podcvd is a command-line tool that runs each Cuttlefish instance group inside
its own rootless Podman container. podcvd has the same
command-line interface as cvd, so you can run podcvd create or
podcvd fleet just as you would run cvd create or cvd fleet.
Advantages of podcvd
The advantages of podcvd are described in this section.
Isolation between instance groups
With cvd, all instance groups on a host share the same network ports,
sockets, and runtime state. With podcvd, each instance group runs in a
dedicated container, so groups can't conflict with each other or with other
software on the host.
Multiple clients on one host
Several clients, such as multiple developers or AI agents, can run their own
Cuttlefish devices on the same host at the same time. Setting the
PODCVD_CLIENT_ID environment variable scopes podcvd commands to the
instance groups of one client, so a command such as podcvd clear from one
client doesn't affect the devices of another. The Cuttlefish repository also
provides a podcvd skill that lets AI agents create, control, and clean up
devices.
Identical interface to cvd
Despite these differences, podcvd has exactly the same command-line interface
as cvd. You can use the same commands and flags that you already use with
cvd, so there's no learning curve when you switch to podcvd.
Get started
The podcvd documentation is maintained in the
android-cuttlefish repository
on GitHub:
podcvd: Host requirements, installation, host setup, andPODCVD_CLIENT_ID- Container images:
The
cuttlefish-orchestrationcontainer image thatpodcvduses podcvdskill: The skill for AI agents