OpenShell
OpenShell is the runtime environment for autonomous agents—the "Matrix" where they live, work, and verify.
While coding tools like Claude help agents write logic, OpenShell provides the infrastructure to run it, offering a programmable factory where agents can spin up physics simulations to master tasks, generate synthetic data to fix edge cases, and safely iterate through thousands of failures in isolated sandboxes.
It transforms the data center from a static deployment target into a continuous verification engine, allowing agents to autonomously build and operate complex systems—from physical robotics to self-healing infrastructure—without needing a human to manage the infrastructure.
Quickstart
Prerequisites
- Docker — Docker Desktop (or a Docker daemon) must be running.
- Python 3.12+
- uv 0.9+
Install
uv pip install openshell \
--upgrade \
--pre \
--index-url https://urm.nvidia.com/artifactory/api/pypi/nv-shared-pypi/simple
The openshell binary is installed into your Python environment. Use uv run openshell to invoke it, or activate your venv first with source .venv/bin/activate.
Create a sandbox
To install a Openclaw cluster and start a sandbox
openshell sandbox create -- claude # or opencode or codex
To run a sandbox on a remote machine, pass --remote [remote-ssh-host].
For more information see openshell sandbox create --help.
The sandbox container includes the following tools by default:
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Agent | claude, opencode, codex |
| Language | python (3.12), node (22) |
| Developer | gh, git, vim, nano |
| Networking | ping, dig, nslookup, nc, traceroute, netstat |
For additional sandbox images see the NVIDIA/OpenShell-Community images. You can also build your own custom images.
Deploy a cluster
Note: openshell sandbox create automatically deploys a cluster if one isn't already running.
To deploy a cluster explicitly:
openshell gateway start
For remote deployment:
openshell gateway start --remote user@host
Upgrading
To upgrade, redeploy your cluster to pick up the latest server and sandbox images:
openshell gateway start
This will prompt you to recreate the cluster. Select "yes" to recreate the cluster.
Developing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for building from source and contributing to OpenShell.
Architecture
See architecture/ for detailed architecture docs and design decisions.