To run an untrusted command without giving it access to your files, put it inside an operating-system-enforced sandbox and grant only the files and capabilities it needs. A new terminal tab is not a security boundary: a command normally runs with the authority of the user who launched it. Choose the boundary deliberately, especially for filesystem access, network connections, credentials, host services, and clipboard or GUI integration.
What a process sandbox needs to protect
An untrusted script, package-install hook, repository task, or coding-agent command may read secrets, change files, start child processes, or send data over the network. Sandboxing is a policy enforced around the process, not a guarantee that the command is harmless. The useful question is what the process can reach if it behaves badly.
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Before running it, decide what it genuinely needs:
- Files: Start with the smallest relevant working directory. Decide which paths are visible and which are writable; avoid exposing a whole home directory or unrelated projects.
- Credentials: Keep SSH keys, cloud tokens, API keys, and other secrets outside the sandbox’s visible files and environment.
- Network: Decide whether outbound connections are needed and, if so, which destinations should be reachable. Filesystem restrictions alone do not prevent data exfiltration.
- Processes and host interfaces: Check whether the sandbox exposes host sockets, services, helper processes, clipboard, or GUI integration.
These controls are independent. A separate kernel does not make a mounted workspace private, and a read-only workspace does not block network access.
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| Approach | What it provides | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| macOS App Sandbox | Apple documents application-level restrictions on files, network connections, and hardware. Embedded command-line tools inherit the containing app’s sandbox configuration. | Whether the command is launched by an app configured with the necessary entitlements and sandbox inheritance. App Sandbox is not a universal switch for commands typed into an ordinary Terminal session. Apple’s App Sandbox documentation. |
| Linux bubblewrap | Uses user namespaces to let unprivileged users construct a process environment and filesystem view. | The actual invocation and policy: the project distinguishes uses intended as a security boundary from uses that only rearrange the filesystem. Review mounts, namespaces, and exposed capabilities. Bubblewrap project documentation. |
| Container | Packages a process and provides filesystem controls, but Docker’s comparison says containers share the host kernel. | Whether shared-kernel isolation suits the threat model; broad host mounts or privileged integrations can defeat the intended separation. Docker Sandboxes documentation. |
| MicroVM or managed sandbox | Docker describes each local sandbox as running in a microVM with its own Linux kernel, unlike containers that share the host kernel. | A mounted workspace is still shared with the host. Docker also documents clipboard writes and host-service policies as additional boundaries to check. Docker Sandboxes documentation. |
| Coding-agent terminal sandbox | VS Code documents per-platform terminal-sandbox implementations for terminal commands. | Check supported operating systems, feature status, and exact scope. The documented feature does not cover built-in file tools or other agent tools and does not replace cloud-session or Dev Container isolation. VS Code terminal sandbox documentation. |
A VM-based sandbox is the stronger fit when the threat model calls for a separate kernel boundary. It is not automatically safer in every respect: shared folders, clipboard access, host services, and credentials can still connect the guest process to host resources. A container may be more convenient where shared-kernel isolation is acceptable, but do not mistake process packaging for a separate kernel.
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How to evaluate a sandbox before trusting it
- Identify the launch path. Determine whether the command runs directly in your shell, inside an app’s sandbox, a container, a VM, or a coding-agent terminal sandbox. A terminal tab by itself does not change the command’s authority.
- Inspect the visible filesystem. Confirm which directories are mounted or otherwise exposed and whether they are writable. Expose only the working files needed for the task.
- Check secrets and environment. Ensure the process cannot read credential files or inherit sensitive tokens unnecessarily.
- Review network and host integrations. Check outbound network policy, host sockets and services, clipboard access, GUI bridges, and helper processes. Docker notes that a local MCP server that starts a host process or host Docker container operates with host permissions: Docker Sandboxes documentation.
- Probe the effective policy safely. Before trusting the setup, use harmless test attempts to read a known disallowed path, write outside the permitted directory, and reach a prohibited network destination. Confirm that each attempt is blocked. These checks are only as meaningful as the paths and destinations selected; they do not prove that every escape route is closed.
Platform-specific limits and troubleshooting
macOS
Apple states that “The sandboxed app doesn’t have unrestricted access to the user’s home folder.” That describes an app’s sandbox, not a general protection automatically applied to an ordinary shell. If an app-embedded command is unexpectedly denied access, Apple documents diagnostics for identifying the process and restricted action: Diagnosing issues with App Sandbox.
Linux
With bubblewrap, the tool name alone does not establish the strength of isolation. Its project documentation explicitly distinguishes security-boundary use cases from filesystem-layout changes that do not aim to provide such a boundary. Review the exact policy rather than assuming every invocation prevents access to the host.
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Coding-agent terminals
Do not assume a terminal sandbox covers every tool an agent can use. VS Code’s documentation limits its terminal sandbox to terminal commands; built-in file tools and other agent tools are outside that scope. Cloud sessions and Dev Containers are separate isolation questions.
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When not to rely on a local sandbox alone
If the command must be treated as hostile and the consequences of host access are serious, prefer a VM-based boundary with minimal sharing, rather than relying on a terminal tab, a permissive host mount, or a feature whose scope you have not verified. If you cannot determine what files, credentials, network routes, or host interfaces the process can reach, do not run it against sensitive data or from an account with valuable access.
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