clawdbot/docs/install/docker.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
Optional Docker-based setup and onboarding for Clawdbot	You want a containerized gateway instead of local installs You are validating the Docker flow

Docker (optional)

Docker is optional. Use it only if you want a containerized gateway or to validate the Docker flow.

This guide covers:

• Containerized Gateway (full Clawdbot in Docker)
• Per-session Agent Sandbox (host gateway + Docker-isolated agent tools)

Sandboxing details: Sandboxing

Requirements

• Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine) + Docker Compose v2
• Enough disk for images + logs

Containerized Gateway (Docker Compose)

Quick start (recommended)

From repo root:

./docker-setup.sh

This script:

• builds the gateway image
• runs the onboarding wizard
• prints optional provider setup hints
• starts the gateway via Docker Compose

It writes config/workspace on the host:

• ~/.clawdbot/
• ~/clawd

Manual flow (compose)

docker build -t clawdbot:local -f Dockerfile .
docker compose run --rm clawdbot-cli onboard
docker compose up -d clawdbot-gateway

Provider setup (optional)

Use the CLI container to configure providers, then restart the gateway if needed.

WhatsApp (QR):

docker compose run --rm clawdbot-cli providers login

Telegram (bot token):

docker compose run --rm clawdbot-cli providers add --provider telegram --token "<token>"

Discord (bot token):

docker compose run --rm clawdbot-cli providers add --provider discord --token "<token>"

Docs: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord

Health check

docker compose exec clawdbot-gateway node dist/index.js health --token "$CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN"

E2E smoke test (Docker)

scripts/e2e/onboard-docker.sh

QR import smoke test (Docker)

pnpm test:docker:qr

Notes

• Gateway bind defaults to lan for container use.
• The gateway container is the source of truth for sessions (~/.clawdbot/agents/<agentId>/sessions/).

Agent Sandbox (host gateway + Docker tools)

Deep dive: Sandboxing

What it does

When agent.sandbox is enabled, non-main sessions run tools inside a Docker container. The gateway stays on your host, but the tool execution is isolated:

• scope: "agent" by default (one container + workspace per agent)
• scope: "session" for per-session isolation
• per-scope workspace folder mounted at /workspace
• optional agent workspace access (agent.sandbox.workspaceAccess)
• allow/deny tool policy (deny wins)
• inbound media is copied into the active sandbox workspace (media/inbound/*) so tools can read it (with workspaceAccess: "rw", this lands in the agent workspace)

Warning: scope: "shared" disables cross-session isolation. All sessions share one container and one workspace.

Per-agent sandbox profiles (multi-agent)

If you use multi-agent routing, each agent can override sandbox + tool settings: routing.agents[id].sandbox and routing.agents[id].tools. This lets you run mixed access levels in one gateway:

• Full access (personal agent)
• Read-only tools + read-only workspace (family/work agent)
• No filesystem/shell tools (public agent)

See Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools for examples, precedence, and troubleshooting.

Default behavior

• Image: clawdbot-sandbox:bookworm-slim
• One container per agent
• Agent workspace access: workspaceAccess: "none" (default) uses ~/.clawdbot/sandboxes
  • "ro" keeps the sandbox workspace at /workspace and mounts the agent workspace read-only at /agent (disables write/edit)
  • "rw" mounts the agent workspace read/write at /workspace
• Auto-prune: idle > 24h OR age > 7d
• Network: none by default (explicitly opt-in if you need egress)
• Default allow: bash, process, read, write, edit, sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, sessions_spawn
• Default deny: browser, canvas, nodes, cron, discord, gateway

Enable sandboxing

{
  agent: {
    sandbox: {
      mode: "non-main", // off | non-main | all
      scope: "agent", // session | agent | shared (agent is default)
      workspaceAccess: "none", // none | ro | rw
      workspaceRoot: "~/.clawdbot/sandboxes",
      docker: {
        image: "clawdbot-sandbox:bookworm-slim",
        workdir: "/workspace",
        readOnlyRoot: true,
        tmpfs: ["/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"],
        network: "none",
        user: "1000:1000",
        capDrop: ["ALL"],
        env: { LANG: "C.UTF-8" },
        setupCommand: "apt-get update && apt-get install -y git curl jq",
        pidsLimit: 256,
        memory: "1g",
        memorySwap: "2g",
        cpus: 1,
        ulimits: {
          nofile: { soft: 1024, hard: 2048 },
          nproc: 256
        },
        seccompProfile: "/path/to/seccomp.json",
        apparmorProfile: "clawdbot-sandbox",
        dns: ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8"],
        extraHosts: ["internal.service:10.0.0.5"]
      },
      tools: {
        allow: ["bash", "process", "read", "write", "edit", "sessions_list", "sessions_history", "sessions_send", "sessions_spawn"],
        deny: ["browser", "canvas", "nodes", "cron", "discord", "gateway"]
      },
      prune: {
        idleHours: 24, // 0 disables idle pruning
        maxAgeDays: 7  // 0 disables max-age pruning
      }
    }
  }
}

Hardening knobs live under agent.sandbox.docker: network, user, pidsLimit, memory, memorySwap, cpus, ulimits, seccompProfile, apparmorProfile, dns, extraHosts.

Multi-agent: override agent.sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* per agent via routing.agents.<agentId>.sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* (ignored when agent.sandbox.scope / routing.agents.<agentId>.sandbox.scope is "shared").

Build the default sandbox image

scripts/sandbox-setup.sh

This builds clawdbot-sandbox:bookworm-slim using Dockerfile.sandbox.

Sandbox common image (optional)

If you want a sandbox image with common build tooling (Node, Go, Rust, etc.), build the common image:

scripts/sandbox-common-setup.sh

This builds clawdbot-sandbox-common:bookworm-slim. To use it:

{
  agent: { sandbox: { docker: { image: "clawdbot-sandbox-common:bookworm-slim" } } }
}

Sandbox browser image

To run the browser tool inside the sandbox, build the browser image:

scripts/sandbox-browser-setup.sh

This builds clawdbot-sandbox-browser:bookworm-slim using Dockerfile.sandbox-browser. The container runs Chromium with CDP enabled and an optional noVNC observer (headful via Xvfb).

Notes:

• Headful (Xvfb) reduces bot blocking vs headless.
• Headless can still be used by setting agent.sandbox.browser.headless=true.
• No full desktop environment (GNOME) is needed; Xvfb provides the display.

Use config:

{
  agent: {
    sandbox: {
      browser: { enabled: true }
    }
  }
}

Custom browser image:

{
  agent: {
    sandbox: { browser: { image: "my-clawdbot-browser" } }
  }
}

When enabled, the agent receives:

• a sandbox browser control URL (for the browser tool)
• a noVNC URL (if enabled and headless=false)

Remember: if you use an allowlist for tools, add browser (and remove it from deny) or the tool remains blocked. Prune rules (agent.sandbox.prune) apply to browser containers too.

Custom sandbox image

Build your own image and point config to it:

docker build -t my-clawdbot-sbx -f Dockerfile.sandbox .

{
  agent: {
    sandbox: { docker: { image: "my-clawdbot-sbx" } }
  }
}

Tool policy (allow/deny)

• deny wins over allow.
• If allow is empty: all tools (except deny) are available.
• If allow is non-empty: only tools in allow are available (minus deny).

Pruning strategy

Two knobs:

• prune.idleHours: remove containers not used in X hours (0 = disable)
• prune.maxAgeDays: remove containers older than X days (0 = disable)

Example:

• Keep busy sessions but cap lifetime: idleHours: 24, maxAgeDays: 7
• Never prune: idleHours: 0, maxAgeDays: 0

Security notes

• Hard wall only applies to tools (bash/read/write/edit).
• Host-only tools like browser/camera/canvas are blocked by default.
• Allowing browser in sandbox breaks isolation (browser runs on host).

Troubleshooting

• Image missing: build with scripts/sandbox-setup.sh or set agent.sandbox.docker.image.
• Container not running: it will auto-create per session on demand.
• Permission errors in sandbox: set docker.user to a UID:GID that matches your mounted workspace ownership (or chown the workspace folder).