BB Box

bb box acquire linux-desktop-cpu Ready in seconds, and a warm box at once.

Computers for BB threads

Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, virtual or real: desktops, terminals or simulators, shared by you and your agent.

Quick start
demo.mp4 68 s

A thread's agent gets a Linux desktop, then a server box, a snapshot and an undo.

# platforms

A computer of its own for every thread

Boxes have the thread's Git access, its variables and BB itself. You and the agent share them: the agent works in the box, and you can open its desktop or terminal at any time.

  • boxes/
  • LinuxServers and desktops, X11 or Wayland, on x86_64 or arm64, with a GPU where the host has one.
  • WindowsWindows 11 desktops, on Proxmox or on a Mac with Apple silicon.
  • macOSmacOS on a Mac with Apple silicon, with or without a desktop.
  • iOSAn iPhone or iPad in the iOS Simulator.
  • AndroidA phone, foldable or tablet in its emulator.
box.txt
# features

Made for the way agents work

# backends

Any provider, one interface

Docker on the machine that runs BB to start with. Add Proxmox, microsandbox, Macs with Tart, machines over SSH, or rent from Hetzner Cloud, Namespace and boat.dev.

backendlinuxwindowsmacosiosandroidsnapshots
DockerContainers on the machine that runs BB, another host over SSH, or a BB machine with Docker, such as a Windows PC with WSLLinux · snapshotsYesNoNoNoNoYes
microsandboxMicroVMs, each with a kernel of its own, on a Linux host with KVM or a Mac with Apple silicon: an option beside Docker, not the defaultLinux · snapshotsYesNoNoNoNoYes
Proxmox LXCContainers on a Proxmox VE hostLinux · snapshotsYesNoNoNoNoYes
Proxmox QEMUVirtual machines on a Proxmox VE hostLinux · Windows · Android · snapshotsYesYesNoNoYesYes
TartVirtual machines on your Macs with Apple siliconLinux · Windows · macOS · iOS · snapshotsYesYesYesYesNoYes
SSH host poolMachines over SSH, physical or a VPSLinux · macOS · iOSYesNoYesYesNoNo
Hetzner CloudContainers on x86 or Arm Docker hosts BB Box rents in your Hetzner Cloud project as boxes need them, and deletes when idleLinuxYesNoNoNoNoNo
NamespaceA Namespace machine for each box, a Mac or a Linux machine, rented by the minute in your Namespace workspace, within its plan’s limitsLinux · macOS · iOSYesNoYesYesNoNo
boat.devA boat.dev sandbox for each box, a Linux VM forked from BB Box’s template in seconds and billed by the secondLinux · Android · snapshotsYesNoNoNoYesYes
# install

Set it up with an agent

Paste this into a BB thread. Its agent installs BB Box, sets up a backend and proves it with a box.

setup prompt
Set up BB Box for me: the BB plugin that gives threads computers of their own, called boxes.

1. Install it: bb plugin install git:https://github.com/ahkohd/bb-box.git@main --yes
2. Follow its bb-box-setup skill. If your skills do not list it yet, find it with bb skill list and read it with bb skill show <id>.
3. Look at the machine that runs BB with bb box doctor, and set up the backend the skill suggests for it: Docker on Linux or in WSL 2 on Windows, microsandbox on a Mac with Apple silicon.
4. Ask me first before anything that needs root, changes BB's settings, or makes Docker boxes privileged containers, which can take over the machine they run on.
5. Prove it: bb box kinds, then bb box acquire with the Linux kind it lists, then bb box run <box> "uname -a", then bb box release <box>.
6. Tell me what you set up, what bb box doctor says, and what is left for me to do.

The quick start: https://bbbox.dev/start/quick-start.md

Or by hand

bb plugin install git:https://github.com/ahkohd/bb-box.git@main

What each platform needs

  • LinuxDocker.
    • About 10GB of disk free and at least 8GiB of memory for the server image.
    • About 18GB of disk free and at least 12GiB of memory for a desktop.
  • A Mac with Apple siliconmicrosandbox, which needs nothing installed and runs arm64 Linux boxes as microVMs.
    • About 80GiB of free disk while it builds its first image; about 2.4GiB after, or 6GiB with the desktop image.
    • Each box counts at its full memory size.
    • Tart adds macOS, iOS and Windows boxes.
    • Avoid Docker Desktop on a Mac: its images are x86_64, so boxes run emulated and slowly.
  • WindowsDocker in WSL 2. See Docker on a Windows PC.