# instantbox/instantbox

📦 Get a clean, ready-to-go Linux box in seconds.

Repository: https://github.com/instantbox/instantbox
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/instantbox
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: linux, linux-shell, web-shell, docker, docker-compose, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2024-03-12T06:42:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2822, "days_push": 904, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4176, forks 292 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:38.227509+00:00)

## What it is
instantbox is a self-hosted service that spins up temporary, clean Linux containers (Ubuntu, CentOS, Arch, Debian, Fedora, Alpine) with instant browser-based webshell access. It is deployed via Docker Compose and uses ttyd to provide the web terminal.

## Use cases
- spin up a throwaway Linux shell in my browser
- give students a sandbox to try Linux commands
- get a clean environment to test an open source project
- manage servers from any device with a browser
- demo Linux in a presentation without preparing a VM
- test software under resource constraints in an isolated box

## When to choose
- you need ephemeral Linux environments accessible from any browser
- you want a self-hosted sandbox for teaching or demos
- you want to try out distros or packages without polluting your machine

## When to avoid
- you need persistent, long-lived servers or full VMs
- you need strong multi-tenant security isolation for untrusted users
- you want a hosted solution without running Docker yourself

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: maintenance
- function: self-hosted, web-scraping, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, self-hosted, operating-systems
- platform: self-hosted, python
- tags: webshell, temporary-linux-environment, docker-compose, sandbox, ttyd, containers, docker, web-server, linux

## Member repositories
- instantbox/instantbox (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:38.227509+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:22:41.650747+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/instantbox/instantbox (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:38.227509+00:00, sha 3c1592d7f437)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.