Developer creates filesystem sandbox for coding agents using Linux user namespaces
By
m-hodges
Slow-proofed and worth the wait. Worth its weight in flour.
Summary
A developer shares their approach to sandboxing coding agents by implementing a filesystem sandbox using unprivileged user namespaces and overlay mounts in Linux. The solution, built primarily in Python with a C helper, runs arbitrary commands in a sandboxed environment, captures edits as a tarball, and generates unified diffs. The sandbox helper can be used standalone or integrated into a larger framework.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledFunny you should mention this, I just added a simple filesystem sandbox to my coding agent.
It uses unprivileged user namespaces to mount an overlay and run an arbitrary command, then when the command finishes, it writes a tarball of edits, which I use to create a unified diff.
The framework orchestrates it all transparently, but the helper itself could be used standalone.
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