Containerised dev environment packed with modern CLI/TUI tools and AI coding assistants. Batteries included.

Curated Rust/Go replacements for everyday Unix tools, multiple AI-powered editors, and sensible defaults, all in a reproducible Docker container you can spin up on any machine.

For demonstration purposes only — actual setup may involve more staring at the screen.

• Docker
• Git — on Windows, install Git for Windows (provides bash and winpty needed by the install script)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SquareWaveSystems/squarebox/main/install.sh | bash

This clones the repo, builds the Docker image, and drops you into the container. On first login, a setup script runs automatically to configure git, GitHub CLI, your choice of AI coding assistant, and language SDKs.

squarebox        # or: sqrbx

Shell aliases are added automatically for Bash, Zsh, and PowerShell 7+.

The container is persistent: it suspends on exit and resumes on start, keeping installed packages, config, and shell history intact between sessions. Your code lives on the host at ~/squarebox/workspace via volume mount, so it survives even if the container is deleted.

Installed during first-run setup. Choose any combination:

* Requires Node.js (auto-installed if needed).

Installed during first-run setup. Nano is always available as the default editor.

Inspired by Omarchy.

Selected during first-run setup. Choose any combination, all, or none:

Selections are saved to the workspace volume and reused automatically on container rebuilds.

sqrbx-update

Checks all GitHub-released tools against latest versions and updates them in-place. No rebuild required. Your container state, SDKs, and config are preserved.

sqrbx-update              # show available updates (dry run)
sqrbx-update --apply      # download and install all updates
sqrbx-update lazygit      # update a single tool
sqrbx-update --list       # list all tools and current versions

Set GITHUB_TOKEN to avoid API rate limits.

sqrbx-rebuild

Pulls the latest changes, rebuilds the image, and replaces the container. Your code in ~/squarebox/workspace is safe since it lives on the host. Setup selections (AI tool, editors, SDKs, GitHub auth) are persisted in the workspace volume and restored automatically. However, shell history, manually installed packages, and custom config files inside the container are lost.

To preserve extra files across rebuilds, store them in /workspace/.squarebox/.

Tip: Use sqrbx-update from inside the container to update tools without rebuilding. Only use sqrbx-rebuild when the base image itself needs to change (new apt packages, new base tools, Dockerfile changes).

The base image (all CLI/TUI tools, no optional components) is ~400 MB on disk.

First-run selections add to that:

A typical setup (Claude Code + Node.js + one editor) lands around ~800 MB. Sizes are approximate and will vary as tools are updated.

All binary tools are pinned to specific versions and verified against SHA256 checksums at build time. Third-party install scripts (Claude Code, uv, .NET) manage their own binary verification. npm-based AI tools (Copilot CLI, Gemini CLI, Codex CLI) use npm's built-in integrity verification.

For the full trust model (what install.sh does on your machine, how each layer is verified, and how to inspect the script before running it) see SECURITY.md.

Open this repo in VS Code with the Dev Containers extension, or launch it in GitHub Codespaces. The included .devcontainer/devcontainer.json builds the full squarebox image automatically.

The interactive first-run setup is skipped in devcontainer mode. To configure AI tools or SDKs, run ~/setup.sh from the integrated terminal.

You can also attach to a running codespace directly from your local terminal using gh codespace ssh.

docker stop squarebox 2>/dev/null; docker rm squarebox
docker rmi squarebox
rm -rf ~/squarebox

Then remove the sqrbx and sqrbx-rebuild aliases from your shell config (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/Documents/PowerShell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1). Back up ~/squarebox/workspace first if you need your code.