Container GUI

A modern desktop GUI application for Apple's container CLI tool, built with Tauri (Rust) and React. This application provides a user-friendly interface for managing Apple containers on macOS, designed specifically for Apple Silicon.

Features

Container GUI supports all major Apple container CLI features through an intuitive graphical interface:

🚀 Container Management

• Run Containers with comprehensive options:
  • Memory and CPU resource limits (--memory, --cpus)
  • Architecture selection (ARM64, AMD64 with Rosetta)
  • Volume mounts (--volume and --mount syntax)
  • Environment variables
  • Interactive/TTY modes
  • Background execution with dedicated IP addresses
  • DNS domain configuration

🏗️ Image Building & Multi-Architecture Support

• Builder Management:
  • Start/stop/delete builder containers
  • Configure builder resources (memory, CPUs)
  • Status monitoring
• Multi-Platform Builds:
  • Build for ARM64 and AMD64 architectures simultaneously
  • Dockerfile editor with syntax highlighting
  • Build context selection
  • Registry push integration

📊 Container Monitoring & Inspection

• Container Logs:
  • Real-time log streaming with follow mode
  • Boot logs viewing (--boot option)
  • Log filtering (tail, since, until)
  • System logs access
  • Download logs to file
• Resource Inspection:
  • Detailed JSON inspection of containers and images
  • Formatted JSON output with copy-to-clipboard
  • Container and image metadata viewing

🖥️ System Management

• System Overview:
  • Container and image statistics
  • System status monitoring
  • Resource usage insights
• Advanced Features:
  • System information display
  • Container/image inspection tools
  • Quick navigation to all features

🌐 Networking (Apple Container Approach)

• Dedicated IP Addresses: Each container gets its own IP address
• No Port Mapping Required: Direct access via container IP
• DNS Domain Support: Access containers via hostname.domain
• Network Isolation: Secure container-to-container communication

Apple Container CLI Integration

This GUI interfaces with Apple's native container CLI, supporting all major commands:

# Container operations
container run --memory 4g --cpus 8 --arch arm64 nginx:latest
container ls --format json --all
container logs --follow --boot my-container
container stop my-container

# Image operations  
container build --arch arm64 --arch amd64 --tag my-app:latest .
container images list --format json
container images push my-app:latest

# Builder management
container builder start --memory 32g --cpus 8
container builder stop
container builder delete

# System operations
container system info
container system logs
container inspect my-container

Requirements

• macOS 15+ (recommended macOS 26 beta for best compatibility)
• Apple Silicon Mac (required)
• Apple Container CLI installed from GitHub releases
• Xcode 26 Beta (for development)

Installation

1. Install Apple Container CLI:

   # Download from GitHub releases
   # https://github.com/apple/container/releases
   
   # Install and start the system
   container system start

2. Install Container GUI:

   # Clone the repository
   git clone https://github.com/your-repo/container-gui.git
   cd container-gui
   
   # Install dependencies
   npm install
   
   # Run in development mode
   npm run tauri dev
   
   # Build for production
   npm run tauri build

Usage

Running Containers

1. Navigate to Run Container
2. Configure your container:
   • Set image name (e.g., nginx:latest)
   • Adjust memory/CPU limits as needed
   • Add volume mounts for file sharing
   • Set environment variables
   • Choose architecture (ARM64/AMD64)
3. Click Run Container
4. Access your container via its dedicated IP address (shown in container list)

Building Images

1. Navigate to Build Image
2. Manage builder resources:
   • Start builder with custom memory/CPU allocation
   • Monitor builder status
3. Configure build:
   • Enter image tag
   • Select target architectures
   • Edit Dockerfile in integrated editor
4. Click Build Image
5. Optionally push to registry after build

Viewing Logs

1. Navigate to Logs
2. Select a container from the dropdown
3. Configure log options:
   • Enable follow mode for live streaming
   • Show boot logs for VM startup information
   • Set tail, since, until filters
4. View real-time logs or download to file

System Monitoring

1. Navigate to System Control
2. View system statistics and container overview
3. Inspect containers and images:
   • Select resource type (container/image)
   • Choose item to inspect
   • View detailed JSON metadata
4. Access system logs and information

Apple Container Networking

Unlike Docker, Apple containers use a different networking approach:

• No Port Mapping: Instead of -p 8080:80, each container gets a dedicated IP
• Direct Access: Access containers directly via their IP address
• DNS Support: Use --dns-domain test to access via hostname (e.g., my-app.test)
• Container Discovery: Use container ls to find container IP addresses

Example Workflow

# Run a web server
container run -d --name my-web --dns-domain test nginx:latest

# Check container IP
container ls
# Shows: my-web running at 192.168.64.3

# Access directly
curl http://192.168.64.3
# Or via DNS: curl http://my-web.test

Architecture

• Frontend: React 18 + Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Tauri 2.x (Rust)
• Container Runtime: Apple Container CLI
• Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon optimized)

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test with Apple Container CLI
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Apple for the open-source Container project
• Tauri team for the excellent desktop app framework
• React and Tailwind CSS communities

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Note: This GUI is designed specifically for Apple's container CLI and requires Apple Silicon hardware. It provides a modern alternative to command-line container management on macOS.