Example openclaw.json showing sandbox defaults, per-agent overrides, and channel bindings. Companion to blog post.

Dockerfile.sandbox

FROM debian:bookworm-slim

# Install essential tools
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    # Basics
    curl \
    unzip \
    ca-certificates \
    git \
    # JSON/text processing
    jq \
    ripgrep \
    # File utilities
    tree \
    file \
    # Database
    sqlite3 \
    # Remote access
    openssh-client \
    # Media processing
    ffmpeg \
    imagemagick \
    # Python + yt-dlp for transcripts
    python3 \
    python3-pip \
    && pip3 install --break-system-packages yt-dlp \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install Bun.js to a shared location accessible by any uid
RUN curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | BUN_INSTALL=/usr/local bash

RUN bun --version

# Install Node.js (required by Lobster CLI shebang)
RUN curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash - \
    && apt-get install -y nodejs \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install OpenClaw CLI and Lobster CLI
RUN npm install -g openclaw @clawdbot/lobster

WORKDIR /workspace

CMD ["/bin/bash"]

openclaw.sandbox.json

// Excerpt from ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
// Shows multi-agent sandboxing: shared defaults, per-agent overrides, and channel routing.
{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "sandbox": {
        "mode": "all",
        "workspaceAccess": "rw",
        "scope": "session",
        "docker": {
          "image": "openclaw-sandbox:my-image",
          "readOnlyRoot": true,
          "tmpfs": ["/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"],
          "network": "bridge",
          "dns": ["8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1"],
          "extraHosts": ["host.docker.internal:host-gateway"],
          "binds": [
            "/Users/roman/.openclaw/scripts/Dockerfile.sandbox:/home/.openclaw/scripts/Dockerfile.sandbox:ro",
            "/Users/roman/dev/ai/openclaw:/home/openclaw-src:ro"
          ],
          "dangerouslyAllowExternalBindSources": true
        },
        "browser": { "allowHostControl": true }
      }
    },
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "default": true,
        "workspace": "/Users/roman/.openclaw/workspace",
        "sandbox": {
          "docker": {
            "binds": [
              "/Users/roman/.openclaw/agents/main:/home/.openclaw/agents/main:ro"
            ]
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "family-agent",
        "name": "Family Agent",
        "workspace": "/Users/roman/.openclaw/workspace-family",
        "tools": {
          "sandbox": {
            "tools": {
              "alsoAllow": ["message"],
              "deny": ["canvas", "nodes", "gateway", "whatsapp", "discord", "irc", "googlechat", "signal", "imessage"]
            }
          }
        },
        "sandbox": {
          "docker": {
            "binds": [
              "/Users/roman/.openclaw/agents/family-agent:/home/.openclaw/agents/family-agent:ro"
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "bindings": [
    { "agentId": "family-agent", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "family" } }
  ],
  "cron": { "enabled": true }
}