🛂 Guest passport controlCURRENT MAIN · EXPERIMENTAL

Give your
CPU a
passport.

Linux, Windows and library-free macOS guests visit an ARM64 Mac. UNIVERSE decodes their instructions and translates supported OS calls itself.

Launch a guest See how it works
⚡ Own loaders + CPU execution · optional ARM64 JIT · no QEMU, Wine or Rosetta.
Linux x86-64 and RISC-V, AArch64, Windows PE32+ and macOS Mach-O guests orbit the UNIVERSE runtime. Verified host: ARM64 macOS.
3 guest CPUsx86-64 / RISC-V + F/D subset / AArch64
3 guest formatsELF64 / PE32+ / MACH-O64 SUBSETS
ARM64 JITOPTIONAL · VERIFIED ON MACOS
Open sourceAPACHE-2.0 / BUILT IN ZIG
🪐 01 / A small interplanetary trip

Foreign code.
Real execution.

An ELF, PE or library-free Mach-O binary enters. UNIVERSE decodes its instructions and translates its OS calls on an ARM64 Mac.

A different destination
for your machine code.

These are recorded outputs from real, source-built guests in our local regression suite. Pick an example to see its command and result.

  1. 01Load the binary
  2. 02Decode into UIR
  3. 03Execute the guest
UNIVERSE / VERIFIED EXAMPLES 
# host: Apple M2 · ARM64 macOS 26.6
# guest: static Linux x86-64 ELF64

$ ./zig-out/bin/universe artifacts/guests/x86_64/hello-asm
Hello from x86-64 Linux!
Recorded locally · not a browser emulator
🌍 Fresh arrivals / Real downloaded apps

Internet binaries.
Mac destination.

Official Linux and Windows x86-64 releases, unchanged. JSON, text, file searches, BusyBox utilities, shell scripts, external pipelines and archive workflows run on Apple M2 in both interpreter and JIT modes. Build current main and download the verified apps ↗.

LINUX → ARM64 MAC

jq 1.8.2

Filter JSON, add decimal prices, sort Unicode names and read real files.

JSON / STDIN
printf '{"answer":42}\n' |
  ./zig-out/bin/universe \
  artifacts/public-apps/jq '.answer'
VERIFIED OUTPUT 42
LINUX → ARM64 MAC

ripgrep 15.2.0

Search text with regexes, print line numbers and scan directories with two guest workers.

TEXT / STDIN
printf 'alpha\nbeta\ngamma\n' |
  ./zig-out/bin/universe \
  --allow-files \
  artifacts/public-apps/rg --threads 1 \
  --color never -n '^(alpha|gamma)'
VERIFIED OUTPUT 1:alpha · 3:gamma
LINUX → ARM64 MAC

7-Zip 26.03

Create ZIP and threaded 7z archives, extract folders, preserve timestamps and hash real files.

ARCHIVE / FILES
./zig-out/bin/universe \
  --allow-files \
  artifacts/public-apps/7zzs a \
  -tzip -mmt=off -mx=1 \
  artifacts/universe-docs.zip README.md
VERIFIED RESULT ZIP + threaded 7z round trips ✓
WINDOWS → ARM64 MAC

7-Zip 26.03 / Windows

Run the original Windows executable. ZIP/7z round trips, Unicode filenames and hashes work.

WINDOWS EXE / FILES
python3 scripts/public-apps.py --windows
./zig-out/bin/universe \
  --allow-files \
  artifacts/public-apps/7za.exe a \
  -tzip -mmt=off -mx=1 \
  artifacts/windows-docs.zip README.md
VERIFIED RESULT 34 workflows across both engines ✓
LINUX → ARM64 MAC

fd 10.5.0 / File finder

Find files, directories and symlinks. Unicode names, ignore rules, exact paths and two-thread searches pass.

FIND / REAL SOURCE FILES
./zig-out/bin/universe --allow-files \
  --max-instructions 30000000 --timeout-ms 30000 \
  artifacts/public-apps/fd --threads 2 \
  --color never --type f --extension c . examples
VERIFIED RESULT 19 file-search workflows per engine ✓
LINUX → ARM64 MAC

BusyBox 1.35.0 / Utility kit

Format, filter, hash and copy real files. Run selected shell scripts, external pipelines, signal traps and background jobs. Internal null/zero devices and synthetic /proc/mounts do not expose host device or mount tables. Try guest devices + a background job ↗

UTILITIES / ORIGINAL BINARY
./zig-out/bin/universe \
  artifacts/public-apps/busybox \
  printf '%s:%04d\n' hello 42
VERIFIED OUTPUT hello:0042
DYNAMIC LINUX → ARM64 MAC

GNU Hello + coreutils Debian / glibc 2.41

Run unchanged apps with their original Linux libraries. Greetings, sorting, hashes, simple and long listings, and file metadata pass. Try dynamic Linux apps ↗

DEBIAN APP / ORIGINAL LIBRARIES
python3 scripts/debian.py
./zig-out/bin/universe --allow-files \
  --sysroot artifacts/debian-hello-amd64/sysroot \
  artifacts/debian-hello-amd64/sysroot/usr/bin/hello
VERIFIED OUTPUT Hello, world!

SHA-256 pinned downloads · 334 static Linux + 118 Debian/glibc + 34 Windows checks pass across both engines · CLI scope. Windows denied-access exits now run the app's own C++ cleanup and catch code. Linux guest threads also extract the Windows release through UNIVERSE itself. GUI apps and general app compatibility are future destinations.

🧭 02 / The current flight manifest

Which worlds
can we reach?

Working examples, honest boundaries. Execution below is verified on Apple M2 / macOS 26.6 ARM64.

Guest Format Verified examples Level
🌍 jq + ripgrep + 7-Zip + fd + BusyBox / x86-64 Static ELF64 Official Linux binaries: JSON/text processing, threaded file searches, Unicode/filter/ignore paths, ZIP/7z archives, hashing, BusyBox utilities/file copies, virtual identity, selected shell scripts, external commands and error exits CLI workflows
📦 7-Zip / Windows x86-64 PE32+ Official unchanged binary: 34 archive/hash/error workflows pass, including C++ cleanup and catch on denied access CLI workflows
🐧 Linux / x86-64 ELF64 Assembly, core C fixtures, PIE, static musl and pthread TLS/mutex/condition/join checks; MMX integer and SSSE3 forms, XMM bridges and floating conversions, bounded RCP/RSQRT, PUSHFW/PUSHFQ, byte-checked streaming stores and masks, POPCNT/BSWAP, SSE4.2 CRC32C/PCMPGTQ and selected SSE2–SSE4.1 suites Executed
🔗 musl / x86-64 + AArch64 + RISC-V LP64 Dynamic ELF64 / PIE Optional DSO, constructor and single-thread TLS fixture Experimental
🐧 Linux / RISC-V ELF64 Ten C fixtures in both integer variants, word/doubleword atomics and musl pthreads Executed
🐧 Linux / AArch64 ELF64 Integer/NEON fixtures, 8,448 TBL/TBX/MLA/MLS queries per engine matching native ARM64 bytes, checked LDAR/STLR and musl pthread pipe transfers Executed
🪟 Windows / x86-64 PE32+ Terminal input/control callbacks, shared file views, fixed/movable local memory, message diagnostics, current/temp directories, logical C drive, directory/link reparse metadata, file/stream enumeration, loaded module paths, UTF-8/UTF-16 conversion, virtual CPU/memory and disk-space queries, file mutations/metadata/times, calendar/local clocks, guest DLLs/TLS, OLEAUT32/USER32/ADVAPI32 subsets, legacy CRT and single-thread events/semaphores/waits/locks Executed
🧰 BusyBox / x86-64 Static ELF64 Selected text + file applets, including grep, sed and touch Applet subset
🗃️ SQLite / x86-64 Static ELF64 Persisted transactions, rollback, VACUUM, native reopen and lock contention Batch CLI subset
🍎 macOS / x86-64 + ARM64 Mach-O64 Five library-free console, argv/env, memory and file fixtures Executed

Partial compatibility. No complete CPU ISA, arbitrary app compatibility or full shell functionality is claimed. Linux host builds are cross-compiled; execution there is unverified. This page follows the v0.2.1 release and current main. File mutations require --allow-files.

Read the exact boundaries ↗
🧬 03 / Under the flight deck

One shared
execution core.

Architecture-specific decoders feed a small universal IR. Checked guest memory, a Zig interpreter and a native ARM64 register-block JIT do the execution.

LOADELF + PE + Mach-O
Validated bytes
DECODE3 guest CPUs
Explicit operands
UIRTyped operations
Shared execution
EXECUTEInterpreter + JIT
ABI translation

The JIT is optional. It accelerates our measured RISC-V workload and slows down the measured x86 and AArch64 cases.

See the actual measurements ↗

Follow every instruction

Step, set a breakpoint, inspect registers, dump UIR and trace syscalls.

Built here, in Zig

The loaders, decoders, guest memory, interpreter and JIT belong to UNIVERSE.

Files stay opt-in

Guest file access is denied by default. Tested Linux file mutations require --allow-files.

🚀 04 / Ready for liftoff

Your first
foreign guest.

Clone the project, build the runtime and compile the checked-in guests. Then send a Linux x86-64 binary through UNIVERSE.

Open the launch manual ↗
ZIG 0.16.0 + PYTHON 3
VERIFIED HOST / ARM64 MACOS 26.6
MACOS ARM64 RELEASE BUNDLE AVAILABLE
TERMINAL / QUICK START 
git clone https://github.com/OthmaneBlial/universe.git
cd universe
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
python3 scripts/fixtures.py
./zig-out/bin/universe artifacts/guests/x86_64/hello-asm
EXPECTED OUTPUT
Hello from x86-64 Linux!
✨ 05 / A long way to explore

The universe
is still expanding.

The core idea works. Broader application compatibility is the next expedition: more instructions, richer OS behavior and real programs driving each regression.

Follow the roadmap ↗
Broader CPU / SIMD coverageNEXT
Broader dynamic guests + Linux processesNEXT
Remaining Windows APIs / exception handlingEXPLORING
macOS dyld / shared-library coverageEXPLORING
Performance + security reviewCONTINUING