Apple Container

Local Development with Apple Container CLI

This skill documents the usage of Apple's native container CLI as a drop-in replacement for Docker Desktop or Podman. It provides explicit command translations, orchestration tips (container-compose), and Kubernetes management guidelines.

• Use this skill WHEN asked to write Docker commands on this repository.
• Use this skill WHEN asked to build, run, or debug local containers.
• Use this skill BEFORE writing any shell scripts that execute docker commands.
• Use this skill WHEN setting up local Kubernetes (e.g., Minikube).

1. Always default to container instead of docker for any CLI execution.
2. Translate standard Docker commands to their native Apple Container equivalents according to the matrix in the context.
3. Use container-compose when asked to orchestrate multiple services or start docker-compose.yml files.
4. Scripts should prioritize container: When modifying universal shell scripts (e.g., start-dev.sh), ensure they check for container before falling back to docker.

Installation

Apple's native container toolset is installed on macOS 15+ via Homebrew.

• Base runtime: brew install --cask container
• Orchestration tool: brew install container-compose

Command Translation Matrix

| Docker Command | Apple Container Command | Description | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | docker run | container run | Run a command in a new container | | docker build | container build | Build an image from a Dockerfile | | docker ps | container ps | List running containers | | docker stop | container stop | Stop one or more running containers | | docker rm | container rm | Remove one or more containers | | docker images | container images | List available locally built/pulled images | | docker exec -it | container exec -it | Run a command in a running container | | docker logs -f | container logs -f | Fetch the logs of a container | | docker pull | container pull | Pull an image or a repository from a registry |

Orchestration Example

# Start services defined in docker-compose.yml
container-compose up -d

# Stop and remove containers, networks, and volumes
container-compose down -v

Running Kubernetes (Minikube)

Running a local Kubernetes cluster can be achieved on top of the container engine.

1. Install Minikube: brew install minikube.
2. Start Cluster: minikube start --driver=docker. (Minikube may use generic container interfaces).

• Networking: Local container networking differs slightly from Docker Desktop's managed network bridge. Exposing NodePorts natively to localhost may require minikube tunnel.
• Image Context: If you build an image locally using container build, ensure those images are loaded into the Minikube environment (minikube image load ) before Kubernetes can schedule pods using them.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: davenportjw
• Source: davenportjw/agent-skills
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.