inspect

crabbox inspect prints the full record for a single lease: state, provider, server identity, the resolved SSH command, idle/expiry timing, Tailscale metadata, and the provider labels attached to the box. Reach for it when something looks wrong and you want every detail in one place.

crabbox inspect --id blue-lobster
crabbox inspect --id blue-lobster --network tailscale
crabbox inspect --id blue-lobster --json
crabbox inspect --provider namespace-devbox --id blue-lobster
crabbox inspect --provider ssh --target windows --windows-mode wsl2 --static-host win-dev.local

You can also pass the lease id or slug as a positional argument instead of --id:

crabbox inspect blue-lobster

#Output

Human output prints one key=value line per field, followed by any Tailscale metadata (when the lease has Tailscale enabled) and one label.<name>=<value> line per provider label.

id=cbx_abcdef123456
slug=blue-lobster
provider=aws
target=linux
windows_mode=-
state=active
server=i-0abcdef0123456789
host=203.0.113.10
network=public
ssh=~/.config/crabbox/testboxes/cbx_abcdef123456/id_ed25519 -p 2222 crabbox@203.0.113.10
ssh_fallback_ports=22
idle_for=12m4s
idle_timeout=30m0s
last_touched=2026-05-07T07:55:12Z
expires=2026-05-07T08:25:12Z
tailscale.state=ok
tailscale.hostname=blue-lobster
tailscale.fqdn=blue-lobster.tail-scale.ts.net
tailscale.ipv4=100.64.0.5
tailscale.tags=tag:crabbox
label.target=linux
label.state=active

The ssh= line shows the connection for the selected --network mode (the key path, port, user, and host). Empty fields render as -.

--json prints the structured status record (the same shape returned by status), including non-secret Tailscale metadata and the full label map. Secrets such as broker tokens, provider keys, and VNC passwords are never included in either output mode.

#Flags

--id <lease-id-or-slug>      lease to inspect (required); also accepted as a positional argument
--provider <name>            override the configured provider (e.g. aws, hetzner, ssh, namespace-devbox)
--target linux|macos|windows target OS
--windows-mode normal|wsl2   Windows execution mode
--static-host <host>         static SSH host (provider=ssh)
--static-user <user>         static SSH user override
--static-port <port>         static SSH port override
--static-work-root <path>    static target work root
--network auto|tailscale|public  which address the resolved SSH line prints
--json                       print the structured JSON record

#inspect vs status vs list

inspect is the long-form record for one lease, including provider labels

and the resolved SSH command.

status is the shorter "is this lease healthy right now"

check, with optional --wait and bounded telemetry.

list is the table view across many leases, scoped by owner/org

or fleet-wide for admins.

Use inspect when something is unexpected and you want all the detail at once. Use status when an automation needs a quick liveness check. Use list when you are hunting for a specific lease across the pool.

Related docs: