Fede Kamelhar
78376bd041
* fix(installer): resolve the gateway config dir like the CLI does install.sh hardcoded $TARGET_HOME/.config/openshell in two places: the readiness check, which reads the client certificates it expects the gateway registration to have written, and the cleanup that removes a stale openshell entry before re-adding it. The CLI instead keeps both under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/openshell whenever that variable is set, so with the variable pointing anywhere other than ~/.config the installer and the CLI looked in different directories: the readiness check waited for certificates that were never going to appear there, and the cleanup left the real stale entry in place. Resolve the directory through as_target_user instead, which answers from the same environment the CLI is invoked in. That covers both branches without duplicating their logic: the same-user branch inherits the caller's XDG_CONFIG_HOME, while the sudo and runuser branches reset the environment and fall back to the target user's home. An empty XDG_CONFIG_HOME falls back to $HOME/.config, following the XDG base directory specification. The CLI diverges here: xdg_config_dir treats a set-but-empty value as set and joins onto it, yielding the relative path "openshell", which no installer path can usefully match. Worth fixing separately in the CLI. Signed-off-by: fede-kamel <fkamelhar@gmail.com> * fix(core): treat an empty XDG_CONFIG_HOME as unset xdg_config_dir() joined onto an empty XDG_CONFIG_HOME and resolved the config root to the relative path "openshell", while the installer falls back to $HOME/.config/openshell for the same value. Registration runs the CLI with the caller's environment, so the two could disagree on where the gateway entry lives. Treat an empty value as unset, as the XDG base directory spec requires, so the CLI and installer resolve the same directory. Add tests for a value with spaces and drive registration cleanup through the helper for the spaces and empty cases. Signed-off-by: fede-kamel <fkamelhar@gmail.com> --------- Signed-off-by: fede-kamel <fkamelhar@gmail.com>
Important
New in OpenShell 0.1.x: a stable release cadence, new isolation primitives, an expanded extension surface, and new APIs. Read the 0.1.0 upgrade guide.
OpenShell is the safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents. Agents are most useful when they can read files, install packages, call APIs, and use credentials. OpenShell gives them that capability without giving them unrestricted access to your data, secrets, or network. You declare what each agent can touch in a policy, and OpenShell enforces it.
How It Works
OpenShell governs what agents can do in two ways: it instruments the kernel to enforce policy on every file access, system call, and network connection at runtime, and it uses formal verification to check what a policy change would allow before it is applied.
- Kernel-level enforcement. Each agent runs in an isolated sandbox. Kernel controls confine which files it can access and which system calls it can make, and every network connection passes through a policy check before it leaves the sandbox. Agents never see real credentials; OpenShell adds them only to requests bound for approved endpoints.
- Formally verified policy changes. Before a policy change is approved, OpenShell uses formal verification to flag risky new access it would grant, such as reaching a new host with credentials or calling a new API method, so those changes wait for human review.
See Architecture for how the gateway, supervisor, and sandbox fit together.
Quickstart
You need Linux, macOS on Apple Silicon, or Windows with WSL 2 (experimental), plus Docker, Podman, or host virtualization. See the Support Matrix for details.
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/main/install.sh | sh
openshell sandbox create --name demo
The installer sets up the CLI and a local gateway. The default sandbox image is minimal Ubuntu with no agent installed. To run a real agent, follow Run Your First Agent: it runs OpenCode against a free OpenRouter model and shows how to approve new access as the agent needs it.
Explore Further
- Sandboxes: images, runtimes, GPUs, and lifecycle.
- Policies: filesystem, network, and process rules, with the advisor and prover for reviewing changes.
- Providers: credentials that work only at approved endpoints, including inference.
- Gateways: the control plane for sandboxes, policy, and access.
- Kubernetes: deploy the gateway with Helm. Your CNI must enforce
NetworkPolicy. - Extensibility: middleware, interceptors, and compute drivers.
- Tutorials: step-by-step policy and agent walkthroughs.
- Prerelease and development builds: try an upcoming release or the latest commit on
main.
Agent Skills
Install the public OpenShell skills for your coding agent:
npx skills add NVIDIA/OpenShell
The skills teach your agent to drive the OpenShell CLI, write sandbox policies, and debug gateways and inference routing. They live in skills/ and work without an OpenShell source checkout.
SDKs
SDKs connect applications to an OpenShell gateway. They do not install the CLI. Use the same OpenShell release for the SDK and the gateway when possible.
| Language | Install | Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Python | uv add openshell |
README |
| TypeScript | npm install @nvidia/openshell-sdk (GitHub Packages) |
README |
| Go | go get github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/sdk/go@latest |
README |
| Rust | cargo add openshell-sdk --git https://github.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell --tag <release-tag> |
Installation and usage |
Community
- Questions and discussion: GitHub Discussions
- Bug reports and feature requests: GitHub Issues, using the issue templates
- Security vulnerabilities: follow SECURITY.md. Do not open a GitHub issue.
- Roadmap: OpenShell Roadmap and the RFC board
- Try it in the cloud: Brev Launchable
OpenShell is built agent-first: it is developed with the same agent-driven workflows it enables. See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and the contribution workflow, and AGENTS.md for repository coding conventions.
Telemetry
OpenShell collects anonymous telemetry, limited to operational categories and counts, to help improve the project. It does not collect sandbox names, hostnames, file paths, prompts, credentials, provider or model names, or user content. To disable it, set OPENSHELL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false on the gateway, or server.telemetryEnabled=false for Helm installs. You can also compile telemetry out entirely. See Telemetry for details and the community telemetry reports for published usage trends.
Notice and Disclaimer
This software automatically retrieves, accesses or interacts with external materials. Those retrieved materials are not distributed with this software and are governed solely by separate terms, conditions and licenses. You are solely responsible for finding, reviewing and complying with all applicable terms, conditions, and licenses, and for verifying the security, integrity and suitability of any retrieved materials for your specific use case. This software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind. The author makes no representations or warranties regarding any retrieved materials, and assumes no liability for any losses, damages, liabilities or legal consequences from your use or inability to use this software or any retrieved materials. Use this software and the retrieved materials at your own risk.
License
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.