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Peter Steinberger 145fe1cec7 refactor(sandbox): unify scope + per-agent overrides

2026-01-08 01:17:55 +01:00

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summary, title, read_when, status

summary	title	read_when	status
Per-agent sandbox + tool restrictions, precedence, and examples	Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools	You want per-agent sandboxing or per-agent tool allow/deny policies in a multi-agent gateway.	active

Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools Configuration

Overview

Each agent in a multi-agent setup can now have its own:

Sandbox configuration (mode, scope, workspaceRoot, workspaceAccess, tools)
Tool restrictions (allow, deny)

This allows you to run multiple agents with different security profiles:

Personal assistant with full access
Family/work agents with restricted tools
Public-facing agents in sandboxes

Configuration Examples

Example 1: Personal + Restricted Family Agent

{
  "routing": {
    "defaultAgentId": "main",
    "agents": {
      "main": {
        "name": "Personal Assistant",
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "off"
        }
        // No tool restrictions - all tools available
      },
      "family": {
        "name": "Family Bot",
        "workspace": "~/clawd-family",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",
          "scope": "agent"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read"],
          "deny": ["bash", "write", "edit", "process", "browser"]
        }
      }
    },
    "bindings": [
      {
        "agentId": "family",
        "match": {
          "provider": "whatsapp",
          "accountId": "*",
          "peer": {
            "kind": "group",
            "id": "120363424282127706@g.us"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Result:

main agent: Runs on host, full tool access
family agent: Runs in Docker (one container per agent), only read tool

Example 2: Work Agent with Shared Sandbox

{
  "routing": {
    "agents": {
      "personal": {
        "workspace": "~/clawd-personal",
        "sandbox": { "mode": "off" }
      },
      "work": {
        "workspace": "~/clawd-work",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",
          "scope": "shared",
          "workspaceRoot": "/tmp/work-sandboxes"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read", "write", "bash"],
          "deny": ["browser", "gateway", "discord"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Example 3: Different Sandbox Modes per Agent

{
  "agent": {
    "sandbox": {
      "mode": "non-main",  // Global default
      "scope": "session"
    }
  },
  "routing": {
    "agents": {
      "main": {
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "off"  // Override: main never sandboxed
        }
      },
      "public": {
        "workspace": "~/clawd-public",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",  // Override: public always sandboxed
          "scope": "agent"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read"],
          "deny": ["bash", "write", "edit"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration Precedence

When both global (agent.*) and agent-specific (routing.agents[id].*) configs exist:

Sandbox Config

Agent-specific settings override global:

routing.agents[id].sandbox.mode > agent.sandbox.mode
routing.agents[id].sandbox.scope > agent.sandbox.scope
routing.agents[id].sandbox.workspaceRoot > agent.sandbox.workspaceRoot
routing.agents[id].sandbox.workspaceAccess > agent.sandbox.workspaceAccess
routing.agents[id].sandbox.docker.* > agent.sandbox.docker.*
routing.agents[id].sandbox.browser.* > agent.sandbox.browser.*
routing.agents[id].sandbox.prune.* > agent.sandbox.prune.*

Notes:

routing.agents[id].sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* overrides agent.sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* for that agent (ignored when sandbox scope resolves to "shared").

Tool Restrictions

The filtering order is:

Global tool policy (agent.tools)
Agent-specific tool policy (routing.agents[id].tools)
Sandbox tool policy (agent.sandbox.tools or routing.agents[id].sandbox.tools)
Subagent tool policy (if applicable)

Each level can further restrict tools, but cannot grant back denied tools from earlier levels. If routing.agents[id].sandbox.tools is set, it replaces agent.sandbox.tools for that agent.

Migration from Single Agent

Before (single agent):

{
  "agent": {
    "workspace": "~/clawd",
    "sandbox": {
      "mode": "non-main",
      "tools": {
        "allow": ["read", "write", "bash"],
        "deny": []
      }
    }
  }
}

After (multi-agent with different profiles):

{
  "routing": {
    "defaultAgentId": "main",
    "agents": {
      "main": {
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "off"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The global agent.workspace and agent.sandbox are still supported for backward compatibility, but we recommend using routing.agents for clarity in multi-agent setups.

Tool Restriction Examples

Read-only Agent

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["read"],
    "deny": ["bash", "write", "edit", "process"]
  }
}

Safe Execution Agent (no file modifications)

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["read", "bash", "process"],
    "deny": ["write", "edit", "browser", "gateway"]
  }
}

Communication-only Agent

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["sessions_list", "sessions_send", "sessions_history"],
    "deny": ["bash", "write", "edit", "read", "browser"]
  }
}

Testing

After configuring multi-agent sandbox and tools:

Check agent resolution:
```
clawdbot agents list
```

Verify sandbox containers:

docker ps --filter "label=clawdbot.sandbox=1"

Test tool restrictions:
- Send a message requiring restricted tools
- Verify the agent cannot use denied tools

Monitor logs:

tail -f ~/.clawdbot/logs/gateway.log | grep -E "routing|sandbox|tools"

Troubleshooting

Agent not sandboxed despite `mode: "all"`

Check if there's a global agent.sandbox.mode that overrides it
Agent-specific config takes precedence, so set routing.agents[id].sandbox.mode: "all"

Tools still available despite deny list

Check tool filtering order: global → agent → sandbox → subagent
Each level can only further restrict, not grant back
Verify with logs: [tools] filtering tools for agent:${agentId}

Container not isolated per agent

Set scope: "agent" in agent-specific sandbox config
Default is "session" which creates one container per session

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