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Manage sandbox runtimes for isolated agent execution: Docker containers, SSH targets, or OpenShell backends.

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Commands

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openclaw sandbox list

List sandbox runtimes with status, backend, config match, age, idle time, and associated session/agent. 
openclaw sandbox list
openclaw sandbox list --browser  # browser containers only
openclaw sandbox list --json

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openclaw sandbox recreate

Remove sandbox runtimes to force recreation with current config. Runtimes are recreated automatically the next time the agent is used. 
openclaw sandbox recreate --all
openclaw sandbox recreate --agent mybot        # includes agent:mybot:* sub-sessions
openclaw sandbox recreate --session "agent:main:main"
openclaw sandbox recreate --browser --all      # only browser containers
openclaw sandbox recreate --all --force        # skip confirmation
Options:
  • --all: recreate all sandbox containers
  • --session <key>: recreate the runtime with this exact scope key (as shown by sandbox list); no short-name expansion
  • --agent <id>: recreate runtimes for one agent (matches agent:<id> and agent:<id>:*)
  • --browser: only affect browser containers
  • --force: skip the confirmation prompt
Pass exactly one of --all, --session, or --agent. For ssh and OpenShell remote, recreate matters more than with Docker: the remote workspace is canonical after the initial seed, recreate deletes that canonical remote workspace for the selected scope, and the next run reseeds it from the current local workspace.

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openclaw sandbox explain

Inspect the effective sandbox mode/scope/workspace access, sandbox tool policy, and elevated-tool gates (with fix-it config key paths). The report keeps workspaceRoot as the configured sandbox root and separately shows the effective host workspace, backend runtime workdir, and Docker mount table. For workspaceAccess: "rw", the effective host workspace is the agent workspace rather than a directory below workspaceRoot. 
openclaw sandbox explain
openclaw sandbox explain --session agent:main:main
openclaw sandbox explain --agent work
openclaw sandbox explain --json
Unlike recreate --session, this accepts short session names (for example main) and expands them against the resolved agent.

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Why recreate is needed

Updating sandbox config does not affect running containers: existing runtimes keep their old settings, and idle runtimes are only pruned after prune.idleHours (default 24h). Regularly used agents can keep stale runtimes alive indefinitely. openclaw sandbox recreate removes the old runtime so the next use rebuilds it from current config.
Prefer openclaw sandbox recreate over manual backend-specific cleanup. It uses the Gateway’s runtime registry and avoids mismatches when scope or session keys change.

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Common triggers

ChangeCommand
Docker image update (agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.image)openclaw sandbox recreate --all
Sandbox config (agents.defaults.sandbox.*)openclaw sandbox recreate --all
SSH target/auth (agents.defaults.sandbox.ssh.{target,workspaceRoot,identityFile,certificateFile,knownHostsFile,identityData,certificateData,knownHostsData})openclaw sandbox recreate --all
OpenShell source/policy/mode (plugins.entries.openshell.config.{from,mode,policy})openclaw sandbox recreate --all
setupCommandopenclaw sandbox recreate --all (or --agent <id> for one agent)
Runtimes are automatically recreated when the agent is next used.

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Registry migration

Sandbox runtime metadata lives in the shared SQLite state database. Older installs may have legacy registry files that regular reads no longer rewrite:
  • ~/.openclaw/sandbox/containers.json
  • ~/.openclaw/sandbox/browsers.json
  • one JSON shard per container/browser under ~/.openclaw/sandbox/containers/ or ~/.openclaw/sandbox/browsers/
Run openclaw doctor --fix to migrate valid legacy entries into SQLite. Invalid legacy files are quarantined so a corrupt old registry cannot hide current runtime entries.

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Configuration

Sandbox settings live in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under agents.defaults.sandbox (per-agent overrides go in agents.list[].sandbox): 
{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "sandbox": {
        "mode": "all", // off, non-main, all
        "backend": "docker", // docker, ssh, openshell (plugin-provided)
        "scope": "agent", // session, agent, shared
        "docker": {
          "image": "openclaw-sandbox:bookworm-slim",
          "containerPrefix": "openclaw-sbx-",
          // ... more Docker options
        },
        "prune": {
          "idleHours": 24, // auto-prune after 24h idle
          "maxAgeDays": 7, // auto-prune after 7 days
        },
      },
    },
  },
}