Opencomputer

You have access to the oc CLI for managing OpenComputer cloud sandboxes. Use it to create sandboxes, execute commands, manage checkpoints, and more.

First-time setup (run this BEFORE any other oc command)

Before running any sandbox command, make sure the user is set up. Do these checks in order, only fixing what's broken:

1. Is the oc CLI installed?

which oc

If it returns a path → installed, skip to step 2.

If it returns nothing / non-zero exit → install it with the official one-liner:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diggerhq/opencomputer/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

This installs oc to ~/.local/bin/oc. If ~/.local/bin is not on the user's PATH, tell them to add export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" to their shell rc file, and use the full path ~/.local/bin/oc for the rest of this session.

2. Is the user logged in?

oc whoami

If it succeeds → logged in, you're done.

If it fails because no credential is configured, OR a sandbox command fails with an auth error (401, "unauthorized", "missing API key"):

1. Run:

   oc login
   

2. Relay the complete browser URL and short confirmation code printed by the command to the user.
3. Leave the command running while the user approves it in their browser. It resumes automatically after approval.

Do not ask for an API key in chat. For CI or service automation, the user may instead configure OPENCOMPUTER_API_KEY themselves.

CLI Reference

Sandbox Lifecycle

# Create a sandbox (returns sandbox ID)
oc sandbox create --timeout 300 --cpu 1 --memory 512
oc sandbox create --env KEY=VALUE --env KEY2=VALUE2
oc sandbox create --secret-store my-secrets --metadata project=demo
oc create  # shortcut

# List running sandboxes
oc sandbox list
oc ls  # shortcut

# Get sandbox details
oc sandbox get <sandbox-id>

# Kill a sandbox
oc sandbox kill <sandbox-id>

# Hibernate (saves state to S3, can wake later)
oc sandbox hibernate <sandbox-id>

# Wake a hibernated sandbox
oc sandbox wake <sandbox-id> --timeout 300

# Update timeout
oc sandbox set-timeout <sandbox-id> <seconds>

Execute Commands

oc exec streams stdout/stderr live by default and exits with the remote process's exit code. Use --wait for buffered/synchronous execution (needed for --json), or --detach to fire-and-forget.

# Stream live (default)
oc exec <sandbox-id> -- echo hello
oc exec <sandbox-id> --cwd /app -- npm install
oc exec <sandbox-id> --timeout 120 -- make build
oc exec <sandbox-id> --env NODE_ENV=production -- node server.js

# Buffered + JSON envelope (exitCode, stdout, stderr) — required for scripting
oc exec <sandbox-id> --wait --json -- whoami

# Fire-and-forget; prints the session id so you can re-attach later
oc exec <sandbox-id> --detach -- long-running-job

# Manage exec sessions
oc exec list <sandbox-id>
oc exec attach <sandbox-id> <session-id>
oc exec kill <sandbox-id> <session-id>

Checkpoints

Checkpoints snapshot a running sandbox. You can restore to a checkpoint (in-place revert) or spawn new sandboxes from one (fork).

# Create a checkpoint
oc checkpoint create <sandbox-id> --name "after-setup"

# List checkpoints
oc checkpoint list <sandbox-id>

# Restore sandbox to a checkpoint (in-place revert)
oc checkpoint restore <sandbox-id> <checkpoint-id>

# Spawn a new sandbox from a checkpoint (fork)
oc checkpoint spawn <checkpoint-id> --timeout 300

# Delete a checkpoint
oc checkpoint delete <sandbox-id> <checkpoint-id>

Checkpoint Patches

Patches are scripts applied when sandboxes are spawned from a checkpoint. Use them to customize forked environments.

# Create a patch (reads script from file)
oc patch create <checkpoint-id> --script ./setup.sh --description "Install deps"

# Create a patch from stdin
echo "apt install -y curl" | oc patch create <checkpoint-id> --script -

# List patches
oc patch list <checkpoint-id>

# Delete a patch
oc patch delete <checkpoint-id> <patch-id>

Preview URLs

Expose a sandbox port via a public URL.

# Create a preview URL
oc preview create <sandbox-id> --port 3000
oc preview create <sandbox-id> --port 8080 --domain myapp.example.com

# List preview URLs
oc preview list <sandbox-id>

# Delete a preview URL
oc preview delete <sandbox-id> <port>

Interactive Shell

# Open an interactive terminal session
oc shell <sandbox-id>
oc shell <sandbox-id> --shell /bin/zsh

Global Flags

All commands support:

• --json — output as JSON instead of tables
• --api-key <key> — override API key
• --api-url <url> — override API URL

Workflow Patterns

Create and use a sandbox

ID=$(oc create --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')
oc exec $ID --wait -- apt update
oc exec $ID --wait -- apt install -y nodejs
oc exec $ID -- node -e "console.log('hello')"
oc sandbox kill $ID

Checkpoint workflow (setup once, fork many)

# Create base environment
ID=$(oc create --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')
oc exec $ID --wait -- apt update
oc exec $ID --wait -- apt install -y python3 pip
oc exec $ID --wait -- pip install flask

# Checkpoint it
CP=$(oc checkpoint create $ID --name "python-flask" --json | jq -r '.id')
# Wait for checkpoint to be ready
oc checkpoint list $ID

# Spawn copies from the checkpoint
FORK1=$(oc checkpoint spawn $CP --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')
FORK2=$(oc checkpoint spawn $CP --json | jq -r '.sandboxID')

Add a patch to customize forks

oc patch create $CP --script ./inject-config.sh --description "Add app config"
# All future spawns from $CP will run inject-config.sh on boot

Important Notes

• Always use --json and parse with jq when you need to extract IDs or fields programmatically.
• Sandbox IDs look like sb-xxxxxxxx. Checkpoint IDs are UUIDs.
• Checkpoints take a few seconds to become ready. Poll with oc checkpoint list if needed.
• Use oc sandbox kill to clean up sandboxes when done.
• The oc exec command exits with the remote process exit code.