docker Compose -- basic docker-compose up/down for multi-container projects
• Docker context switching -- arcbox docker enable/disable to toggle between ArcBox and Docker Desktop
• 40+ Docker API endpoints -- compatible with Docker Engine API v1.43

ArcBox is alpha software. The following features are not yet available:

Other things to be aware of:

• Cold boot takes a few seconds on first launch. Subsequent container starts are faster.
• Some advanced Docker API features (swarm, secrets, configs) are not implemented.
• Error messages may be less polished than Docker Desktop.
• If you hit a bug, please open an issue.

ArcBox uses Apple's Virtualization.framework with a custom VirtIO stack, zero-copy networking, and a purpose-built VirtioFS implementation. Our targets for the stable release (these are goals, not guarantees at this stage):

Current alpha performance varies. We are focused on correctness first, then optimization.

If you prefer to build ArcBox yourself:

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/arcboxd/arcbox.git
cd arcbox

# Build
cargo build --release

# Sign (required for macOS virtualization)
codesign --entitlements tests/resources/entitlements.plist --force -s - \
    target/release/arcbox

# Run
./target/release/arcbox --help

• Rust 1.85+ (install via rustup)
• Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
• musl cross-compiler for guest agent (optional):

  brew install FiloSottile/musl-cross/musl-cross
  rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-musl

# Stop the daemon
arcbox stop

# Restore Docker Desktop as default
arcbox docker disable

# Remove ArcBox files
rm -rf ~/.arcbox
rm /usr/local/bin/arcbox

# Remove the launchd service (if installed)
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.arcbox.daemon.plist
rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.arcbox.daemon.plist

We welcome contributions. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

• Use cargo clippy -- -D warnings before submitting
• All code comments must be in English
• unsafe code requires a // SAFETY: justification

• Core (crates/) -- MIT OR Apache-2.0
• Pro (pro/) -- BSL-1.1 (converts to MIT after 4 years)

See LICENSE for the full text.