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CrateBay

Open-source, cross-platform container management with built-in AI sandbox.

CrateBay is an alternative to Docker Desktop and OrbStack — fully open-source, works on macOS/Windows/Linux, and has built-in AI code execution capabilities. Manage containers and images through a desktop GUI, or let AI agents run code safely in local sandboxes via MCP protocol.

Why CrateBay?

  • Open source — MIT licensed, free forever. Docker Desktop is proprietary; OrbStack is macOS-only
  • Cross-platform — macOS, Windows, Linux. No platform lock-in
  • Built-in AI — Chat with AI that can execute code in sandboxes. No other container tool does this
  • No Docker required — built-in VM runtime (macOS: Virtualization.framework, Linux: KVM, Windows: WSL2)
  • MCP compatible — connect Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf to run code via MCP protocol
  • Zero cost — no cloud bills, no usage limits, code never leaves your machine

How It Works

Your AI Agent                    CrateBay                         Local VM
(Claude, Cursor, etc.)           (MCP Server)                     (Docker inside VM)
       │                              │                                │
       │  "run this Python script"    │                                │
       ├─────────────────────────────►│                                │
       │                              │  create sandbox + exec code    │
       │                              ├───────────────────────────────►│
       │                              │                                │
       │                              │  stdout/stderr + exit code     │
       │       result                 │◄───────────────────────────────┤
       │◄─────────────────────────────┤                                │

Quick Start

1. Install

# macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel)
brew install --cask cratebay

# Or download from Releases

2. Connect to Your AI

Add to your MCP client config (e.g. Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cratebay": {
      "command": "cratebay-mcp"
    }
  }
}

3. Use It

Tell your AI:

"Create a Python sandbox and run: print('Hello from CrateBay')"

CrateBay handles the rest — VM startup, container creation, code execution, result delivery.

Features

MCP Server — Let Any AI Run Code

The cratebay-mcp binary exposes sandbox tools via the Model Context Protocol:

Tool What It Does
sandbox_run_code Create sandbox + execute code + return result (one-shot)
sandbox_create Create a persistent sandbox from template
sandbox_exec Run a command in an existing sandbox
sandbox_install Install packages (pip, npm, apt)
sandbox_upload / sandbox_download Transfer files in/out of sandbox
sandbox_list List running sandboxes
sandbox_stop / sandbox_delete Lifecycle management

Desktop App — Visual Sandbox Management

The CrateBay desktop app provides:

  • Chat interface — talk to an AI assistant that manages sandboxes through natural language
  • Sandbox dashboard — see running sandboxes, resource usage, logs
  • Image management — search, pull, and manage container images
  • MCP server management — connect external MCP tool servers
  • Settings — LLM provider config, runtime settings, registry mirrors

CLI — Headless Operations

cratebay sandbox create --template python-dev
cratebay sandbox exec <id> -- python -c "print('hello')"
cratebay sandbox list
cratebay sandbox stop <id>

Pre-built Sandbox Templates

Template Image Use Case
python-dev Python 3.12 + pip Data analysis, scripting, ML
node-dev Node.js 20 + npm Web development, scripting
rust-dev Rust stable + cargo Systems programming
ubuntu-base Ubuntu 24.04 General purpose

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  CrateBay                                            │
│                                                      │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  │
│  │ cratebay-mcp │  │ GUI App  │  │ cratebay-cli  │  │
│  │ (MCP Server) │  │ (Tauri)  │  │ (CLI)         │  │
│  └──────┬───────┘  └────┬─────┘  └──────┬────────┘  │
│         └───────────────┼───────────────┘            │
│                         │                            │
│              ┌──────────▼──────────┐                 │
│              │   cratebay-core     │                 │
│              │   (Rust library)    │                 │
│              └──────────┬──────────┘                 │
│                         │                            │
│              ┌──────────▼──────────┐                 │
│              │  Built-in Runtime   │                 │
│              │  macOS: VZ.framework│                 │
│              │  Linux: KVM/QEMU   │                 │
│              │  Windows: WSL2     │                 │
│              │       ↓            │                 │
│              │  Docker in VM      │                 │
│              └─────────────────────┘                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tech stack: Tauri v2 | React 19 | Rust | bollard | SQLite | pi-agent-core

Compared To

CrateBay Docker Desktop OrbStack E2B
Open source MIT No No Partial
Cross-platform macOS/Win/Linux macOS/Win/Linux macOS only Cloud
Container mgmt Yes Yes Yes No
AI chat + sandbox Yes No No API only
MCP support Yes No No No
Cost Free Free / $5+/mo Free / $8/mo $0.01/min
No Docker needed Yes (built-in VM) Is Docker Requires Docker N/A

Status

v0.9.0 → v1.0.0 — Container management + AI ChatPage with sandbox execution.

See docs/progress.md for detailed development status and docs/ROADMAP.md for the release plan.

Contributing

This project uses AGENTS.md for AI-assisted development. See docs/ for technical specs and workflow guides.

License

MIT