LimaNix
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Early release

Linux dev machines, declared in one file on your Mac

LimaNix runs NixOS virtual machines. Pick a shell, toolchains and services in limanix.toml, and LimaNix builds the machine and keeps it that way.

Download for macOSRead the guide

Everything a project needs, nothing it does not

A few lines of limanix.toml turn into tools you use every day.

limanix.toml
[shell]preset = "terminal"prompt = "pure"editor = "astronvim"multiplexer = "tmux"
limanix.toml
[toolchains]go = "1.27"rust = "stable"python = "3.15"nodejs = "26"java = "21"gradle = "9"
limanix.toml
[nixos]modules = ["lmx:docker", "lmx:postgres"]packages = ["kubectl", "unstable:helix"]
limanix.toml
[[mounts]]source = "." # this projecttarget = "/workspace"[[mounts]]source = "../fixtures"target = "/mnt/fixtures"mode = "ro" # read-only in the VM
limanix.toml
[shell]dotfiles = "~/dotfiles"# ~/dotfiles/.gitconfig → ~/.gitconfig# ~/dotfiles/.zshrc → ~/.zshrc# ~/dotfiles/.config/nvim → ~/.config/nvim
dev@my-vm
$ lmx status # how the VM is doing$ lmx doctor # what is wrong, and the fix$ lmx help docker # commands and tasks of a module
limanix.toml
[shell]preset = "terminal"prompt = "pure"editor = "astronvim"multiplexer = "tmux"

A catalog that fits together

Shell components, toolchains and services share one theme and know about each other. Anything else comes from nixpkgs.

  • Shell components
  • Toolchains
  • Modules
Expand

Pick a module to see what it works with.

Browse the catalog in the docs

From a file to a running machine

limanix is the only thing you install on the Mac.

  1. Download

    One binary for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs on macOS 26 or newer.

    Download for macOS

  2. Create

    Describe the machine in limanix.toml and build it.

    limanix create --config limanix.toml

  3. Work in it

    Open a shell, or connect VS Code, Cursor, Zed or JetBrains over SSH.

    limanix shell my-vm

Change the file later and run limanix update. The VM keeps running while the new system builds, and restarts into it only if the build succeeds.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. LimaNix is open source under the Apache License 2.0.

No. limanix.toml covers the shell, toolchains, modules and packages. When you need more, a NixOS module of your own plugs into the same VM.

LimaNix runs its VMs with Lima, built into the limanix binary. On top it adds a NixOS system built from your file, a catalog of modules that work together, and updates that build before the VM restarts.

They run containers well. LimaNix describes the whole development machine in limanix.toml: the shell, languages, services and packages, built the same way on every Mac. Containers run inside it too: add lmx:docker for Docker Engine with Compose.

Devcontainers run a project in a container and need a container runtime on the Mac. nix-darwin and devenv install Nix and your tools on macOS itself. LimaNix keeps all of it in a Linux VM, where Linux tools and services run as they do on a server, and the Mac needs only limanix.

Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 26 or newer.

Project folders stay on your Mac and are shared into the VM. Your home in the VM is stored on the Mac too: it survives updates and stays when you delete the VM.

Your next Linux machine is one file away

Download for macOS