John T. Myers
764fac79aa
* feat(tui): add log copy and visual selection mode Add clipboard support for the TUI log viewer using OSC 52 escape sequences. Users can copy individual log lines (y), the visible viewport (Y), or enter visual selection mode (v) to select a range of lines with j/k and yank with y. - Add clipboard module with OSC 52 base64 encoding - Add format_log_line_plain() for plain-text log rendering - Add visual selection mode with highlight styling and status bar - Context-switch nav bar hints between normal and visual modes - Add 7 unit tests for plain-text log formatting Closes #274 * fix(tui): write OSC 52 to /dev/tty instead of stdout ratatui owns stdout via the alternate screen buffer, so OSC 52 escape sequences written to stdout are swallowed by the backend. Write directly to /dev/tty to bypass the buffer and reach the terminal emulator.
OpenShell
OpenShell is the safe, private runtime for autonomous AI agents. It provides sandboxed execution environments that protect your data, credentials, and infrastructure — governed by declarative YAML policies that prevent unauthorized file access, data exfiltration, and uncontrolled network activity.
Quickstart
Prerequisites
- Docker — Docker Desktop (or a Docker daemon) must be running.
Install
Binary (recommended):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/main/install.sh | sh
The install script auto-detects your platform (Linux x86_64, Linux aarch64, macOS Apple Silicon) and places the openshell binary in /usr/local/bin. See the releases page for manual download options.
From PyPI (requires uv):
uv tool install -U openshell
Create a sandbox
openshell sandbox create -- claude # or opencode, codex, --from openclaw
A gateway cluster is created automatically on first use. To deploy on a remote host instead, use openshell gateway start --remote user@host.
The sandbox container includes the following tools by default:
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Agent | claude, opencode, codex |
| Language | python (3.13), node (22) |
| Developer | gh, git, vim, nano |
| Networking | ping, dig, nslookup, nc, traceroute, netstat |
Protection Layers
OpenShell applies defense in depth across four policy domains:
| Layer | What it protects | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Filesystem | Prevents reads/writes outside allowed paths. | Locked at sandbox creation. |
| Network | Blocks unauthorized outbound connections. | Hot-reloadable at runtime. |
| Process | Blocks privilege escalation and dangerous syscalls. | Locked at sandbox creation. |
| Inference | Reroutes model API calls to controlled backends. | Hot-reloadable at runtime. |
Policies are declarative YAML files. Static sections (filesystem, process) are locked at creation; dynamic sections (network, inference) can be hot-reloaded on a running sandbox with openshell policy set.
Supported Agents
| Agent | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Built-in | Works out of the box. Requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. |
| OpenCode | Built-in | Works out of the box. Requires OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENROUTER_API_KEY. |
| Codex | Built-in | Works out of the box. Requires OPENAI_API_KEY. |
| OpenClaw | Community | Launch with openshell sandbox create --from openclaw. |
How It Works
OpenShell isolates each sandbox in its own container with policy-enforced egress routing. A lightweight gateway coordinates sandbox lifecycle, and every outbound connection is intercepted by the policy engine, which does one of three things:
- Allows — the destination and binary match a policy block.
- Routes for inference — strips caller credentials, injects backend credentials, and forwards to the managed model.
- Denies — blocks the request and logs it.
Under the hood, the gateway runs as a K3s Kubernetes cluster inside Docker — no separate K8s install required.
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| Gateway | Control-plane API that coordinates sandbox lifecycle and acts as the auth boundary. |
| Sandbox | Isolated runtime with container supervision and policy-enforced egress routing. |
| Policy Engine | Enforces filesystem, network, and process constraints from application layer down to kernel. |
| Privacy Router | Privacy-aware LLM routing that keeps sensitive context on sandbox compute. |
Key Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
openshell sandbox create -- <agent> |
Create a sandbox and launch an agent. |
openshell sandbox connect [name] |
SSH into a running sandbox. |
openshell sandbox list |
List all sandboxes. |
openshell sandbox delete <name> |
Delete a sandbox. |
openshell provider create --type claude --from-existing |
Create a credential provider from env vars. |
openshell policy set <name> --policy file.yaml |
Apply or update a policy on a running sandbox. |
openshell policy get <name> |
Show the active policy. |
openshell inference set --provider <p> --model <m> |
Configure the inference.local endpoint. |
openshell logs [name] --tail |
Stream sandbox logs. |
openshell term |
Launch the real-time terminal UI for debugging. |
See the full CLI reference for all commands, flags, and environment variables.
Terminal UI
OpenShell includes a real-time terminal dashboard for monitoring gateways, sandboxes, and providers — inspired by k9s.
openshell term
The TUI gives you a live, keyboard-driven view of your cluster. Navigate with Tab to switch panels, j/k to move through lists, Enter to select, and : for command mode. Cluster health and sandbox status auto-refresh every two seconds.
Community Sandboxes and BYOC
Use --from to create sandboxes from the OpenShell Community catalog, a local directory, or a container image:
openshell sandbox create --from openclaw # community catalog
openshell sandbox create --from ./my-sandbox-dir # local Dockerfile
openshell sandbox create --from registry.io/img:v1 # container image
See the community sandboxes catalog and the BYOC example for details.
Learn More
- Full Documentation — overview, architecture, tutorials, and reference
- Quickstart — detailed install and first sandbox walkthrough
- GitHub Sandbox Tutorial — end-to-end scoped GitHub repo access
- Architecture — detailed architecture docs and design decisions
- Support Matrix — platforms, versions, and kernel requirements
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for building from source and contributing to OpenShell.
License
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.