arcboxlabs/arcbox-desktop

Native macOS GUI for ArcBox — containers, VMs, and sandboxes at your fingertips. Open Source alternative to OrbStack.

189

stars

586

commits

Swift

primary language

Aug 15, 2026

updated

arcbox.dev/desktop
apple-silicon
containers
docker
firecracker
kubernetes
local-first
macos
rust
sandbox
virtualization
virtual-machines

README

ArcBox Desktop

The native macOS app for ArcBox — containers, Kubernetes, Linux VMs, and agent sandboxes in one window.

macOS Swift Release License Discord

ArcBox

Install

brew install --cask arcbox

Or grab the DMG from Releases. The app ships the arcbox-daemon runtime and the abctl CLI, and keeps itself up to date over Sparkle — there is nothing else to install.

Requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later on Apple Silicon.

What it does

One three-column window — sources, list, detail — over everything the daemon runs:

  • Docker — containers, images, volumes, networks. Containers group by Compose project, and each one opens onto info, streaming logs, an interactive terminal, and a file browser that reads through the overlay layers.
  • Kubernetes — pods and services from the daemon-managed k3s cluster.
  • Machines — full Linux VMs: create from a distro image, drive the lifecycle, and attach an interactive terminal.
  • Sandboxes — disposable microVMs from templates, with ports, snapshots, and an event log.
  • Activity — live CPU, memory, and network for the system VM and every running container.

Everything is event-driven: the Docker, machine, and sandbox event streams feed debounced updates, so the UI reflects work started from docker, abctl, or kubectl without a refresh.

How it fits together

┌─────────────────────┐
│  ArcBox Desktop     │  SwiftUI
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │ gRPC (~/.arcbox/run/arcbox.sock)
           │ Docker Engine API (~/.arcbox/run/docker.sock)
           ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  arcbox-daemon      │  Rust — VMM, networking, storage
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │ vsock
           ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  Linux guest        │
│  arcbox-agent       │
└─────────────────────┘

The app is SwiftUI end to end — no Combine, no third-party UI frameworks. The daemon is a separate binary from the arcbox repo, pinned by arcbox.version and embedded at build time.

Contributing

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md; the build itself is in docs/development.md. Bug reports and feature requests go to Issues; vulnerabilities go to security@arcbox.dev instead, never to a public issue.

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0, at your option.

The ArcBox name, mark, and screenshots are brand assets and are not covered by the source-code license — see BRAND.md.


Contributors

AprilNEA

306 commits

arcbox-labs[bot]

167 commits

KafuChino123

111 commits

lucas77778

2 commits

arcboxlabs/arcbox-desktop

Native macOS GUI for ArcBox — containers, VMs, and sandboxes at your fingertips. Open Source alternative to OrbStack.

189

stars

586

commits

Swift

primary language

Aug 15, 2026

updated

arcbox.dev/desktop
apple-silicon
containers
docker
firecracker
kubernetes
local-first
macos
rust
sandbox
virtualization
virtual-machines

README

ArcBox Desktop

The native macOS app for ArcBox — containers, Kubernetes, Linux VMs, and agent sandboxes in one window.

macOS Swift Release License Discord

ArcBox

Install

brew install --cask arcbox

Or grab the DMG from Releases. The app ships the arcbox-daemon runtime and the abctl CLI, and keeps itself up to date over Sparkle — there is nothing else to install.

Requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later on Apple Silicon.

What it does

One three-column window — sources, list, detail — over everything the daemon runs:

  • Docker — containers, images, volumes, networks. Containers group by Compose project, and each one opens onto info, streaming logs, an interactive terminal, and a file browser that reads through the overlay layers.
  • Kubernetes — pods and services from the daemon-managed k3s cluster.
  • Machines — full Linux VMs: create from a distro image, drive the lifecycle, and attach an interactive terminal.
  • Sandboxes — disposable microVMs from templates, with ports, snapshots, and an event log.
  • Activity — live CPU, memory, and network for the system VM and every running container.

Everything is event-driven: the Docker, machine, and sandbox event streams feed debounced updates, so the UI reflects work started from docker, abctl, or kubectl without a refresh.

How it fits together

┌─────────────────────┐
│  ArcBox Desktop     │  SwiftUI
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │ gRPC (~/.arcbox/run/arcbox.sock)
           │ Docker Engine API (~/.arcbox/run/docker.sock)
           ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  arcbox-daemon      │  Rust — VMM, networking, storage
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │ vsock
           ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  Linux guest        │
│  arcbox-agent       │
└─────────────────────┘

The app is SwiftUI end to end — no Combine, no third-party UI frameworks. The daemon is a separate binary from the arcbox repo, pinned by arcbox.version and embedded at build time.

Contributing

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md; the build itself is in docs/development.md. Bug reports and feature requests go to Issues; vulnerabilities go to security@arcbox.dev instead, never to a public issue.

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0, at your option.

The ArcBox name, mark, and screenshots are brand assets and are not covered by the source-code license — see BRAND.md.


Contributors

AprilNEA

306 commits

arcbox-labs[bot]

167 commits

KafuChino123

111 commits

lucas77778

2 commits

Languages

Swift

96.5%

Rust

2.8%