Packages
One sandbox behaviour over Sprites, E2B and Daytona, with the conformance suite a fourth adapter runs against.
Retired package: Deprecated - Folded into managoat/fountain on 2026-10-15 (apps/fountain/lib/managoat); no further releases
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managoat_sandbox
README.md
README.md
# Managoat.Sandbox
One behaviour for the machine an agent runs in, three adapters that implement
it against hosted providers, and the conformance suite a fourth adapter runs
against.
```elixir
alias Managoat.Sandbox
{:ok, handle} = Sandbox.create(:sprites, "my-app-7f3a")
{:ok, output, 0} = Sandbox.exec(handle, "bash", ["-lc", "uname -a"])
{:ok, command} = Sandbox.spawn(handle, "bash", ["-lc", "tail -f /var/log/app"], owner: self())
receive do
{:stdout, %{ref: ref}, data} when ref == command.ref -> IO.write(data)
end
:ok = Sandbox.destroy(handle)
```
Call sites never name an adapter module. Creation-side operations take a
provider atom; everything else dispatches on the `provider` tag carried by a
`Managoat.Sandbox.Handle` or `Managoat.Sandbox.Command`.
## The contract
`Managoat.Sandbox` is the `@behaviour`, the facade and the error taxonomy.
Its moduledoc is normative; the short version:
| Semantic | Rule |
|---|---|
| `create/2` | name-keyed and idempotent: a name that exists is adopted, not duplicated |
| `get/1` | `{:error, :not_found}` means definitively gone; anything transient is a different error |
| `destroy/1` | tolerates an already-gone sandbox |
| `list_all_names/0` | the whole account view, or `{:error, :truncated}`; never a partial view that looks whole |
| `exec/4` | blocks until exit and never raises; a nonzero exit is `{:ok, output, code}` |
| `spawn/4` | streams `{:stdout | :stderr | :exit | :error, %{ref: ref}, _}` frames to the owner, exactly one terminal frame, after all output; a close with no exit frame is `{:error, _, :closed_before_exit}`, never a synthesised exit 0 |
| `write_stdin/2` | total: an exited command yields `{:error, :command_exited}` |
| `attach/3` | replays a detached session's output from byte zero, then tails |
| `terminate_session/3` | optional remote stop; success requires provider-confirmed termination or absence, never just local disconnect or HTTP acceptance |
| `apply_network_policy/2` | `allow: []` is deny-all, never a silent no-op |
Errors are the closed taxonomy `:not_found`, `:truncated`, `:not_supported`,
`:command_exited`, `{:rate_limited, retry_after}`, `{:unavailable, detail}`,
`{:denied, detail}`, `{:invalid, detail}`, `{:restore_failed, detail}`,
`{:write_failed, detail}` and `{:provider, provider, detail}`.
`Managoat.Sandbox.Retry.transient?/1` classifies them, and
`Managoat.Sandbox.Retry.with_backoff/2` is bounded exponential backoff for
the idempotent calls (never wrap a non-idempotent one in it).
Capabilities (`capabilities/0`) say what an adapter can do beyond the
required operations: `:suspend`, `:network_policy`, `:checkpoint`, `:attach`,
`:tty`, `:public_url`, `:terminate_session`. A capability is a promise about the
answer, and the conformance suite checks the promise.
`terminate_session(handle, session_id, timeout_ms: 10_000)` is implemented for
Sprites and the reference fake. Other adapters return `{:error, :not_supported}`;
they do not destroy the sandbox as a fallback. The grace interval is 1–30,000 ms,
with up to five further seconds for transport. Sprites escalates SIGTERM to
SIGKILL and requires affirmative termination plus the final completion frame.
An error, malformed/truncated stream or lost response remains uncertain. There
is no automatic retry or redirect, and output is bounded to 16 KiB.
The host must authorize the exact sandbox incarnation and session, persist its
intent, and prevent session reuse while termination is uncertain. A confirmed
stop provides no passing-test evidence, original exit result, or billed-cost
claim. `stop_command/1` only detaches the local transport. Turn deadlines and
durable recovery belong to the host; this operation supplies the remote stop.
## The adapters
| Adapter | Provider | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Managoat.Sandbox.Sprites` | [sprites.dev](https://sprites.dev) via `sprites-ex` | scale-to-zero parking, detachable sessions with replay, deny-capable egress policy, public URLs |
| `Managoat.Sandbox.E2B` | [e2b.dev](https://e2b.dev) | name-keyed identity emulated through metadata; explicit TTL heartbeats; replay through in-sandbox journals |
| `Managoat.Sandbox.Daytona` | [daytona.io](https://daytona.io) or self-hosted | name-addressable; toolbox sessions replay from the start |
Each adapter reads its settings from this library's own otp_app through
`Managoat.Sandbox.Config`, never from the host application's:
```elixir
config :managoat_sandbox, Managoat.Sandbox.Sprites,
token: System.get_env("SPRITES_TOKEN"),
base_url: "https://api.sprites.dev",
timeout_ms: 30_000,
public_urls: true,
checkpoint_creation_enabled: false
config :managoat_sandbox, Managoat.Sandbox.E2B,
api_key: System.get_env("E2B_API_KEY"),
base_url: "https://api.e2b.app",
template: "base",
user: "sprite"
config :managoat_sandbox, Managoat.Sandbox.Daytona,
api_key: System.get_env("DAYTONA_API_KEY"),
api_url: "https://app.daytona.io/api",
snapshot: nil
config :managoat_sandbox, Managoat.Sandbox.Retry, base_ms: 250
```
A key set to `nil` counts as unset and takes the default. The adapter map is
config too, so a host can add its own adapters beside the three shipped ones:
```elixir
config :managoat_sandbox,
adapters: %{
sprites: Managoat.Sandbox.Sprites,
e2b: Managoat.Sandbox.E2B,
daytona: Managoat.Sandbox.Daytona,
runner: MyApp.Sandbox.Runner
}
```
Which of the registered providers a deployment may *use* (is the credential
set, has an operator switched one off, which is the default) is the host's
policy. The library answers only which module serves an atom.
## Writing a fourth adapter
The conformance suite is the tutorial. It ships in `lib/`, not `test/`, so a
consumer can run it from its own suite:
```elixir
defmodule MyApp.Sandbox.RunnerConformanceTest do
use Managoat.Sandbox.ConformanceCase,
adapter: MyApp.Sandbox.Runner,
fixtures: %{
exec_ok: {"bash", ["-lc", "echo hello"], "hello"},
exec_fail: {"bash", ["-lc", "echo oops; exit 3"], 3},
spawn_ok: {"bash", ["-lc", "echo hello"]},
spawn_stay: {"bash", ["-lc", "echo ready; cat"]}
}
end
```
`fixtures` supplies the adapter-appropriate command vocabulary; an optional
`name: {Mod, :fun, args}` mints sandbox names when the adapter needs a
particular shape. The suite pins create idempotency, the not-found versus
transient distinction, destroy tolerance, full-view listing, exec-never-raises,
the owner-message frame contract with exactly one terminal frame, stdin-write
totality, attach replay-from-start and suspend/resume totality.
`Managoat.Sandbox.Fake` is the reference implementation: a real, in-memory
adapter whose commands are actual processes emitting the frames, passing the
suite in full. Read it before writing an adapter, and use it to drive a
provisioning path without a network.
Then, in order:
1. Implement `@behaviour Managoat.Sandbox`. Keep the provider's secrets out of
`Handle.private` inspection (the struct already excludes it from `Inspect`).
2. Normalize every provider error into the taxonomy in an `errors.ex`, so
`Retry.transient?/1` classifies it right.
3. Register the module in the adapter map.
4. Run the conformance case against it, with `Req.Test` stubs for the
provider's API.
## Where it comes from
Extracted from [Fountain](https://github.com/BinaryBourbon/fountain) under
[ADR 0037](https://github.com/BinaryBourbon/fountain/blob/main/decisions/0037-component-libraries.md);
the design is
[ADR 0018](https://github.com/BinaryBourbon/fountain/blob/main/decisions/0018-sandbox-provider-abstraction.md).
Fountain's self-hosted runner adapter implements this behaviour from outside
the package, which is what the behaviour is for.
Published on hex; the Sprites SDK is pinned exactly to its released version in
`mix.exs`.
## Licence
Apache-2.0. See `LICENSE`.