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What is a Toolbox

A toolbox is a container image that provides the development stack: runtimes, package managers, IDEs, and utilities. Application code is not baked into the image — developers clone and manage repos inside the running sandbox. Every toolbox image includes the dev access layer:

Build Modes

Build toolbox images from the Images page in the web UI.

Scratch

Build an image interactively by selecting components:

BYOI (Bring Your Own Image)

Provide an existing OCI image reference. The dev access layer (SSH, code-server, ttyd, gateway) is layered on top automatically.

Templates

Templates are pre-built toolbox images available as starting points. Selecting a template skips the base tool installation and only adds your customizations, making builds significantly faster.

Supported Runtimes

Image Forking

When a developer installs packages inside a running sandbox, those changes can be detected and captured into a new image via the Fork feature. Fork detection compares the current state against snapshots taken at boot: Click Fork on a running sandbox to see detected changes and build a new image that includes them.

Build Progress

When you start a build, a modal shows live progress:
  1. Creating — preparing the build
  2. Building — executing the Dockerfile (installing runtimes, packages, tools)
  3. Pushing — uploading the image to the registry
  4. Done — image available for use
Build logs stream in real time. If a build fails, the log shows which step failed and why.

Managing Images

The Images page lists all toolbox images in your org: