System

Common Software

Install browsers, languages, databases, and other tools inside the sandbox.

The sandbox runs a Debian/Ubuntu base image. You can install software with apt-get via the Process API or by customizing your Docker image. This page covers commonly needed packages and how to install them.

Browsers

Chromium

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "chromium", "chromium-sandbox"],
});

// Launch headless
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "chromium",
  args: ["--headless", "--no-sandbox", "--disable-gpu", "https://example.com"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","chromium","chromium-sandbox"]}'

Use --no-sandbox when running Chromium inside a container. The container itself provides isolation.

Firefox

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "firefox-esr"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","firefox-esr"]}'

Playwright browsers

Playwright bundles its own browser binaries. Install the Playwright CLI and let it download browsers for you.

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "npx",
  args: ["playwright", "install", "--with-deps", "chromium"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"npx","args":["playwright","install","--with-deps","chromium"]}'

Languages and runtimes

Node.js

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "nodejs", "npm"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","nodejs","npm"]}'

For a specific version, use nvm:

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash && . ~/.nvm/nvm.sh && nvm install 22"],
});

Python

Python 3 is typically pre-installed. To add pip and common packages:

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "python3", "python3-pip", "python3-venv"],
});

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "pip3",
  args: ["install", "numpy", "pandas", "matplotlib"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","python3","python3-pip","python3-venv"]}'

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"pip3","args":["install","numpy","pandas","matplotlib"]}'

Go

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar -C /usr/local -xz"],
});

// Add to PATH for subsequent commands
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin && go version"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"bash","args":["-c","curl -fsSL https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar -C /usr/local -xz"]}'

Rust

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"bash","args":["-c","curl --proto =https --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y"]}'

Java (OpenJDK)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "default-jdk"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","default-jdk"]}'

Ruby

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "ruby-full"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","ruby-full"]}'

Databases

PostgreSQL

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "postgresql", "postgresql-client"],
});

// Start the service
const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "su - postgres -c 'pg_ctlcluster 15 main start'"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","postgresql","postgresql-client"]}'

SQLite

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "sqlite3"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","sqlite3"]}'

Redis

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "redis-server"],
});

const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "redis-server",
  args: ["--daemonize", "no"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","redis-server"]}'

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"redis-server","args":["--daemonize","no"]}'

MySQL / MariaDB

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "mariadb-server", "mariadb-client"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","mariadb-server","mariadb-client"]}'

Build tools

Essential build toolchain

Most compiled software needs the standard build toolchain:

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "build-essential", "cmake", "pkg-config"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","build-essential","cmake","pkg-config"]}'

This installs gcc, g++, make, cmake, and related tools.

Desktop applications

These require the Computer Use desktop to be started first.

LibreOffice

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "libreoffice"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","libreoffice"]}'

GIMP

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "gimp"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","gimp"]}'

VLC

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "vlc"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","vlc"]}'

VS Code (code-server)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh"],
});

const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "code-server",
  args: ["--bind-addr", "0.0.0.0:8080", "--auth", "none"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"bash","args":["-c","curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh"]}'

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"code-server","args":["--bind-addr","0.0.0.0:8080","--auth","none"]}'

CLI tools

Git

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "git"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","git"]}'

Docker

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"bash","args":["-c","curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh"]}'

jq

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "jq"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","jq"]}'

tmux

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "tmux"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","tmux"]}'

Media and graphics

FFmpeg

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "ffmpeg"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","ffmpeg"]}'

ImageMagick

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "imagemagick"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","imagemagick"]}'

Poppler (PDF utilities)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "poppler-utils"],
});

// Convert PDF to images
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "pdftoppm",
  args: ["-png", "document.pdf", "output"],
});

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"apt-get","args":["install","-y","poppler-utils"]}'

Pre-installing in a Docker image

For production use, install software in your Dockerfile instead of at runtime. This avoids repeated downloads and makes startup faster.

FROM ubuntu:22.04

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    chromium \
    firefox-esr \
    nodejs npm \
    python3 python3-pip \
    git curl wget \
    build-essential \
    sqlite3 \
    ffmpeg \
    imagemagick \
    jq \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

RUN pip3 install numpy pandas matplotlib

See Docker deployment for how to use custom images with Sandbox Agent.