cirruslabs/tart

Tart is a toolset for building, running, and managing virtual machines on Apple Silicon Macs. It supports both macOS and Linux VMs and is built primarily for use in automated build and test pipelines, though it can be used for other automation tasks as well. It requires macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later on an Apple Silicon device. Virtual machines in Tart run using Apple's own virtualization framework, which gives them performance close to running natively on the hardware. You can store and share VM images through any container registry that uses the OCI standard, the same kind used for Docker images. There is also a plugin for a tool called Packer that can automate the creation of new VM images. Tart is designed to integrate with CI systems, which are tools that automatically build and test software when code changes. The project powers a commercial service called Cirrus Runners, which provides faster and cheaper alternatives to the default runners offered by GitHub Actions. Several well-known companies are listed as users of Tart in their internal setups, including Atlassian, Figma, and Expo. Installing and running a VM is straightforward. The README shows a three-command sequence: install Tart via Homebrew, download a base macOS image from a container registry, and run it. The first download is around 25 GB. Full documentation is available at tart.run, and there is a GitHub Discussions section for questions. The project is also available through AWS Marketplace.