What is Lume?

Lume is a lightweight Command Line Interface and local API server for creating, running, and managing macOS and Linux virtual machines with near-native performance on Apple Silicon, using Apple's Virtualization.Framework.

Why Lume?

Before Lume, running macOS VMs on Apple Silicon required complex setup or expensive commercial tools. Lume provides:

• Simple CLI - Intuitive commands for VM lifecycle management
• Near-native performance - Built on Apple's Virtualization Framework
• Prebuilt images - Ready-to-use macOS and Linux images
• HTTP API - RESTful API for tool integration
• Open source - MIT licensed, community-driven

How It Works

Lume leverages Apple's Virtualization Framework to create hardware-accelerated VMs that run at near-native speed. The framework provides:

• Para-virtualized devices - High-performance network and storage
• GPU acceleration - Hardware graphics support
• Rosetta 2 support - Run x86 Linux binaries on ARM VMs

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Your Tools                      │
│     (Cua Agent, Scripts, CI/CD, etc.)           │
└───────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                    │
          ┌─────────▼─────────┐
          │   Lume HTTP API   │  ← lume serve (port 7777)
          │   (REST Server)   │
          └─────────┬─────────┘
                    │
          ┌─────────▼─────────┐
          │     Lume CLI      │  ← lume create, run, stop...
          └─────────┬─────────┘
                    │
    ┌───────────────▼───────────────┐
    │  Apple Virtualization.Framework  │
    └───────────────┬───────────────┘
                    │
    ┌───────────────▼───────────────┐
    │      macOS / Linux VMs        │
    └───────────────────────────────┘

Use Cases

Development and Testing

• Test software on different macOS versions
• Isolate development environments
• Run CI/CD pipelines locally

Automation

• Automate macOS setup with unattended configurations
• Script VM operations via CLI or API
• Integrate with Computer Use Agent for UI automation

Sandboxing

• Create disposable environments
• Test potentially risky operations safely
• Reset to clean state instantly

Next Steps

• Installation - Install Lume on your Mac
• Quickstart - Create your first VM