Skip to content
docs.microagent.sh

Host requirements

Last updated: 2026-06-27

microagent supports Linux and macOS hosts. WSL can work when it exposes the Linux virtualization features microagent needs. Windows Hyper-V is experimental.

Run microagent doctor on the machine that will boot workspaces:

Terminal window
microagent doctor

doctor checks the host path, supervisor, guest init, kernel, virtualization, console support, and the networking prerequisites for the default user network mode.

Linux

Section titled “Linux”

Linux hosts need:

  • KVM available to the current user
  • vsock support
  • /dev/net/tun
  • unprivileged user namespaces
  • pasta for the default user network mode
  • the installed microagent supervisor and guest init
  • a default microagent kernel

Source installs try to put the required binaries in the install prefix. If host policy blocks user namespaces or KVM, fix that policy before starting a workspace.

macOS

Section titled “macOS”

macOS hosts need:

  • Apple silicon
  • Apple Virtualization.framework
  • the installed microagent Apple VF supervisor
  • the installed guest init
  • a default arm64 microagent kernel

WSL

Section titled “WSL”

WSL uses the Linux path. It is not a separate product mode, and microagent does not fall back from WSL to Windows Hyper-V. Run microagent doctor inside the WSL environment; it must report the Linux prerequisites as available.

Windows Hyper-V

Section titled “Windows Hyper-V”

Windows Hyper-V support is experimental. It is useful for evaluation on Windows hosts, but Linux and macOS are the supported release targets.

Overrides

Section titled “Overrides”

Most users should let microagent pick the host backend. Use --backend only when testing a specific host path:

Terminal window
microagent doctor --backend linux-kvm
microagent doctor --backend apple-vf

If a request names a backend that does not match the host, microagent fails before building a rootfs or starting a supervisor.