Dory

Dory brings Docker, Kubernetes and Linux virtual machines into a native macOS app, with dedicated sandboxes for coding agents. It's for developers who want container workflows and separate Linux environments on an Apple Silicon Mac. It runs on macOS Sonoma or later and is open source under GPL-3.0.

The runtime includes Docker, Compose, BuildKit and Buildx, so existing Docker tools can use its engine. Optional components add local k3s with a graphical resource browser, persistent headless Linux machines, and Ubuntu, Debian or Kali desktops. Machines have their own disks, resource limits and snapshots. The app and CLI manage these environments together, and optional components can be removed without deleting workload data.

Coding agents run in dedicated Linux VMs with non-root commands. File access, networking, credentials and lifetime follow explicit policies; networking is disabled by default, and additional mounts default to read-only. Dory can recognize Node.js, Python, Go and Rust projects and prepare matching environments. Its local MCP interface has a read-only mode for inspecting runtime state while blocking execution and sandbox changes.

Dory requires no account, telemetry or cloud control plane, and workload data stays on your Mac. An idle container engine can sleep, reclaimable guest memory can return to macOS, and sparse disks grow as data is written. Migration tools copy and verify workloads from Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Colima, Rancher Desktop or Podman while leaving the original data untouched.