Machine is an open-source agent harness and development environment orchestrator created by katspaugh. It is designed to provision and manage isolated, reproducible virtual machine environments for running autonomous AI coding agents without exposing host credentials or polluting local workspaces. In daily operations, developers configure project workspaces using global definitions or repo-local `.machine.toml` files. Running commands such as `machine up` or the interactive `machine create` wizard sets up and boots a sandboxed VM with pre-configured repositories, profiles, shell environments, and agent forwarding. AI agents run directly within this guest environment with complete freedom to execute build and test commands. What distinguishes Machine from standard container wrappers or bare sandboxes is its focus on provisioned, ready-to-work developer environments paired with host secret isolation. Machine ensures that sensitive authentication credentials and signing keys do not live directly inside the VM, relying instead on forwarding mechanisms to maintain isolation while enabling autonomous operations. Machine is distributed as an open-source tool with Homebrew formula support, targeting macOS environments running modern Python runtimes.
Tags: agent harness, cli, coding agent, developer tools, OpenSource
machine create to easily configure repositories, tool profiles, shells, and agent forwarding. - Flexible configuration — Supports both global projects.toml management and repo-local .machine.toml files. - Agent forwarding — Bridges SSH and agent forwarding into the sandbox for seamless remote repository access. - Homebrew formula distribution — Integrates with standard macOS package management for straightforward installation and updates.machine up for testing dependencies and agent workflows in complete isolation.Machine is designed for macOS developers, security engineers, and teams orchestrating autonomous CLI coding agents who need isolated, disposable VM environments. It is not intended for developers seeking a standalone LLM interface or those operating exclusively in cloud-based container clusters.
bash # Install via Homebrew tap brew install katspaugh/machine/machine # Or clone and set up locally with Python 3.13+ git clone https://github.com/katspaugh/machine.git cd machinebash # Launch the interactive creation wizard machine create my-project # Alternatively, launch a default scratch environment machine up default.machine.toml and start the isolated environment: bash # In your project root, boot the machine machine up # Run commands or dispatch your coding agent inside the isolated guest environment machine exec -- claude-code "Run tests and fix failing assertions"Part of CLI Coding Agents
Categories: AI Coding Agents, Code Assistants, Developer Tools