Remote test proof

Agent default

Agent sessions run trusted development tests, changed gates, typecheck/lint, and builds locally by default, broadening only when the touched contract requires it. Never execute untrusted repository tooling locally. Use Crabbox when the environment is part of the proof: clean-machine, install/package, Docker, E2E, live, desktop, or cross-platform work, or when the operator explicitly requests remote proof. Do not use Crabbox merely as generic compute offload. The configured Testbox workflow hydrates credentials, so untrusted contributor or fork code must use secretless fork CI or sanitized direct AWS Crabbox instead.

Do not pre-warm for anticipated work. Acquire the backend lazily when the first environment-sensitive command is ready, reuse the returned tbx_... id for later remote commands, sync the current checkout on every run, and stop it before handoff.

After the first successful reuse, the wrapper records the lease's base, dependency, and Testbox workflow fingerprint under .crabbox/testbox-leases/. Source-only edits keep reusing the warmed box. A changed merge base, lockfile, package-manager input, wrapper, or Testbox workflow fails closed and requires a fresh lease. Every run still syncs the current checkout. OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_ALLOW_STALE=1 is only for intentional diagnostics, not release proof.

The Testbox workflow registers a separate disposable checkout for native sync. The hydrated execution workspace stays at its original absolute path, so native Git cleanup and rsync cannot delete dependencies, build output, or ignored runtime there. The wrapper applies and verifies the source bundle in that execution workspace, runs its frozen dependency install, and checks the source and Git identity again before the payload. Install output goes to stderr; an install or verification failure stops the payload. It never restores runtime from the caller or changes the selected rsync binary.

Workspace preparation changes require a fresh lease. A missing or overlapping execution-workspace binding stops the payload; stop that lease and warm a new one. Use the OpenClaw wrapper for proof: direct native Blacksmith commands target the transport checkout, which deliberately has no hydrated runtime.

Testbox requests with --artifact-glob or --require-artifact also require the prepared-artifact-workspace feature in the selected Crabbox binary's providers describe blacksmith-testbox --json response. The wrapper checks this before sync or lease work, rather than collecting missing or stale transport files. Update Crabbox if that capability is absent. Collection stays anchored in the prepared workspace across payload directory changes and normal failure exits; existing cancellation and signal-related artifact withholding remains unchanged. Ordinary runs without artifact requests do not require this additional capability.

Testbox runs and POSIX remote changed gates freeze source into a Git bundle against the pinned base. These runs require Crabbox 0.37.0 or later for sync-plan --json; upgrade Crabbox before retrying an older binary. This API floor does not apply to help, warmup, status, or runs that do not prepare a source bundle. Selection uses Crabbox's sync policy and Git's repository, info, and effective global exclusions, including repo-local overrides, for untracked files. Tracked ignored files and staged ignored additions remain source; an explicit privacy exclusion conflicting with required tracked source stops the run before upload.

The command binds the bundle digest and raw source tree. Before running the payload, the receiver applies deletions and restores file bytes, symlink target bytes, and Git executable modes, then verifies the filesystem directly. Git text filters do not normalize this snapshot. Missing, stale, or mismatched bundles fail closed. Producer-declared deletions must also be absent, even when the remote index has lost them. Deletions use the same privacy policy as source selection; unknown ignored runtime data is preserved. Unexpected nonignored receiver files stop the run instead of being deleted. The verification receipt reports the original source revision separately from the synthetic transport commit; remote HEAD identifies that verified transport tree, and changed gates compare it with the pinned base. Raw-byte differences can conservatively select additional changed paths. Git path names must be UTF-8; symlink targets remain raw bytes. Symlinked repository Crabbox configuration or ignore files, and privacy-excluded runtime configuration, are rejected before upload rather than changing their trust or privacy treatment.

The local test commands are the normal trusted development path. Keep proof proportional to the touched contract.

For untrusted proof, lazily warm with --provider aws. Every run must set CRABBOX_ENV_ALLOW=CI, pass --provider aws --no-hydrate, and use a fresh temporary remote HOME before installing dependencies or running tests. Use a newly warmed lease dedicated to that untrusted source; never reuse a trusted or previously hydrated lease. Launch an installed trusted Crabbox binary from a clean trusted main checkout and fetch only the remote PR with --fresh-pr; never execute the untrusted checkout's wrapper or config locally. Unset CRABBOX_AWS_INSTANCE_PROFILE and fail closed unless resolved aws.instanceProfile is empty. Before any install/test, use trusted absolute-path tools to require an IMDSv2 token, prove the IAM credentials endpoint returns 404, and verify remote git rev-parse HEAD equals the full reviewed PR head SHA. Bind the lease to that SHA and stop/rewarm when the head changes. Upload trusted scripts/crabbox-untrusted-bootstrap.sh from clean main alongside --fresh-pr; it installs pinned Node/pnpm, verifies the SHA and package-manager pin, isolates HOME, installs dependencies, then executes the requested test. If the broker cannot prove no role or no remote PR exists, use secretless fork CI. Do not use hydrate-github, --no-sync, or a credential-hydrated Testbox workflow. Unset all CRABBOX_TAILSCALE* overrides, force --network public --tailscale=false, clear exit-node/LAN flags, and require crabbox inspect to report public networking with no Tailscale state before uploading any script.

Crabbox repository setup

The shared Crabbox skill owns portable lease, trust, sync, and cleanup procedures. This section owns the OpenClaw wrapper and workflow inputs. Routine task-needed Crabbox/Testbox use and task-owned worktrees do not require another confirmation; preserve unrelated work and existing credential, production, budget, and publication boundaries.

Run trusted OpenClaw remote proof through the wrapper from the repository root:

node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs run --help

Read .crabbox.yaml and the resolved provider before running. The repository default is blacksmith-testbox, with .github/workflows/ci-check-testbox.yml owning its prepared environment. Direct providers use .github/workflows/crabbox-hydrate.yml. Keep the resolved provider unless the requested proof requires another environment; capacity or hydration failure does not make a different provider equivalent.

The direct .github/workflows/windows-blacksmith-testbox.yml workflow runs native Windows. The wrapper's Blacksmith adapter supports Linux only; explicit --provider blacksmith-testbox prevents automatic Azure routing but does not enable Windows support. Blacksmith CLI 0.4.57 targets runner and has no native username override, so supported CLI sync/run on this Windows image remains blocked. Native SSH inspection with the per-Testbox key is not CLI end-to-end proof.

The wrapper checks an executable sibling ../crabbox/bin/crabbox, then PATH, then the sibling of the Git common checkout. Verify the selected binary and its source rather than trusting a directory name. If it needs repair or is missing, use a clean task-owned checkout of Crabbox, build ./cmd/crabbox into a task-owned binary directory, and leave other checkouts and the operator's installed binary untouched. The existing OPENCLAW_CRABBOX_WRAPPER_IGNORE_REPO_BINARY=1 setting skips the first sibling candidate; a task binary on PATH then takes precedence over the common-checkout candidate. A dirty or occupied sibling is not a reason to stop and ask.

For a selected trusted Testbox lane:

node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs run --timing-json -- \  CI=1 NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096 \  OPENCLAW_TEST_PROJECTS_PARALLEL=6 OPENCLAW_VITEST_MAX_WORKERS=1 \  OPENCLAW_TESTBOX=1 OPENCLAW_TESTBOX_REMOTE_RUN=1 \  pnpm test <path-or-filter>

For several commands, warm once with node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs warmup --keep --timing-json, save the returned lease ID, and reuse it with run --id <tbx_id>. Stop the owned lease with node scripts/crabbox-wrapper.mjs stop --id <tbx_id>; stop has no --timing-json.

• Warm from the task checkout. Claims belong to checkout paths; --reclaim deliberately transfers that ownership and never changes repository identity. Sparse staging uses the wrapper's ownership path. Do not sync or reclaim while another command owns the lease.
• Wrapper reuse requires the local SSH key created by Crabbox. A missing key requires a fresh warmup. Leases created directly by Blacksmith remain usable through blacksmith testbox run --id <tbx_id>, not Crabbox wrapper reuse.
• Every native Testbox run syncs again, including reused leases. --no-sync cannot preserve a remote baseline. Compare revisions in separate remote worktrees within one synced command; never switch refs in the synced root.
• Compound remote shell commands use bash -lc, not sh -lc; hydration can depend on Bash declarations. Testbox's workflow owns Chromium, so do not pass Crabbox --browser to that provider.
• Keep the lease fingerprint checks described above. No stale-lease override for release proof. Direct-provider flags such as --fresh-pr, --full-resync, --script*, --env-helper, capture/download flags, and --stop-after are not a substitute for the delegated Testbox workflow.
• For Testbox scripts, run a synced file as trailing command arguments or use --shell. Active --script and --script-stdin uploads are rejected before source preparation or lease work.

When remote sync uses a temporary checkout, the wrapper preserves native .crabbox/runs and .crabbox/captures outputs together beneath a fresh .crabbox/wrapper-artifacts/run-* directory before removing that checkout. Repeated runs retain separate evidence even when native filenames match. The wrapper prints the old-to-new root mapping; native logs and generated proof may still reference the old paths. A preservation error fails the wrapper and retains the temporary checkout at the reported path for manual recovery, preserving the child's nonzero exit code. The wrapper rejects symlinks in artifact trees and destination parents, and copies only regular files and real directories. Retained files use mode 0600 and new directories use 0700 on POSIX systems. If preservation fails, recover the outputs from the reported checkout before removing it; incomplete destination copies are removed.

These are local artifacts, not published or fully sanitized proof. Blacksmith's native failure bundle contains captured stdout/stderr and diagnostic metadata; it does not automatically include remote UI screenshots or reports. Retrieve those separately before stopping the owned Testbox, and inspect all artifacts for secrets and private data before sharing.

The native Windows Testbox idle monitor uses the running sshd service's local listener ports, not Blacksmith's externally forwarded SSH port. Established SSH connections keep the job alive; the ~/.testbox-last-activity modification time covers short commands between the 30-second polls. Once neither indicates recent activity, the configured idle timeout still ends the job.

The shared skill's command placeholders map to the focused commands in this guide. Its trusted bootstrap is scripts/crabbox-untrusted-bootstrap.sh; the untrusted path above invokes the installed trusted CLI, never the PR's wrapper. For an explicitly selected local-container lane, the existing example image is node:24-bookworm and the install command is corepack pnpm install --frozen-lockfile --store-dir .pnpm-store, followed by the chosen test. Keep --no-hydrate and a repository-local dependency store when host caches cannot cross filesystems. The OpenClaw broker login endpoint is https://crabbox.openclaw.ai; normal brokered validation does not require asking for AWS keys.

Live Gateway, channel, and agent-turn proof uses an isolated OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR, a free port, and the real user path. Test-only plugin artifacts may use OPENCLAW_ALLOW_PLUGIN_INSTALL_OVERRIDES=1; that does not make them official installs. Before sharing WebVNC, inspect a screenshot of the working app. Keep proof media out of the product repository and compare source hashes before and after generator runs. If a final timing result is written but portal synchronization hangs, interrupt only the task wrapper and independently verify lease cleanup; never stop the operator's Gateway.