Getting started

Kuvo is a native macOS app that runs the real Docker Engine in a small Linux virtual machine. You keep using the docker command, Compose and your existing scripts. Kuvo gives them an engine to talk to and a window to see what’s running.

It’s free for personal and other noncommercial use, its source is on GitHub, and it has no account or sign-in. Commercial use needs a separate license; see the license.

Your first container

Download Kuvo and move it to your Applications folder.
Open it. The first launch sets up the Linux VM, which takes a minute or so. After that, Kuvo is ready about three seconds after you open it.
Point the docker command at Kuvo:
```
eval "$(kuvo env)"
```
Run something:
```
docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx:alpine
```
Open localhost:8080. The container also shows up in Kuvo’s sidebar with its live resources and logs.

To make step 3 permanent, add the same line to ~/.zshrc, or create a Docker context instead.

What you need

A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later).
macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
An internet connection the first time you open Kuvo, to download Alpine Linux and Docker.
The docker command. If you don’t have it, see The docker command.

Find the right guide

I want to…	Start here
Use Docker and Compose with Kuvo	Docker and Compose
Learn my way around the window	The app
Run commands in containers from scripts	CLI reference
Give a coding agent somewhere safe to work	Coding agents
Understand what’s running on my Mac	How it works
Fix something that isn’t working	Troubleshooting

Coming from Docker Desktop

You don’t need to uninstall Docker Desktop to try Kuvo. They use separate VMs and separate sockets, so images and containers aren’t shared: anything you pulled in Docker Desktop needs pulling again in Kuvo.

Run only one of them at a time if you publish ports. Both forward container ports to localhost, and only one can listen on a given port.