# fungi vm vs DevVM

> Compare fungi vm and DevVM, two ways to run a coding agent in a Lima VM that mounts only your project folder. What each isolates, and when to pick which.

**`fungi vm`** is a command in Fungi's `fungi` CLI. Run it in a project folder
and it creates an Ubuntu VM with [Lima](https://lima-vm.io/) that mounts only
that folder, installs Spore and opens Shiitake, Fungi's coding agent, inside it.
You sign in with your Claude or ChatGPT subscription in the VM. **DevVM** (MIT)
is a general tool that gives every project its own Lima VM with the project's
toolchains, for you or for a coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or
opencode. DevVM also limits the VM's network and keeps your secrets outside it.
Both are free software that runs on your own machine.

## Who each one is for

- **Choose `fungi vm`** if you use Shiitake and want it in a separate Linux VM
  with one command, using a plain Lima template you can read and run yourself.
- **Choose DevVM** if you use Claude Code, Codex or opencode, want the VM to
  come with your project's toolchains, or need the VM's network limited and your
  tokens kept outside it.

## What each one does

| Job                | `fungi vm`                                                             | DevVM                                                                                                     |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Agent in the VM    | Shiitake                                                               | Claude Code, Codex or opencode, with settings imported from your machine                                  |
| What the VM mounts | Only the project folder, writable                                      | Only the project folder, or a separate clone of the repository with `devvm --clone`                       |
| Toolchains         | Ubuntu 24.04 with Node.js 24 and Spore; install anything else yourself | Detects Node, Python, Rust, Go and .NET from the project's files; optional Docker, Nix and desktop layers |
| Network            | Full internet, your local network and services on your computer        | An allowlist by default, with other tiers you can choose                                                  |
| Logins and tokens  | Stored on the VM's disk                                                | Kept on your machine; a host proxy adds supported credentials to allowed requests                         |
| Platforms          | Apple Silicon macOS 13.5+, Linux with KVM; Lima 2.0+                   | macOS 13+ or Linux, arm64 or x86_64; Lima 2.2+                                                            |
| Under the hood     | A published Lima template; every `limactl` command is printed first    | Its own CLI over Lima, with base images shared between VMs                                                |

## Where DevVM is the better choice

- **Network limits.** `fungi vm` is a separate VM, not a network sandbox. DevVM
  restricts which hosts a VM can reach by default.
- **Secrets stay home.** DevVM keeps tokens such as your GitHub and Claude Code
  logins on your machine. With `fungi vm`, logins live on the VM's disk.
- **A review step.** `devvm --clone` keeps the agent's work in its own clone
  until you fetch and review it.
- **Toolchains and other agents.** DevVM sets up your project's languages and
  runs the coding agent you already use.

## Where `fungi vm` is the better choice

- **Shiitake on your subscription.** `fungi vm login` signs Shiitake in with
  your Claude or ChatGPT subscription inside the VM.
- **Nothing extra to install.** If you already have the `fungi` command and
  Lima, there is no other tool.
- **Plain Lima.** The template is one YAML file you can read, and the guide
  shows the same steps with `limactl` alone.
- **Two layers.** Shiitake's Workspace sandbox also works inside the VM.

## Try `fungi vm`

With [Spore installed](/install/) and Lima 2.0 or newer:

```sh
cd your-project
fungi vm
```

[Run Fungi in its own VM](/guides/run-fungi-in-a-vm/) explains what the VM can
reach, how to sign in and how to stop or remove it.

## Sources

Checked on 8 November 2026:

- [DevVM README](https://github.com/devvmhq/devvm#readme) and
  [docs](https://devvm.dev/docs/), release v0.1.0
- [Run Fungi in its own VM](/guides/run-fungi-in-a-vm/); its Lima template ships
  in the Spore package as `dist/lima/fungi-vm.yaml`