Integrations

Crabbox integrations let editors, terminal UIs, and coding agents use the installed crabbox CLI without taking over provider credentials, lease ownership, synchronization, evidence, or cleanup.

Integration is the umbrella term. A plugin is only one host-specific package format. Providers remain execution substrates, and a harness running as a long-lived daemon inside a lease belongs to the planned Station runtime rather than to a local plugin system.

This page is a router for integration surfaces implemented and maintained in the Crabbox repository. It is not a global ecosystem registry. Integrations bundled and versioned by another host are inventoried in that host's repository or marketplace, even when they consume Crabbox.

#Choose the surface

Goal	Surface	Status
Teach a local coding agent when and how to use Crabbox	`crabbox init` Agent Skill	Available
Run a repo-owned one-shot harness remotely	`crabbox run` or a named job	Credential-free run-evidence pattern available
Reuse repository setup on a warm lease	GitHub Actions hydration	Available
Use Zed as a local Crabbox control surface	Zed extension package	Package available; registry submission not yet opened
Open a synced lease as a remote editor workspace	`crabbox open --editor=zed`	Available
Edit a Linux lease in browser VS Code	`crabbox code`	Available for coordinator-backed code-capable providers
Control leases and jobs from Herdr	Herdr plugin	Direct install available; marketplace indexing pending
Run a long-lived coding harness inside a lease	Station agent-runtime bridge	Contract only

Status labels are deliberate:

Available means the integration or workflow is implemented on current main.
Direct install available means the host can install the package by its repository path even though gallery search does not list it yet.
Package available means source and validation exist, but installation may still use the host's development flow.
Contract only means the security and lifecycle boundary is documented but no user-facing command is shipped.

Catalog status tracks repository state, not the latest release archive. The standards-compliant Agent Skill metadata is scheduled for 0.40.0; released 0.39.0 binaries still generate a body-only SKILL.md.

#Two extension planes

local machine                                      leased runner
-------------                                      -------------
IDE / terminal UI / coding agent
          |
          +-- host-native integration --> crabbox CLI --> run or job
                                          |
                                          +-----------> future Station
                                                          |
                                                          +-- harness daemon

#Local control surfaces

Local integrations invoke the installed CLI from the active repository. The CLI remains the authority for configuration, credentials, cost, ownership, sync, run history, artifacts, and release. The host owns installation and UI.

This is the current pattern used by Zed, Herdr, editor handoffs, and the generated Agent Skill. See Editors and control surfaces and AI agents and harnesses.

#In-box runtimes

A long-running harness inside a lease has a different trust boundary. Crabbox must supervise its process, bind its control port to loopback, authenticate the bridge, enforce stop and expiry, and redact evidence. That work belongs under Station. It must not be smuggled into a provider adapter, editor package, or ambient environment forwarding.

See the Agent Runtime Bridge and Station Profiles contracts.

#What Crabbox does not ship

Crabbox does not currently load arbitrary executable plugins or provide a plugin marketplace. Adding such a loader would make core responsible for discovery, signatures, updates, version negotiation, permissions, and credential exposure without improving the existing host-native installation model.

Crabbox also does not currently expose an MCP server. Coding agents with a shell can use the generated skill and CLI today. A future local MCP adapter is reasonable only when typed discovery, structured approvals, and result schemas materially improve on that path without duplicating the complete CLI surface.

There is no generic integration SDK or implemented HTTP/SSE agent bridge, and zed is currently the only accepted crabbox open --editor value.

#Add an integration

Use the integration authoring contract before adding a new editor, agent client, task pack, or host plugin. Keep the package thin and make its lifecycle and credential boundaries visible.