grok-build-boxed

Container image for running grok-build in a strictly isolated environment, keeping it away from your host system and personal data.

Why containerized? Grok's built-in sandbox is not safe enough (for me) to run directly on my host system:

• Without --sandbox=strict, Grok has read access to the entire filesystem including your home directory, synced cloud drives, and any other mounted paths.
• --sandbox=strict would limit access to the subtree it is launched from, but if that happens to be your home directory, your data is still exposed.
• Additionally, --sandbox=strict currently has a bug and does not work reliably, which prevents Grok from even starting. See olwig/pkgbuild#21.

Running Grok inside a container solves these security issues: it is fully caged, has no access to your host filesystem (except the explicitly mounted ~/.grok-build-boxed/), cannot interfere with your system, and is reusable.

Build

podman build -t grok-build-boxed .

Or use the latest workflow-built image from GHCR:

podman pull ghcr.io/olwig/grok-build-boxed:latest

Run

Temporary (with automatic cleanup via --rm):

Use self-built local image:

podman run -it --rm \
	-v ~/.grok-build-boxed/:/home/grokuser:Z \
	--userns=keep-id:uid=1000,gid=1000 \
	localhost/grok-build-boxed:latest

Or use GHCR latest image:

podman run -it --rm \
	-v ~/.grok-build-boxed/:/home/grokuser:Z \
	--userns=keep-id:uid=1000,gid=1000 \
	ghcr.io/olwig/grok-build-boxed:latest

Named container (persists so you can start/stop and reuse it):

Use self-built local image:

podman run -it \
	--name grok-build-boxed \
	-v ~/.grok-build-boxed/:/home/grokuser:Z \
	--userns=keep-id:uid=1000,gid=1000 \
	--hostname grok-build-boxed \
	localhost/grok-build-boxed:latest

Or use GHCR latest image:

podman run -it \
	--name grok-build-boxed \
	-v ~/.grok-build-boxed/:/home/grokuser:Z \
	--userns=keep-id:uid=1000,gid=1000 \
	--hostname grok-build-boxed \
	ghcr.io/olwig/grok-build-boxed:latest

Working with the named container:

# stop running instance
podman stop grok-build-boxed

# restart stopped instance (in background)
podman start grok-build-boxed

# connect directly (interactive, like "start + attach" in one step)
podman start -ai grok-build-boxed

# open an additional shell in running container
podman exec -it grok-build-boxed fish

# open a shell as root to inspect or change anything inside the container
podman exec -it --user root grok-build-boxed fish

# open a shell as builder to use sudo for package installs
podman exec -it --user builder grok-build-boxed fish

# check status
podman ps -a --filter name=grok-build-boxed

# delete container when no longer needed
podman rm grok-build-boxed

Details

• ~/.grok-build-boxed/ is mounted into /home/grokuser for persistent data.
• --userns=keep-id keeps file ownership aligned with the host user.
• See Containerfile for the image definition and defaults.

Working with projects

Work directly inside /home/grokuser in the container. This is your mounted host folder (~/.grok-build-boxed/), so all files persist on the host.

You can use either workflow:

• Clone repositories from inside the container into /home/grokuser.
• Or clone/copy from the host into ~/.grok-build-boxed/ and open/use them in the container.

You can also add an additional mount if you prefer. Keep ~/.grok-build-boxed/ mounted to /home/grokuser because Grok stores config, metadata, and caches there. Mount extra folders as subfolders inside /home/grokuser, for example:

⚠️ Security note: Be very careful what you mount into the container. Anything mapped into the container may also be readable (and potentially writable) by Grok, depending on permissions. Only mount directories you explicitly want Grok to access.

WORK="$HOME/work" podman run -it --rm \
	-v ~/.grok-build-boxed/:/home/grokuser:Z \
	-v "$WORK":/work:Z \
	--userns=keep-id:uid=1000,gid=1000 \
	--hostname grok-build-boxed \
	ghcr.io/olwig/grok-build-boxed:latest