Augur Sandboxes Claude Code in macOS VMs with Full Xcode

Summary

Augur is an open-source tool for running Claude Code and other AI coding workflows inside project-isolated environments on macOS. Its macOS VM mode uses Apple’s Virtualization.framework and Apple-signed IPSW and Xcode XIP assets to provide a guest with Xcode, xcodebuild, and the iOS Simulator, allowing headless Apple-platform builds and tests over SSH. A virtual display and auto-login are used so test types that require testmanagerd can run without a GUI interaction. Augur also offers a lighter Linux container mode for projects that do not need Xcode, using Apple Container on macOS 26 or newer. Both modes expose only the current project workspace, keep Claude history per project, avoid mounting the host credential store, and inject authentication through environment variables. Network access is filtered by a host-side proxy and domain allowlist by default, with project-specific domains requiring host approval. The tool documents important limits: a read-write repository mount means an agent can create Git hooks that later execute on the host, allowlisted services and the workspace remain possible exfiltration channels, and macOS VM guests are limited to two running instances per Mac. The macOS VM setup takes about 75 minutes, uses roughly 70 GB or more, and requires Apple Silicon, Apple-signed assets, Swift, and Go for the VM egress path. The project’s full macOS VM end-to-end test is run locally because GitHub-hosted macOS runners do not provide nested virtualization; releases are gated on that local proof.