dosbox-automation vs DosKit

dosbox-automation is a free DOSBox Staging fork for automating the launch, control, and inspection of DOS applications and games. Its HTTP REST API uses bearer-token authentication and includes Swagger UI, while a sandboxed Lua engine can drive execution and input with frame-accurate timing. It can record and replay keyboard and mouse input, capture frames and video, read text in text modes, and inspect memory and CPU registers. TOML recipes can automate installations, including disk swaps, through the API and Lua engine. The project includes DOSBox Staging functionality, added fixes and hardening, and a FluidR3 General MIDI soundfont enabled by default. Official builds are available for Windows and Linux; the Linux build is statically linked and targets x86_64. There are no official macOS builds, and compiling from source is described as untested. The webserver is disabled by default. When enabled, it binds to localhost by default, requires a bearer token, restricts mounted paths, and runs Lua without filesystem or process access. Windows 9x is not supported.

DosKit is a cross-platform foundation for running DOS applications through js-dos WebAssembly technology. It opens to an interactive DOS command prompt and is available as an installable Progressive Web App for desktop and mobile devices. After the first visit, service-worker caching enables offline use. URL parameters can load applications such as Second Reality and Impulse Tracker. Input includes standard DOS keyboard controls, including function keys and special characters, plus mobile touch controls. Audio output uses Sound Blaster and AdLib emulation. DosKit uses js-dos 8.3.20 WebAssembly and supports DOSBox and DOSBox-X backends. Its command interface includes pause, resume, mute, unmute, screenshots and filesystem read/write commands. WebAssembly and JavaScript are required, with at least 2GB of RAM recommended. Internet Explorer is unsupported, and iOS Safari versions before 15 have limited WebAssembly support. DosKit is free under the MIT License; js-dos and DOSBox are listed under GPL-2.0 licenses.