# Landscape: containerized Claude Code agent tools

Research into whether claude-bottle is redundant with existing projects, and
whether it's worth publishing.

## Summary

The "Claude Code in Docker" space is active but not saturated. claude-bottle
occupies a distinct position: no surveyed project combines all five of its
defining features. Publishing is likely worthwhile, with the main risk being
claudebox expanding to absorb the same niche.

## Closest competitor: claudebox

[RchGrav/claudebox](https://github.com/RchGrav/claudebox) is the most
feature-complete analog. It runs Claude Code in Docker with per-project
isolated images, 15+ pre-configured dev-language profiles, and per-project
network firewall allowlists. Actively maintained with multiple forks.

What it lacks: manifest-driven named agents, per-agent env resolution modes
(prompt / host-forward / literal), skill directory injection, per-agent system
prompts, SSH-agent forwarding without copying private keys, home+project
manifest merge.

## Other surveyed projects

- **textcortex/claude-code-sandbox → spritz** — evolved toward
  Kubernetes-native multi-agent infra; not bash-first or local-Docker.
  Original sandbox repo is archived.
- **trailofbits/claude-code-devcontainer** — devcontainer config for security
  audits; not a general agent launcher.
- **Several small solo repos** (arezi/claude-sandbox, nkrefman/claude-sandbox,
  VishalJ99/claude-docker) — lightweight Docker wrappers with no multi-agent
  config layer.
- **Docker's official sandbox templates** — launch-and-run Dockerfiles plus an
  npm-based runtime; not a manifest-driven fleet manager.

## Adjacent (different model)

- **dagger/container-use** (mid-2025) — exposes an MCP server so the *agent*
  spins up its own containers with Git worktrees. Inverted model vs. claude-bottle
  (agent controls container rather than being launched into one by a manifest).
  Still marked early-development.
- **E2B, Northflank, Cloudflare Sandbox SDK** — cloud-hosted SaaS sandbox
  runtimes; fundamentally different architecture.

## What no found project does

None combine:
1. Named-agent JSON manifest with per-agent env resolution (prompt / host-forward / literal)
2. Claude Code skills directory injection
3. Per-agent system prompts
4. SSH-agent key forwarding without copying private keys into the container
5. Home + project manifest merge

## Publishing verdict

Worth publishing. Differentiators that matter to the target audience (power
users running parallel Claude Code sessions with distinct personas/tooling):

- The bash-first, low-dependency design — competitors are npm-based or
  Kubernetes-native.
- Named agents with distinct skills and system prompts, not just language profiles.
- SSH forwarding without key copying.

Main risk: claudebox adds manifest/agent config. The space is moving fast
enough that publishing sooner is better if establishing prior art matters.

Discovery will be slow without active promotion; an Anthropic Discord post or
HN "Show HN" would do most of the work.

## Caveats

- GitHub search cannot surface private or very new repos comprehensively.
- Counts (stars, forks) were not confirmed for every project.
- Research conducted 2026-05-07; the space moves fast.
