DocsReleasesCommunityGuidesBlog

Welcome to Unikraft Unikernel LibOS Documentation 👋

The Unikraft Library Operating System is a faster and more secure alternative to running your application in a container or Linux VM. Instantly boost your application with minimal effort.

Learn more

The compute platform for sandboxes, AI agents, or any workload.

Get the most out of scale-to-zero, 'only on' pricing, and <10ms cold-starts.

Overview#

The Unikraft Library Operating System is a fast, secure and open-source Unikernel Development Kit which enables you to easily build minimal, ultra-lightweight virtual machines. Running your application with Unikraft provides:

  • High performance and ultra lightweight deployments.
  • Strong, hardware-level isolation (they're VMs!) and a minimal TCB.
  • Ease of use, including integration with Dockerfiles and other mainstream tools.
  • Compatibility with the Linux API.

The Unikraft ecosystem consists of an extensive build system and tooling, libraries and pre-built unikernel applications. All of the source code is open-source and licensed under BSD-3-Clause (contributions welcome!). As an active community, we host regular working groups, hackathons, meetups and more.

Quick Start#

To build and deploy to the cloud, install the unikraft CLI tool (recommended):

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://unikraft.com/cli/install.sh | sh

See alternative installation methods and CLI usage instructions.

To begin building and using unikernels locally, first install the kraft CLI tool, which allows you to easily build and configure Unikraft unikernels:

curl -sSfL https://get.kraftkit.sh | sh

See alternative installation methods and CLI usage instructions.

To hack on Unikraft internals, please refer to baby steps guide.

Language & Framework Guides#

Unikraft works with your favorite programming languages. We've put together an application catalog with step-by-step guides: click on one of the following items and follow the instructions in the README.md.

What's Next?#

We've put together a number of guides in case you'd like to know more about Unikraft:

Contribute#

Looking to get involved? Contributions are welcome! Unikraft is an open-source project hosted on GitHub with weekly community meetings on Discord which follow on-going projects. There are also unclaimed projects, open issues, and opportunities for bachelors and masters theses.

Whether you're a beginner or advanced user, joining our community is the best way to connect with like-minded people who build great products.

Join the Discord

Follow us on Twitter

Edit this page on GitHub

Connect with the community

Feel free to ask questions, report issues, and meet new people.

Join us on Discord!
®

Getting Started

What is a unikernel?Install CLI companion toolUnikraft InternalsRoadmap

© 2026  The Unikraft Authors. All rights reserved. Documentation distributed under CC BY-NC 4.0.