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Workflows

Common usage patterns and workflows for Glovebox.

Daily Development

Starting a Session

cd ~/projects/my-app
glovebox run

You're dropped into a shell inside the container with your project at /workspace.

Resuming Work

Glovebox containers are persistent. When you exit and later run glovebox run again, you resume where you left off—including any tools you installed or configuration changes you made.

Checking Status

glovebox status

Shows your profile configuration, image state, and container state.

Project-Specific Environments

When a project needs tools beyond your base image:

1. Create a Project Profile

cd ~/projects/special-project
glovebox init

This creates .glovebox/profile.yaml that extends your base image.

2. Add Project-Specific Mods

glovebox add languages/nodejs
glovebox add tools/tmux

3. Build and Run

glovebox build
glovebox run

The project image inherits everything from glovebox:base and adds the project-specific tools.

Ad-Hoc Tool Installation

You don't always know what tools you'll need. Glovebox lets you install things during a session and optionally persist them.

Install During Session

# Inside the container
brew install jq
brew install httpie

Persist Changes

When you exit, Glovebox shows what changed:

dev@glovebox /workspace (main)> exit

  ┃ Session ended · container has uncommitted changes:
  ┃
  ┃   brew install jq
  ┃   brew install httpie
  ┃   ...and 35 more changes
  ┃
  ┃ To persist: glovebox commit
  ┃ To discard: glovebox reset

Run glovebox commit to bake these tools into your image permanently.

Working with AI Coding Assistants

Glovebox is ideal for running AI coding assistants that execute arbitrary code.

Setup

Add an AI assistant to your base profile (edit ~/.glovebox/profile.yaml or run from a directory without a project profile):

glovebox add ai/claude-code
glovebox build --base

Configure API Keys

Add your API key to passthrough in your profile (~/.glovebox/profile.yaml):

passthrough_env:
  - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Rebuild isn't needed—this takes effect on next glovebox run.

Use

cd ~/projects/my-app
glovebox run

# Inside container
claude

The AI assistant runs sandboxed. It can modify files in /workspace (your project), but cannot access your host system, SSH keys, or other projects.

Testing Untrusted Code

Glovebox provides a safe environment for:

  • Evaluating npm packages before adding them to production
  • Running scripts from the internet
  • Testing code from unfamiliar sources

Example: Testing an npm Package

glovebox run

# Inside container
cd /workspace
npm install sketchy-package
node -e "require('sketchy-package')"

If the package does something malicious, the damage is contained to the container. Your host is protected.

Clean Slate Testing

For maximum isolation, erase changes after testing:

exit
# Choose [e]rase when prompted

Next session starts fresh.

Cloning and Running

For quick exploration of a repository:

glovebox clone https://github.com/user/repo

This clones the repo and immediately starts a Glovebox session in it.

Multiple Projects

Each project gets its own container and (optionally) its own image:

~/projects/
├── app-a/           → container: glovebox-app-a-abc123
├── app-b/           → container: glovebox-app-b-def456
└── special-project/ → container: glovebox-special-project-789xyz
                       image: glovebox:special-project-789xyz

Projects without a .glovebox/profile.yaml use the base image directly. Projects with a profile get their own extended image.

Clean Up

Single Project

cd ~/projects/my-app
glovebox clean

Removes the project's container and image (if any). Base image preserved.

Full Reset

glovebox clean --all

Removes all Glovebox containers and images, including base. Use this when:

  • Something is broken beyond repair
  • You want to rebuild everything from scratch
  • You're done with Glovebox entirely

After clean --all, you'll need to glovebox build --base again.

Workflow Summary

Scenario Commands
Daily use gb run
Project needs extra tools gb init, gb add <mod>, gb build, gb run
Install tool during session Install normally, choose [y]es on exit
Test untrusted code gb run, test, exit, choose [e]rase
Start fresh gb clean or gb clean --all
Quick repo exploration gb clone <url>