Launch HN: Cua (YC X25) – Open-Source Docker Container for Computer-Use Agents

Summary

TL;DR: c/ua (pronounced "koo-ah", short for Computer-Use Agent) is a framework that enables AI agents to control full operating systems within high-performance, lightweight virtual containers. It delivers up to 97% native speed on Apple Silicon and works with any vision language models. What is c/ua? c/ua offers two primary capabilities in a single integrated framework: High-Performance Virtualization - Create and run macOS/Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon with near-native performance (up to 97% of native speed) using the Lume CLI with Apple's Virtualization.Framework . Computer-Use Interface & Agent - A framework that allows AI systems to observe and control these virtual environments - interacting with applications, browsing the web, writing code, and performing complex workflows. Why Use c/ua? Security & Isolation : Run AI agents in fully isolated virtual environments instead of giving them access to your main system : Run AI agents in fully isolated virtual environments instead of giving them access to your main system Performance : Near-native performance on Apple Silicon : Near-native performance on Apple Silicon Flexibility : Run macOS or Linux environments with the same framework : Run macOS or Linux environments with the same framework Reproducibility : Create consistent, deterministic environments for AI agent workflows : Create consistent, deterministic environments for AI agent workflows LLM Integration: Built-in support for connecting to various LLM providers System Requirements Mac with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4 series) macOS 15 (Sequoia) or newer Python 3.10+ (required for the Computer, Agent, and MCP libraries). We recommend using Conda (or Anaconda) to create an ad hoc Python environment. Disk space for VM images (30GB+ recommended) Quick Start Option 1: Lume CLI Only (VM Management) If you only need the virtualization capabilities: sudo /bin/bash -c " $( curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install....