Server - OpenSandbox

Overview

The OpenSandbox Server is a production-grade, FastAPI-based service that acts as the control plane for managing the lifecycle of containerized sandboxes. It provides standardized REST interfaces for creating, running, monitoring, and disposing of isolated execution environments across container platforms.

Core Capabilities

Lifecycle APIs

Standardized REST interfaces for complete sandbox management:

Create and provision sandboxes
Start, pause, and resume operations
Delete and cleanup
Status monitoring with transition tracking

Pluggable Runtimes

Docker

Production-ready runtime for local and single-host deployments

Kubernetes

Distributed runtime for cluster deployments (see kubernetes/ directory)

Networking Modes

Host Mode: Containers share the host network for maximum performance. Only one sandbox instance at a time. Bridge Mode: Isolated container networking with built-in HTTP routing support.

Access Control

API Key authentication via OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY header. Can be disabled for local/dev environments.

Resource Management

Resource quotas: CPU/memory limits with Kubernetes-style specs (e.g., 500m, 512Mi)
Automatic expiration: Configurable TTL with renewal support
Registry support: Public and private container images

Extended Features

Async provisioning: Background creation to reduce API latency
Timer restoration: Expiration timers restored after server restart
Environment injection: Per-sandbox environment variables and metadata
Port resolution: Dynamic endpoint generation for service access
Structured errors: Standard error codes and messages

Requirements

Python: 3.10 or higher
Package Manager: uv (recommended) or pip
Runtime Backend:
- Docker Engine 20.10+ (for Docker runtime)
- Kubernetes 1.21+ (for Kubernetes runtime)
Operating System: Linux, macOS, or Windows with WSL2

Installation

Install from PyPI:

uv pip install opensandbox-server

For source development or contributions, clone the repo and run uv sync inside server/.

Configuration

The server uses a TOML configuration file to select and configure the underlying runtime.

Initialize Configuration

Create a configuration file from a template:

# Docker example
opensandbox-server init-config ~/.sandbox.toml --example docker

# Kubernetes example
opensandbox-server init-config ~/.sandbox.toml --example k8s

# Add --force to overwrite existing file

Docker Runtime Examples

Host Networking
Bridge Networking
Security Hardening

[server]
host = "0.0.0.0"
port = 8080
log_level = "INFO"
api_key = "your-secret-api-key-change-this"

[runtime]
type = "docker"
execd_image = "opensandbox/execd:v1.0.6"

[docker]
network_mode = "host"  # Containers share host network

[server]
host = "0.0.0.0"
port = 8080
log_level = "INFO"
api_key = "your-secret-api-key-change-this"

[runtime]
type = "docker"
execd_image = "opensandbox/execd:v1.0.6"

[docker]
network_mode = "bridge"  # Isolated container networking

[docker]
# Drop dangerous capabilities
drop_capabilities = [
  "AUDIT_WRITE", "MKNOD", "NET_ADMIN", "NET_RAW",
  "SYS_ADMIN", "SYS_MODULE", "SYS_PTRACE", "SYS_TIME", "SYS_TTY_CONFIG"
]
no_new_privileges = true
apparmor_profile = ""        # e.g. "docker-default"
pids_limit = 512             # prevent fork bombs
seccomp_profile = ""         # path or profile name

Further reading: Docker container security

Ingress Configuration

[ingress]
mode = "direct"  # docker runtime only supports direct

Gateway Mode (Kubernetes only):

[ingress]
mode = "gateway"

[ingress.gateway]
address = "*.example.com"  # wildcard domain or IP[:port]

[ingress.gateway.route]
mode = "wildcard"  # wildcard | uri | header

Routing mode examples:

wildcard: <sandbox-id>-<port>.example.com/path/to/request
uri: 10.0.0.1:8000/<sandbox-id>/<port>/path/to/request
header: gateway.example.com with header OpenSandbox-Ingress-To: <sandbox-id>-<port>

Kubernetes Runtime

[runtime]
type = "kubernetes"
execd_image = "opensandbox/execd:v1.0.5"

[kubernetes]
kubeconfig_path = "~/.kube/config"
namespace = "opensandbox"
workload_provider = "batchsandbox"   # or "agent-sandbox"
informer_enabled = true              # Beta: enable watch-based cache
informer_resync_seconds = 300        # Beta: full list interval
informer_watch_timeout_seconds = 60  # Beta: watch restart interval

Informer settings are beta and enabled by default to reduce API calls. Set informer_enabled = false to turn off.

Egress Configuration

Required when using networkPolicy in sandbox creation requests:

[runtime]
type = "docker"
execd_image = "opensandbox/execd:v1.0.6"

[egress]
image = "opensandbox/egress:v1.0.1"

Only supported in Docker bridge mode
Requests with networkPolicy are rejected when network_mode=host or egress.image is not configured
Main container shares the sidecar netns and drops NET_ADMIN
IPv6 is disabled when egress sidecar is injected

Example request with network policy:

{
  "image": {"uri": "python:3.11-slim"},
  "entrypoint": ["python", "-m", "http.server", "8000"],
  "timeout": 3600,
  "resourceLimits": {"cpu": "500m", "memory": "512Mi"},
  "networkPolicy": {
    "defaultAction": "deny",
    "egress": [
      {"action": "allow", "target": "pypi.org"},
      {"action": "allow", "target": "*.python.org"}
    ]
  }
}

Running the Server

Start the server using the installed CLI:

opensandbox-server

Or specify a custom config path:

opensandbox-server --config ~/.sandbox.toml

The server will start at http://0.0.0.0:8080 (or your configured host/port).

Health Check

curl http://localhost:8080/health

Expected response:

{"status": "healthy"}

API Documentation

Once running, interactive API documentation is available:

Swagger UI: http://localhost:8080/docs
ReDoc: http://localhost:8080/redoc

Authentication

Authentication is enforced only when server.api_key is set. All endpoints except /health, /docs, /redoc require the OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY header:

curl -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes

Example Usage

Create a Sandbox

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes" \
  -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "image": {"uri": "python:3.11-slim"},
    "entrypoint": ["python", "-m", "http.server", "8000"],
    "timeout": 3600,
    "resourceLimits": {
      "cpu": "500m",
      "memory": "512Mi"
    },
    "env": {"PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"},
    "metadata": {
      "team": "backend",
      "project": "api-testing"
    }
  }'

Get Sandbox Details

curl -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes/{sandbox-id}

Get Service Endpoint

curl -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes/{sandbox-id}/endpoints/8000

Renew Expiration

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes/{sandbox-id}/renew-expiration" \
  -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"expiresAt": "2024-01-15T12:30:00Z"}'

Delete a Sandbox

curl -X DELETE \
  -H "OPEN-SANDBOX-API-KEY: your-secret-api-key" \
  http://localhost:8080/v1/sandboxes/{sandbox-id}

Architecture

Component Responsibilities

API Layer (src/api/): HTTP request handling, validation, and response formatting
Service Layer (src/services/): Business logic for sandbox lifecycle operations
Middleware (src/middleware/): Cross-cutting concerns (authentication, logging)
Configuration (src/config.py): Centralized configuration management
Runtime Implementations: Platform-specific sandbox orchestration

Sandbox Lifecycle States

State Transitions:

Pending: Container is starting
Running: Sandbox is active and ready
Paused: Execution paused, resources held
Stopping: Cleanup in progress
Terminated: Successfully stopped
Failed: Error during lifecycle

Configuration Reference

Server Configuration

Key	Type	Default	Description
`server.host`	string	`"0.0.0.0"`	Interface to bind
`server.port`	integer	`8080`	Port to listen on
`server.log_level`	string	`"INFO"`	Python logging level
`server.api_key`	string	`null`	API key for authentication

Runtime Configuration

Key	Type	Required	Description
`runtime.type`	string	Yes	`"docker"` or `"kubernetes"`
`runtime.execd_image`	string	Yes	Container image with execd binary

Egress Configuration

Key	Type	Required	Description
`egress.image`	string	When using `networkPolicy`	Container image with egress binary

Docker Configuration

Key	Type	Default	Description
`docker.network_mode`	string	`"host"`	`"host"` or `"bridge"`

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`SANDBOX_CONFIG_PATH`	Override config file location
`DOCKER_HOST`	Docker daemon URL (e.g., `unix:///var/run/docker.sock`)
`PENDING_FAILURE_TTL`	TTL for failed pending sandboxes in seconds (default: 3600)

Development

Code Quality

# Run linter
uv run ruff check

# Auto-fix issues
uv run ruff check --fix

# Format code
uv run ruff format

Testing

# Run all tests
uv run pytest

# Run with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=src --cov-report=html

# Run specific test
uv run pytest tests/test_docker_service.py::test_create_sandbox_requires_entrypoint

Support

Documentation: See DEVELOPMENT.md for development guidance
Issues: Report defects via GitHub Issues
Discussions: Use GitHub Discussions for Q&A and ideas

Get Started

Core Concepts

Deployment

SDKs

Components

Use Cases

Operations

​Overview

​Core Capabilities

​Lifecycle APIs

​Pluggable Runtimes

Docker

Kubernetes

​Networking Modes

​Access Control

​Resource Management

​Extended Features

​Requirements

​Installation

​Configuration

​Initialize Configuration

​Docker Runtime Examples

​Ingress Configuration

​Kubernetes Runtime

​Egress Configuration

​Running the Server

​Health Check

​API Documentation

​Authentication

​Example Usage

​Create a Sandbox

​Get Sandbox Details

​Get Service Endpoint

​Renew Expiration

​Delete a Sandbox

​Architecture

​Component Responsibilities

​Sandbox Lifecycle States

​Configuration Reference

​Server Configuration

​Runtime Configuration

​Egress Configuration

​Docker Configuration

​Environment Variables

​Development

​Code Quality

​Testing

​Support

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Core Capabilities

Lifecycle APIs

Pluggable Runtimes

Networking Modes

Access Control

Resource Management

Extended Features

Requirements

Installation

Configuration

Initialize Configuration

Docker Runtime Examples

Ingress Configuration

Kubernetes Runtime

Egress Configuration

Running the Server

Health Check

API Documentation

Authentication

Example Usage

Create a Sandbox

Get Sandbox Details

Get Service Endpoint

Renew Expiration

Delete a Sandbox

Architecture

Component Responsibilities

Sandbox Lifecycle States

Configuration Reference

Server Configuration

Runtime Configuration

Egress Configuration

Docker Configuration

Environment Variables

Development

Code Quality

Testing

Support