# kernel/kernel-images

Browsers-as-a-service for automations and web agents

Repository: https://github.com/kernel/kernel-images
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kernel-images
Homepage: https://www.kernel.sh
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: container, docker, vm, unikernel, ai, browser, infrastructure
Last push: 2026-09-03T02:01:32+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 35, longevity 39
- inputs: {"age_days": 552, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1042, forks 80 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:13.999217+00:00)

## What it is
Kernel is an open-source browser infrastructure platform that provides sandboxed, ready-to-use Chromium browsers as a service for browser automations and AI web agents. The repository contains the Docker and Unikraft unikernel images that power the hosted service, enabling fast cold starts, session snapshotting, and live-view streaming of remote browser sessions.

## Use cases
- run sandboxed cloud browsers for AI web agents
- connect Playwright or Puppeteer to a remote browser via CDP
- spin up browsers in under 30ms for low-latency automation
- record MP4 session replays and watch live browser sessions for debugging
- solve CAPTCHAs and manage residential proxies for scraping
- automatically handle website logins with managed auth from 1Password vaults
- run headful Chromium in Docker or as a Unikraft unikernel
- deploy serverless agent loops co-located with their browser

## When to choose
- you need scalable, fast-cold-start cloud browsers for browser automation or AI agents
- you want managed auth, CAPTCHA solving, and proxy handling out of the box
- you need observability like live view streaming and session replays for debugging agent behavior
- you want to run Chromium in minimal unikernel VMs with sub-20ms restarts and state snapshotting
- you need SOC2/HIPAA-compliant browser infrastructure for production agent workloads

## When to avoid
- you only need to run a local headless browser on your own machine without cloud orchestration
- you want a simple scraping library rather than hosted browser infrastructure
- you cannot use external cloud services and need everything fully self-contained offline
- you need a general-purpose container orchestration platform rather than browser-specific infrastructure

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, deployment, monitoring, auth, proxy, developer-tools
- domain: artificial-intelligence, web-development, cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, self-hosted, developer-tools
- platform: cloud, self-hosted, go
- tags: browsers-as-a-service, sandboxed-chromium, browser-automation, web-agents, unikernel, unikraft, headless-browser, remote-browser, captcha-solving, managed-auth, session-replays, live-view, playwright, puppeteer, cdp, stealth-mode, browser-pools, gpu-acceleration, firecracker, serverless-agents, browser, ai-agents, automation, docker, linux

## Member repositories
- kernel/kernel-images (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:13.999217+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:05:08.696462+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kernel/kernel-images (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:13.999217+00:00, sha 516775d7b9e0)
  - homepage: https://www.kernel.sh (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.864319+00:00, sha cd96f6933328)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/docs/integrations/1password (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.868586+00:00, sha ea60f5159a37)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.870652+00:00, sha 22ef7e96dc7a)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/docs/tos (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.872499+00:00, sha 836fe51443f5)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/docs/privacy (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.875242+00:00, sha 00c2277705bf)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/pricing (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.866919+00:00, sha 3d648784b850)
  - site_page: https://www.kernel.sh/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T13:05:47.877907+00:00, sha 72c4a156f58f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.