copy/v86
x86 PC emulator and x86-to-wasm JIT, running in the browser observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
86/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 60
- Longevity 100
Flags: prerelease_only
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 4684
- days_rel: 7
- days_push: 7
- n_releases_24m: 1
Adoption not part of the score
23424 stars · 1879 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
v86 is an x86 PC emulator written in JavaScript that translates x86 machine code to WebAssembly at runtime via a JIT compiler, running entirely in the browser. It emulates a full set of PC hardware (CPU, FPU, VGA, IDE, network card, sound card, etc.) and can boot real operating systems like Linux, Windows 98, FreeBSD, and FreeDOS.
Use cases
- run old operating systems in the browser
- boot linux in a web page
- emulate dos and windows 95 without installing anything
- test 32-bit x86 software in a sandbox
- embed a virtual machine in a website
- run retro os demos like windows 98 or kolibrios
- sandbox untrusted x86 binaries in the browser
When to choose
- you need to run 32-bit x86 operating systems or software directly in a browser with no plugins
- you want a lightweight, dependency-free emulator for demos, education, or testing
- you need to sandbox legacy x86 code in a web environment
When to avoid
- you need 64-bit, multicore, or modern instruction set support (v86 is roughly Pentium 4 level, 32-bit only)
- you need high performance for demanding workloads - wasm translation is slower than native virtualization
- you need accurate emulation of missing features like task gates, debug registers, or some FPU/SSE exceptions
Facets
library · maturity active
simulation wasm graphics networking audio-processing simulation developer-tools web-development operating-systems cross-platform browser wasm x86-emulator pc-emulator virtualization jit-compiler wasm-jit os-emulation retro-computing in-browser-virtualization javascript nodejs web
3 sources
- readme: https://github.com/copy/v86 · fetched 2026-08-28 · cc6011d9cfc8
- homepage: https://copy.sh/v86/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · 6588c93e1904
- registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/v86 · fetched 2026-08-29 · 254251de3abe
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| copy/v86 | main | 86 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem