Documentation

Hack runs the whole project on your machine: services, environment, secrets, local HTTPS URLs, startup helpers and logs, all from a small .hack/ folder committed with the repository. One command starts a repo. Projects and branches run side by side without colliding. Nothing is hosted.

v5 is the same CLI and project model as v4 with a new runtime layer underneath. Docker Compose stays the default backend. The native backend (beta, Apple Silicon macOS) is opt-in and ships only through the hack-next channel, not in the stable archives or the Homebrew formula. Read Upgrade from v4 for what changed and what was retired.

Start with Install, then Getting started.

Understand the projectCopy Anchor Link

• Core concepts: projects, services, instances and local URLs.
• Environment and secrets: committed configuration with encrypted values.
• Lifecycle: hooks, tunnels and host helpers that start with the project.
• Sessions: persistent terminal workspaces per project.

Do a taskCopy Anchor Link

• Run and inspect a project
• Choose where a command runs
• Work on another branch
• Share environment and secrets
• Manage helpers and tunnels
• Use a cloud agent or another host
• Try the native backend (beta)

Native backend (beta)Copy Anchor Link

A second way to run the same project on an Apple Silicon Mac. Hack starts its own small Linux virtual machine instead of using a Docker app. It is opt-in, and Compose stays the default.

• Overview: what it is, what it is not, and why to try it.
• Try it: install, run one project on native, switch back.
• What works and known limits

Work with an agentCopy Anchor Link

Agent handoff gives an agent this version's documentation exports and a short brief. Agent integrations covers the optional hack plugin, its skills and the separate MCP server.

Find details or diagnose a problemCopy Anchor Link

Use the CLI overview to choose a command, the command reference for flags, the reference index for schemas and agent interfaces, and Architecture for the runtime model. When something looks wrong, run hack doctor on the machine running Hack and follow its diagnosis.

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Source: v5 (next.12) · docs/site/index.md.