jackin'

Why jackin’?

AI coding agents like Claude Code are most productive when they can run without permission prompts — reading files, executing commands, installing packages freely. But giving an agent unrestricted access to your host machine means it can see your entire filesystem, access your credentials, and modify anything.

jackin’ solves this by giving each agent its own isolated Docker container with Docker-in-Docker enabled. The agent thinks it has free rein — but it’s operating inside a construct you defined.

Think in two dimensions

• Agent class = the tool profile. Which image, plugins, defaults, and runtime behavior should this agent have?
• Workspace = the access boundary. Which project files should this agent be allowed to see?

That separation is the point. A backend agent and frontend agent can work on the same repository workspace without sharing one giant all-knowing image.

Isolated by default

Each agent runs in its own Docker container. It can only see directories you explicitly mount and tools baked into its image.

Full autonomy inside

Agents run with --dangerously-skip-permissions inside the container boundary. Claude is unrestricted there, but the container still limits its world.

Operator control

You control the blast radius: which folders agents read/write, whether mounts are read-only, and which Docker network they use.

Scale with confidence

Run multiple agents simultaneously, each in their own isolated environment with separate state and networking.

Note

jackin’ is intentionally transparent about its tradeoffs. It is a container-based isolation model, not a microVM sandbox. If you want the honest comparison with Docker Sandboxes and related approaches, read Comparison with Alternatives.

Quick start

# Install via Homebrew
brew tap jackin-project/tap

# Stable
brew install jackin

# Or install the rolling preview channel
brew install jackin@preview

# Load an agent into the current directory
jackin load agent-smith

# Or use the interactive launcher
jackin launch

agent-smith is just the default starter agent class name in this project. Your own classes might be named frontend, backend, or review-only.

Installation All the ways to install jackin'

Core Concepts Understand operators, agents, and constructs

Creating Agents Build your own agent repos

Security Model How jackin' keeps your system safe

Comparison jackin' vs Docker Sandboxes and alternatives

Ecosystem

Repository	Description
jackin	CLI source code
jackin-agent-smith	Default general-purpose agent
jackin-the-architect	Rust development agent (used for jackin’ development)
homebrew-tap	Homebrew formulae for installing jackin’