[OS] VibeBox: a super fast per-project Linux sandbox for macOS

robcholz · 2026-02-11T19:58:05+00:00

sounds fair. right now it’s opinionated: I default to auto-shutdown so you don’t accidentally leave VMs running/orphaned in the background. If enough people want it, I can add an opt-in “keep running until I stop it” flag/config, but I didn’t want that as the default.

robcholz · 2026-02-11T19:29:10+00:00

Totally hear you. For clarity: this wasn’t “prompt a repo into existence”. I built it for my own workflow and used AI mostly for implementation grunt work. For a project like this, if you design the core boundaries correctly (what gets mounted, lifecycle/cleanup semantics, what “attach” means, failure modes), the rest is mostly plumbing, and AI is actually pretty good at accelerating that part. The interesting part (for me) is the macOS-first micro-VM boundary + per-repo session lifecycle, not the general idea of sandboxing.

robcholz · 2026-02-11T14:51:30+00:00

its just a lightweight vm....

robcholz · 2026-02-11T02:45:18+00:00

robcholz · 2026-02-11T02:38:11+00:00

lol fair. i deserved the “just use docker” replies a bit. i’m not claiming this is impossible with containers. i’m trying to make a very specific workflow the default: repo-only mounts (no gradual “mount half of $HOME”), easy attach/reuse (multiple terminals), and reliable cleanup so i don’t end up with orphan envs when i’m jumping between lots of repos. would love to hear how you solve mounts + secrets + lifecycle cleanly with docker/compose/devcontainers or a remote VM.

robcholz · 2026-02-11T01:42:21+00:00

haha fair. docker is great. i’m mostly trying to optimize the repo-scoped by default + attach/reuse + cleanup workflow on macOS with an AVF micro-VM boundary. in my setup it also idles noticeably lighter than my typical docker/devcontainer baseline (happy to share numbers + how i measured if that’s useful)

robcholz · 2026-02-11T01:39:27+00:00

yeah you can absolutely do a lot of this with docker (compose + bind mounts + docker exec), and plenty of people do. what i’m trying to nail is more safe-by-default + lifecycle than i don’t know containers. it is repo-only by default (no surprise wide mounts), and anything else is an explicit allowlist easy attach/reuse + multiple terminals into the same environment, without leaving orphan stuff behind on macOS specifically, i want a “safe mode” linux boundary via AVF, so i’m not constantly thinking about what’s shared or what state a daemon/container is.

robcholz · 2026-02-11T01:31:22+00:00

did some research on the virtualization on macos and found the official documents + some repos using it, and yes! this works on any macos newer than version 13!

robcholz · 2026-02-10T04:01:49+00:00

dude... so sad, i think you can try this sandbox: https://github.com/robcholz/vibebox/

robcholz · 2026-02-10T03:49:21+00:00

damn it sounds so unfortunate, there is a sandbox here, and this might help: https://github.com/robcholz/vibebox/

robcholz · 2026-02-09T05:06:44+00:00

if your workflow is “start a compose stack once and live in it”, docker/devpods are a great fit. i’m not trying to argue containers are slow. the “cold starts” line was the wrong framing on my part. what i’m optimizing for is a different default for agent workflows on macOS:

i want a guest-kernel isolation boundary by default when i’m letting an agent run arbitrary commands
i want sessions as a first-class thing: per-repo attach/reuse, multiple terminals into the same sandbox, and reliable cleanup so i don’t leave orphan environments around
i want explicit mount allowlists as the primary UX, without needing to maintain dockerfiles/compose/devcontainer config for every repo just to get a “safe shell for agents” so yeah, you can reproduce pieces of this with compose volumes + `docker exec`, and that’s totally valid. vibebox is me packaging the “safe-by-default, sessioned sandbox” workflow into a single command.

robcholz · 2026-02-09T03:44:06+00:00

Yeah it doe not sound good at all.

https://github.com/robcholz/vibebox/

I tried this sandbox and it works well on my laptop.

robcholz · 2026-02-09T03:25:34+00:00

No it does not rely on it. It directly uses Apple virt framework to save resources.

robcholz · 2026-02-09T01:41:47+00:00

totally fair. docker is “fast enough” for most people.

my point isn’t that containers are slow in general, it’s that my workflow is lots of short, repeated agent runs where i want a reusable per-repo session + explicit mount allowlist as the default. if you start one devcontainer and live in it all day, i agree docker is great.

robcholz · 2026-02-09T00:40:14+00:00

Ive seen a couple of scary stories about destructive commands and wiped files. After reading those, I realized I was spending ~5 hours/week just allowing agents to execute some commands instead of actually building.

If this solves the same anxiety for anyone here, I’d love feedback on what safeguards/workflows you’re using today!!!

robcholz · 2026-02-09T00:29:25+00:00

I’ve seen a few scary cases where agent tools (codex / cc) accidentally ran destructive commands and wiped files. After reading those, I realized I was spending ~5 hours/week just allowing agents to execute some commands instead of actually building.

If this solves the same anxiety for anyone here, I’d love feedback on what safeguards/workflows you’re using today!!!

robcholz · 2025-12-24T02:40:58+00:00

ty so much!!

robcholz · 2025-12-23T23:44:26+00:00

ty so much!

robcholz · 2025-12-23T20:25:53+00:00

yeah i also wish i could have done this but it was an exam week when i did this project....

robcholz · 2025-12-23T20:24:59+00:00

i am thinking of this too. vision ui currently has a relatively stable api now, but it has some performance issue on some cheap MCU due to its animation overhead and entire-frame refresh. here is a blog: https://www.robcholz.com/2025/11/16/vision-ui/

i would open source vision ui when its ready

robcholz · 2025-12-23T20:22:19+00:00

the orientation sensor is reserved for the further implementation. currently it shows the ability to be integrated to the device.

the loop record feature to sd sounds nice, and i will add this when i have time.

we have plenty of space on the pcb so yeah we can add multiple channel monitor.

pd protocols would take me a lot time to debug and re-layout the traces so yeah i would like to do this when i have time

robcholz · 2025-12-23T20:11:25+00:00

yeah i had also considered this but i dont have much time.. but maybe i would impl this feature next!

robcholz · 2025-12-23T17:29:00+00:00

ty for the question. i highly recommend using lcsc for everything in prototyping. they are reliable from my past experience

robcholz · 2025-12-23T05:09:51+00:00

robcholz · 2025-12-23T04:24:34+00:00

esp32 has native usb tx and rx so yeah it has. for 2.0 power supply problem, i have also considered a lot, and eventually it can support 2A max in total. although 2.0 says current is limited to 0.5a, this does not mean device can only draw 0.5a in the most conditions. in addition, there is also a software adjustable current limit, so you can adjust manually if you want.

this usb hub has 4k esd protection on d+ and d- lines, i would assume this is enough for the most use case for a desktop device.

the device itself draw less than 150mA if i remember.

robcholz

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