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The sandbox runs a Debian/Ubuntu base image. You can install software with apt-get via the Process API or by customizing your Docker image. This page covers commonly needed packages and how to install them.

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Browsers

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Chromium

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "chromium", "chromium-sandbox"],
});

// Launch headless
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "chromium",
  args: ["--headless", "--no-sandbox", "--disable-gpu", "https://example.com"],
});
Use --no-sandbox when running Chromium inside a container. The container itself provides isolation.

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Firefox

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "firefox-esr"],
});

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Playwright browsers

Playwright bundles its own browser binaries. Install the Playwright CLI and let it download browsers for you. 
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "npx",
  args: ["playwright", "install", "--with-deps", "chromium"],
});

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Languages and runtimes

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Node.js

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "nodejs", "npm"],
});
For a specific version, use nvm:
TypeScript
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash && . ~/.nvm/nvm.sh && nvm install 22"],
});

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Python

Python 3 is typically pre-installed. To add pip and common packages: 
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "python3", "python3-pip", "python3-venv"],
});

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "pip3",
  args: ["install", "numpy", "pandas", "matplotlib"],
});

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Go

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar -C /usr/local -xz"],
});

// Add to PATH for subsequent commands
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin && go version"],
});

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Rust

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y"],
});

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Java (OpenJDK)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "default-jdk"],
});

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Ruby

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "ruby-full"],
});

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Databases

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PostgreSQL

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "postgresql", "postgresql-client"],
});

// Start the service
const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "su - postgres -c 'pg_ctlcluster 15 main start'"],
});

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SQLite

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "sqlite3"],
});

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Redis

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "redis-server"],
});

const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "redis-server",
  args: ["--daemonize", "no"],
});

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MySQL / MariaDB

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "mariadb-server", "mariadb-client"],
});

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Build tools

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Essential build toolchain

Most compiled software needs the standard build toolchain: 
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "build-essential", "cmake", "pkg-config"],
});
This installs gcc, g++, make, cmake, and related tools.

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Desktop applications

These require the Computer Use desktop to be started first.

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LibreOffice

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "libreoffice"],
});

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GIMP

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "gimp"],
});

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VLC

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "vlc"],
});

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VS Code (code-server)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://code-server.dev/install.sh | sh"],
});

const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "code-server",
  args: ["--bind-addr", "0.0.0.0:8080", "--auth", "none"],
});

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CLI tools

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Git

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "git"],
});

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Docker

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "bash",
  args: ["-c", "curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh"],
});

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jq

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "jq"],
});

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tmux

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "tmux"],
});

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Media and graphics

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FFmpeg

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "ffmpeg"],
});

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ImageMagick

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "imagemagick"],
});

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Poppler (PDF utilities)

await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "apt-get",
  args: ["install", "-y", "poppler-utils"],
});

// Convert PDF to images
await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "pdftoppm",
  args: ["-png", "document.pdf", "output"],
});

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Pre-installing in a Docker image

For production use, install software in your Dockerfile instead of at runtime. This avoids repeated downloads and makes startup faster. 
FROM ubuntu:22.04

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    chromium \
    firefox-esr \
    nodejs npm \
    python3 python3-pip \
    git curl wget \
    build-essential \
    sqlite3 \
    ffmpeg \
    imagemagick \
    jq \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

RUN pip3 install numpy pandas matplotlib
See Docker deployment for how to use custom images with Sandbox Agent.