Providers

Crownest Provider

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Crownest Provider

Read this when:

  • choosing provider: crownest;
  • configuring the Crownest API endpoint, project, template, timeout, or cleanup behavior;
  • changing internal/providers/crownest.

Crownest provides hosted Linux Workspace Runs through the Crownest API. It is a delegated-run provider: Crabbox builds a portable checkout archive, uploads it through Crownest's staged archive-transfer API, starts a Workspace Run, and streams the Crownest event stream back to the local terminal. There is no direct Crabbox SSH target and no local rsync.

Crabbox owns local config, repo claims, slug allocation, archive sync guardrails, command quoting, run timing summaries, and normalized list/status output. Crownest owns sandbox creation, archive extraction, command execution, event streaming, evidence, and sandbox deletion.

#When To Use

Use Crownest when commands should run in a hosted Linux sandbox without asking each user to deploy their own runner. It fits dirty-checkout test runs and coding-agent workflows where archive sync, streamed logs, exit codes, and Crownest Workspace Run evidence are the important product surface.

Use an SSH-lease provider such as AWS, Hetzner, Azure, Google Cloud, Static SSH, or Local Container when you need crabbox ssh, VNC, code-server, Actions hydration, direct rsync behavior, ports, desktop/browser/code capability flags, or command environment forwarding.

Crownest is Linux-only. Desktop, browser, code, VNC, SSH, Tailscale, Actions runner hydration, artifact globs, proof emission, and downloads are not available through this provider yet.

#Setup

Create a Crownest API key, then export it through the environment. Crabbox never accepts the key as a command-line flag and does not persist it in crabbox.yaml, .crabbox.yaml, or trusted user config.

#Auth

export CRABBOX_CROWNEST_API_KEY=cn_live_...
# or
export CROWNEST_API_KEY=cn_live_...

CRABBOX_CROWNEST_API_KEY takes precedence when both variables are present. The key is sent only as a bearer token to the configured Crownest API endpoint. It is not stored in Crabbox claims or config and is not forwarded into the Workspace Run command environment.

Rotate the key if it was ever pasted into a chat, shell history, issue, PR, log, or persistent artifact.

#Commands

crabbox doctor --provider crownest
crabbox warmup --provider crownest --crownest-template python-node
crabbox run --provider crownest -- pnpm test
crabbox run --provider crownest --keep -- pnpm test
crabbox run --provider crownest --id quiet-river -- pnpm test
crabbox status --provider crownest --id quiet-river
crabbox list --provider crownest --json
crabbox stop --provider crownest quiet-river
crabbox cleanup --provider crownest --dry-run

warmup always keeps the sandbox until an explicit stop. A run without --id creates or starts a Crownest-backed Workspace Run and deletes the backing sandbox after the command unless --keep asks Crabbox to retain it.

#Config

provider: crownest
target: linux
crownest:
  projectId: prj_...
  template: python-node
  timeoutSecs: 600
  forgetMissing: false

Trusted user config may also set crownest.apiUrl. Repository config cannot set the API URL, because redirecting API-key traffic from a checked-in file is not trusted.

Provider flags, each overriding the matching config key:

--crownest-url
--crownest-project-id
--crownest-template
--crownest-timeout-secs
--crownest-forget-missing

Environment overrides:

CRABBOX_CROWNEST_API_KEY
CROWNEST_API_KEY
CRABBOX_CROWNEST_API_URL
CROWNEST_API_URL
CRABBOX_CROWNEST_PROJECT_ID
CROWNEST_PROJECT_ID
CRABBOX_CROWNEST_TEMPLATE
CROWNEST_TEMPLATE
CRABBOX_CROWNEST_TIMEOUT_SECS
CROWNEST_TIMEOUT_SECS
CRABBOX_CROWNEST_FORGET_MISSING
CROWNEST_FORGET_MISSING

Defaults: API URL https://api.crownest.dev, template python-node, and command timeout 600 seconds.

The API URL must be absolute, must not include userinfo, query parameters, or a fragment, and must use HTTPS except for loopback development endpoints.

#Lifecycle

  1. warmup creates a Crownest sandbox from the configured template and stores a local Crabbox claim with a cnsbx_... lease ID.
  2. run without --id creates a Crownest Workspace Run from the configured template. run --id reuses a Crabbox-claimed Crownest sandbox.
  3. Crabbox builds a portable checkout archive and asks Crownest for a staged archive transfer target.
  4. Crabbox uploads the archive to that transfer URL, finalizes the transfer, and starts the Workspace Run.
  5. Crownest extracts the archive into the Workspace Run workspace and executes the command.
  6. Crabbox streams stdout/stderr events and returns the final command exit code.
  7. One-shot sandboxes are deleted after successful run unless --keep is set. Retained sandboxes can be reused with --id and later removed with stop.

#Capabilities

  • SSH: no.
  • Crabbox sync: yes, delegated archive upload and Crownest extraction.
  • Provider sync: no separate provider-native sync step.
  • Desktop / browser / code / VNC: no.
  • Actions hydration: no.
  • Coordinator broker: no, Crownest always runs direct from the CLI.
  • Pause/resume: not advertised in v1.
  • Command env forwarding: no. Crownest Workspace Runs currently reject env values until secret-backed env storage is added on the Crownest side.

#Limitations

  • --no-sync is rejected because Crownest Workspace Runs require archive upload.
  • --sync-only, --checksum, artifact globs, required artifacts, proof emission, and downloads are rejected unless Crownest advertises those capabilities in a later provider revision.
  • Crownest raw sandbox IDs are not accepted as arbitrary provider IDs. Use a Crabbox-created slug or cnsbx_<sandbox-id> lease ID from warmup, run --keep, or list.
  • cleanup only operates on local Crabbox claims for the configured Crownest API endpoint, project, and template. Missing remote sandboxes are forgotten only when crownest.forgetMissing or --crownest-forget-missing is set.