What Hostwright is
Hostwright is a Mac-native desired-state container platform for Apple container workloads.
You declare services in a versioned hostwright.yaml manifest. Hostwright validates intent, computes a deterministic plan, persists exact desired/observed/operation identity, and crosses a typed runtime-provider boundary for every runtime action.
What works today
Section titled “What works today”hostwright --versionandhostwright capabilities --jsonreport the build version and the exact capability set.hostwright init,validate, andplanprovide explicit Manifest v2, restricted fail-closed parsing, and deterministic planning.hostwright migrate previewproduces a deterministic non-writing preview for legacy v1/versionless manifests.status, boundedlogs,events,recovery, and local redacteddiagnosticsuse explicit state paths.- Confirmation-gated
applysupports only the currently declared narrow create/start/restart surface. cleanupclassifies first and deletes only exact cleanup-eligible Hostwright-owned non-running containers after token confirmation.hostwrightd --foregroundobserves, plans, checks bounded loopback health, and records events. It runs in the foreground and performs no unattended mutation.- SQLite schema v7 establishes UUID identity, provider binding, fencing, saga intent, compensation, and verification records.
- Secret references, local policy/team profiles, a one-shot Control API v2 process, advisory scheduler models, and unsigned developer distribution evidence exist within their documented narrow boundaries.
Capabilities outside this set are documented in Limitations.
Locked contracts
Section titled “Locked contracts”| Contract | Version |
|---|---|
| Manifest | 2 |
| Control API | 2 |
| Runtime Provider API | 2 |
| Plugin ABI | 1 |
| State schema | 7 |
How these docs are organized
Section titled “How these docs are organized”| Section | Answers |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Source setup and the runnable safe loop. |
| Concepts | Desired state, providers, reconciliation, state, policy, safety, and secrets. |
| Tasks | Walkthroughs labeled non-mutating, state-writing, or runtime-mutating. |
| Reference | CLI, manifest, compatibility, limitations, error codes, and policy. |
| Operations | Security, team workflow, the daemon, events, and diagnostics. |
Where to start
Section titled “Where to start”- Read Why Hostwright and Desired state.
- Read Non-goals and Limitations for the scope and current support boundary.
- Follow Install from source and the Quick start.
