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Overview
What VMPane is, the three guests, AI agents and the limits
VMPane is a native macOS app for running virtual machines on a Mac with Apple silicon: macOS, Linux and Windows 11 on Arm, each in its own Mac window, and a built-in MCP server so AI agents can use a VM within limits you set. It is free and open source (Apache-2.0). VMPane is pre-alpha: public betas come first.
Three guests, two engines
| Guest | Runs on | From |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | Apple's Virtualization framework | Apple's restore image (IPSW): from VMPane's catalog, or one you have |
| Linux | Apple's Virtualization framework | Ubuntu Server, Debian or Fedora Server from the catalog, or your own arm64 ISO |
| Windows 11 on Arm | QEMU with Hypervisor.framework, a software TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot | Your Windows 11 Arm64 ISO, installed with no clicks |
Each running VM is its own process (VMPaneVM.app), with its own window and Dock tile: a crash takes down one
VM, not VMPane. See Architecture.
What you can do with a VM
- Snapshots: live snapshots of a running VM keep its memory; a stopped VM's snapshot keeps its disks.
- Shared folders from your Mac, port forwarding (from this Mac only, unless you let other computers on the network connect), the clipboard, and dragging files into the VM (with the guest tools).
- The
vmpanecommand: start, stop, snapshot, run commands, copy files and forward ports from a terminal. Seevmpanecommands. - Import from Parallels: turn a Parallels Linux or Windows VM into a VMPane VM.
AI agents
Claude Code, Codex, Gemini or any MCP client starts vmpane mcp and talks to it over stdin and stdout; nothing
listens on the network. Every VM starts at Off: agents cannot even see it until you open it to them, at one
of four levels from Look only to Full control (in the VM's Settings). VMPane asks before an agent runs a command (Deny is the
default), snapshots the VM before an agent's first change, records every call, and one switch stops every agent.
See VMPane for AI agents and the Security model.
Limits
- Arm guests only. No x86 or x86-64 systems: there is no emulation.
- Windows 11 on Arm has a 2D display (no DirectX or GPU acceleration) and no Hyper-V, WSL2 or other nested virtualization inside it. The Windows licence is yours: VMPane installs from your ISO.
- macOS guests: Apple allows two macOS VMs running at once per Mac. See macOS guests.
- No USB passthrough in 1.0.
Where to go next
- Install VMPane
- A guide for your guest: macOS, Linux or Windows
- VMPane for AI agents
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