Skip to main content
Container Kit provides powerful container management capabilities for macOS, built on top of Apple’s container CLI. Manage app sandboxes, system containers, and virtualization environments with an intuitive interface.

​
Overview

The container management system offers complete lifecycle control over your containers, from creation to removal, with real-time status monitoring and detailed inspection capabilities.

​
Core Functions

​
Listing All Containers

Retrieve all containers on your system, including stopped containers: 
import { getAllContainers } from '$lib/services/containerization/containers';

const result = await getAllContainers();

if (!result.error) {
  const containers = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
  console.log('Containers:', containers);
}
This function executes: 
container ls -a --format json

​
Starting Containers

Start a stopped container by its ID: 
import { startContainer } from '$lib/services/containerization/containers';

const result = await startContainer('container-id-here');

if (!result.error) {
  console.log('Container started successfully');
}

​
Stopping Containers

Gracefully stop a running container: 
import { stopContainer } from '$lib/services/containerization/containers';

const result = await stopContainer('container-id-here');

if (!result.error) {
  console.log('Container stopped');
}

​
Container Operations

Get detailed information about a specific container:
import { inspectContainer } from '$lib/services/containerization/containers';

const result = await inspectContainer('container-id');

if (!result.error) {
  const details = JSON.parse(result.stdout);
  console.log('Configuration:', details.configuration);
  console.log('Networks:', details.networks);
  console.log('Status:', details.status);
}
Returns comprehensive container details including:
  • Configuration (hostname, DNS, resources, platform)
  • Network attachments with IP addresses
  • Container status and start time
  • Resource allocations (CPU, memory)

​
Container Types

Container Kit supports different container types on macOS:

App Sandbox Containers

Isolated environments for sandboxed macOS applications with controlled access to system resources.

System Containers

Service containers for background processes and system-level operations.

Virtualization Containers

Full virtualization support using Apple’s container CLI with network isolation.

​
Container Configuration

When inspecting containers, you’ll receive detailed configuration data: 
type ContainerConfiguration = {
  hostname: string;
  dns: ContainerDNS;
  resources: ContainerResources;
  image: ContainerImage;
  platform: ContainerPlatform;
  rosetta: boolean;
  networks: ContainerConfigurationNetwork[];
  id: string;
  mounts: string[];
  runtimeHandler: string;
  initProcess: ContainerInitProcess;
};

type ContainerResources = {
  cpus: number;
  memoryInBytes: number;
};

​
Network Attachments

Containers can have multiple network attachments: 
type NetworkAttachment = {
  network: string;
  hostname: string;
  macAddress: string;
  ipv6Address: string;
  ipv4Address: string;
  ipv4Gateway: string;
};
Container Kit uses Apple’s native container CLI (container command) to ensure full compatibility with macOS security and virtualization features.

​
Error Handling

All container operations return an Output type: 
type Output = {
  error: boolean;
  stderr: string;
  stdout: string;
};
Always check the error field before processing results: 
const result = await getAllContainers();

if (result.error) {
  console.error('Operation failed:', result.stderr);
} else {
  // Process result.stdout
}

​
Best Practices

  • Always check container status before performing operations
  • Use container IDs rather than names for reliability
  • Monitor resource usage through inspection
  • Review logs regularly for debugging and monitoring
  • Clean up stopped containers to free resources
  • Images - Manage container images
  • Networks - Configure container networking
  • DNS - Set up DNS resolution
  • Terminal - Execute commands in containers

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us