Local voice AI / Guide 2 of 7

Set up the container runtime

Choose Colima or Docker Desktop and confirm Docker is ready.

Run this step · Terminal

brew install colima docker docker-compose
colima start --cpu 2 --memory 4
docker info   # confirm the daemon is responsive

Install a runtime

Kokoro runs as a Docker container. On macOS you've got two reasonable choices for the Docker daemon. We recommend Colima for this stack, but Docker Desktop also works.

Colima (recommended)

Open-source. Lightweight. Free for any use, including commercial. Runs a small Linux VM under the hood via Lima, but you interact with the standard docker CLI exactly as you would with Docker Desktop. No Electron GUI burning your battery, lower RAM footprint, faster cold starts. Fits the local-first philosophy of the rest of this stack — fewer moving parts, fewer license surprises.

The --cpu 2 --memory 4 flags give the Linux VM 2 CPUs and 4 GB RAM, plenty for Kokoro. Bump them up if you'll also run other containers.

Colima persists across reboots only if you start it again. If you want it on every login, add a tiny launchd agent — instructions inthe troubleshooting lesson.

Docker Desktop (alternative)

Polished GUI for managing containers. Docker Compose and Kubernetes bundled. Fine if you prefer a visual interface or already have it installed. Worth knowing: Docker Desktop is free for personal and small-business use, but charges companies above 250 employees / $10M revenue — Colima sidesteps that entirely.

bash

brew install --cask docker
open /Applications/Docker.app

Wait for the whale icon in your menu bar to settle. First launch takes a minute.

Whichever you pick, docker should work on the command line from here on. The rest of this guide is identical either way.

It’s working if

docker info returns server information. You only need one of the two runtime options.