Sandbox
Understand the remote environment where Jio reads files, runs commands, and contains agent-created effects.
A sandbox is the remote execution environment behind Jio's MCP tools. It gives an agent a deliberate place to work without treating your laptop as disposable infrastructure.
The sandbox can be a virtual machine, container, dedicated host, or another environment with enforceable isolation. The implementation can vary; the boundary should remain explicit.
What belongs in a sandbox
| Inside the sandbox | Outside the sandbox |
|---|---|
| Project files and generated artifacts | Local prompts and conversation history |
| Language runtimes and dependencies | Model provider credentials |
| Commands, processes, and their output | Unrelated projects and personal files |
| Task-scoped secrets | The local agent's approval interface |
| Resource and network policy | Broad access to the developer machine |
Boundary layers
A useful sandbox constrains more than the filesystem:
- Identity limits operating-system and service privileges.
- Filesystem scope defines which files tools can read or change.
- Resources bound CPU, memory, storage, process count, and duration.
- Network policy controls outbound destinations and listening ports.
- Secrets expose only the credentials required for the current workload.
- Lifecycle determines what persists and when the environment is replaced.
Remote is not automatically isolated
Moving execution to another machine reduces the blast radius on your laptop. The sandbox still needs real operating-system, resource, and network controls.
Persistent and ephemeral sandboxes
A persistent sandbox keeps a project checkout, selected caches, and supporting services between sessions. It favors continuity, but accumulated state needs maintenance and a reliable reset path.
Choose the lifecycle according to the job. Persistence is an operational decision, not a trust signal.
Related concepts
- A session connects an agent to a sandbox for a bounded period.
- A template defines the baseline used to create a sandbox.
- Runtime capabilities describe the effects tools can create inside it.