Features — kcore Hypervisor

Design Principles

The decisions that shape kcore

API Is the Product

The gRPC API is the primary interface. Every operation — creating VMs, managing storage, configuring networks — goes through the API. The CLI, web UI, and any agent tooling are all API consumers.

Declarative Over Imperative

You describe the desired state. kcore converges to it. No step-by-step scripts that break when something changes. State reconciliation is built into the core loop.

Immutable Host

The base system does not change at runtime. Updates are applied as new system generations. If an update fails, you boot the previous generation. No partial states.

Agents Are First-Class Citizens

AI agents and automation tools interact with kcore through the same APIs that humans use. The platform is machine-friendly by design — structured inputs, predictable outputs, no GUI-only workflows.

Simple Over Clever

kcore favors straightforward solutions. A small, correct system is better than a large, feature-complete one that's hard to reason about. Complexity is the enemy.

Operator Control

You own your hardware, your data, and your configuration. kcore does not phone home, require a cloud account, or impose licensing restrictions on how you use it.

Atomic Updates & Rollback

The host OS is built on NixOS. System updates produce a new generation. If something goes wrong, you boot the previous generation. There is no "partially applied update" state.

✓
Immutable Base System
The core OS is defined declaratively. Runtime changes don't persist.
✓
Generation-Based Rollback
Every update creates a new bootable generation. Rollback is a reboot, not a repair.
✓
Reproducible Builds
Same inputs produce the same system image. No configuration drift across nodes.

Generation 1 (Current)

↓

Apply Update → Generation 2

↓

✓ Boot successful

✗ Boot failed

↓

Reboot → Generation 1

Declarative Infrastructure

Define what you want. kcore makes it happen. Version control your entire infrastructure. Reproduce it on another set of hardware with the same config files.

✓
Terraform Provider
Manage kcore resources alongside your existing Terraform workflows. (In development.)
✓
YAML Specs
Define VMs, networks, and storage in plain YAML. Apply with kctl.
✓
Version Control Friendly
All configuration is text. Commit it to git. Review changes in PRs. Deploy from CI.

# infrastructure/vms.tf
resource "kcore_vm" "web" {
  count  = 3
  name   = "web-${count.index}"
  memory = 4096
  vcpu   = 2

  disk {
    size         = "50GB"
    storage_class = "local-lvm"
  }

  network {
    name = "internal"
  }
}

Agent-Friendly Architecture

kcore is designed so that automation agents — including AI agents — can interact with the platform through the same interfaces humans use. No special "AI mode." The platform is machine-friendly by default.

✓
MCP Server
Built-in Model Context Protocol server lets AI agents query and manage infrastructure. (In development.)
✓
Structured APIs
gRPC with typed schemas. Agents get predictable inputs and outputs, not scraped HTML or CLI parsing.
✓
Declarative Workflows
Agents describe desired state. The platform handles convergence. No multi-step imperative sequences to get wrong.

Human / CLI / Script

↓

gRPC API

↑

AI Agent / MCP Client / Terraform

Same API. Same access. No special treatment.

How kcore Compares

An honest look at the current state. kcore is alpha software.

Capability	kcore (alpha)	Proxmox
API-first design	✓ gRPC	REST (secondary to UI)
Declarative config	✓ Native	✗ Imperative
Immutable host OS	✓ NixOS	✗ Debian (mutable)
Agent-friendly interfaces	✓ By design	✗ Not a design goal
Production maturity	Alpha	✓ Battle-tested
Community & ecosystem	Early	✓ Large
HA & clustering	In progress	✓ Mature
Web UI	Planned	✓ Full-featured

kcore is alpha software and does not yet match Proxmox in feature completeness or stability. This table reflects architectural direction, not current parity.

Want to Try kcore?

We're looking for early testers and design partners who want to help build a modern alternative to Proxmox.

Request Early Access Read the Docs

Alpha software. For labs, experimentation, and early design partners only.

Technical Overview