sandboxd is an open-source, self-hosted AI app builder that runs a coding agent inside isolated sandboxes on your own server and gives every generated app its own live preview URL, and it is built for developers and teams who want the prompt-to-app workflow of hosted builders without giving up their infrastructure, code, or data.
What it is
sandboxd is the open-source engine behind the prompt-to-app pattern. One HTTP request does three things: it spins up a private, isolated container with its own filesystem and limits, runs an AI coding agent inside that container against your prompt, and hands the finished app a live preview URL. Idle sandboxes sleep and wake on demand, so one ordinary box holds many apps instead of a virtual machine each. It is written in Go under the MIT licence, with 943 stars, 59 forks and 14 open issues at last push on 2026-09-09.
The problem it solves is ownership. The products where you type "build me a todo app" and a working site appears at its own link — Lovable, Bolt, v0, Replit — all run on someone else's infrastructure. sandboxd lives in the developer tools and build-and-deployment space as a self-hosted replacement for that hosted workflow, keeping the infrastructure, the code, and the data on your own server. The underlying stack is deliberately small: one Go program driving Docker, Traefik for URLs, and SQLite for state, with no Kubernetes, no separate database, and no queue.
Key capabilities
- Prompt-to-app isolation: one HTTP request creates a private container with its own filesystem and limits, runs a coding agent inside it, and returns a live preview URL.
- API-first design: every action is a
/v1 call, so the engine is headless and scriptable, and can be driven from your own product.
- Optional web console: a pure
/v1 client for creating an app, chatting to an agent, watching the live preview, editing files, and reviewing a git diff and push in the browser. The engine runs perfectly headless without it.
- 80+ curated one-click apps, including Ghost, n8n, Gitea, Grafana, Metabase, Uptime Kuma, Jupyter, and Keycloak, each installed and live at its own URL.
- Starters for React/Vite, Next.js, and FastAPI scaffolds that boot straight to a live preview.
- Bring your own repo: import any public Git repo with no credential needed, then let a coding agent work on it.
- Broad runtime support: any Node, Python, or static-binary app boots as-is; anything else uses your own base image or preset, and idle sandboxes sleep and wake on demand.
Who uses it and how
- Self-hosters on a single machine, because sleeping and waking idle sandboxes lets one ordinary box carry many apps instead of one VM per app.
- Product teams embedding generation into their own software, driving
/v1 directly with the engine running headless and no console required.
- Non-coders working from the console, running a Ghost blog, n8n automations, a Gitea git host, Grafana or Metabase dashboards, Uptime Kuma, Jupyter, or Keycloak in one click or one prompt.
- Developers with existing work, importing a public Git repo and reviewing a git diff and push before shipping.
- arm64 operators, since it runs natively on amd64 and arm64, including Apple Silicon Macs and arm64 Linux hosts such as AWS Graviton, with every image built from multi-arch bases and no cross-compilation.
Getting started
Install in one line with curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tastyeffectco/sandboxd/main/install.sh | bash, which needs Docker plus the Compose plugin and git on Linux, with macOS via Docker Desktop supported on a best-effort basis. The installer builds the images, starts the stack with the web console, and prints the console URL and a generated login, with the console at http://console.localhost and the API at http://127.0.0.1:9090; run ./console-login.sh to see the login again.
How it compares
Against Lovable, Bolt, v0, and Replit, the difference is licence and location. Those are hosted services, while sandboxd is MIT-licensed and self-hosted, so the infrastructure, code, and data stay yours rather than living inside a vendor's environment. Self-hosting is free forever, with a managed cloud offered only as an optional extra, so the cost model is your own server instead of a subscription.
When to use it — and when not to
A self-hoster takes on Docker, the Compose plugin, git, Traefik for routing, and SQLite for state — a small stack, but one you run yourself, and Linux is the first-class target since macOS is best-effort through Docker Desktop. There is no 1.0 release yet, the README asks readers to sign up for it, and bring-your-own-repo currently covers public repositories only. Teams that want a fully managed service with no box to operate should look elsewhere, and anyone needing private-repo workflows should wait.
project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline
sandboxd
Open-source, self-hosted AI app builder.
Prompt it and a coding agent builds real apps in isolated sandboxes on your
server — each live at a preview URL. You own the infra, code, and data. MIT.
🔥 Trend of the Day on Trendshift
Prompt → a real, running app on your server, at its own URL.
See it in action 👇
📣 Stay in the loop
Self-hosting is MIT and free, forever — git clone and you're done.
Want the 1.0 release + occasional product updates, or a managed cloud so you don't run the box yourself? Two links:
No spam, one-click unsubscribe, and the cloud is optional — the self-hosted engine is always the full product.
What is sandboxd?
The apps where you type "build me a todo app" and a working site appears at its
own link — Lovable, Bolt, v0, Replit. sandboxd is the open-source engine that
makes that work, on your own server. One HTTP request and it:
- spins up a private, isolated container (its own filesystem + limits),
- runs an AI coding agent inside it against your prompt, and
- hands the app a live preview URL.
Idle sandboxes sleep and wake on demand, so one ordinary box holds many apps
instead of a VM each. Under the hood it's deliberately small: one Go program
driving Docker, Traefik for URLs, SQLite for state — no Kubernetes, no separate
database, no queue.
Two ways to use it
- API-first — everything is a
/v1 call, so you can build sandboxd into your
own product.
- Optional web console — the fastest, no-code way to use it hands-on:
create an app, chat to a coding agent, watch the live preview, edit files, and
review a git diff & push — all in a browser. It's a pure
/v1 client; the
engine runs perfectly headless without it.
New here? Start with the console. Building a product? Drive the API.
What can you run? (a lot — from one console, no code)
The console isn't only for coders. Open it and, in one click or one prompt, you can:
- 🚀 Run a ready-made open-source app — a Ghost blog, n8n automations, a Gitea git host, Grafana / Metabase dashboards, Uptime Kuma, Jupyter, Keycloak… 80+ curated apps, installed and live at their own URL.
- 🧩 Start from a starter — a React/Vite, Next.js, or FastAPI scaffold that boots to a live preview; then just chat to shape it.
- 📥 Bring your own repo — import any public Git repo (no credential needed) and let a coding agent work on it.
- ✨ Build from scratch — describe an app and watch the agent build it in the live preview, then commit & push.
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