boxd · hopboxCompute boxes
over SSH.
One ssh and a Firecracker microVM boots the instant you connect — a real Linux kernel, hardware-isolated, sub-second. Your SSH key is your identity. No signup, no console, no dashboard.
ssh box@box.hopbox.dev
Try it right now, no account: ssh demo@box.hopbox.dev
$ ssh box@box.hopbox.dev spawning microVM · firecracker · isolated ✓ booted in 0.4s — Linux 6.1 · 2 vCPU · 1 GiBbox@box:~$ uname -r && docker run hello-world 6.1.0 · Hello from Docker! # disconnect → auto-suspends to disk; reconnect → restoredbox@box:~$
How it works
No provisioning step, no waiting on a queue. The connection is the lifecycle.
ssh box@…
Your public key is your identity. Per-owner box names: your myproject is yours alone.
microVM spawns
A Firecracker microVM boots in well under a second — a real kernel, hardware-isolated, not a container.
idle → snapshot
Disconnect and the box auto-suspends: memory + state snapshot to disk. Nothing burning while you're away.
reconnect, restored
The next connection restores the snapshot instantly. Your durable disk is exactly where you left it.
What's in the box
Real virtualization, terminal-native ergonomics, secure by default.
Real VMs, not containers
Firecracker microVMs with their own Linux kernel. Run Docker, nested workloads, even load kernel modules — hardware isolation, not namespaces.
Sub-second pause / resume
Idle boxes snapshot memory and state to disk and auto-suspend; the next SSH restores them instantly. You only pay attention when you're connected.
Durable disk
Your disk survives suspend/resume, daemon restarts, and host reboots. Pick up exactly where you left off.
Image catalog
Boot from a tooled base: ssh proj:ubuntu-22.04@box.hopbox.dev or proj:debian-12@…. List them with ssh images@box.hopbox.dev — git, vim, curl, tmux included.
Ephemeral by default
A fresh throwaway box, reaped a couple of minutes after you disconnect. Register your key for the persistent tier when you want it to stick.
Your key is your identity
No web dashboard, no cloud console, no signup form. The SSH key in your agent is the whole auth story — per-owner box names keep them separate.
box-guest + MCP
An in-box CLI — box-guest info, keep-alive, idle tuning — and an MCP server (box-guest mcp) so an AI agent inside the box can manage its own sandbox.
Secure by default
Per-box network isolation and an egress firewall out of the box. Each box is sealed off from the others and from the host.
Run your own
Host boxd yourself
One command on a KVM-capable Linux host stands up the boxd daemon. It's open source — bring your own hardware.
curl -fsSL https://box.hopbox.dev/install.sh | sudo sh
Source & issues on GitHub · docs at docs.hopbox.dev