Overview

The native backend is a second way for Hack to run your project. It is a beta for Apple Silicon Macs. Docker Compose is still the default, and nothing changes for a project unless you choose native for it.

What it isCopy Anchor Link

Hack needs something to run your services in. Today that is Docker Compose, which needs a Docker app running on your machine.

With the native backend, Hack runs your Compose project in a small Linux virtual machine that Hack owns. Docker runs inside that machine, so you do not need Docker Desktop or OrbStack on the Mac. Hack starts the machine, checks it, and cleans up after it.

It is not a different container format. Your images and your Compose file are the same. All your native projects share one virtual machine, the way Compose projects share one Docker machine.

Your project stays the same. The .hack/ folder, the commands (hack up, hack down, hack logs) and your env and secrets are the same on both backends.

What it is notCopy Anchor Link

• Not the default. Compose runs your project unless you select native.
• Not in stable Hack. It ships only through the separate hack-next channel. The stable release archives and the Homebrew formula do not contain it.
• Not for every platform. It runs on Apple Silicon macOS only. Intel Macs, Linux and Windows use Compose.
• Not a full replacement for Compose yet. It supports a limited set of commands and Compose features. See what works and known limits.
• Not a migration. Trying native does not convert your project or move your data. Your stable setup is left alone.
• Not proven faster or lighter. We have published no measurement that compares native with Compose, so we make no speed, memory or battery claims.
• Not a wall between projects. Native projects share one virtual machine.

Why try itCopy Anchor Link

What you get today:

• No Docker Desktop install or licence. Hack brings what it needs.
• Ports stay on your machine. A Compose port bound to every network interface (0.0.0.0) is narrowed to your own machine, so a dev service is not open to the network you are on.
• You can limit where containers connect. An optional list names the hosts your containers may reach.
• Risky container settings are refused. For example, privileged: true does not run.
• Images are checked when pulled. Hack verifies each image against its digest, a fingerprint of its exact contents.
• Crashes are handled in the open. Hack detects a crashed run and cleans it up with an explicit command. hack down keeps your data.
• Safe to try. hack-next installs beside stable Hack with its own files. It does not edit your PATH, your stable hack, or ~/.hack.

What you give up today:

• Following logs live.
• Interactive shells in a container.
• UDP ports.
• Automatic restart for services that publish a port.
• A one-command setup. Preparing the runtime is still manual.

Use Compose if you need any of these.

Who should try itCopy Anchor Link

Try it if you use an Apple Silicon Mac, you are comfortable testing beta software, and you have a project you can afford to break. Start with a disposable project and synthetic data.

Stay on Compose if you need every Compose feature, you work on Linux or an Intel Mac, or the project holds data you cannot lose.

Where to go nextCopy Anchor Link

1. Try it: install, run one project on native, and switch back.
2. What works and known limits.
3. Reference: the detailed pages, by topic.

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