Running commands

Besides the interactive terminal, a Sandbox runs non-interactive commands: you send a command, it executes, and Buddy keeps the whole record of it - status, exit code, runtime, and output.

Commands run as the buddy user with passwordless sudo, so use sudo for anything that installs system packages.

In the UI

The Exec entry in the Logs tab lists every command executed in the Sandbox, newest first, each with the runtime it ran in, how long it took, and a link ot its output. Failed ones are marked, so you can see what has been run and what it printed without keeping a terminal open.

History, statuses, and logs

Every execution is recorded for later review:

• Status - whether it is still running, finished, or failed
• Exit code - the process's result
• Runtime - which interpreter ran it
• Log - the full output, streamed live or read afterwards

Because commands are tracked individually, an agent that ran twenty of them leaves twenty inspectable records instead of one merged stream. See Logs.

From the CLI

bash
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "npm test" --wait
$

Runtimes

A command does not have to be shell. Pick the runtime and pass the source directly:

bash
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "print(sum(range(10)))" --runtime PYTHON --wait
$

A Sandbox works as a code interpreter this way: send a snippet in the language you need, and get back stdout, stderr, and an exit code.

Wait or return immediately

Two modes, chosen per command:

• Wait. With --wait, the call blocks until the command finishes and streams its output as it happens.
• Return immediately. Without the flag, the call hands back a command id and leaves the process running.

bash
# start it and walk away
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "npm run build"

# check on it later
bdy sb exec list my-sandbox
bdy sb exec status my-sandbox <command-id>
bdy sb exec logs my-sandbox <command-id>

# stop it
bdy sb exec kill my-sandbox <command-id>
$$$$$$$$$$

Working directory and user

A command starts in /buddy and runs as the buddy user. /buddy is also the default app directory, which is where a fetched repository lands unless its Path points elsewhere - so on a default Sandbox a command already starts next to the code, see Git and artifacts. There is no flag for the directory or the user, so change them inside the command itself:

bash
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "cd /home/buddy/app && npm test"
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "sudo -u agent-a whoami"
$$

The Sandbox has to be running

A command needs a running machine. Send one to a stopped Sandbox and it is rejected with sandbox did not reach RUNNING state, so start the Sandbox first:

bash
bdy sb start my-sandbox --wait
bdy sb exec command my-sandbox "npm test" --wait
$$

An executed command also counts as activity, so it holds off the Sandbox timeout while it runs. See Lifecycle.

Commands or apps?