# lima-vm/lima

Linux virtual machines, with a focus on running containers

Repository: https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/lima
Homepage: https://lima-vm.io/
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: vm, qemu, macos, containerd, lima-vm
Last push: 2026-08-26T02:17:56+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 97/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 94, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1937, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 43, "gap_med": 18, "n_releases_24m": 24}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 21764, forks 945 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:32.036160+00:00)

## What it is
Lima is a CLI tool that launches Linux virtual machines on macOS, Linux, and other hosts with automatic file sharing and port forwarding, similar to WSL2. It was originally built to run containerd and nerdctl on Mac but also supports Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, and general non-container Linux workloads.

## Use cases
- run linux vms on mac
- run docker containers on macos
- run containers with containerd and nerdctl
- local kubernetes cluster on mac
- wsl2 alternative for macos
- test linux commands on a mac
- run linux on arm or intel hosts

## When to choose
- you need lightweight Linux VMs on macOS with automatic file sharing and port forwarding
- you want to run containerd, Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes locally on a Mac
- you want a free open-source alternative to Docker Desktop or WSL2

## When to avoid
- you need to run Windows or macOS guests as first-class supported workloads
- you need a GUI-first VM manager rather than a CLI-driven workflow
- you only need containers on a Linux host where containers run natively without a VM

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, developer-tools, cli
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: virtual-machines, qemu, containerd, wsl2-alternative, docker, kubernetes, cncf, virtualization, containers, macos, linux

## Member repositories
- lima-vm/lima (main) score 97

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:32.036160+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 2026-08-29T16:57:48.655100+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/lima-vm/lima (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:32.036160+00:00, sha 6ebee568db06)
  - homepage: https://lima-vm.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T07:56:20.868723+00:00, sha 3a1bf9264b79)
  - site_page: https://lima-vm.io/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T07:56:20.878175+00:00, sha 89d72a293140)
  - site_page: https://lima-vm.io/docs/community (fetched 2026-08-29T07:56:20.880230+00:00, sha 5439bfe4031c)
  - site_page: https://lima-vm.io/docs/installation (fetched 2026-08-29T07:56:20.881869+00:00, sha 6708dcfc4fac)
  - site_page: https://lima-vm.io/docs/usage (fetched 2026-08-29T07:56:20.883475+00:00, sha dbf6718ea6f7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.