Show HN: SmolVM – open-source sandbox for coding and computer-use agents

[theaniketmaurya]

SmolVM is an open-source local sandbox for AI agents on macOS and Linux.

I started building it because agent workflows need more than isolated code execution. They need a reusable environment: write files in one step, come back later, snapshot state, pause/resume, and increasingly interact with browsers or full desktop environments.

Right now SmolVM is a Python SDK and CLI focused on local developer experience.

Current features include: - local sandbox environments - macOS and Linux support - snapshotting - pause/resume - persistent environments across turns

Install: ``` curl -sSL https://celesto.ai/install.sh | bash smolvm ```

I’d love feedback from people building coding agents or computer-use agents. Interested in what feels missing, what feels clunky, and what you’d expect from a sandbox like this.

[skwuwu]

I'd like to use it for agent like OpenClaw, but i wanna know if agnet spawn sub agent in VM, and it's resource requirements is bigger than VM's resource, those processes killed by OOM? or SmolVM gracefully handle it? Or can i adjust resource limit for my purpose?

[theaniketmaurya]

yes, we have an example of OpenClaw.

SmolVM uses microVMs which means the resource consumption is quite minimal. For now, you can specify the amount of RAM while starting the VM. We are making it elastic so you can configure to expand the RAM based on usage.

Here is the link to the [documentation](https://docs.celesto.ai/smolvm), but I can also show you on a call.

[skimojoe]

you should check out nono, been running openclaw in their for weeks now and forget its there half the time, no vm's or containers involved.