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fix: standard help, honest flags, and an rm that asks first #10

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dan-claude-bot merged 2 commits from fix/cli-help-and-contract into main 2026-07-13 20:43:14 +00:00
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14
README.md
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@ -69,20 +69,30 @@ claudebox new --name feature --from work/authed # clone the authed state into
preserving isolation. You can also `claudebox new --name x --from work` to clone
a box's live state, or roll a box back with `claudebox restore work authed`.
Forgotten what you called a checkpoint? `claudebox info work` prints the box's
snapshot labels and the `--from` line to clone one.
## Commands
```
claudebox new --name <box> [--from <src>[/<snap>]] [--vm|--container] [--remote r]
claudebox list # list your boxes
claudebox info <box> # one box: state, IP, snapshot labels
claudebox shell <box> # enter as the claude user
claudebox exec <box> -- <cmd...> # run a command in the box
claudebox snapshot <box> [label] # checkpoint (label defaults to manual-<epoch>)
claudebox restore <box> <snap> # roll back to a snapshot
claudebox down <box> # stop (state kept; `start` resumes)
claudebox start <box> # start a stopped box
claudebox rm <box> # delete the box (irreversible; snapshot first)
claudebox status # list boxes
claudebox rm <box> [--force] # delete the box + its snapshots (asks first)
claudebox status # deprecated alias for `list`
claudebox help [<command>] # full help, or one command's page
```
Every command takes `--help`, and options come after the command
(`claudebox list --json`). Exit status: `0` ok, `1` it went wrong, `2` you asked
wrong.
`new` fresh-launches from cloud-init, or with `--from` clones an existing box or
snapshot. VM mode (`--vm`, the default where `/dev/kvm` exists) is the trust-less
target; container mode (auto-fallback, `security.nesting=true`) is for hosts

1
VERSION Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1 @@
0.2.0

393
bin/claudebox
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@ -1,35 +1,298 @@
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# claudebox — trust-less, isolated Incus VMs with Claude Code, creds-free.
# claudebox new --name <box> [--from <src>[/<snap>]] [--remote r] [--vm|--container]
# claudebox shell|down|start|status|rm <box>
# claudebox exec <box> -- <cmd...>
# claudebox snapshot <box> [label]
# claudebox restore <box> <snapshot>
# Boxes carry NO secrets: log into Claude interactively inside ('claude' then
# /login). Reuse an authenticated box via 'snapshot' + 'new --from'.
# The help text lives in usage()/help_cmd(), not in this comment.
set -euo pipefail
root="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")/.." && pwd)"
remote=""; mode="auto"; name=""; from=""; force=0
remote=""; mode="auto"; name=""; from=""; force=0; json=0; want_help=0
die() { echo "claudebox: $*" >&2; exit 1; } # 1 = it went wrong
usage_error() { echo "claudebox: $*" >&2; echo "try 'claudebox help'." >&2; exit 2; } # 2 = you asked wrong
version() { echo "claudebox $(cat "$root/VERSION" 2>/dev/null || echo unknown) ($root)"; }
COMMANDS="new list info shell exec snapshot restore down start rm status help"
is_command() { case " $COMMANDS " in *" $1 "*) return 0 ;; *) return 1 ;; esac; }
synopsis_of() {
case "$1" in
new) echo "claudebox new --name <box> [--from <src>[/<snap>]] [--vm|--container]" ;;
list) echo "claudebox list [--json]" ;;
info) echo "claudebox info <box> [--json]" ;;
shell) echo "claudebox shell <box>" ;;
exec) echo "claudebox exec <box> -- <cmd...>" ;;
snapshot) echo "claudebox snapshot <box> [<label>]" ;;
restore) echo "claudebox restore <box> <snapshot>" ;;
down) echo "claudebox down <box>" ;;
start) echo "claudebox start <box>" ;;
rm) echo "claudebox rm <box> [--force]" ;;
status) echo "claudebox status" ;;
help) echo "claudebox help [<command>]" ;;
esac
}
# Nearest command by edit distance — a typo should point somewhere, not just fail.
suggest() {
printf '%s' "$COMMANDS" | tr ' ' '\n' | awk -v w="$(printf '%s' "$1" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" '
function dist(a, b, la, lb, i, j, c, prev, cur) {
la = length(a); lb = length(b)
for (j = 0; j <= lb; j++) prev[j] = j
for (i = 1; i <= la; i++) {
cur[0] = i
for (j = 1; j <= lb; j++) {
c = (substr(a, i, 1) == substr(b, j, 1)) ? 0 : 1
cur[j] = prev[j] + 1
if (cur[j - 1] + 1 < cur[j]) cur[j] = cur[j - 1] + 1
if (prev[j - 1] + c < cur[j]) cur[j] = prev[j - 1] + c
}
for (j = 0; j <= lb; j++) prev[j] = cur[j]
}
return prev[lb]
}
BEGIN { best = 99 }
{ d = dist(w, $0); if (d < best) { best = d; hit = $0 } }
END { if (best <= 2) print hit }'
}
unknown_command() {
local hint; hint="$(suggest "$1")"
if [ -n "$hint" ]; then
echo "claudebox: unknown command: $1 — did you mean '$hint'?" >&2
else
echo "claudebox: unknown command: $1" >&2
fi
echo "try 'claudebox help' for the command list." >&2
exit 2
}
usage() {
cat <<'EOF'
claudebox — trust-less, network-isolated Incus VMs with Claude Code, creds-free.
USAGE
claudebox <command> [<args>] [options]
COMMANDS
new Mint a box: fresh from cloud-init, or --from an existing box/snapshot
list List your boxes
info One box: state, type, IP, and its snapshot labels
shell Open a shell in a box, as the claude user
exec Run a command inside a box
snapshot Checkpoint a box (label defaults to manual-<epoch>)
restore Roll a box back to one of its snapshots
down Stop a box, keeping its state ('start' resumes it)
start Start a stopped box
rm Delete a box and its snapshots — irreversible, and it asks first
status Deprecated alias for 'list'
help This help, or 'claudebox help <command>' for one command
OPTIONS
--name <box> Name for the new box (new)
--from <src>[/<snap>] Clone from box <src>, or from its snapshot (new)
--vm Force VM mode: the trust-less target (new)
--container Force container mode: weaker isolation, (new)
dev/test only. Default where /dev/kvm is absent.
--json Emit Incus JSON instead of a table (list, info)
--force, -f Delete without the confirmation prompt (rm)
--remote <r> Act on Incus remote <r> (any)
--help, -h Help; after a command, help for that command
--version, -V Print the claudebox version
Options come after the command: 'claudebox list --json', not 'claudebox --json list'.
EXAMPLES
# mint a box and log in inside it — the tool never handles your token
claudebox new --name work
claudebox shell work # then: run 'claude', then /login
# log in once, reuse forever: checkpoint the authed box, clone from it
claudebox snapshot work authed
claudebox new --name feature --from work/authed
# what have I got, and what can I clone?
claudebox list
claudebox info work
# run something without opening a shell
claudebox exec work -- git -C project pull
EXIT STATUS
0 ok
1 it went wrong (Incus failed, no such box, aborted at a prompt)
2 you asked wrong (unknown command, bad flag, destructive act without --force)
THE MODEL
A box carries NO credentials. You authenticate interactively inside it
('claude' then /login; 'gh auth login'); claudebox never stores or injects a
secret. A box reaches the public internet and nothing else — there is no
inbound path. Destroying a box loses nothing you didn't push.
Docs: https://github.com/heavy-duty/claudebox
EOF
}
help_cmd() {
echo "usage: $(synopsis_of "$1")"
echo
case "$1" in
new) cat <<'EOF'
Mint a box. Without --from, launches a fresh Debian 13 box from cloud-init
(~10 min cold) with Claude Code installed and NO credentials. With --from,
clones an existing box or one of its snapshots — Claude login, git creds and
clones carry over, isolation is preserved.
--name <box> Required. The box's name.
--from <src>[/<snap>] Clone src's live state, or its snapshot <snap>.
--vm | --container Force the mode. VM is the trust boundary and the
default wherever /dev/kvm exists; container mode
(security.nesting=true) is the fallback for hosts
without nested virt — weaker isolation, dev/test only.
claudebox new --name work
claudebox new --name feature --from work/authed
EOF
;;
list) cat <<'EOF'
List the boxes claudebox minted on this host: name, state, type, snapshot count.
Takes no box — for one box, that's 'claudebox info <box>'.
--json Incus's JSON, straight through, for scripting.
claudebox list
EOF
;;
info) cat <<'EOF'
Show one box: state, type, IP address, and — the reason this exists — the
labels of its snapshots, with the --from line to clone one.
--json Incus's JSON, straight through, for scripting.
claudebox info work
EOF
;;
shell) cat <<'EOF'
Open an interactive shell in a running box as the 'claude' user. This is the
only entry path — there is no SSH and no inbound route to a box.
claudebox shell work
EOF
;;
exec) cat <<'EOF'
Run a command inside a box as the 'claude' user. Everything after -- is passed
through untouched; the -- is required, or claudebox will read your command's
flags as its own.
claudebox exec work -- git -C project pull
claudebox exec work -- claude --version
EOF
;;
snapshot) cat <<'EOF'
Checkpoint a box. Snapshots are how an authenticated box is reused: log in
once, snapshot, then 'new --from <box>/<label>' as often as you like. The
label defaults to manual-<epoch>; 'claudebox info <box>' shows the labels you
have.
claudebox snapshot work authed
EOF
;;
restore) cat <<'EOF'
Roll a box back to one of its snapshots, in place. Anything in the box since
that snapshot is lost. 'claudebox info <box>' lists the labels.
claudebox restore work authed
EOF
;;
down) cat <<'EOF'
Stop a box. Its disk and state are kept — 'claudebox start' resumes it, Claude
login and all.
claudebox down work
EOF
;;
start) cat <<'EOF'
Start a stopped box.
claudebox start work
EOF
;;
rm) cat <<'EOF'
Delete a box and every snapshot it has. This cannot be undone, so it asks for
confirmation first; --force (-f) skips the prompt. With no TTY to confirm on
(a script, a pipe), it refuses unless --force is given.
claudebox rm work
claudebox rm work --force
EOF
;;
status) cat <<'EOF'
Deprecated alias for 'claudebox list'. It ignored the <box> argument it
advertised, so it was split into 'list' (all boxes) and 'info <box>' (one). It
still works, and forwards to 'list'.
EOF
;;
help) cat <<'EOF'
Print the general help, or the help for one command.
claudebox help
claudebox help new
EOF
;;
esac
}
show_help() { # "" → general help
case "${1:-}" in
""|help) usage ;;
*) is_command "$1" || unknown_command "$1"; help_cmd "$1" ;;
esac
}
cmd="${1:-help}"; shift || true
case "$cmd" in
-h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
-V|--version) version; exit 0 ;;
-*) usage_error "options come after the command — try 'claudebox <command> $cmd ...'" ;;
esac
args=()
while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
case "$1" in
--name) name="$2"; shift 2 ;;
--from) from="$2"; shift 2 ;;
--remote) remote="$2:"; shift 2 ;;
--name) [ $# -ge 2 ] || usage_error "--name needs a value"; name="$2"; shift 2 ;;
--from) [ $# -ge 2 ] || usage_error "--from needs a value"; from="$2"; shift 2 ;;
--remote) [ $# -ge 2 ] || usage_error "--remote needs a value"; remote="$2:"; shift 2 ;;
--vm) mode=vm; shift ;;
--container) mode=container; shift ;;
--force) force=1; shift ;;
--force|-f) force=1; shift ;;
--json) json=1; shift ;;
--help|-h) want_help=1; shift ;;
--version|-V) version; exit 0 ;;
--) shift; args+=("$@"); break ;;
# An unrecognized flag used to be swallowed as a positional — so a typo'd
# --labl silently became a snapshot's label. Say so instead.
-*)
if [ "$cmd" = exec ]; then
usage_error "unknown option: $1 — a command's own flags go after --, as in 'claudebox exec <box> -- <cmd...>'"
fi
usage_error "unknown option: $1 (see 'claudebox help $cmd')" ;;
*) args+=("$1"); shift ;;
esac
done
die() { echo "claudebox: $*" >&2; exit 1; }
if [ "$want_help" -eq 1 ]; then show_help "$cmd"; exit 0; fi
iname_of() { echo "$remote$1"; } # instance name = box name; claudebox tags them with user.claudebox=1
need_name() {
[ "${#args[@]}" -ge 1 ] && [ -n "${args[0]}" ] || die "usage: claudebox $cmd <box>"
if [ "${#args[@]}" -lt 1 ] || [ -z "${args[0]}" ]; then
usage_error "usage: $(synopsis_of "$cmd")"
fi
}
confirm() { # $1 = prompt. --force, or a TTY to ask on, or we refuse.
if [ "$force" -eq 1 ]; then return 0; fi
[ -t 0 ] || usage_error "refusing to $1 without --force (no terminal to confirm on)"
local reply
printf 'claudebox: %s? this cannot be undone. [y/N] ' "$1"
read -r reply
case "$reply" in y|Y|yes|YES|Yes) return 0 ;; *) die "aborted." ;; esac
}
pick_mode() {
@ -76,6 +339,94 @@ new() {
echo "claudebox: ready — 'claudebox shell $name'. Log into Claude inside: run 'claude' then /login."
}
# Boxes are ordinary Incus instances tagged user.claudebox=1 — that tag is the
# only thing that makes them ours, so every read below is filtered by it and we
# never report on (or touch) an instance claudebox didn't mint.
# Emits: name,state,type,snapshot-count — none of which can contain a comma or a
# newline, so a plain -F, split is safe. (IPv4 can: a box running docker has
# several addresses and Incus quotes them across lines. It's fetched separately.)
boxes_csv() {
incus list ${remote:+"$remote"} "user.claudebox=1" --format csv --columns nstS
}
box_ipv4() { # first address only; strips Incus's " (iface)" suffix. "-" if none.
incus list "$(iname_of "$1")" --format csv --columns 4 2>/dev/null \
| tr -d '"' | sed 's/ (.*//' | grep -v '^[[:space:]]*$' | head -n1 \
| grep . || echo "-"
}
# VIRTUAL-MACHINE is a mouthful in a table; anything unexpected passes through.
short_type() {
case "$(printf '%s' "$1" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" in
virtual-machine|virtualmachine) echo VM ;;
container) echo CT ;;
*) echo "$1" ;;
esac
}
list_all() {
local rows; rows="$(boxes_csv)"
if [ -z "$rows" ]; then
echo "claudebox: no boxes yet — create one with: claudebox new --name work" >&2
return 0
fi
{
echo "NAME,STATE,TYPE,SNAPSHOTS"
while IFS=, read -r n s t snaps; do
[ -n "$n" ] || continue
echo "$n,${s:--},$(short_type "$t"),${snaps:-0}"
done <<<"$rows"
} | awk -F, '
{ for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) { cell[NR, i] = $i; if (length($i) > w[i]) w[i] = length($i) } n = NR }
END { for (r = 1; r <= n; r++) { line = ""
for (i = 1; i <= 4; i++) line = line sprintf("%-*s ", w[i], cell[r, i])
sub(/ +$/, "", line); print line } }'
}
info() {
local box="$1" row
# Same tagged set as list_all: an untagged instance is not a box, it's someone
# else's VM, and we say "no such box" rather than reaching into it.
row="$(boxes_csv | awk -F, -v b="$box" '$1 == b { print; exit }')"
[ -n "$row" ] || die "no such box: $box (see 'claudebox list')"
local state type snaps
IFS=, read -r _ state type snaps <<<"$row"
printf '%-11s%s\n' NAME "$box" STATE "${state:--}" TYPE "$(short_type "$type")" \
IPV4 "$(box_ipv4 "$box")"
echo
case "${snaps:-0}" in
''|0)
echo "SNAPSHOTS (none)"
echo
echo "Take one: claudebox snapshot $box authed"
return 0 ;;
esac
echo "SNAPSHOTS"
local first=""
while IFS=, read -r sname taken _; do
[ -n "$sname" ] || continue
[ -n "$first" ] || first="$sname"
printf ' %-14s%s\n' "$sname" "$taken"
done < <(incus snapshot list "$(iname_of "$box")" --format csv 2>/dev/null)
echo
echo "Clone one: claudebox new --name <new> --from $box/${first:-<snapshot>}"
}
# 'list' lists them all; 'info' shows one. A box name handed to 'list' is a wrong
# guess we can answer, not a surprise: point at the command that does want one.
list() {
if [ "${#args[@]}" -ge 1 ] && [ -n "${args[0]}" ]; then
die "list takes no box — for one box, use: claudebox info ${args[0]}"
fi
if [ "$json" -eq 1 ]; then
incus list ${remote:+"$remote"} "user.claudebox=1" --format json
else
list_all
fi
}
case "$cmd" in
new) new ;;
snapshot) need_name; label="${args[1]:-manual-$(date +%s)}"; incus snapshot create "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")" "$label"; echo "$label" ;;
@ -84,7 +435,15 @@ case "$cmd" in
exec) need_name; incus exec "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")" -- sudo -u claude -i "${args[@]:1}" ;;
down) need_name; incus stop "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")" ;;
start) need_name; incus start "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")" ;;
rm) need_name; incus delete -f "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")"; echo "claudebox: removed $(iname_of "${args[0]}")" ;;
status) incus list ${remote:+"$remote"} "user.claudebox=1" ;;
help|*) sed -n '2,9p' "$0" | sed 's/^# \{0,1\}//' ;;
# -f is how Incus deletes a *running* instance; it is not our confirmation.
# The prompt is: 'rm' destroys the box and every snapshot on it.
rm) need_name; inst="$(iname_of "${args[0]}")"
confirm "delete $inst and all its snapshots"
incus delete -f "$inst"; echo "claudebox: removed $inst" ;;
list) list ;;
info) need_name
if [ "$json" -eq 1 ]; then incus list "$(iname_of "${args[0]}")" --format json; else info "${args[0]}"; fi ;;
status) echo "claudebox: 'status' is deprecated — use 'claudebox list'." >&2; list_all ;;
help) show_help "${args[0]:-}" ;;
*) unknown_command "$cmd" ;;
esac