What Is Sandcastle?

A TypeScript library for orchestrating AI coding agents in isolated sandboxes:

1. You invoke agents with a single sandcastle.run().
2. Sandcastle handles sandboxing the agent with a configurable branch strategy.
3. The commits made on the branches get merged back.

Sandcastle is provider-agnostic — it ships with built-in providers for Docker, Podman, and Vercel, and you can create your own. Great for parallelizing multiple AFK agents, creating review pipelines, or even just orchestrating your own agents.

Prerequisites

• Git
• A sandbox provider — Sandcastle needs an isolated environment to run agents in. Built-in options:
  • Docker Desktop — most common for local development
  • Podman — rootless alternative to Docker
  • Vercel — cloud-based Firecracker microVMs via @vercel/sandbox
  • Or create your own using createBindMountSandboxProvider or createIsolatedSandboxProvider

Quick start

1. Install the package:

npm install @ai-hero/sandcastle

2. Run sandcastle init. This scaffolds a .sandcastle directory with all the files needed.

npx sandcastle init

3. Edit .sandcastle/.env and fill in your default values for ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. If you want to use your Claude subscription instead of an API key, see #191.

cp .sandcastle/.env.example .sandcastle/.env

4. Run the .sandcastle/main.ts (or main.mts) file with npx tsx

npx tsx .sandcastle/main.ts

// 3. Run the agent via the JS API
import { run, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(), // or podman(), vercel(), or your own provider
  promptFile: ".sandcastle/prompt.md",
});

Sandbox Providers

Sandcastle uses a SandboxProvider to create isolated environments. The sandbox option on run() and createSandbox() accepts any provider. A no-sandbox option is also available for interactive() and wt.interactive(). Built-in providers:

Provider	Import path	Type	Accepted by
Docker	@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker	Bind-mount	run(), createSandbox(), interactive()
Podman	@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/podman	Bind-mount	run(), createSandbox(), interactive()
Vercel	@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/vercel	Isolated	run(), createSandbox(), interactive()
No-sandbox	@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/no-sandbox	None	interactive(), wt.interactive() (default)

Worktree methods (wt.run(), wt.interactive(), wt.createSandbox()) accept the same providers as their top-level counterparts. wt.interactive() defaults to noSandbox() when no sandbox is specified.

import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";
import { podman } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/podman";
import { vercel } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/vercel";
import { noSandbox } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/no-sandbox";

// Docker, Podman, and Vercel are interchangeable in run() and createSandbox():
await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(),
  prompt: "...",
});

// No-sandbox runs the agent directly on the host — interactive() only:
await interactive({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: noSandbox(),
  prompt: "...", // optional — omit to launch the TUI with no initial prompt
  cwd: "/path/to/other-repo", // optional — defaults to process.cwd()
});

You can also create your own provider using createBindMountSandboxProvider or createIsolatedSandboxProvider.

API

Sandcastle exports a programmatic run() function for use in scripts, CI pipelines, or custom tooling. The examples below use docker(), but any SandboxProvider works in its place.

import { run, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

const result = await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(),
  promptFile: ".sandcastle/prompt.md",
});

console.log(result.iterations.length); // number of iterations executed
console.log(result.iterations); // per-iteration results with optional sessionId
console.log(result.commits); // array of { sha } for commits created
console.log(result.branch); // target branch name

All options

import { run, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

const result = await run({
  // Agent provider — required. Pass a model string to claudeCode().
  // Optional second arg for provider-specific options like effort level.
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6", { effort: "high" }),

  // Sandbox provider — required. Any SandboxProvider works (docker, podman, vercel, or custom).
  // Provider-specific config (like imageName, mounts) lives inside the provider factory call.
  sandbox: docker({
    imageName: "sandcastle:local",
    // Optional: mount host directories into the sandbox (e.g. package manager caches)
    // hostPath supports absolute, tilde-expanded (~), and relative paths (resolved from cwd).
    // sandboxPath supports absolute and relative paths (resolved from the sandbox repo directory).
    mounts: [
      { hostPath: "~/.npm", sandboxPath: "/home/agent/.npm", readonly: true },
      { hostPath: "data", sandboxPath: "data" }, // mounts <cwd>/data → <sandbox-repo>/data
    ],
    // Optional: provider-level env vars merged at launch time
    env: { DOCKER_SPECIFIC: "value" },
    // Optional: attach container to Docker network(s) — string or string[]
    network: "my-network",
  }),

  // Host repo directory — replaces process.cwd() as the anchor for
  // .sandcastle/ artifacts (worktrees, logs, env, patches) and git operations.
  // Relative paths resolve against process.cwd(). Defaults to process.cwd().
  cwd: "../other-repo",

  // Branch strategy — controls how the agent's changes relate to branches.
  // Defaults to { type: "head" } for bind-mount and { type: "merge-to-head" } for isolated providers.
  branchStrategy: { type: "branch", branch: "agent/fix-42" },

  // Prompt source — provide one of these, not both.
  // Note: promptFile resolves against process.cwd(), NOT cwd.
  promptFile: ".sandcastle/prompt.md", // path to a prompt file
  // prompt: "Fix issue #42 in this repo", // OR an inline prompt string

  // Values substituted for {{KEY}} placeholders in the prompt.
  promptArgs: {
    ISSUE_NUMBER: "42",
  },

  // Maximum number of agent iterations to run before stopping. Default: 1
  maxIterations: 5,

  // Display name for this run, shown as a prefix in log output.
  name: "fix-issue-42",

  // Lifecycle hooks grouped by where they run: host or sandbox.
  hooks: {
    host: {
      onWorktreeReady: [{ command: "cp .env.example .env" }],
      onSandboxReady: [{ command: "echo setup done" }],
    },
    sandbox: {
      onSandboxReady: [{ command: "npm install" }],
    },
  },

  // Host-relative file paths to copy into the sandbox before the container starts.
  // Not supported with branchStrategy: { type: "head" }.
  copyToWorktree: [".env"],

  // How to record progress. Default: write to a file under .sandcastle/logs/
  logging: {
    type: "file",
    path: ".sandcastle/logs/my-run.log",
    // Optional: forward the agent's output stream to your own observability system.
    // Fires for each text chunk and tool call the agent produces. Errors thrown
    // by the callback are swallowed so a broken forwarder cannot kill the run.
    onAgentStreamEvent: (event) => {
      // event is { type: "text" | "toolCall", iteration, timestamp, ... }
      myLogger.info(event);
    },
  },
  // logging: { type: "stdout" }, // OR render an interactive UI in the terminal

  // String (or array of strings) the agent emits to end the iteration loop early.
  // Default: "<promise>COMPLETE</promise>"
  completionSignal: "<promise>COMPLETE</promise>",

  // Idle timeout in seconds — resets whenever the agent produces output. Default: 600 (10 minutes)
  idleTimeoutSeconds: 600,
});

console.log(result.iterations.length); // number of iterations executed
console.log(result.completionSignal); // matched signal string, or undefined if none fired
console.log(result.commits); // array of { sha } for commits created
console.log(result.branch); // target branch name

createSandbox() — reusable sandbox

Use createSandbox() when you need to run multiple agents (or multiple rounds of the same agent) inside a single sandbox. It creates the sandbox once, and you call sandbox.run() as many times as you need. This avoids repeated container startup costs and keeps all runs on the same branch.

Use run() instead when you only need a single one-shot invocation — it handles sandbox lifecycle automatically.

Basic single-run usage

import { createSandbox, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

await using sandbox = await createSandbox({
  branch: "agent/fix-42",
  sandbox: docker(),
});

const result = await sandbox.run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  prompt: "Fix issue #42 in this repo.",
});

console.log(result.commits); // [{ sha: "abc123" }]

Multi-run implement-then-review

import { createSandbox, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

await using sandbox = await createSandbox({
  branch: "agent/fix-42",
  sandbox: docker(),
  hooks: { sandbox: { onSandboxReady: [{ command: "npm install" }] } },
});

// Step 1: implement
const implResult = await sandbox.run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  promptFile: ".sandcastle/implement.md",
  maxIterations: 5,
});

// Step 2: review on the same branch, same container
const reviewResult = await sandbox.run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-sonnet-4-6"),
  prompt: "Review the changes and fix any issues.",
});

Commits from all run() calls accumulate on the same branch. The sandbox container stays alive between runs, so installed dependencies and build artifacts persist.

Automatic cleanup with await using

await using calls sandbox.close() automatically when the block exits. If the sandbox has uncommitted changes, the worktree is preserved on disk; if clean, both container and worktree are removed.

Manual close() with CloseResult

const sandbox = await createSandbox({
  branch: "agent/fix-42",
  sandbox: docker(),
});
// ... run agents ...
const closeResult = await sandbox.close();
if (closeResult.preservedWorktreePath) {
  console.log(`Worktree preserved at ${closeResult.preservedWorktreePath}`);
}

CreateSandboxOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
branch	string	—	Required. Explicit branch for the sandbox
sandbox	SandboxProvider	—	Required. Sandbox provider (e.g. docker(), podman())
cwd	string	process.cwd()	Host repo directory — relative paths resolve against process.cwd()
hooks	SandboxHooks	—	Lifecycle hooks (host.*, sandbox.*) — run once at creation time
copyToWorktree	string[]	—	Host-relative file paths to copy into the sandbox at creation time

Sandbox

Property / Method	Type	Description
branch	string	The branch the sandbox is on
worktreePath	string	Host path to the worktree
run(options)	(SandboxRunOptions) => Promise<SandboxRunResult>	Invoke an agent inside the existing sandbox
interactive(options)	(SandboxInteractiveOptions) => Promise<SandboxInteractiveResult>	Launch an interactive session in the sandbox
close()	() => Promise<CloseResult>	Tear down the container and sandbox
[Symbol.asyncDispose]	() => Promise<void>	Auto teardown via await using

SandboxRunOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
agent	AgentProvider	—	Required. Agent provider (e.g. claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"))
prompt	string	—	Inline prompt (mutually exclusive with promptFile)
promptFile	string	—	Path to prompt file (mutually exclusive with prompt)
promptArgs	PromptArgs	—	Key-value map for {{KEY}} placeholder substitution
maxIterations	number	1	Maximum iterations to run
completionSignal	string | string[]	<promise>COMPLETE</promise>	String(s) the agent emits to stop the iteration loop early
idleTimeoutSeconds	number	600	Idle timeout in seconds — resets on each agent output event
name	string	—	Display name for the run
logging	object	file (auto-generated)	{ type: 'file', path } or { type: 'stdout' }
signal	AbortSignal	—	Cancels the run when aborted; handle stays usable afterward

SandboxRunResult

Field	Type	Description
iterations	IterationResult[]	Per-iteration results (use .length for the count)
completionSignal	string?	The matched completion signal string, or undefined if none fired
stdout	string	Combined agent output from all iterations
commits	{ sha }[]	Commits created during the run
logFilePath	string?	Path to the log file (only when logging to a file)

CloseResult

Field	Type	Description
preservedWorktreePath	string?	Host path to the preserved worktree, set when it had uncommitted changes

createWorktree() — independent worktree lifecycle

Use createWorktree() when you need a worktree (git worktree) as an independent, first-class concept — separate from any sandbox. This is useful when you want to run an interactive session first and then hand the same worktree to a sandboxed AFK agent.

Only branch and merge-to-head strategies are accepted; head is a compile-time type error since it means no worktree.

Pass cwd to target a repo other than process.cwd(). Relative paths resolve against process.cwd(); absolute paths pass through. A CwdError is thrown if the path does not exist or is not a directory.

import { createWorktree } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";

await using wt = await createWorktree({
  branchStrategy: { type: "branch", branch: "agent/fix-42" },
  copyToWorktree: ["node_modules"],
  cwd: "/path/to/other-repo", // optional — defaults to process.cwd()
});

console.log(wt.worktreePath); // host path to the worktree
console.log(wt.branch); // "agent/fix-42"

// Run an interactive session in the worktree (defaults to noSandbox)
await wt.interactive({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  prompt: "Explore the codebase and understand the bug.",
});

// Run an AFK agent in the worktree (sandbox is required)
const result = await wt.run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker({ imageName: "sandcastle:myrepo" }),
  prompt: "Fix issue #42.",
  maxIterations: 3,
});
console.log(result.commits); // commits made during the run

// Create a long-lived sandbox from the worktree
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

await using sandbox = await wt.createSandbox({
  sandbox: docker(),
  hooks: { sandbox: { onSandboxReady: [{ command: "npm install" }] } },
});

// sandbox.close() tears down the container only — the worktree stays
await sandbox.close();

// wt.close() cleans up the worktree

wt.close() checks for uncommitted changes: if the worktree is dirty, it's preserved on disk; if clean, it's removed. await using calls close() automatically. The worktree persists after run(), interactive(), and createSandbox() complete, so you can hand it to another agent or inspect it.

Split ownership: When a sandbox is created via wt.createSandbox(), sandbox.close() tears down the container only — the worktree remains. wt.close() is responsible for worktree cleanup. This differs from the top-level createSandbox(), where sandbox.close() owns both container and worktree.

CreateWorktreeOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
branchStrategy	WorktreeBranchStrategy	—	Required. { type: "branch", branch } or { type: "merge-to-head" }
copyToWorktree	string[]	—	Host-relative file paths to copy into the worktree at creation time

Worktree

Property / Method	Type	Description
branch	string	The branch the worktree is on
worktreePath	string	Host path to the worktree
run(options)	(options: WorktreeRunOptions) => Promise<WorktreeRunResult>	Run an AFK agent in the worktree (sandbox required)
interactive(options)	(options: WorktreeInteractiveOptions) => Promise<InteractiveResult>	Run an interactive agent session in the worktree
createSandbox(options)	(options: WorktreeCreateSandboxOptions) => Promise<Sandbox>	Create a long-lived sandbox backed by this worktree
close()	() => Promise<CloseResult>	Clean up the worktree (preserves if dirty)
[Symbol.asyncDispose]	() => Promise<void>	Auto cleanup via await using

WorktreeInteractiveOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
agent	AgentProvider	—	Required. Agent provider
sandbox	AnySandboxProvider	noSandbox()	Sandbox provider (defaults to no sandbox)
prompt	string	—	Inline prompt (mutually exclusive with promptFile)
promptFile	string	—	Path to prompt file
name	string	—	Optional session name
hooks	SandboxHooks	—	Lifecycle hooks (host.*, sandbox.*)
promptArgs	PromptArgs	—	Key-value map for {{KEY}} placeholder substitution
env	Record<string, string>	—	Environment variables to inject into the sandbox
signal	AbortSignal	—	Cancel the session when aborted. The worktree is preserved on disk. Rejects with signal.reason.

WorktreeRunOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
agent	AgentProvider	—	Required. Agent provider
sandbox	SandboxProvider	—	Required. Sandbox provider (AFK agents must be sandboxed)
prompt	string	—	Inline prompt (mutually exclusive with promptFile)
promptFile	string	—	Path to prompt file
maxIterations	number	1	Maximum iterations to run
completionSignal	string | string[]	—	Substring(s) to stop the iteration loop early
idleTimeoutSeconds	number	600	Idle timeout in seconds
name	string	—	Optional run name
logging	LoggingOption	file	Logging mode
hooks	SandboxHooks	—	Lifecycle hooks (host.*, sandbox.*)
promptArgs	PromptArgs	—	Key-value map for {{KEY}} placeholder substitution
env	Record<string, string>	—	Environment variables to inject into the sandbox
resumeSession	string	—	Resume a prior Claude Code session by ID. Incompatible with maxIterations > 1. Session file must exist on host.
signal	AbortSignal	—	Cancel the run when aborted. Kills the in-flight agent subprocess; the worktree is preserved on disk. Rejects with signal.reason.

WorktreeRunResult

Property	Type	Description
iterations	IterationResult[]	Per-iteration results (use .length for the count)
completionSignal	string	The matched completion signal, or undefined
stdout	string	Combined stdout output from all agent iterations
commits	{ sha: string }[]	List of commits made by the agent during the run
branch	string	The branch name the agent worked on
logFilePath	string	Path to the log file, if logging was drained to a file

WorktreeCreateSandboxOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
sandbox	SandboxProvider	—	Required. Sandbox provider (e.g. docker())
hooks	SandboxHooks	—	Lifecycle hooks (host.*, sandbox.*)
copyToWorktree	string[]	—	Host-relative file paths to copy into the worktree at creation time

How it works

Sandcastle uses a branch strategy configured on the sandbox provider to control how the agent's changes relate to branches. There are three strategies:

• Head ({ type: "head" }) — The agent writes directly to the host working directory. No worktree, no branch indirection. This is the default for bind-mount providers like docker().
• Merge-to-head ({ type: "merge-to-head" }) — Sandcastle creates a temporary branch in a git worktree. The agent works on the temp branch, and changes are merged back to HEAD when done. The temp branch is cleaned up after merge.
• Branch ({ type: "branch", branch: "foo" }) — Commits land on an explicitly named branch in a git worktree.

For bind-mount providers (like Docker), the worktree directory is bind-mounted into the container — the agent writes directly to the host filesystem through the mount, so no sync is needed.

From your point of view, you just configure branchStrategy: { type: 'branch', branch: 'foo' } on run(), and get a commit on branch foo once it's complete. All 100% local.

Prompts

Sandcastle uses a flexible prompt system. You write the prompt, and the engine executes it — no opinions about workflow, task management, or context sources are imposed.

Prompt resolution

You must provide exactly one of:

1. prompt: "inline string" — pass an inline prompt directly via RunOptions
2. promptFile: "./path/to/prompt.md" — point to a specific file via RunOptions

prompt and promptFile are mutually exclusive — providing both is an error. If neither is provided, run() throws an error asking you to supply one.

Inline prompts (prompt: "...") are passed to the agent literally. No {{KEY}} substitution, no !`command` expansion, no built-in {{SOURCE_BRANCH}} / {{TARGET_BRANCH}} injection. If you need values interpolated into an inline prompt, build the string in JavaScript (`Work on ${branch}…`). Passing promptArgs alongside an inline prompt is an error — switch to promptFile to use substitution.

The substitution and expansion features below apply only to prompts sourced from promptFile.

Convention: sandcastle init scaffolds .sandcastle/prompt.md and all templates explicitly reference it via promptFile: ".sandcastle/prompt.md". This is a convention, not an automatic fallback — Sandcastle does not read .sandcastle/prompt.md unless you pass it as promptFile.

Dynamic context with !`command`

Use !`command` expressions in your prompt to pull in dynamic context. Each expression is replaced with the command's stdout before the prompt is sent to the agent. All expressions in a prompt run in parallel for faster expansion.

Commands run inside the sandbox after sandbox.onSandboxReady hooks complete, so they see the same repo state the agent sees (including installed dependencies).

# Open issues

!`gh issue list --state open --label Sandcastle --json number,title,body,comments,labels --limit 20`

# Recent commits

!`git log --oneline -10`

If any command exits with a non-zero code, the run fails immediately with an error.

Prompt arguments with {{KEY}}

Use {{KEY}} placeholders in your prompt to inject values from the promptArgs option. This is useful for reusing the same prompt file across multiple runs with different parameters.

import { run } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";

await run({
  promptFile: "./my-prompt.md",
  promptArgs: { ISSUE_NUMBER: 42, PRIORITY: "high" },
});

In the prompt file:

Work on issue #{{ISSUE_NUMBER}} (priority: {{PRIORITY}}).

Prompt argument substitution runs on the host before shell expression expansion, so {{KEY}} placeholders inside !`command` expressions are replaced first:

!`gh issue view {{ISSUE_NUMBER}} --json body -q .body`

A {{KEY}} placeholder with no matching prompt argument is an error. Unused prompt arguments produce a warning.

!`command` expansion only runs on shell blocks written in the prompt file itself. Any !`…` pattern that appears inside an argument value is treated as inert text — it won't be executed against the host shell. This makes it safe to pass user-authored content (issue titles, PR descriptions, docs excerpts) through promptArgs.

Built-in prompt arguments

Sandcastle automatically injects two built-in prompt arguments into every prompt:

Placeholder	Value
{{SOURCE_BRANCH}}	The branch the agent works on (determined by the branch strategy)
{{TARGET_BRANCH}}	The host's active branch at run() time

Use them in your prompt without passing them via promptArgs:

You are working on {{SOURCE_BRANCH}}. When diffing, compare against {{TARGET_BRANCH}}.

Passing SOURCE_BRANCH or TARGET_BRANCH in promptArgs is an error — built-in prompt arguments cannot be overridden.

Early termination with <promise>COMPLETE</promise>

When the agent outputs <promise>COMPLETE</promise>, the orchestrator stops the iteration loop early. This is a convention you document in your prompt for the agent to follow — the engine never injects it.

This is useful for task-based workflows where the agent should stop once it has finished, rather than running all remaining iterations.

You can override the default signal by passing completionSignal to run(). It accepts a single string or an array of strings:

await run({
  // ...
  completionSignal: "DONE",
});

// Or pass multiple signals — the loop stops on the first match:
await run({
  // ...
  completionSignal: ["TASK_COMPLETE", "TASK_ABORTED"],
});

Tell the agent to output your chosen string(s) in the prompt, and the orchestrator will stop when it detects any of them. The matched signal is returned as result.completionSignal.

Templates

sandcastle init prompts you to choose a sandbox provider (Docker or Podman), a backlog manager (GitHub Issues or Beads), and a template, which scaffolds a ready-to-use prompt and main.mts suited to a specific workflow. If your project's package.json has "type": "module", the file will be named main.ts instead. Five templates are available:

Template	Description
blank	Bare scaffold — write your own prompt and orchestration
simple-loop	Picks GitHub issues one by one and closes them
sequential-reviewer	Implements issues one by one, with a code review step after each
parallel-planner	Plans parallelizable issues, executes on separate branches, then merges
parallel-planner-with-review	Plans parallelizable issues, executes with per-branch review, then merges

Select a template during sandcastle init when prompted, or re-run init in a fresh repo to try a different one.

CLI commands

sandcastle init

Scaffolds the .sandcastle/ config directory and builds the container image. This is the first command you run in a new repo. You choose a sandbox provider (Docker or Podman) during init — selecting Podman writes a Containerfile instead of Dockerfile and uses sandcastle podman build-image for the build step.

Option	Required	Default	Description
--image-name	No	sandcastle:<repo-dir-name>	Docker image name
--agent	No	Interactive prompt	Agent to use (claude-code, pi, codex, opencode)
--model	No	Agent's default model	Model to use (e.g. claude-sonnet-4-6). Defaults to agent's default
--template	No	Interactive prompt	Template to scaffold (e.g. blank, simple-loop)

Creates the following files:

.sandcastle/
├── Dockerfile      # Sandbox environment (customize as needed)
├── prompt.md       # Agent instructions
├── .env.example    # Token placeholders
└── .gitignore      # Ignores .env, logs/

Errors if .sandcastle/ already exists to prevent overwriting customizations.

sandcastle docker build-image

Rebuilds the Docker image from an existing .sandcastle/ directory. Use this after modifying the Dockerfile.

Option	Required	Default	Description
--image-name	No	sandcastle:<repo-dir-name>	Docker image name
--dockerfile	No	—	Path to a custom Dockerfile (build context will be the current working directory)

sandcastle docker remove-image

Removes the Docker image.

Option	Required	Default	Description
--image-name	No	sandcastle:<repo-dir-name>	Docker image name

sandcastle podman build-image

Builds the Podman image from an existing .sandcastle/ directory. Use this after modifying the Containerfile.

Option	Required	Default	Description
--image-name	No	sandcastle:<repo-dir-name>	Podman image name
--containerfile	No	—	Path to a custom Containerfile (build context will be the current working directory)

sandcastle podman remove-image

Removes the Podman image.

Option	Required	Default	Description
--image-name	No	sandcastle:<repo-dir-name>	Podman image name

RunOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
agent	AgentProvider	—	Required. Agent provider (e.g. claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"), pi("claude-sonnet-4-6"), codex("gpt-5.4-mini"), opencode("opencode/big-pickle"))
sandbox	SandboxProvider	—	Required. Sandbox provider (e.g. docker(), podman(), docker({ imageName: "sandcastle:local" }))
cwd	string	process.cwd()	Host repo directory — anchor for .sandcastle/ artifacts and git operations. Relative paths resolve against process.cwd().
prompt	string	—	Inline prompt (mutually exclusive with promptFile)
promptFile	string	—	Path to prompt file (mutually exclusive with prompt). Resolves against process.cwd(), not cwd.
maxIterations	number	1	Maximum iterations to run
hooks	SandboxHooks	—	Lifecycle hooks (host.*, sandbox.*)
name	string	—	Display name for the run, shown as a prefix in log output
promptArgs	PromptArgs	—	Key-value map for {{KEY}} placeholder substitution
branchStrategy	BranchStrategy	per-provider default	Branch strategy: { type: 'head' }, { type: 'merge-to-head' }, or { type: 'branch', branch: '…' }
copyToWorktree	string[]	—	Host-relative file paths to copy into the sandbox before start (not supported with branchStrategy: { type: 'head' })
logging	object	file (auto-generated)	{ type: 'file', path } or { type: 'stdout' }
completionSignal	string | string[]	<promise>COMPLETE</promise>	String or array of strings the agent emits to stop the iteration loop early
idleTimeoutSeconds	number	600	Idle timeout in seconds — resets on each agent output event
resumeSession	string	—	Resume a prior Claude Code session by ID. Incompatible with maxIterations > 1. Session file must exist on host.
signal	AbortSignal	—	Cancel the run when aborted. Kills the in-flight agent subprocess and cancels lifecycle hooks; the worktree is preserved on disk. Rejects with signal.reason.

RunResult

Field	Type	Description
iterations	IterationResult[]	Per-iteration results (use .length for the count)
completionSignal	string?	The matched completion signal string, or undefined if none fired
stdout	string	Agent output
commits	{ sha }[]	Commits created during the run
branch	string	Target branch name
logFilePath	string?	Path to the log file (only when logging to a file)

IterationResult

Field	Type	Description
sessionId	string?	Claude Code session ID from the init line, or undefined for non-Claude agents
sessionFilePath	string?	Absolute host path to the captured session JSONL, or undefined when capture is off
usage	IterationUsage?	Token usage snapshot from the last assistant message, or undefined when capture is off or provider does not support usage parsing

IterationUsage

Field	Type	Description
inputTokens	number	Input tokens consumed
cacheCreationInputTokens	number	Tokens used to create prompt cache entries
cacheReadInputTokens	number	Tokens read from prompt cache
outputTokens	number	Output tokens generated

Session capture

After each Claude Code iteration, Sandcastle automatically captures the agent's session JSONL from the sandbox to the host at ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-path>/sessions/<session-id>.jsonl. The cwd fields inside each JSONL entry are rewritten to match the host repo root, so claude --resume works natively.

Session capture is enabled by default for claudeCode() and can be opted out via captureSessions: false. Non-Claude agent providers never attempt capture. Capture failure fails the run.

Session resume

Pass resumeSession to run() to continue a prior Claude Code conversation inside a new sandbox:

const result = await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(),
  prompt: "Continue where you left off",
  resumeSession: "abc-123-def",
});

Before the sandbox starts, Sandcastle validates that the session file exists on the host and transfers it into the sandbox with cwd fields rewritten to match the sandbox-side path. The Claude Code agent receives --resume <id> on its print command for iteration 1.

Constraints:

• resumeSession is incompatible with maxIterations > 1 (throws before sandbox creation).
• The session file must exist at ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-path>/sessions/<id>.jsonl (throws before sandbox creation).
• Only iteration 1 receives the resume flag; subsequent iterations (if any) start fresh.
• Non-Claude agent providers ignore resumeSession.

ClaudeCodeOptions

The claudeCode() factory accepts an optional second argument for provider-specific options:

agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6", { effort: "high" });

Option	Type	Default	Description
effort	"low" | "medium" | "high" | "max"	—	Claude Code reasoning effort level (max is Opus only)
env	Record<string, string>	{}	Environment variables injected by this agent provider
captureSessions	boolean	true	Capture agent session JSONL to host for claude --resume

CodexOptions

The codex() factory accepts an optional second argument for provider-specific options:

agent: codex("gpt-5.4", { effort: "high" });

Option	Type	Default	Description
effort	"low" | "medium" | "high" | "xhigh"	—	Codex reasoning effort level via model_reasoning_effort
env	Record<string, string>	{}	Environment variables injected by this agent provider

Provider env

Both agent providers and sandbox providers accept an optional env: Record<string, string> in their options. These environment variables are merged with the .sandcastle/.env resolver output at launch time:

await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6", {
    env: { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "sk-ant-..." },
  }),
  sandbox: docker({
    env: { DOCKER_SPECIFIC_VAR: "value" },
  }),
  prompt: "Fix issue #42",
});

Merge rules:

• Provider env (agent + sandbox) overrides .sandcastle/.env resolver output for shared keys
• Agent provider env and sandbox provider env must not overlap — if they share any key, run() throws an error
• When env is not provided, it defaults to {}

Environment variables are also resolved automatically from .sandcastle/.env and process.env — no need to pass them to the API. The required variables depend on the agent provider (see sandcastle init output for details).

Custom Sandbox Providers

Sandcastle ships with built-in providers for Docker, Podman, and Vercel, but you can create your own. A sandbox provider tells Sandcastle how to execute commands in an isolated environment. There are two kinds:

• Bind-mount — the sandbox can mount a host directory. Sandcastle creates a worktree on the host and the provider mounts it in. No file sync needed. Use this for Docker, Podman, or any local container runtime.
• Isolated — the sandbox has its own filesystem (e.g. a cloud VM). The provider handles syncing code in and out via copyIn and copyFileOut. Use this when the sandbox cannot access the host filesystem.

The sandbox handle contract

Both provider types return a sandbox handle from their create() function. The handle exposes:

Method	Required	Description
exec	Both	Run a command, optionally streaming stdout line-by-line via options.onLine
close	Both	Tear down the sandbox
copyFileIn	Bind-mount	Copy a single file from the host into the sandbox
copyFileOut	Both	Copy a single file from the sandbox to the host
copyIn	Isolated	Copy a file or directory from the host into the sandbox
worktreePath	Both	Absolute path to the repo directory inside the sandbox

ExecResult

Every exec call returns an ExecResult:

interface ExecResult {
  readonly stdout: string;
  readonly stderr: string;
  readonly exitCode: number;
}

Bind-mount provider example

A minimal bind-mount provider that shells out to local processes (no container):

import {
  createBindMountSandboxProvider,
  type BindMountCreateOptions,
  type BindMountSandboxHandle,
  type ExecResult,
} from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { execFile, spawn } from "node:child_process";
import { copyFile as fsCopyFile, mkdir as fsMkdir } from "node:fs/promises";
import { dirname } from "node:path";
import { createInterface } from "node:readline";

const localProcess = () =>
  createBindMountSandboxProvider({
    name: "local-process",
    create: async (
      options: BindMountCreateOptions,
    ): Promise<BindMountSandboxHandle> => {
      const worktreePath = options.worktreePath;

      return {
        worktreePath,

        exec: (
          command: string,
          opts?: { onLine?: (line: string) => void; cwd?: string },
        ): Promise<ExecResult> => {
          if (opts?.onLine) {
            const onLine = opts.onLine;
            return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
              const proc = spawn("sh", ["-c", command], {
                cwd: opts?.cwd ?? worktreePath,
                stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
              });

              const stdoutChunks: string[] = [];
              const stderrChunks: string[] = [];

              const rl = createInterface({ input: proc.stdout! });
              rl.on("line", (line) => {
                stdoutChunks.push(line);
                onLine(line); // forward each line to Sandcastle
              });

              proc.stderr!.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
                stderrChunks.push(chunk.toString());
              });

              proc.on("error", (err) => reject(err));
              proc.on("close", (code) => {
                resolve({
                  stdout: stdoutChunks.join("\n"),
                  stderr: stderrChunks.join(""),
                  exitCode: code ?? 0,
                });
              });
            });
          }

          return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
            execFile(
              "sh",
              ["-c", command],
              { cwd: opts?.cwd ?? worktreePath, maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024 },
              (error, stdout, stderr) => {
                if (error && error.code === undefined) {
                  reject(new Error(`exec failed: ${error.message}`));
                } else {
                  resolve({
                    stdout: stdout.toString(),
                    stderr: stderr.toString(),
                    exitCode: typeof error?.code === "number" ? error.code : 0,
                  });
                }
              },
            );
          });
        },

        copyFileIn: async (hostPath: string, sandboxPath: string) => {
          await fsMkdir(dirname(sandboxPath), { recursive: true });
          await fsCopyFile(hostPath, sandboxPath);
        },

        copyFileOut: async (sandboxPath: string, hostPath: string) => {
          await fsMkdir(dirname(hostPath), { recursive: true });
          await fsCopyFile(sandboxPath, hostPath);
        },

        close: async () => {
          // nothing to tear down for a local process
        },
      };
    },
  });

Isolated provider example

A minimal isolated provider using a temp directory:

import {
  createIsolatedSandboxProvider,
  type IsolatedSandboxHandle,
  type ExecResult,
} from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { execFile, spawn } from "node:child_process";
import { copyFile, mkdir, mkdtemp, rm } from "node:fs/promises";
import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
import { createInterface } from "node:readline";

const tempDir = () =>
  createIsolatedSandboxProvider({
    name: "temp-dir",
    create: async (): Promise<IsolatedSandboxHandle> => {
      const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "sandbox-"));
      const worktreePath = join(root, "workspace");
      await mkdir(worktreePath, { recursive: true });

      return {
        worktreePath,

        exec: (
          command: string,
          opts?: { onLine?: (line: string) => void; cwd?: string },
        ): Promise<ExecResult> => {
          if (opts?.onLine) {
            const onLine = opts.onLine;
            return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
              const proc = spawn("sh", ["-c", command], {
                cwd: opts?.cwd ?? worktreePath,
                stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
              });

              const stdoutChunks: string[] = [];
              const stderrChunks: string[] = [];

              const rl = createInterface({ input: proc.stdout! });
              rl.on("line", (line) => {
                stdoutChunks.push(line);
                onLine(line);
              });

              proc.stderr!.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
                stderrChunks.push(chunk.toString());
              });

              proc.on("error", (err) => reject(err));
              proc.on("close", (code) => {
                resolve({
                  stdout: stdoutChunks.join("\n"),
                  stderr: stderrChunks.join(""),
                  exitCode: code ?? 0,
                });
              });
            });
          }

          return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
            execFile(
              "sh",
              ["-c", command],
              { cwd: opts?.cwd ?? worktreePath, maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024 },
              (error, stdout, stderr) => {
                if (error && error.code === undefined) {
                  reject(new Error(`exec failed: ${error.message}`));
                } else {
                  resolve({
                    stdout: stdout.toString(),
                    stderr: stderr.toString(),
                    exitCode: typeof error?.code === "number" ? error.code : 0,
                  });
                }
              },
            );
          });
        },

        copyIn: async (hostPath: string, sandboxPath: string) => {
          const info = await stat(hostPath);
          if (info.isDirectory()) {
            await cp(hostPath, sandboxPath, { recursive: true });
          } else {
            await mkdir(dirname(sandboxPath), { recursive: true });
            await copyFile(hostPath, sandboxPath);
          }
        },

        copyFileOut: async (sandboxPath: string, hostPath: string) => {
          await mkdir(dirname(hostPath), { recursive: true });
          await copyFile(sandboxPath, hostPath);
        },

        close: async () => {
          await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
        },
      };
    },
  });

Branch strategies

A branch strategy controls where the agent's commits land. Configure it when constructing the provider:

Strategy	Behavior	Bind-mount	Isolated
head	Agent writes directly to the host working directory. No worktree created	Default	N/A
merge-to-head	Sandcastle creates a temp branch, merges back to HEAD when done	Supported	Default
branch	Commits land on an explicit named branch you provide	Supported	Supported

When to use each:

• head — fast iteration during development. No branch indirection, no merge step. Only works with bind-mount providers since the agent needs direct host filesystem access.
• merge-to-head — safe default for automation. The agent works on a throwaway branch; if something goes wrong, HEAD is untouched. Use this for CI or unattended runs.
• branch — when you want commits on a specific branch (e.g. for a PR). Pass { type: "branch", branch: "agent/fix-42" }.

Branch strategy is now configured on run(), not on the provider:

import { run, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";
import { docker } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle/sandboxes/docker";

// head — direct write, bind-mount only (default for bind-mount providers)
await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(),
  prompt: "…",
});
// merge-to-head — temp branch, merge back (default for isolated providers)
await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: tempDir(),
  prompt: "…",
});
// branch — explicit named branch
await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: docker(),
  branchStrategy: { type: "branch", branch: "agent/fix-42" },
  prompt: "…",
});

Passing to run()

Pass your custom provider via the sandbox option — it works the same as the built-in docker() provider:

import { run, claudeCode } from "@ai-hero/sandcastle";

const result = await run({
  agent: claudeCode("claude-opus-4-6"),
  sandbox: localProcess(), // your custom provider
  prompt: "Fix issue #42 in this repo.",
});

Reference implementations

For real-world examples, see:

• src/sandboxes/docker.ts — bind-mount provider using Docker containers
• src/sandboxes/vercel.ts — isolated provider using Vercel Firecracker microVMs via @vercel/sandbox
• src/sandboxes/podman.ts — bind-mount provider using Podman containers (with SELinux label support)
• src/sandboxes/test-isolated.ts — isolated provider using temp directories (used in tests)

Configuration

Config directory (.sandcastle/)

All per-repo sandbox configuration lives in .sandcastle/. Run sandcastle init to create it.

Custom Dockerfile

The .sandcastle/Dockerfile controls the sandbox environment. The default template installs:

• Node.js 22 (base image)
• git, curl, jq (system dependencies)
• GitHub CLI (gh)
• Claude Code CLI
• A non-root agent user (required — Claude runs as this user)

When customizing the Dockerfile, ensure you keep:

• A non-root user (the default agent user) for Claude to run as
• git (required for commits and branch operations)
• gh (required for issue fetching)
• Claude Code CLI installed and on PATH

Add your project-specific dependencies (e.g., language runtimes, build tools) to the Dockerfile as needed.

Hooks

Hooks are grouped by where they run — host (on the developer's machine) or sandbox (inside the container):

hooks: {
  host: {
    onWorktreeReady: [{ command: "cp .env.example .env" }],
    onSandboxReady:  [{ command: "echo sandbox is up" }],
  },
  sandbox: {
    onSandboxReady: [
      { command: "npm install" },
      { command: "apt-get install -y ffmpeg", sudo: true },
    ],
  },
}

Hook	Runs on	When	Working directory
host.onWorktreeReady	Host	After copyToWorktree, before sandbox start	Worktree path (host repo root under head)
host.onSandboxReady	Host	After sandbox is up	Worktree path (host repo root under head)
sandbox.onSandboxReady	Sandbox	After sandbox is up	Sandbox repo directory

Ordering: copyToWorktree -> host.onWorktreeReady (sequential) -> sandbox created -> host.onSandboxReady + sandbox.onSandboxReady (parallel).

• Host hooks accept { command: string } — no sudo, no cwd. Use cd or inline env in the command string.
• Sandbox hooks accept { command: string; sudo?: boolean } — set sudo: true for elevated privileges.
• Within each hook point, sandbox hooks run in parallel; host hooks within onSandboxReady also run in parallel with sandbox hooks. host.onWorktreeReady hooks run sequentially in declared order.
• If any hook exits non-zero, setup fails fast.
• When a signal is passed to run(), it is threaded to all hooks — aborting the signal cancels any in-flight hook commands.

Development

npm install
npm run build    # Build with tsgo
npm test         # Run tests with vitest
npm run typecheck # Type-check

License

MIT