Cloud Sandbox MCP 0.2.0 — Workstation Mode

A private MCP server that gives ChatGPT a persistent, VM-like Linux engineering workstation inside Docker.

Each workspace has:

• root access and apt-get;

• Node.js 22, npm/corepack, Python 3, pip/venv, and uv;

• Chromium and Playwright-compatible browser runtime;

• a private nested Docker daemon with Docker Compose;

• persistent repository, home directory, caches, cloud CLI configuration, and nested Docker state;

• Git operations, tests, builds, services, databases, and local Kubernetes tooling through the terminal;

• no host Docker socket inside the workstation.

The outer MCP controller still uses the host Docker socket to create and manage workstation containers. The workstation receives a private Docker daemon, not the host socket.

Upgrade from 0.1.x

cd ~/Downloads
unzip cloud-sandbox-mcp-v0.2.0-workstation.zip
cd cloud-sandbox-mcp-v0.2.0-workstation
cp ../cloud-sandbox-mcp-v0.1.3/.env .env
./scripts/setup.sh
./scripts/upgrade-workspaces.sh

The upgrade script preserves every workspace's:

• repo/

• home/

• new docker/ data directory

It replaces only the runtime container.

Related MCP server: Docker MCP Server

Verify the workstation

From ChatGPT, run in a workspace:

id
node --version
python3 --version
uv --version
docker version
docker compose version
apt-get update

Then validate nested services:

docker run -d --name smoke-postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  postgres:16

docker ps

Persistence

For workspace <id>:

$HOST_DATA_DIR/workspaces/<id>/repo    -> /workspace
$HOST_DATA_DIR/workspaces/<id>/home    -> /home/agent
$HOST_DATA_DIR/workspaces/<id>/docker  -> /var/lib/docker

Cloud credentials and CLI state survive recreation when stored under /home/agent, including:

/home/agent/.aws
/home/agent/.azure
/home/agent/.config/gcloud
/home/agent/.kube
/home/agent/.cache
/home/agent/.local

Git push

Push remains a dedicated audited MCP tool. To enable it:

ENABLE_GIT_PUSH=true
GITHUB_TOKEN=<short-lived-token>

Then recreate the MCP controller:

docker compose --env-file .env up -d --force-recreate mcp

Do not put the GitHub token inside a workstation. The controller injects it only into the host-side push process.

Security boundary

Workstation mode is intentionally powerful. The container is privileged because nested Docker requires it. The security boundary is the workstation container plus its dedicated mounted directories—not command-level restrictions inside the workstation.

It does not mount:

• the host Docker socket;

• arbitrary host directories;

• the MCP controller's secrets;

• the macOS filesystem.

Use this mode on a dedicated Docker Desktop context or, later, move the same image to a dedicated VM for stronger isolation.

Main tools

The existing MCP tools remain compatible. Version 0.2.0 adds workspace_recreate_runtime, which replaces a runtime while preserving its persistent state.