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Multi-Agent Sandbox & Tools Configuration

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Overview

Each agent in a multi-agent setup can now have its own:
  • Sandbox configuration (agents.list[].sandbox overrides agents.defaults.sandbox)
  • Tool restrictions (tools.allow / tools.deny, plus agents.list[].tools)
This allows you to run multiple agents with different security profiles:
  • Personal assistant with full access
  • Family/work agents with restricted tools
  • Public-facing agents in sandboxes
setupCommand belongs under sandbox.docker (global or per-agent) and runs once when the container is created. Auth is per-agent: each agent reads from its own agentDir auth store at: 
~/.clawdia/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json
Credentials are not shared between agents. Never reuse agentDir across agents. If you want to share creds, copy auth-profiles.json into the other agent’s agentDir. For how sandboxing behaves at runtime, see Sandboxing. For debugging “why is this blocked?”, see Sandbox vs Tool Policy vs Elevated and clawdia sandbox explain.

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Configuration Examples

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Example 1: Personal + Restricted Family Agent

{
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "default": true,
        "name": "Personal Assistant",
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": { "mode": "off" }
      },
      {
        "id": "family",
        "name": "Family Bot",
        "workspace": "~/clawd-family",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",
          "scope": "agent"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read"],
          "deny": ["exec", "write", "edit", "apply_patch", "process", "browser"]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "bindings": [
    {
      "agentId": "family",
      "match": {
        "provider": "whatsapp",
        "accountId": "*",
        "peer": {
          "kind": "group",
          "id": "[email protected]"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
Result:
  • main agent: Runs on host, full tool access
  • family agent: Runs in Docker (one container per agent), only read tool

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Example 2: Work Agent with Shared Sandbox

{
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "personal",
        "workspace": "~/clawd-personal",
        "sandbox": { "mode": "off" }
      },
      {
        "id": "work",
        "workspace": "~/clawd-work",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",
          "scope": "shared",
          "workspaceRoot": "/tmp/work-sandboxes"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read", "write", "apply_patch", "exec"],
          "deny": ["browser", "gateway", "discord"]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

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Example 2b: Global coding profile + messaging-only agent

{
  "tools": { "profile": "coding" },
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "support",
        "tools": { "profile": "messaging", "allow": ["slack"] }
      }
    ]
  }
}
Result:
  • default agents get coding tools
  • support agent is messaging-only (+ Slack tool)

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Example 3: Different Sandbox Modes per Agent

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "sandbox": {
        "mode": "non-main",  // Global default
        "scope": "session"
      }
    },
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "off"  // Override: main never sandboxed
        }
      },
      {
        "id": "public",
        "workspace": "~/clawd-public",
        "sandbox": {
          "mode": "all",  // Override: public always sandboxed
          "scope": "agent"
        },
        "tools": {
          "allow": ["read"],
          "deny": ["exec", "write", "edit", "apply_patch"]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

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Configuration Precedence

When both global (agents.defaults.*) and agent-specific (agents.list[].*) configs exist:

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Sandbox Config

Agent-specific settings override global: 
agents.list[].sandbox.mode > agents.defaults.sandbox.mode
agents.list[].sandbox.scope > agents.defaults.sandbox.scope
agents.list[].sandbox.workspaceRoot > agents.defaults.sandbox.workspaceRoot
agents.list[].sandbox.workspaceAccess > agents.defaults.sandbox.workspaceAccess
agents.list[].sandbox.docker.* > agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.*
agents.list[].sandbox.browser.* > agents.defaults.sandbox.browser.*
agents.list[].sandbox.prune.* > agents.defaults.sandbox.prune.*
Notes:
  • agents.list[].sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* overrides agents.defaults.sandbox.{docker,browser,prune}.* for that agent (ignored when sandbox scope resolves to "shared").

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Tool Restrictions

The filtering order is:
  1. Tool profile (tools.profile or agents.list[].tools.profile)
  2. Provider tool profile (tools.byProvider[provider].profile or agents.list[].tools.byProvider[provider].profile)
  3. Global tool policy (tools.allow / tools.deny)
  4. Provider tool policy (tools.byProvider[provider].allow/deny)
  5. Agent-specific tool policy (agents.list[].tools.allow/deny)
  6. Agent provider policy (agents.list[].tools.byProvider[provider].allow/deny)
  7. Sandbox tool policy (tools.sandbox.tools or agents.list[].tools.sandbox.tools)
  8. Subagent tool policy (tools.subagents.tools, if applicable)
Each level can further restrict tools, but cannot grant back denied tools from earlier levels. If agents.list[].tools.sandbox.tools is set, it replaces tools.sandbox.tools for that agent. If agents.list[].tools.profile is set, it overrides tools.profile for that agent. Provider tool keys accept either provider (e.g. google-antigravity) or provider/model (e.g. openai/gpt-5.2).

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Tool groups (shorthands)

Tool policies (global, agent, sandbox) support group:* entries that expand to multiple concrete tools:
  • group:runtime: exec, bash, process
  • group:fs: read, write, edit, apply_patch
  • group:sessions: sessions_list, sessions_history, sessions_send, sessions_spawn, session_status
  • group:memory: memory_search, memory_get
  • group:ui: browser, canvas
  • group:automation: cron, gateway
  • group:messaging: message
  • group:nodes: nodes
  • group:clawdia: all built-in Clawdia tools (excludes provider plugins)

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Elevated Mode

tools.elevated is the global baseline (sender-based allowlist). agents.list[].tools.elevated can further restrict elevated for specific agents (both must allow). Mitigation patterns:
  • Deny exec for untrusted agents (agents.list[].tools.deny: ["exec"])
  • Avoid allowlisting senders that route to restricted agents
  • Disable elevated globally (tools.elevated.enabled: false) if you only want sandboxed execution
  • Disable elevated per agent (agents.list[].tools.elevated.enabled: false) for sensitive profiles

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Migration from Single Agent

Before (single agent): 
{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "workspace": "~/clawd",
      "sandbox": {
        "mode": "non-main"
      }
    }
  },
  "tools": {
    "sandbox": {
      "tools": {
        "allow": ["read", "write", "apply_patch", "exec"],
        "deny": []
      }
    }
  }
}
After (multi-agent with different profiles): 
{
  "agents": {
    "list": [
      {
        "id": "main",
        "default": true,
        "workspace": "~/clawd",
        "sandbox": { "mode": "off" }
      }
    ]
  }
}
Legacy agent.* configs are migrated by clawdia doctor; prefer agents.defaults + agents.list going forward.

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Tool Restriction Examples

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Read-only Agent

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["read"],
    "deny": ["exec", "write", "edit", "apply_patch", "process"]
  }
}

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Safe Execution Agent (no file modifications)

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["read", "exec", "process"],
    "deny": ["write", "edit", "apply_patch", "browser", "gateway"]
  }
}

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Communication-only Agent

{
  "tools": {
    "allow": ["sessions_list", "sessions_send", "sessions_history", "session_status"],
    "deny": ["exec", "write", "edit", "apply_patch", "read", "browser"]
  }
}

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Common Pitfall: “non-main”

agents.defaults.sandbox.mode: "non-main" is based on session.mainKey (default "main"), not the agent id. Group/channel sessions always get their own keys, so they are treated as non-main and will be sandboxed. If you want an agent to never sandbox, set agents.list[].sandbox.mode: "off".

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Testing

After configuring multi-agent sandbox and tools:
  1. Check agent resolution: 
    clawdia agents list --bindings
  2. Verify sandbox containers: 
    docker ps --filter "label=clawdia.sandbox=1"
  3. Test tool restrictions:
    • Send a message requiring restricted tools
    • Verify the agent cannot use denied tools
  4. Monitor logs: 
    tail -f "${CLAWDIA_STATE_DIR:-$HOME/.clawdia}/logs/gateway.log" | grep -E "routing|sandbox|tools"

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Troubleshooting

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Agent not sandboxed despite mode: "all"

  • Check if there’s a global agents.defaults.sandbox.mode that overrides it
  • Agent-specific config takes precedence, so set agents.list[].sandbox.mode: "all"

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Tools still available despite deny list

  • Check tool filtering order: global → agent → sandbox → subagent
  • Each level can only further restrict, not grant back
  • Verify with logs: [tools] filtering tools for agent:${agentId}

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Container not isolated per agent

  • Set scope: "agent" in agent-specific sandbox config
  • Default is "session" which creates one container per session

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See Also