Skip to content
Development
Skill

/sandbox-lifecycle

The lifecycle gate for a local Codespace-equivalent sandbox. Routed to when the user invokes /ca-sandbox:sandbox to pull an untrusted repo into an ephemeral, host-FS-isolated Docker container, or any of the interaction commands (/ca-sandbox:sandbox-shell,

From plugin
codearbiter
15256 skills20 agents38 commands

Claude Code

$ npx -y skills add arbiterForge/codeArbiter --skill sandbox-lifecycle --agent claude-code

SKILL.md

sandbox-lifecycle.SKILL.md
name: sandbox-lifecycle
description: The lifecycle gate for a local Codespace-equivalent sandbox. Routed to when the user invokes /ca-sandbox:sandbox to pull an untrusted repo into an ephemeral, host-FS-isolated Docker container, or any of the interaction commands (/ca-sandbox:sandbox-shell, /ca-sandbox:sandbox-exec, /ca-sandbox:sandbox-cp, /ca-sandbox:sandbox-destroy) against an existing box. Five gated phases — pre-flight, clone+build, isolated run, interact, teardown. The load-bearing invariant is structural: untrusted code in the box can never reach the host filesystem (no bind mount, no docker socket, never --privileged, cap-drop ALL, non-root, read-only root). Network defaults to offline; egress out is host-initiated only. Every object is labeled ca.sandbox=1 and torn down on exit.

sandbox-lifecycle

Pull an untrusted repo into a throwaway box, explore it without risking the host, then burn the box. This skill owns the whole arc — clone into a named volume, build a dep-cached image, run it under structural isolation, interact (shell / exec / cp out), destroy — and the one invariant that makes it safe: **the code inside the box can never touch the host filesystem.** That guarantee is enforced by construction (no bind mounts, no docker socket, never `--privileged`), not by trusting the repo.

The driver lives in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools`. The skill never hand-rolls a `docker run` argv — every container is started through `runContainer` in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/run.ts`, whose mount argv comes only from `buildMountArgs` in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/mounts.ts` (the chokepoint that throws on any bind spec).

Pre-flight

Read these, or STOP and surface the gap — never guess a Docker capability, a mount layout, or an egress posture:

  • `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/mounts.ts` — the mount-arg chokepoint. Every mount is built here; it throws (`BindMountRejectedError`) on any `type=bind` spec. The structural half of the host-FS invariant.
  • `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/run.ts` — the isolation flags (`--cap-drop ALL`, non-root `--user 1000:1000`, `--read-only`, `--security-opt no-new-privileges`, resource caps) and the `offline` => `--network none` default.
  • `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/network.ts` — the network policies (offline / clone-then-cut / allowlist). The IP allowlist is EXPERIMENTAL (`ALLOWLIST_EXPERIMENTAL`); offline and clone-then-cut are the solid defaults.

Host prerequisites: **Docker** and **nixpacks** on `PATH` (the plugin's `description` states this). If `docker info` fails, STOP and report "Docker is not available" — do not proceed to clone or build. If the user supplies no repo URL to `/ca-sandbox:sandbox`, ask for one — do not guess a repo.

Phase 1 — Pre-flight & policy · gate: BLOCK

Establish what is being sandboxed and under what egress posture before any clone:

  • **Target** — the repo URL (or local path) to pull. One source, stated explicitly.
  • **Network policy** — `offline` (default), `clone-then-cut` (fetch deps at build, cut egress at run), or `allowlist` (EXPERIMENTAL — name it as experimental every time it is selected). Default to `offline` unless the user names another.
  • **Docker reachable** — `docker info` returns 0. If not, STOP here.
  • **`--with-claude`** — if requested, route to the `sandbox-claude-inside` skill (`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/sandbox-claude-inside/SKILL.md`) for its hardened defaults; it is NOT enabled on the default path.

Gate: a named target, a named network policy, and a reachable Docker. A sandbox with no stated target or an unreachable Docker cannot be built — do not improvise either. If `allowlist` is chosen, the BLOCK is conditional on the user acknowledging it is experimental.

Phase 2 — Clone & build · gate: BLOCK

Clone the target into a docker **named volume** (never onto the host FS, never a bind), then build a dep-cached image:

  • Clone into the named volume via `createSandbox` (`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/create.ts`); the source lives at `/work/repo` inside the box.
  • Build through `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/build.ts`: nixpacks wraps the repo, deps are relocated **out of tree to `/deps`** (exported via `NODE_PATH`/`PYTHONPATH`/`GOPATH`/`CARGO_HOME`), and the image is tagged `ca-sbx:<repo>-<dephash>`.
  • The dephash comes from `computeDepHash` (`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/dephash.ts`) over the manifest/lockfile set. An unchanged dep set is a **cache hit** — no rebuild, identical tag. A manifest/lockfile change bumps the dephash and forces a rebuild; a source-only edit does not.

Gate: a built (or cache-hit) image tagged `ca-sbx:<repo>-<dephash>`, with deps at `/deps` (out of tree). The naive "mount the volume over the app dir" layout shadows baked deps and is forbidden — the volume mounts ONLY at `/work/repo`. If nixpacks is not installed, STOP with the install hint, not a stack trace.

Phase 3 — Isolated run · gate: BLOCK

Start the container through `runContainer` (`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/run.ts`) — never a hand-written `docker run`. The run carries the structural isolation set, all by construction:

  • **No host bind mount, no `/var/run/docker.sock` mount, never `--privileged`** — the three negative guarantees. The mount argv is built only by `buildMountArgs`, which throws on any bind.
  • `--cap-drop ALL`, `--user 1000:1000` (non-root), `--read-only` root, `--security-opt no-new-privileges`, resource caps (`--pids-limit`, `--memory`, `--cpus`).
  • The live source named volume mounts ONLY at `/work/repo`; `/tmp` is a tmpfs (writable scratch, no host backing).
  • Network per Phase 1: `offline` => `--network none`; the richer policies are applied by `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/tools/network.ts`.
  • Every object carries the `ca.sandbox=1` label (the teardown/registry anchor).

Gate: `docker inspect` on the started container shows no `"Type":"bind"` mount, no docker-socket mount, and not `Privileged:true`. If any of the three appears, the run is rejected — there is no override; the chokepoint

Read more
@arbiterforge
Ships withcodearbiter

Open-source governance and hard gates for AI coding agents across Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Pi.

15256 skills20 agents
Get the whole plugin

Stars on GitHub

Momentum

stars in total
152
Star history of arbiterForge/codeArbiter on GitHub, a chart by star-history.com

Other skills on codearbiter.

brainstorming

brainstorming

Refine feature and sprint intent into a useful specification. Capture scope, observable criteria and material choices without…

commit-gate

commit-gate

Create a verified local Git commit when committing changes is requested. Not for explaining commit history, drafting a message…

debug

debug

Investigate an unexplained defect or unexpected behavior without changing application code. Use for root-cause diagnosis and an…

More skills from other plugins.

brainstorming
Auto-invoked

brainstorming

You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, modifying behavior, or…

@obra@obraInstall Skill
ask-matt

ask-matt

Ask which skill or flow fits your situation. A router over the skills in this repo.

skills11d309k
@mattpocock@mattpocockInstall Skill
accessibility
Auto-invoked

accessibility

Design, implement, and audit accessible UI to WCAG 2.2 Level AA across Web, iOS, and Android — semantic ARIA roles and labels,…

ecc12d293k
@affaan-m@affaan-mInstall Skill
compiler-commit

compiler-commit

Use when you want to verify compiler changes and commit with the correct convention. Runs tests, lint, and format, then commits…

react2d252k
@facebook@facebookInstall Skill

Questions about sandbox-lifecycle.

Which coding agents can use sandbox-lifecycle?
sandbox-lifecycle installs in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode and Windsurf with the skills CLI, using each agent's flag shown on this page. Flowy's auto-invocation, which fires a skill when your prompt matches, runs in Claude Code only.