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VX
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Posted on Edited on Originally published at vznjs.github.io

A sandboxed task reads what it depends on, and nothing beside it

#javascript #monorepo #devtools #opensource

One project builds a tool, every other project runs it, and each stays
in its sandbox. The tool's sources stay hidden.

diagram

Depend on a task, read its outputs 

build: {
  dependsOn: ['packages/tools#build'],
  exec: {
    command: 'cat ../tools/out/bin/greet ../tools/src/greet.sh > greeting.txt',
    sandbox: { allow: { read: ['.'], write: ['greeting.txt'] } },
  },
  inputs: { files: ['src/**'] },
  outputs: { files: ['greeting.txt'] },
  cache: true,
}
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The output reads fine. The source does not exist for this task:

┌─ packages/app#build > failed (exit 1)

$ cat ../tools/out/bin/greet ../tools/src/greet.sh > greeting.txt

├─ OUTPUT ────────────────────────────────────────────────────

cat: ../tools/src/greet.sh: No such file or directory

├─ SANDBOX ───────────────────────────────────────────────────

vx: the sandbox hid paths outside the project that exist on this machine, which are not reported as violations: /work/demo/packages/tools/src/greet.sh. If the task reads one, grant it, e.g. `allow: { read: ['../tools/src/greet.sh'] }`.

└─ packages/app#build ── (59ms) failed (exit 1)
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Demo workspace · Linux, bubblewrap · vx 18d0a91 · 2026-11-07

The outputs are safe to read. The task's key already moves with every
file that made them, so a cache hit never hides a changed tool.

hermetic: true closes off the machine too

A plain sandbox walls off the workspace. hermetic: true moves that
wall to /. The task reads only what you grant, plus the shell vx needs.

┌─ packages/app#build > failed (exit 127)

$ cat ../tools/src/greet.sh > greeting.txt

├─ OUTPUT ────────────────────────────────────────────────────

/usr/bin/sh: 1: cat: not found
[vx] exit 127 is the shell's "command not found": cat is /usr/bin/cat on the host, but no sandbox grant reads it, so inside the sandbox it is not there — add it (or its directory) to exec.sandbox.allow.read

└─ packages/app#build ── (124ms) failed (exit 127)
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The task reached for the host's cat and found nothing. vx names the
host path and the grant that would fix it. A build cannot lean on a tool
that only your laptop has.

Sandbox Workspace Rest of the machine
none everything everything
sandbox: {...} what you grant readable
hermetic: true what you grant what you grant

How to grant reads: Sandboxing.
More at vznjs.github.io/vx.

Originally published on the vx blog. vx is open-source (MIT) task orchestration with a build cache: vznjs.github.io/vx · GitHub.

Written with AI assistance.

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