# LocalCloud

> LocalCloud is a local Google Cloud emulator: one Docker container that serves 25 Google Cloud services on localhost, so developers, CI jobs, and AI coding agents can run Google Cloud code without a GCP account, credentials, or billing.

- Runs BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Pub/Sub, Spanner, Bigtable, Firestore, Cloud SQL, Memorystore (Redis/Valkey), Dataproc, Cloud Run, and more in one container.
- Standard Google Cloud SDKs and Terraform connect through generated emulator environment variables.
- Stores local state in a named Docker volume and includes a web console for service health and local data.
- Installs as a CLI on macOS and Linux; any Docker host can run the container directly.
- Free during the public preview for non-production use, and free for open-source projects.

Use LocalCloud for development, testing, and CI, and validate application behavior against real Google Cloud before production deployment.

## Quick start

```bash
curl -fsSL https://local.cloud/install.sh | sh
localcloud doctor
localcloud start --local-only
curl -fsS http://localhost:5380/readiness
eval "$(localcloud env)"
localcloud console
```

- Homebrew alternative to the first line: `brew install LocalGCloud/tap/localcloud`.
- `localcloud start` waits for the runtime. The CLI remaps a default port when it is in use; use the URLs and endpoint values it returns.
- Without the CLI (for example on Windows), follow the [manual Docker path](https://local.cloud/docs/#manual-docker-path).

## Runtime facts

- Default project: `local-gcp-project`
- Default user: `local-developer`
- Default data volume: `localcloud-data`; select another with `--data-volume NAME`.
- CLI memory default: `4g`
- Readiness endpoint (wait for it before application traffic): `http://localhost:5380/readiness`
- Health endpoint: `http://localhost:5380/health`
- Shell environment: `http://localhost:5380/env?format=shell`
- Terraform environment: `http://localhost:5380/env?format=terraform`

## Agent resources

- [Agent guide](https://local.cloud/ai/agents.md): install-first quick start, rules, and workflow for coding agents
- [AGENTS.md template](https://local.cloud/ai/agent-template.md): repository instructions to copy into a project
- [Service matrix](https://local.cloud/ai/services.md): ports, environment variables, and guides
- [Capabilities and boundaries](https://local.cloud/ai/compatibility.md): what each service runs locally
- [Docs index for agents](https://local.cloud/ai/docs.md)
- [Full documentation](https://local.cloud/llms-full.txt): every docs page, service guide and comparison in one Markdown file
- [Agent Skills](https://github.com/LocalGCloud/LocalGCloud.github.io/tree/main/agent-skills): portable skills for `.agents/skills/`

## Docs

Every docs page, service guide and comparison also has a Markdown version: replace the trailing slash with `.md`, for example https://local.cloud/docs/configuration.md, https://local.cloud/services/bigquery.md and https://local.cloud/compare/google-emulators.md (the section pages are https://local.cloud/docs/index.md, https://local.cloud/services/index.md and https://local.cloud/compare/index.md).

- [Getting started](https://local.cloud/docs/): install, start, and make a first request
- [Configuration](https://local.cloud/docs/configuration/): services, projects, persistence, and networking
- [SDK examples](https://local.cloud/docs/sdk-examples/): Google Cloud client libraries against localhost
- [LocalCloud MCP](https://local.cloud/docs/mcp/): CLI 0.1.9+ setup, coding clients, agent workflows, tools, and troubleshooting
- [Terraform](https://local.cloud/docs/terraform/): provider endpoint overrides
- [Seed data](https://local.cloud/docs/seed-data/): repeatable local fixtures
- [Architecture](https://local.cloud/docs/architecture/)
- [Web console](https://local.cloud/docs/console/)
- [Service catalog](https://local.cloud/services/)
- [Compatibility and limitations](https://local.cloud/compatibility/)
- [FAQ](https://local.cloud/docs/faq/)
- [Privacy](https://local.cloud/docs/privacy/)

## Services

Every service in the table runs locally. Firestore, GKE, and Cloud Run are opt-in: `--services` sets the exact list of service IDs to run, for example `localcloud start --local-only --services firestore,bigtable,spanner`. Google Sheets serves read-only spreadsheet values as fixtures for other services. Bigtable, Spanner, GKE, Cloud Run, and Cloud KMS are Pro-tier services, marked "Pro tier, free during preview": they are free during the public preview and need no license key ([pricing](https://local.cloud/pricing/#pro-tier)).

| Service | ID | Starts by default | Endpoints | Environment variable | Guide |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Firestore | `firestore` | opt-in | gRPC :5384 | `FIRESTORE_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5384` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/firestore/) |
| Bigtable | `bigtable` | yes | gRPC :5385 | `BIGTABLE_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5385` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/bigtable/) |
| Spanner | `spanner` | yes | gRPC :5386 · HTTP/REST :5387 | `SPANNER_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5386` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/spanner/) |
| AlloyDB | `alloydb` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `ALLOYDB_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/alloydb/) |
| Memorystore (Redis/Valkey) | `memorystore` | yes | RESP :5390 | `REDIS_HOST=localhost:5390` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/memorystore/) |
| Cloud SQL | `cloudsql` | yes | HTTP/REST :5380 · PostgreSQL :5391 · MySQL :5406 | `CLOUD_SQL_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-sql/) |
| Pub/Sub | `pubsub` | yes | gRPC :5383 | `PUBSUB_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5383` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/pubsub/) |
| Cloud Tasks | `cloudtasks` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `CLOUD_TASKS_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-tasks/) |
| Cloud Scheduler | `cloudscheduler` | yes | gRPC + HTTP/REST :5380 | `CLOUD_SCHEDULER_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-scheduler/) |
| Cloud Workflows | `workflows` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `WORKFLOWS_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-workflows/) |
| Cloud Functions (2nd Gen) | `cloudfunctions` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `CLOUD_FUNCTIONS_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-functions/) |
| GKE | `gke` | opt-in | gRPC :5380 · k3d :5443 | `GKE_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/gke/) |
| Cloud Run | `cloudrun` | opt-in | gRPC :5380 | `CLOUD_RUN_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-run/) |
| Secret Manager | `secretmanager` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `SECRET_MANAGER_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/secret-manager/) |
| Cloud IAM | `cloudiam` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `IAM_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-iam/) |
| Cloud KMS | `kms` | yes | gRPC + HTTP/REST :5380 | `CLOUD_KMS_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-kms/) |
| Cloud Resource Manager | `cloudresourcemanager` | yes | HTTP/REST :5380 | `CLOUD_RESOURCE_MANAGER_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-resource-manager/) |
| Service Usage | `serviceusage` | yes | HTTP/REST :5380 | `SERVICE_USAGE_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/service-usage/) |
| Cloud Billing | `cloudbilling` | yes | HTTP/REST :5380 | `CLOUD_BILLING_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-billing/) |
| Cloud Logging | `logging` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `CLOUD_LOGGING_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-logging/) |
| Cloud Monitoring | `monitoring` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `CLOUD_MONITORING_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-monitoring/) |
| Cloud Storage | `gcs` | yes | HTTP/REST :5382 | `STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5382` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/cloud-storage/) |
| BigQuery | `bigquery` | yes | HTTP/REST :5388 · gRPC :5389 | `BIGQUERY_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5388` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/bigquery/) |
| Dataproc | `dataproc` | yes | gRPC :5380 | `DATAPROC_EMULATOR_HOST=localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/dataproc/) |
| Google Sheets | `sheets` | yes | HTTP/REST :5380 | `SHEETS_EMULATOR_HOST=http://localhost:5380` | [guide](https://local.cloud/services/google-sheets/) |

Unsupported locally; use Google Cloud:

- [Compute Engine](https://local.cloud/services/compute-engine/) — unsupported
- [Vertex AI](https://local.cloud/services/vertex-ai/) — unsupported

## License

The proprietary Public Preview License permits individuals and organizations, including for-profit companies, to use LocalCloud free of charge for internal development, testing, CI, evaluation, and internal pilots. Excluded uses: customer-facing or other production use; reselling LocalCloud or providing it as a hosted or managed service; redistribution or sublicensing; and modification except where applicable law requires permission. Open-source projects can use LocalCloud free of charge for development, testing, and ongoing internal CI under the Free for open-source projects policy, which continues after the public preview ends. Each preview release keeps its terms if the preview ends or a later release uses different terms.

- [Licensing](https://local.cloud/docs/licensing/): the terms in plain language
- [License text](https://local.cloud/license/): the full Public Preview License Agreement, also as [plain text](https://local.cloud/license.txt)
- [Pricing](https://local.cloud/pricing/)

## How LocalCloud compares

- LocalStack emulates AWS and Snowflake, not Google Cloud; teams on both clouds run both.
- Google ships separate emulators for Bigtable, Datastore, Firestore, Pub/Sub and Spanner through the Google Cloud CLI, and the Firebase Local Emulator Suite for Firebase products. The Google Cloud CLI has no BigQuery or Cloud Storage emulator.
- Single-service community emulators typically cover one Google Cloud service each, such as BigQuery or Cloud Storage; coverage and fidelity vary by project.
- LocalCloud runs 25 Google Cloud services, including BigQuery and Cloud Storage, in one Docker container, using Google's Firestore emulator and a Spanner emulator built from Google's open-source emulator.
- [Full comparison with sources](https://local.cloud/compare/), reviewed 2026-10-05, and [LocalStack for Google Cloud](https://local.cloud/localstack-for-google-cloud/).

## Contact

- AI agents and integrations: agent@local.cloud
- People (general, licensing, privacy, partnerships): info@local.cloud, or [the contact page](https://local.cloud/contact/)
- Security reports: info@local.cloud with the subject "Security report"; see [Security](https://local.cloud/security/)
- Bugs and feature requests: [CLI issues on GitHub](https://github.com/LocalGCloud/localcloud-cli/issues)

## Optional

- [Changelog](https://local.cloud/changelog/): CLI releases with dates
- [About LocalCloud Inc.](https://local.cloud/about/)
- [Local cloud for AI agents](https://local.cloud/local-cloud-for-ai-agents/)
- [Agent sandbox setup](https://local.cloud/agents/)
- [Agent and automation workflows](https://local.cloud/workflows/)
- [Comparisons and alternatives](https://local.cloud/compare/)
- [Glossary](https://local.cloud/glossary/)
- [Blog](https://local.cloud/blog/)
- [CLI releases](https://github.com/LocalGCloud/localcloud-cli/releases)