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https://github.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox

Claude Code in Docker. Drop-in OpenAI-compatible API, MCP server, Telegram bot, and CLI — five interfaces, one image. Persistent sessions, file ops, always-on skill injection, and a full dev toolchain (Go, Python, Node, K8s, Terraform, databases) or a minimal image with just the basics.
https://github.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox

ai ai-agent api claude claude-code code-agent container development-agent docker docker-image multimodal-agent programmatic telegram web-api wrapper

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Claude Code in Docker. Drop-in OpenAI-compatible API, MCP server, Telegram bot, and CLI — five interfaces, one image. Persistent sessions, file ops, always-on skill injection, and a full dev toolchain (Go, Python, Node, K8s, Terraform, databases) or a minimal image with just the basics.

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# claudebox



[![Docker Hub](https://img.shields.io/docker/pulls/psyb0t/claudebox?style=flat-square)](https://hub.docker.com/r/psyb0t/claudebox)

[![License: WTFPL](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-WTFPL-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](http://www.wtfpl.net/)



A runtime harness for [Claude Code](https://claude.com/product/claude-code) — the agentic coding CLI from Anthropic — running in a fully isolated Docker container with every dev tool pre-installed, passwordless sudo, docker-in-docker support, and `--permission-mode bypassPermissions` enabled by default.



> **v2.0.0 — rebased on `psyb0t/aicodebox`.** claudebox is now a thin child image of the shared aicodebox base (same pattern as `psyb0t/pibox`). Every mode surface (API / Telegram / Cron / MCP) is inherited from the base and stays in lockstep with future base fixes. See [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) for the full migration guide (endpoint shape changes, env-var namespace, path renames — all mitigated by aliases + symlinks so existing configs keep working).



**Runtime hardening (recommended `docker run` flags):**

- `--cap-drop=ALL --cap-add=NET_BIND_SERVICE` — drop every Linux capability, add back only bind-below-1024 if you actually need it.

- `--security-opt no-new-privileges:true` — block setuid privilege escalation inside the container.

- `--memory=2g --cpus=2 --pids-limit=512` — cap runtime resource use so a runaway process can't starve the host.

- `--read-only --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid` (only if you don't use `/workspace` for writes — otherwise skip).

The container drops from root to `aicode` (UID 1000) at boot via `setpriv` in the base entrypoint, so the process running your code is never root even without `--user`.



claudebox wraps Claude Code with several distinct interfaces:



- **Interactive CLI** — a drop-in replacement for the native `claude` command, with persistent containers and automatic session resumption across runs

- **Programmatic CLI** — non-interactive mode for scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and automation; pass a prompt, get structured output, pipe it wherever you need

- **HTTP API server** — a full REST API with workspace management, file operations, structured output formats, and workspace isolation for multi-tenant deployments

- **OpenAI-compatible endpoint** — a `chat/completions` adapter that lets LiteLLM, OpenAI SDKs, and any OpenAI-compatible client talk to Claude Code, complete with streaming SSE, multi-turn conversations, and multimodal image handling

- **MCP server** — a [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) endpoint over streamable HTTP so other AI agents and tools (Claude Desktop, other Claude Code instances, etc.) can use Claude Code as a tool

- **Telegram bot** — a conversational interface with per-chat workspaces, configurable models and effort levels, file sharing, shell access, and group chat support

- **Cron scheduler** — yaml-defined Claude jobs running on cron schedules with per-job activity history, sub-minute resolution, and overlap protection



Beyond just running Claude Code in Docker, claudebox adds skill injection (auto-load `SKILL.md` files into every session), init hooks, custom script directories, structured JSON logging, and a workspace management layer that handles multi-tenant isolation with automatic busy/idle tracking.



> **Renamed from `docker-claude-code`:** This project was previously called `docker-claude-code` with the Docker image at `psyb0t/claude-code`. Starting with v1.0.0, it is `claudebox` — the Docker image is now `psyb0t/claudebox`, the default binary name is `claudebox`, the GitHub repository is `psyb0t/docker-claudebox`, and the SSH key directory defaults to `~/.ssh/claudebox`. If you were using the old names, update your image references, wrapper scripts, and SSH paths accordingly.



## Table of Contents



- [Requirements](#requirements)

- [Quick Start](#quick-start)

- [Image Variants](#image-variants)

- [What's Inside (Full Image)](#whats-inside-full-image)

- [Authentication](#authentication)

- [Modes](#modes)

- [Configuration](#configuration)

- [Gotchas](#gotchas)

- [License](#license)



## Requirements



Docker installed and running. That's it.



## Quick Start



### One-liner install



The install script pulls the Docker image, generates SSH keys for git operations inside the container, downloads the wrapper script, and installs it as a command on your system.



```bash

# minimal image — default; Claude installs what it needs on the fly

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox/master/install.sh | bash



# full image — every dev tool pre-installed (Go, Python, kubectl, terraform, ...)

export CLAUDEBOX_FULL=1 && curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox/master/install.sh | bash



# custom binary name (e.g. if you want to call it 'claude' instead of 'claudebox')

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox/master/install.sh | bash -s -- claude

# or: export CLAUDEBOX_BIN_NAME=claude && curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash

```



> **v2 note:** the variant naming flipped in v2. `latest` is now the minimal image (was the full image pre-v2); `latest-full` is the toolchain-loaded variant (was `latest` pre-v2). The `CLAUDEBOX_MINIMAL=1` opt-in from v1 is now a no-op — you already get minimal by default. Set `CLAUDEBOX_FULL=1` to opt into the toolchain image.



> **Heads up on env vars:** `VAR=x curl … | bash` does **not** set `VAR` for the install script — bash semantics attach the var to `curl` only. Always `export` the var first (or put it on the `bash` side of the pipe).



### Manual setup



If you prefer not to pipe scripts to bash:



```bash

# 1. create the data directory

mkdir -p ~/.claude



# 2. create SSH keys for git operations inside the container

mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh/claudebox"

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "claude@claude.ai" -f "$HOME/.ssh/claudebox/id_ed25519" -N ""

# then add the public key to GitHub/GitLab/wherever you push code



# 3. pull the image

docker pull psyb0t/claudebox:latest        # minimal (default)

# or: docker pull psyb0t/claudebox:latest-full   # toolchain-loaded variant



# 4. grab the wrapper script and install it

# see install.sh for exactly how the wrapper is set up

```



## Image Variants



### `psyb0t/claudebox:latest` (minimal, default)



The default v2 image. Just enough to run Claude Code on top of the aicodebox base: Ubuntu 24.04, git/curl/wget/jq, Node.js 22 LTS + npm, Python 3.12 + uv, Docker CE. Claude has passwordless sudo, so it will install whatever else it needs on the fly via `apt-get`, `pip`, `npm`, etc. Smaller image, faster pull, first run may take longer while Claude sorts out its own tooling.



```bash

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox/master/install.sh | bash

```



Use `/aicodebox-init.d/*.sh` hooks (see [Init Hooks](docs/customization.md#init-hooks-claudeinitd)) to pre-install your tools on first container create so Claude doesn't burn tokens figuring out package management.



### `psyb0t/claudebox:latest-full` (toolchain-loaded)



Everything pre-installed. Layered on top of the minimal image: Go 1.26, Python 3.12.11 via pyenv, Node.js dev tools, C/C++ toolchain, terraform, kubectl, helm, gh, database clients (sqlite/postgres/mysql/redis), editors (vim/nano/htop/tmux), linters + formatters (flake8/black/isort/pyright/mypy/ruff/eslint/prettier/gofumpt/…). Larger image but Claude wakes up ready.



```bash

export CLAUDEBOX_FULL=1 && curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/psyb0t/docker-claudebox/master/install.sh | bash

```



### Comparison



|                                       | `latest` (minimal) | `latest-full` |

| ------------------------------------- | :----------------: | :-----------: |

| Ubuntu 24.04                          |       yes       |       yes        |

| git, curl, wget, jq                   |       yes       |       yes        |

| Node.js LTS + npm                     |       yes       |       yes        |

| Docker CE + Compose                   |       yes       |       yes        |

| Claude Code CLI                       |       yes       |       yes        |

| Go 1.26.1 + tools                     |       yes       |        -         |

| Python 3.12.11 + tools                |       yes       |        -         |

| Node.js dev tools                     |       yes       |        -         |

| C/C++ tools                           |       yes       |        -         |

| DevOps (terraform, kubectl, helm, gh) |       yes       |        -         |

| Database clients                      |       yes       |        -         |

| Shell utilities (ripgrep, bat, etc.)  |       yes       |        -         |



## What's Inside (Full Image)



**Languages and runtimes:**



- **Go 1.26.1** with the full toolchain — golangci-lint, gopls, delve, staticcheck, gofumpt, gotests, impl, gomodifytags

- **Python 3.12.11** via pyenv — flake8, black, isort, autoflake, pyright, mypy, vulture, pytest, poetry, pipenv, plus common libraries (requests, beautifulsoup4, lxml, pyyaml, toml)

- **Node.js LTS** — eslint, prettier, typescript, ts-node, yarn, pnpm, nodemon, pm2, framework CLIs (React, Vue, Angular), newman, http-server, serve, lighthouse, storybook

- **C/C++** — gcc, g++, make, cmake, clang-format, valgrind, gdb, strace, ltrace



**DevOps and infrastructure:**



- Docker CE with Docker Compose (docker-in-docker support)

- Terraform, kubectl, helm, GitHub CLI (`gh`)



**Database clients:**



- sqlite3, postgresql-client (`psql`), mysql-client, redis-tools (`redis-cli`)



**Shell and system utilities:**



- jq, tree, ripgrep, bat, exa, fd-find, ag (silversearcher), htop, tmux, shellcheck, shfmt, httpie, vim, nano

- Archive tools (zip, unzip, tar), networking (net-tools, iputils-ping, dnsutils)



**Container automation:**



- Auto-generated `CLAUDE.md` in each workspace listing all available tools, so Claude knows what it has access to

- Git identity auto-configured from environment variables

- Claude Code CLI with auto-updates disabled by default (opt in with `--update`)

- Workspace trust dialog pre-accepted — no interactive prompts

- Custom scripts via `~/.claude/bin` (added to PATH automatically)

- Init hooks via `~/.claude/init.d/*.sh` (run once on first container create)

- Always-active skills via `~/.claude/.always-skills/` (injected into every invocation)

- Session continuity via `--continue` / `--no-continue` / `--resume `

- Structured JSON debug logging with `DEBUG=true`



## Authentication



You need either an Anthropic API key or an OAuth token. Set up once, use everywhere:



```bash

# interactive OAuth token setup (one-time)

claudebox setup-token



# then use the token for programmatic and headless runs

CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN=sk-ant-oat01-xxx claudebox "do stuff"



# or use an API key directly

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-xxx claudebox "do stuff"

```



## Modes



claudebox can run in several modes — pick the one that matches how you want to use Claude Code. Each has its own page with full setup, env vars, and examples.



### [Interactive Mode →](docs/modes/interactive.md)



Drop-in replacement for `claude`. Persistent per-workspace container, automatic session resumption, plus utility commands like `claudebox doctor`, `claudebox mcp list`, `claudebox stop`, and `claudebox clear-session`.



```bash

claudebox

```



### [Programmatic Mode →](docs/modes/programmatic.md)



Non-interactive prompt → response for scripts, pipelines, and automation. Plain text, JSON, JSON-verbose (with full tool-call history), and stream-json output formats. Model selection, system prompt overrides, JSON-schema-constrained output, session continuation.



```bash

claudebox "explain this codebase" --output-format json --model haiku

```



### [API Mode →](docs/modes/api.md)



Run as a long-lived HTTP server. Full REST API for prompts and file ops with workspace isolation, async runs with run-id polling, OpenAI-compatible `chat/completions` endpoint (streaming + multimodal + LiteLLM compatible), and an [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) endpoint over streamable HTTP so other agents can use Claude Code as a tool.



```yaml

environment:

  - CLAUDEBOX_API_MODE=1

  - CLAUDEBOX_API_MODE_TOKEN=your-secret-token

```



### [Telegram Mode →](docs/modes/telegram.md)



Talk to Claude from Telegram. Per-chat isolated workspaces, configurable models/effort/system-prompts per chat, allowed-chats and per-chat allowed-users gating, file/photo/video/voice ingestion, `/bash`, `/fetch`, `/cancel`, `/status`, `/config`, `/reload` commands, and `[SEND_FILE: path]` for Claude to send files back.



```yaml

environment:

  - CLAUDEBOX_TELEGRAM_MODE=1

  - CLAUDEBOX_TELEGRAM_MODE_TOKEN=...

```



### [Cron Mode →](docs/modes/cron.md)



YAML-defined scheduled jobs. Standard 5-field cron or 6-field for sub-minute resolution. Per-job stream-json history under `~/.claude/cron/history//-/`, foreground process so `docker logs` shows every tick, overlap protection. Set `model` at the root of the YAML as a default for all jobs; override per-job as needed.



```yaml

environment:

  - CLAUDEBOX_CRON_MODE=1

  - CLAUDEBOX_CRON_MODE_FILE=/home/aicode/.claude/cron.yaml

```



## Configuration



- **[Environment variables →](docs/environment-variables.md)** — full table of `CLAUDEBOX_*` settings the wrapper and entrypoint understand, plus `CLAUDEBOX_ENV_*` (forward arbitrary vars into the container) and `CLAUDEBOX_MOUNT_*` (extra volume mounts).

- **[Customization →](docs/customization.md)** — extend Claude's container with custom scripts (`~/.claude/bin`), one-time init hooks (`~/.claude/init.d`), always-active skills auto-injected into every session (`~/.claude/.always-skills`), and MCP server definitions (project `.mcp.json` or global `~/.claude.json`).



## Gotchas



- **`--permission-mode bypassPermissions`** is the adapter's default (modern equivalent of the pre-v2 `--dangerously-skip-permissions`). Claude has full, unrestricted access to the container. That's the entire point. Override per-request via `RunRequest.extra_args`.

- **SSH keys** are mounted from the host for git push/pull inside the container. Do not share your container or image with untrusted parties.

- **Host paths are preserved** — your project at `/home/you/project` is mounted at the same path inside the container. This means Docker volume mounts that Claude creates from within the container resolve correctly against host paths.

- **UID/GID matching** — the container's `claude` user UID/GID is automatically adjusted to match the host directory owner on startup. File permissions should just work without manual `chown`.

- **Docker-in-Docker** — the Docker socket is mounted into the container. Claude can build images and run containers from within its container. This is by design.

- **Two containers per workspace** — the wrapper creates `claude-` for interactive (TTY) sessions and `claude-_prog` for programmatic (no TTY) sessions. Both share the same mounted volumes and data.

- **Workspace busy tracking** — in API mode, each workspace can only have one active Claude process at a time. Concurrent requests to the same workspace return a 409 Conflict response. Use different workspace subpaths for parallel work.

- **Telegram config is required** — the Telegram bot will not start without a `telegram.yml` config file. This is intentional to prevent accidentally exposing Claude to the public.

- **Auto-updates disabled** — Claude Code CLI auto-updates are disabled by default inside the container to ensure reproducible behavior. Opt in with `claudebox --update` when you want to update.



## License



[WTFPL](http://www.wtfpl.net/) — do what the fuck you want to.