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Agent skill

Crabbox Quickstart

by openclaw in openclaw/crabbox

Gets you running your repository's tests in a disposable Docker or Podman container on your own machine with Crabbox, with no account and no cloud spend.

MITAuto-check: notesDevOps & Cloud

Install Crabbox Quickstart

skills CLI
$ npx skills add openclaw/crabbox --skill crabbox-quickstart -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install openclaw/crabbox crabbox-quickstart --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/openclaw/crabbox.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/crabbox-quickstart .claude/skills/crabbox-quickstart && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
crabbox-quickstart
GitHub stars
1.5k
Token cost
~1.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
783 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
2
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Gets you running your repository's tests in a disposable Docker or Podman container on your own machine with Crabbox, with no account and no cloud spend.

  • Trying Crabbox for the first time without an account
  • SKILL.md covers The loop, Install and check, First run, no account needed and The box is bare, plus 7 more sections
  • Calls brew, git and apt-get
  • Running a repository's tests in a throwaway container instead of on the host

What it does

Crabbox leases a box, syncs your working tree, runs one command, streams the output and exits with that command's exit code. With the local-container provider the box is a Docker or Podman container on your machine, so no login or spend is involved. The skill covers installing (Homebrew or release downloads), the doctor readiness check, and a first run of a trivial command in a Git repository, which needs no config file because syncing builds its file list from Git.

It warns that the default box is bare Ubuntu with git, curl, tar, python3, rsync and sudo but no node, npm, make, gcc, go, cargo or java, so runtime-dependent commands fail until you warm up a box and install what you need once. Commands after the double dash are literal arguments, so shell operators need an explicit shell. For existing config, remote leased machines, jobs, secrets or artifacts it hands off to the full crabbox skill.

When your agent uses it

  • Trying Crabbox for the first time without an account
  • Running a repository's tests in a throwaway container instead of on the host
  • Setting up a sandbox for a repo that has no crabbox.yaml yet
  • Installing missing build tools into a warm local box

Example prompts

  • “What is Crabbox? Run a quick uname check in a local container so I can see it work.”
  • “Run my project's test suite in a disposable Podman container and stop the box afterwards.”
  • “The Crabbox run failed with exit 127 and make not found; fix the box.”

Requirements

  • Docker or Podman running locally
  • A Git repository
  • The crabbox CLI

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1330d44. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • brew
    • git
    • apt-get

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Crabbox Quickstart loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 116 tokens; SKILL.md has 783 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~116
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteRuns commands with sudoSKILL.md:65
    sudo apt-get install -y make

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from openclaw/crabbox at commit 1330d44, republished under its MIT licence (© openclaw). 783 words, ~1,589 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/crabbox-quickstart/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
crabbox-quickstart
description
First contact with Crabbox: run your repository's tests inside a disposable Docker or Podman container on your own machine, no account and no cloud spend, then stop the box. Use when someone asks what Crabbox is or how to try it, wants a throwaway sandbox for a repo with no crabbox.yaml yet, or is about to run crabbox init here; hand off to the crabbox skill for config that already exists, leased remote machines, jobs, secrets, or artifacts.
license
MIT

Crabbox Quickstart

Crabbox runs your repository's commands on a disposable box — a container on your own machine, or a remote machine you lease. It syncs your working tree, runs one command, streams the output back, and exits with that command's code.

The loop

text
lease -> sync -> run -> read output -> stop
  • Lease a box from a provider. --provider local-container uses Docker or Podman on your own machine: no account, no login, no spend.
  • Sync your current checkout onto it. Crabbox builds the file list from Git, so the directory must be a repository.
  • Run one command there. Its exit code becomes Crabbox's exit code.
  • Read the streamed output, and optionally timing and test-result files.
  • Stop the box. A one-shot run does this for you; a warm box does not.

Install and check

sh
crabbox --version                  # already installed? skip the install
brew install openclaw/tap/crabbox  # or github.com/openclaw/crabbox/releases
crabbox doctor --provider local-container

doctor with a provider is the readiness check that matters: it names the container runtime, the leases you already hold, and the image= your commands will run inside.

First run, no account needed

With Docker or Podman running, this works in any Git repository with no config file, no login, and no cloud spend:

sh
git init                                  # only if not already a repository
crabbox run --provider local-container -- uname -a

Crabbox provisioned a container, synced the dirty checkout, ran the command there, streamed its output, propagated its exit code, and deleted the lease. Budget 30-45 seconds once the base image is local, nearly all of it container startup; the very first run adds a one-time image pull.

The box is bare

Read this before swapping uname -a for real work. The default image is plain Ubuntu with git, curl, tar, python3, rsync, and passwordless sudo. No node, npm, make, gcc, go, cargo, or java. A command needing a runtime fails before your code does — usually exit 127 and make: not found, or for npm a preflight that stops the run first. Install what you need once, on a warm box:

sh
crabbox warmup --provider local-container          # prints the <slug>
crabbox run --provider local-container --id <slug> -- \
  sudo apt-get install -y make

Commands after -- are literal argv. For &&, pipes, or redirects, add --shell before -- and pass the shell source as one quoted argument. Making the setup permanent is a .crabbox.yaml job — that is the crabbox skill, not this page.

Warm a box and reuse it

One-shot runs pay for container startup every time, and throw away whatever you installed. Keep one box and send several commands to it instead:

sh
crabbox warmup --provider local-container
crabbox run --provider local-container --id <slug> -- ./run-tests.sh
crabbox status --provider local-container --id <slug>

warmup prints both a cbx_... lease id and a friendly slug; either works as --id. A cold run measured 33-45 seconds, the same run warm about 4 seconds. Above and below, ./run-tests.sh stands for your own test command.

What actually gets synced

Your dirty working tree filtered by Git, not a committed ref, so untracked-but-not-ignored files do get uploaded — minus a built-in exclude list: node_modules, dist, target, .venv, __pycache__, and other dependency and build output. That never travels; rebuild it in the box. crabbox sync-plan prints the file count, total bytes, and the largest files and directories without starting a container. Exclude anything else surprising in .crabboxignore.

Show full SKILL.md (311 more words)Show less

Errors you will meet first

Exit 2 is a missing --provider, 6 a directory that is not a Git repository, 7 a runtime Crabbox cannot reach, 4 an --id naming no live lease. Your own command's code passes through verbatim too, so the number alone never says which failed — read the message, then rerun the doctor command above.

When your command itself fails, Crabbox exits with its code, prints a failure digest with next: commands, and drops a bundle in .crabbox/captures/. Sync excludes it; add .crabbox/ to .gitignore.

Environment and secrets

Nothing from your shell crosses into the box automatically; forwarding is an allowlist by name, set with --allow-env or env.allow in the repo config. Never put a token on a command line; the crabbox skill covers the rest.

Evidence from a run

Evidence flags attach to any run and cost no extra time:

sh
crabbox run --provider local-container --results-auto -- ./run-tests.sh

If your command writes a JUnit XML report, --results-auto finds it without being told the path and summarizes it in one line:

text
test results files=1 tests=3 failures=1 errors=0 skipped=1

If nothing writes a JUnit file the flag is a silent no-op.

Stop what you started

Boxes from warmup outlive the command; so do runs given --keep. Stop them:

sh
crabbox stop --provider local-container <slug>
crabbox list --provider local-container

An empty list means no leases remain on that provider. Local containers kept by warmup or --keep require explicit stop; they do not expire on their own.

When you outgrow this page

Stop here and load the full crabbox skill as soon as the task involves any of:

  • a repository that already has crabbox.yaml or .crabbox.yaml, including one crabbox init --detect has just written
  • any provider other than local-container, or a broker login
  • a toolchain the base image lacks that you want present on every run
  • named jobs, pools, prewarming, a fresh PR checkout, or Windows targets
  • environment or secret forwarding, artifacts, or desktop and UI proof
  • a failure that crabbox doctor output does not explain

© openclaw, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/crabbox-quickstart of openclaw/crabbox.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1330d44

Compare with similar skills

Crabbox Quickstart next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Crabbox Quickstart compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Crabbox Quickstart this skillopenclaw/crabbox1.5k—~1.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Ssh Skillbadseal/ssh-skill536—~2.4kAutomated safety check: NotesNone
Rtk Skillsopaco/deepwiki-rs3.1k—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Install CheckRLinf/RLinf5.5k—~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Checkopenwpm/OpenWPM1.4k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Pluggedin Stack OpsVeriTeknik/pluggedin-app103—~1.3kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Crabbox Quickstart

What does Crabbox Quickstart do?

Gets you running your repository's tests in a disposable Docker or Podman container on your own machine with Crabbox, with no account and no cloud spend. Crabbox leases a box, syncs your working tree, runs one command, streams the output and exits with that command's exit code. With the local-container provider the box is a Docker or Podman container on your machine, so no login or spend is involved.

When should I use Crabbox Quickstart?

Crabbox Quickstart fits situations like: trying Crabbox for the first time without an account; running a repository's tests in a throwaway container instead of on the host; setting up a sandbox for a repo that has no crabbox.yaml yet; installing missing build tools into a warm local box.

How do I install Crabbox Quickstart in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add openclaw/crabbox --skill crabbox-quickstart -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/crabbox-quickstart in openclaw/crabbox) into .claude/skills/crabbox-quickstart in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Crabbox Quickstart in Codex?

Run `npx skills add openclaw/crabbox --skill crabbox-quickstart -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/crabbox-quickstart in openclaw/crabbox) into .agents/skills/crabbox-quickstart in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Crabbox Quickstart in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add openclaw/crabbox --skill crabbox-quickstart -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/crabbox-quickstart, .gemini/skills/crabbox-quickstart, .github/skills/crabbox-quickstart and .opencode/skills/crabbox-quickstart in your project.

What does Crabbox Quickstart need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Crabbox Quickstart needs the command-line tools its instructions call (brew, git and apt-get). Our summary lists: Docker or Podman running locally; A Git repository; The crabbox CLI.

Does Crabbox Quickstart access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Crabbox Quickstart safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (runs commands with sudo), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Crabbox Quickstart use?

Crabbox Quickstart is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Crabbox Quickstart use?

About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Crabbox Quickstart?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Crabbox Quickstart: Ssh Skill (badseal/ssh-skill, 536 stars), Rtk Skill (sopaco/deepwiki-rs, 3.1k stars), Install Check (RLinf/RLinf, 5.5k stars) and Check (openwpm/OpenWPM, 1.4k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Crabbox Quickstart?

openclaw (a GitHub organization) maintains it in openclaw/crabbox, which has 1,452 GitHub stars. The repository holds 2 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: openclaw/crabbox on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.