Box And Tools
Registered Box proxying, component installation, discovery, inventory, and helper binary boundaries.
Box And Tools
a3s box ... is the umbrella CLI's Box proxy. It keeps the common entry point
simple while leaving sandbox/runtime behavior in the a3s-box binary.
Box Proxy Flow
When you run a3s box <args...>, the CLI:
- Resolves the registered
boxcomponent from the trusted catalog. - Reconciles its receipt with an allowed existing installation, including the
configured install directory, a CLI sibling,
PATH, or the user component root. - Performs a visible first-use installation only when Box is missing and the invocation permits network and interaction.
- Executes the absolute resolved
a3s-boxpath with the original arguments.
The proxy exits with the same status code as a3s-box when the child command
fails.
Bootstrap Paths
| Path | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Homebrew | Tries the a3s-lab/tap/a3s-box formula when brew is available. |
| Standalone release | Downloads a platform release archive, extracts Box binaries, installs them into the chosen bin directory, and copies bundled libraries. |
| Existing install | Reconciles a compatible executable from an allowed discovery location without claiming files owned by another package manager. |
Standalone Box bootstrap currently has release targets for macOS arm64, Linux arm64, and Linux x86_64. Unsupported OS/arch pairs should install Box manually from the release page.
Installed Box Binaries
When present in the release archive, bootstrap installs:
a3s-boxa3s-box-shima3s-box-guest-inita3s-box-cri
Component And Tool Listing
a3s list reports every trusted catalog component, its bundled, managed,
delegated, external, missing, or unsupported state, installed ownership receipt,
and delegated Use capabilities. Additional visible a3s-* executables on
PATH are listed separately as unregistered external tools; local status is
network-free by default, discovery never executes them, and their presence does
not activate them as trusted components.
Boundaries
The CLI does not implement container isolation itself. It owns Box catalog and lifecycle policy, while verified transaction primitives stage and activate the artifact. The Box repository owns runtime, CRI, networking, image, and TEE behavior. Current managed delivery targets macOS and Linux; Windows remains on the roadmap.